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Can greening of aquaculture sequester blue carbon?

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Abstract

Globally, blue carbon (i.e., carbon in coastal and marine ecosystems) emissions have been seriously augmented due to the devastating effects of anthropogenic pressures on coastal ecosystems including mangrove swamps, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows. The greening of aquaculture, however, including an ecosystem approach to Integrated Aquaculture-Agriculture (IAA) and Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) could play a significant role in reversing this trend, enhancing coastal ecosystems, and sequestering blue carbon. Ponds within IAA farming systems sequester more carbon per unit area than conventional fish ponds, natural lakes, and inland seas. The translocation of shrimp culture from mangrove swamps to offshore IMTA could reduce mangrove loss, reverse blue carbon emissions, and in turn increase storage of blue carbon through restoration of mangroves. Moreover, offshore IMTA may create a barrier to trawl fishing which in turn could help restore seagrasses and further enhance blue carbon sequestration. Seaweed and shellfish culture within IMTA could also help to sequester more blue carbon. The greening of aquaculture could face several challenges that need to be addressed in order to realize substantial benefits from enhanced blue carbon sequestration and eventually contribute to global climate change mitigation.

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Notes

  1. A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir or pool that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period. Sink is also a process, activity, or mechanism that removes a GHG from the atmosphere.

  2. Capture is the separation of CO2 from other gases. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process consisting of separation of CO2 from its sources, transport to a storage location, and long-term isolation from the atmosphere.

  3. Carbon sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric CO2. Sequestration is the removal of atmospheric CO2 through biological (photosynthesis) or geological (storages in underground reservoirs) processes.

  4. Seaweeds must not be confused with seagrasses as seaweeds are marine macroalgae, while seagrasses are vascular plants. Seaweeds can be either wild or aquaculture crops, while it is challenging to restore seagrass beds owing to difficulty in transplanting seedlings.

  5. Globally, the annual loss rate was 1–2% for tidal marshes, 0.7–3% for mangroves, and 0.4–2.6% for seagrasses (Pendleton et al. 2012).

  6. Carbon accumulation in agriculturally eutrophic impoundments is high as they receive allochthonous carbon through erosion, autochthonous carbon through nutrient-driven primary productivity, and exhibit very high rates of preservation due to nearly continuous sediment anoxia (Downing et al. 2008).

  7. In 2004, there were 11.08 million ha of aquaculture ponds worldwide (Verdegem and Bosma 2009) and the current global aquaculture area was estimated based on the changes in total aquaculture production.

  8. Equivalent to 0.06 and 0.12 ton of carbon sequestration per ton of mussels and oysters harvested, respectively, as one ton of carbon is equal to 3.67 tons of CO2. These figures do not take into account CO2-eq emissions generated as a consequence of cultivation practices or during other phases in the product value chain which will ultimately dictate the net amount of CO2-eq sequestered or emitted as a consequence shellfish consumption.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. The study was a part of the first author’s research work under the Georg Forster Research Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Bremen, Germany. The idea for this paper was generated after the first author attended the 3rd International Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans, Santos, Brazil during 23–27 March 2015 as an invited speaker. Thanks to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization for supporting attendance at the symposium. We thank three anonymous reviewers for insightful comments and suggestions. The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors.

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Ahmed, N., Bunting, S.W., Glaser, M. et al. Can greening of aquaculture sequester blue carbon?. Ambio 46, 468–477 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0849-7

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