Planning and licensing for marine aquaculture

Marine aquaculture has the potential to increase its contribution to the global food system and provide valuable ecosystem services, but appropriate planning, licensing and regulation systems must be in place to enable sustainable development. At present, approaches vary considerably throughout the world, and several national and regional investigations have highlighted the need for reforms if marine aquaculture is to fulfil its potential. This article aims to map and evaluate the challenges of planning and licensing for growth of sustainable marine aquaculture. Despite the range of species, production systems and circumstances, this study found a number of common themes in the literature; complicated and fragmented approaches to planning and licensing, property rights and the licence to operate, competition for space and marine spatial planning, emerging species and diversifying marine aquaculture production (seaweed production, Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture [IMTA], nutrient and carbon offsetting with aquaculture, offshore aquaculture and co-location and multiuse platforms), and the need to address knowledge gaps and use of decision-support tools. Planning and licensing can be highly complicated, so the UK is used as a case study to show more detailed examples that highlight the range of challenges and uncertainty that industry, regulators and policymakers face across interacting jurisdictions. There are many complexities, but this study shows that many countries have undergone, or are undergoing, similar challenges, suggesting that lessons can be learned by sharing knowledge and experiences, even across different species and production systems, rather than having a more insular focus.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Exploring South African Pacific oyster mariculture potential through combined Earth observation and bioenergetics modelling

The combined use of satellite-derived environmental data and a dynamic energy budget (DEB) model to determine Pacific oyster growth potential was adapted for the South African marine environment. Study areas consisted of the West Coast (high-chlorophyll, low temperature) and the South Coast (variable chlorophyll, higher temperature) ecoregions. Chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were used to simulate yearly growth for 18 years. Average growth performance at the end of the culture period was mapped and compared for prominent sectors. Industry-relevant growth indicators, "days to reach commercial weight" and "optimal culture period length" were also established. High growth potential was found in eastern nearshore sectors of the South Coast, particularly Plettenberg Bay, where oysters reached a median total weight (TW) of 271 g within 9 months. Other sectors in the region yielded Large commercial size within 150 days. However, South Coast growth hotspots were found to be highly variable, with transient unfavourable growth conditions leading to low flesh mass relative to TW. Growth potential was favourable in northern sectors of the West Coast, where oysters reached a median TW of up to 148 g in 9 months, Large commercial size within 200 days, and contained high flesh mass relative to TW. Current oyster production sites were not found to be optimal for growth. Higher-growth sites coincide with areas in economic decline or with high levels of poverty. However, due to constraints of applying DEB models over large spatial scales, these results are considered preliminary and await in situ verification, as well as a spatial multi-criteria analysis, before investment and development