A Scoping Review of Aquatic Food Systems during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Love, David C.; Weltzien, Lisa M.; Thorne-Lyman, Andrew L.; Armstrong, Natalie S.; Chatpar, Elizabeth; Koontz, Marisa; Zayas-Toro, Dahiany; Dabbadie, Lionel; Lansley, Jonathan; Marttin, Felix; Vannuccini, Stefania; Nussbaumer, Elizabeth M.; Poulain, Florence

doi:10.1080/23308249.2023.2231096

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…Due to the timing of interviews, stakeholders working in the farmed shrimp and two wild salmon supply chains were asked about impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses and sector. Impacts on demand for seafood during the pandemic have been described in detail in other studies (Love et al, 2021;van Senten et al, 2021;Anderson et al, 2022;Sun et al, 2022;Engle et al, 2023;Love et al, 2023b). Interviewees in this study described effects on demand for products that varied across supply chains and over time.…”

Section: Impacts Of the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Salmon is the second most consumed species group in the US, surpassed only by shrimp (Love et al, 2020). The short season also highlights the challenge of the industry in serving a market across an entire year, and contributes to the use of imported products (Love et al, 2023b). The Alaska wild capture pink salmon fishery operates in nearshore waters of Prince William Sound.…”

Section: United States Alaska Wild Sockeye Salmonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of the food-energy-water nexus to six seafood supply chains: hearing from wild and farmed seafood supply chain actors in the United States, Norway, and Vietnam

Fry,

Scroggins,

Garlock

et al. 2024

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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IntroductionThe food-energy-water (FEW) nexus highlights the interdependencies between the systems that people rely on for these essential resources. For example, globally, over two thirds of freshwater withdrawals are used to produce food, and another 10% is used during energy generation. In addition, the food system uses one eighth of global net energy. Seafood is a nutritionally important food, and it is critical to use freshwater and energy resources efficiently throughout seafood supply chains to safeguard future supplies and to reduce environmental impacts. Diverse seafood production methods result in highly variable resource use across supply chains, which may contribute to siloed efforts within supply chains to improve efficiency, instead of larger efforts that involve multiple seafood supply chains. Additionally, efforts to develop and implement efficiency strategies must be informed by fishers, aquaculturists, processors, and other seafood supply chain actors to avoid investing time and resources into strategies that will have low uptake. A significant proportion of seafood is imported into the U.S., so engaging with industry and stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad is critical for understanding and improving the FEW nexus associated with seafood consumed by Americans.MethodsTo understand how resources are being used, current and potential strategies to improve resource use, and relevant motivations and barriers, we conducted 47 semi-structured interviews from 2019 to 2021 with seafood supply chain actors, including producers and processors. Seafood supply chains included were farmed catfish produced in the U.S., farmed pangasius and shrimp produced in Vietnam, farmed Atlantic salmon produced in Norway, and wild-caught sockeye and pink salmon caught in the U.S.ResultsWe provide detailed descriptions of stages within each supply chain regarding resource use and efficiency strategies, and report higher-level findings that apply across supply chains. There was variation across settings regarding how resources are used and opportunities and barriers for improving efficiencies, but we also found commonalities in settings, indicating that resource-saving strategies or innovations could lead to increased efficiency across multiple supply chains. Interviewees shared that cost savings drove past adoption of, and high interest in, energy conservation practices. Generally, direct costs did not motivate reduced use of freshwater, but associated costs like energy to run pumps and supplies to treat contaminated surface water drove interest in reducing water use.DiscussionEfforts to improve resource use in the U.S. seafood supply should focus on identifying and scaling-up strategies that (i) involve improved efficiency of more than one resource and/or (ii) apply across multiple settings. This work should involve partnerships between industry, government agencies, and academic researchers, and should be informed by supply chain actors’ experiences and insights. The qualitative insights from this study encompass rich descriptions of FEW-relevant factors at the level of specific supply chain stages as well as findings across six major seafood supply chains in three countries. The study provides an essential complement to existing quantitative characterizations of resource use, and enables nuanced and informed responses to challenges.

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Section: Impacts Of the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: United States Alaska Wild Sockeye Salmonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of the food-energy-water nexus to six seafood supply chains: hearing from wild and farmed seafood supply chain actors in the United States, Norway, and Vietnam

Fry,

Scroggins,

Garlock

et al. 2024

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia

Lauer,

Wencélius,

Dawson

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Small-scale fisheries provide seafood for billions of people and are one of the largest employers in many coastal communities. Those households engaged in these fisheries who maintain diverse income sources are generally thought to be better prepared to cope with social or ecological perturbations such as the crises presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. One outcome of the COVID-19 crisis was the collapse of international tourism after many nations instituted strict border controls to slow the virus’s spread, severely impacting coastal communities that depend on tourism-related employment. This research assessed the effects of COVID-19-induced collapse of tourism on small-scale coral reef fishers and households in Moorea, French Polynesia. Ninety-five households were surveyed about their livelihoods, fishing, demographics, and income-generating occupations before and after the lockdown. Shifts in fish biomass were evaluated using time series data collected through underwater visual surveys, and roadside fish vendors were surveyed to assess fish sales. Results showed that after tourism employment evaporated more Moorea households began fishing to boost their incomes and food security. However, the increase in fishing pressure showed no appreciable decline in the biomass of fishable species. The households responsible for the increased fishing activities were those who were working in the tourism economy prior to the pandemic and subsequently lost their jobs. Households that combined fishing with construction or other stable sectors showed greater abilities to cope, while those combining fishing with tourism were heavily impacted. Importantly, results showed that those households devoted solely to fishing managed the crisis adeptly due to their superior fishing skills and ecological knowledge. This pattern suggests that not all forms of household livelihood diversification confer equal advantages and that resource-dependent households are not necessarily intrinsically less resilient. More generally, it is argued that we should be cautious when promoting livelihood diversification as a blanket solution to decrease household vulnerability, and that ecological knowledge diversity is underappreciated.

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A Scoping Review of Aquatic Food Systems during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 2 publications

References 121 publications

Application of the food-energy-water nexus to six seafood supply chains: hearing from wild and farmed seafood supply chain actors in the United States, Norway, and Vietnam

Application of the food-energy-water nexus to six seafood supply chains: hearing from wild and farmed seafood supply chain actors in the United States, Norway, and Vietnam

Livelihood diversity and fishing skill during COVID-19 lockdowns in French Polynesia

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