Alternative Seafood Networks During COVID-19: Implications for Resilience and Sustainability

Export-oriented seafood trade faltered during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, alternative seafood networks (ASNs) that distribute seafood through local and direct marketing channels were identified as a “bright spot.” In this paper, we draw on multiple lines of quantitative and qualitative evidence to show that ASNs experienced a temporary pandemic “bump” in both the United States and Canada in the wake of supply chain disruptions and government mandated social protections. We use a systemic resilience framework to analyze the factors that enabled ASNs to be resilient during the pandemic as well as challenges. The contrast between ASNs and the broader seafood system during COVID-19 raises important questions about the role that local and regional food systems may play during crises and highlights the need for functional diversity in supply chains. © Copyright © 2021 Stoll, Harrison, De Sousa, Callaway, Collier, Harrell, Jones, Kastlunger, Kramer, Kurian, Lovewell, Strobel, Sylvester, Tolley, Tomlinson, White, Young and Loring.

Boat to bowl: Resilience through network rewiring of a community-supported fishery amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Fisheries are coupled human-natural systems locally, regionally, and globally. However, human-nature interactions within and between adjacent and distant systems (metacouplings) are rarely studied in fisheries despite their prevalence and policy relevance. We filled this knowledge gap by using network models to identify how the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has rewired couplings and reshaped resilience of Fishadelphia, a community-supported fishery program (CSF) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, USA. As abstractions illustrating interactions among supply-chain actors, networks are helpful for characterizing flows and assessing resilience to disturbances such as those induced by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Since Fall 2018, 18 seafood (finfish and shellfish) species totaling 6273 lbs have flowed from harvesters (n = 4), to processors (n = 2), to a distributor, to retailers (n = 2), and finally to customers (n = 183). The pandemic reduced the number of seafood harvesters and processors (−50%), seafood flow quantity (−25%), species diversity in the marketplace (−67%), and species per supplier (−50%) before stopping flows in mid-March 2020, when Fishadelphia closed for 3 months. Models of network optimality indicated that the pandemic fragmented metacouplings that previously allowed multiple seafood suppliers to provide diverse products to customers. However, demand-side resilience increased through dispersed, socially distanced, efficient seafood delivery that expanded the customer base and generally increased customer satisfaction. This resilience dichotomy-wherein the post-closure network was less resilient than the pre-closure network in supply-side species diversity, but more resilient in demand-side social distancing, delivery efficiency, and customer satisfaction-has implications for rewiring networks to sustain CSFs and other local food systems amid ecological and social disturbances. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd

Transmission of respiratory viruses when using public ground transport: A rapid review to inform public health recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous countries worldwide declared national states of emergency and implemented interventions to minimise the risk of transmission among the public. Evidence was needed to inform strategies for limiting COVID- 19 transmission on public transport. On 20 March 2020, we searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Web of Science and the World Health Organization's database of 'Global research on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)' to conduct a rapid review on interventions that reduce viral transmission on public ground transport. After screening 74 records, we identified 4 eligible studies. These studies suggest an increased risk of viral transmission with public transportation use that may be reduced with improved ventilation. International and national guidelines suggest the following strategies: keep the public informed, stay at home when sick, and minimise public transport use. Where use is unavoidable, environmental control, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene are recommended, while a risk-based approach needs to guide the use of non-medical masks.