Aquaculture production has significantly increased in volume and value over the last decades. But while this growth and the development of sustainable practices has occurred, issues associated with climate change, biodiversity loss and declines in aquatic ecosystem health jeopardize the potential of aquaculture to play a more dynamic role in food and ecosystems. Accordingly, activities that can protect, sustainably manage and support restoration of natural ecosystems while providing economic benefits to human communities are being strongly considered. The concepts of Nature-based Solutions, Reconciliation Ecology, Blue Economy are all meaningful additions to sustainability frameworks at the forefront of policy debates about the future of aquaculture. The concept of conservation in aquaculture can take many forms. We are interested in contributions that procure evidence of aquaculture practices that contribute to advancing sustainability by preventing environmental degradation and providing environmental benefits.
Achieving effective conservation outcomes from aquaculture - at a scale proportional to the challenge of widespread and escalating declines in biodiversity and increasing pressure from climate change - will require contributions from many actors and research disciplines. For example, Indigenous and traditional knowledge, physiology, fisheries science, political science/policy, economic science, and citizen science, will all play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of sustainable aquaculture activities, alongside development in more traditional fields of aquaculture, ecology and social science. This Research Topic will provide an avenue for greater exploration of the research applications and industry and community approaches that can ensure conservation outcomes from aquaculture, including actions that can reduce environmental impacts of aquaculture activities, improve the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to climate change, or contribute to the conservation of aquatic biodiversity. Conservation aquaculture has emerged as a focus and term for the provision of ecological outcomes from aquaculture activities, for the preservation and recovery of species that have declined in status or are of conservation concern. The concept of Reconciliation ecology (Rosenzweig, 2003) as a way to encourage biodiversity in human-dominated ecosystems will be omnipresent.
To effectively achieve conservation objectives from aquaculture and improve its sustainability, a holistic research and operational approach is needed; one that combines broader disciplinary expertise and emphasis with an interdisciplinary view to adequately address the many barriers to its effective use. Original contributions (research, review, case-studies and technical articles) in the suggested topics listed below that directly address conservation or sustainability concerns are particularly welcomed:
• species of conservation/biodiversity concern that could be supported by aquaculture;
• innovative and sustainable production systems, practices or feeds;
• approaches that can support effective integration of conservation aquaculture in fisheries management;
• restorative aquaculture;
• Indigenous and customary aquaculture rights and practices;
• methods for monitoring and indicators of success;
• cross-jurisdictional policy;
• social and economic values;
• challenges under a changing climate (e.g. multiple or cumulative stressors, invasive species);
• biodiversity hotspots;
• preservation of genetic diversity.
Aquaculture production has significantly increased in volume and value over the last decades. But while this growth and the development of sustainable practices has occurred, issues associated with climate change, biodiversity loss and declines in aquatic ecosystem health jeopardize the potential of aquaculture to play a more dynamic role in food and ecosystems. Accordingly, activities that can protect, sustainably manage and support restoration of natural ecosystems while providing economic benefits to human communities are being strongly considered. The concepts of Nature-based Solutions, Reconciliation Ecology, Blue Economy are all meaningful additions to sustainability frameworks at the forefront of policy debates about the future of aquaculture. The concept of conservation in aquaculture can take many forms. We are interested in contributions that procure evidence of aquaculture practices that contribute to advancing sustainability by preventing environmental degradation and providing environmental benefits.
Achieving effective conservation outcomes from aquaculture - at a scale proportional to the challenge of widespread and escalating declines in biodiversity and increasing pressure from climate change - will require contributions from many actors and research disciplines. For example, Indigenous and traditional knowledge, physiology, fisheries science, political science/policy, economic science, and citizen science, will all play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of sustainable aquaculture activities, alongside development in more traditional fields of aquaculture, ecology and social science. This Research Topic will provide an avenue for greater exploration of the research applications and industry and community approaches that can ensure conservation outcomes from aquaculture, including actions that can reduce environmental impacts of aquaculture activities, improve the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to climate change, or contribute to the conservation of aquatic biodiversity. Conservation aquaculture has emerged as a focus and term for the provision of ecological outcomes from aquaculture activities, for the preservation and recovery of species that have declined in status or are of conservation concern. The concept of Reconciliation ecology (Rosenzweig, 2003) as a way to encourage biodiversity in human-dominated ecosystems will be omnipresent.
To effectively achieve conservation objectives from aquaculture and improve its sustainability, a holistic research and operational approach is needed; one that combines broader disciplinary expertise and emphasis with an interdisciplinary view to adequately address the many barriers to its effective use. Original contributions (research, review, case-studies and technical articles) in the suggested topics listed below that directly address conservation or sustainability concerns are particularly welcomed:
• species of conservation/biodiversity concern that could be supported by aquaculture;
• innovative and sustainable production systems, practices or feeds;
• approaches that can support effective integration of conservation aquaculture in fisheries management;
• restorative aquaculture;
• Indigenous and customary aquaculture rights and practices;
• methods for monitoring and indicators of success;
• cross-jurisdictional policy;
• social and economic values;
• challenges under a changing climate (e.g. multiple or cumulative stressors, invasive species);
• biodiversity hotspots;
• preservation of genetic diversity.
