In this session, we view aquaculture as an activity that links marine, natural and social scientists with stakeholders in an effort to ensure food security in a rapidly changing word. We focus on both natural challenges, such as the effects of ocean acidification on shellfish cultivation, as well as social challenges, such as the effects of the economic shift from historically dominant markets (e.g. US, Europe, Russia) towards new market domains (e.g. China, Brazil, Indonesia) that affect current economic and institutional environments, and the effects of the onset of the digital revolution that changes social (labor) structure and their related institutions.
We focus on two broad categories:
- response and potential roadmap by the scientific community and industry to adapt to broad-scale social and environmental change
- assessing, understanding, and addressing social dimensions which may – or may not – advance sustainable aquaculture, including the acceptance of aquaculture by society (the social licence)
These two categories cover a broad spectrum relevant for decision-makers from local to international scales. Oral presentations that cover the two categories, addressing the following issues:
- the influence of climate change on selection of sites, species, technologies, and socio-economic setups
- positive and negative (localized) impacts of aquaculture on social-ecological systems (e.g. water quality, disease, ecosystem services) of coastal habitats and communities
- the role of social customs in obtaining and maintaining a social licence for aquaculture
- forms of communication to address and engage with social perceptions of marine aquaculture
- the utilization of historic perspectives for advancing our understanding of current aquaculture trajectories; incorporating these perspectives in marine spatial planning approaches
- the socio-economic dimension in the cultural equation of aquaculture
- understanding and measuring the success of social inclusion efforts towards sustainable aquaculture.
The sessions includes several presentations combined with a set of World Café exchange rounds.
