A Quantitative Metric to Identify Critical Elements within Seafood Supply Networks

Abstract

A theoretical basis is required for comparing key features and critical elements in wild fisheries and aquaculture supply chains under a changing climate. Here we develop a new quantitative metric that is analogous to indices used to analyse food-webs and identify key species. The Supply Chain Index (SCI) identifies critical elements as those elements with large throughput rates, as well as greater connectivity. The sum of the scores for a supply chain provides a single metric that roughly captures both the resilience and connectedness of a supply chain. Standardised scores can facilitate cross-comparisons both under current conditions as well as under a changing climate. Identification of key elements along the supply chain may assist in informing adaptation strategies to reduce anticipated future risks posed by climate change. The SCI also provides information on the relative stability of different supply chains based on whether there is a fairly even spread in the individual scores of the top few key elements, compared with a more critical dependence on a few key individual supply chain elements. We use as a case study the Australian southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii fishery, which is challenged by a number of climate change drivers such as impacts on recruitment and growth due to changes in large-scale and local oceanographic features. The SCI identifies airports, processors and Chinese consumers as the key elements in the lobster supply chain that merit attention to enhance stability and potentially enable growth. We also apply the index to an additional four real-world Australian commercial fishery and two aquaculture industry supply chains to highlight the utility of a systematic method for describing supply chains. Overall, our simple methodological approach to empirically-based supply chain research provides an objective method for comparing the resilience of supply chains and highlighting components that may be critical.

Co-managing public research in Australian fisheries through convergence–divergence processes

“…Hence, the organization of the hypotheses-building and testing may determine the outcomes of research implementation or may enhance or preclude the inclusion of relevant information in the process of articulation of queries, priorities and strategies for research. Even in subsectors where research co-management is inherently harder given the fragmentation of supply chains and industry associations' governance structure [10,40] -such as in some oyster and shrimp project cases -the design and implementation of such a process proved effective in terms of the research co-management outcomes. In line with earlier findings outside the fisheries context [30,32], these results imply that it is essential to properly design feedback loops that allow space for divergence again after directly involved stakeholders have already reached convergence.…”

“…Depending on the economic value attached to each species, fish and seafood subsectors vary significantly in: the structure of their supply chain (from highly fragmented, such as the oyster and shrimp subsectors, to vertically integrated, such as the Southern Bluefin tuna and barramundi subsectors); industry concentration (from a few corporations governing the market to an atomized market of small-scale companies); geographical dispersion (from local to national); the governance structure of their fishery and industry associations (from divided among local and state associations to represented through a national association); market breadth (from local to international) and related global competition [10,40]. These industry differences often intertwine with the heterogeneity of environmental sustainability issues and risks that each species faces given its specific biological conditions (such as the seasonal variations in production and associated yield and profit uncertainty) [16,21].…”

Expanding the ‘geography’ of resilience in fisheries by bringing focus to seafood distribution systems

“…These shortcomings have prompted recent attempts by the legislature to improve the licensing system by way of proposed actions such as "An Act to Promote Sustainability in the Scallop Fishery" (127 LD 908, HP 627) and "An Act to Improve Lobster Licensing" (127 LD 896, HP 615). Though these examples are specific to Maine, the general pattern of reduced mobility and restricted access is widespread across the US and elsewhere internationally (Criddle and Strong, 2013;Pinkerton, 2013). In many places, fishermen are essentially locked into fisheries with limited capacity to expand their portfolios, a dynamic that will only be amplified as new limited entry programs are established to restrict access further, particularly for small-boat operators and fishermen with limited resources (Olson, 2011).…”

The Environmental Impact of Two Australian Rock Lobster Fishery Supply Chains under a Changing Climate

“…; Haverkort and Verhagen ) as supply chains are interrupted (Plagányi et al. ) or government policies, such as a carbon tax, are implemented to curb emissions (Bartels ).…”

“…Even when there has been a fisheries focus, it has tended to be as a result of direct impacts on biological abundance, including a change in catch limits (Frusher et al 2014) or distribution, such as varying the fishing location (Pinsky and Fogarty 2012;Pecl et al 2009). Climate change will also likely have impacts on the movement of seafood from fisher to consumer along the supply chain (Laderach et al 2011;Haverkort and Verhagen 2008) as supply chains are interrupted (Plagányi et al 2014) or government policies, such as a carbon tax, are implemented to curb emissions (Bartels 2012).…”