Responses to climate change - "blue foods"

“Blue foods,” or foods sourced from aquatic environments, are an important dietary component for more than 3.2 billion people on Earth. But the vast majority of global marine food supplies are threatened by climate change, according to a new study. 

The study found that more than 90% of blue foods — including fished and farmed fish, shellfish, algae and plants in both freshwater and marine environments — are vulnerable. These foods include more than 540 freshwater species and more than 2,190 marine species that many people globally depend on for food.

From EcoWatch article citing the publication in the journal Nature Sustainability.

The study identified which countries are most affected by some of the top stressors, finding that blue foods in the U.S. are particularly at risk of invasive species, algal blooms, sea level rise and ocean warming. China, the top blue food producer, is vulnerable to inland eutrophication and severe weather, particularly for its freshwater food supplies.

As Reuters reported, 85% of aquaculture production stems from just four countries: China, Japan, India and Vietnam. The study highlighted these countries, as well as small island nations, as top priorities in reducing vulnerability.

Some recommendations in the paper include diversifying types of blue food production, establishing international policies on sustainable blue food production and following the knowledge of Indigenous and local peoples in developing strategies and policies.

Rebecca Short, co-lead author of the study and researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, said, “Although we have made some progress with climate change, our adaptation strategies for blue food systems facing environmental change are still underdeveloped and need urgent attention.”