Cumulative climatic stressors strangles marine aquaculture: ancillary effects of COVID 19 on Spanish mariculture. (Special issue: Impact of COVID-19 on the aquaculture sector and supply-chains.)

Marine aquaculture takes advantage of marine ecosystem services to produce goods that can be relevant from a food security point of view. However, this activity is subject to multiple stressors as the ones exerted by global climate change. Local stressed conditions due to environmental drivers may be exacerbated by the COVID19 pandemic crisis. In this paper we analyze the pre-COVID-19 situation in two Spanish regions with the highest aquaculture production, Galicia and the Valencian Community. The incidence of storms, heat waves and mussel farming closure were analyzed, and surveys were used to define the perception of producers in terms of economic problems derived from COVID-19 and synergistic environmental concerns. Also the temporal trend of mussel production was analyzed. Spanish marine aquaculture has been intensively subjected to climatic stressors that made it more vulnerable to COVID-19, showing some weakness in terms of production as can be seen in mussel production and fresh consumption. Anyway, extensive aquaculture and aquaculture developed by Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) was reported as somewhat more resilient to the impact of COVID-19. In order to ensure the environmental and economic sustainability of marine aquaculture - under a future uncertain pandemic scenario - our outcomes underline the need for more resilient adaptation programs and recovery plans taking into account the climate change effects.

The aquaculture supply chain in the time of covid-19 pandemic: Vulnerability, resilience, solutions and priorities at the global scale.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had severe, unpredictable and synchronous impacts on all levels of perishable food supply chains (PFSC), across multiple sectors and spatial scales. Aquaculture plays a vital and rapidly expanding role in food security, in some cases overtaking wild caught fisheries in the production of high-quality animal protein in this PFSC. We performed a rapid global assessment to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related emerging control measures on the aquaculture supply chain. Socio-economic effects of the pandemic were analysed by surveying the perceptions of stakeholders, who were asked to describe potential supply-side disruption, vulnerabilities and resilience patterns along the production pipeline with four main supply chain components: a) hatchery, b) production/processing, c) distribution/logistics and d) market. We also assessed different farming strategies, comparing land- vs. sea-based systems; extensive vs. intensive methods; and with and without integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, IMTA. In addition to evaluating levels and sources of economic distress, interviewees were asked to identify mitigation solutions adopted at local / internal (i.e., farm-site) scales, and to express their preference on national / external scale mitigation measures among a set of a priori options. Survey responses identified the potential causes of disruption, ripple effects, sources of food insecurity, and socio-economic conflicts. They also pointed to various levels of mitigation strategies. The collated evidence represents a first baseline useful to address future disaster-driven responses, to reinforce the resilience of the sector and to facilitate the design reconstruction plans and mitigation measures, such as financial aid strategies.