Research from the University of South Australia (UniSA) has shown that the Australian seafood industry is now more resilient to food shocks – with fishery reform and better management creating a stronger system.
Shocks are a sudden and dramatic loss in food production, and can impact food security and local industries. With Australians eating more seafood than ever before, maintaining a shock-resilient seafood system is a priority.
A paper published in Cell Reports Sustainability, found that Australia’s aquaculture sector was relatively robust to shocks, and wild caught fisheries had become more resilient to shocks in recent years.
Lead author and UniSA marine ecologist, Dr Zoe Doubleday, said that maintaining shock-resilient food systems is a priority for many nations, and responding to and learning from shock events may be the key to building this resilience.
Almost half of shocks the industry had experienced in the past were linked to historic overfishing, and a third was implicated with management change. However, this factor was often introduced in response to stock decline, and resulted in more sustainable practices.
The paper stated that fishery policies which addressed overfishing could be behind the absence of food shocks in recent years.
The decline in shocks aligned with a period of major reform in fisheries during the mid-2000s, when policy initiatives including a marine-protected area network and harvest strategy policy were implemented.
Other shocks drivers included disease, economic reasons, declines in biomass or recruitment, habitat degradation, and extreme weather events – several of which may be caused by the impact of climate change.
Doubleday said that investing in fisheries had bolstered system resilience, and it was important to continue prioritising responsive fishery management as the threat of climate change worsens.
“The Australian government has been responsive to declines in production, contributing to fewer shocks and building a more resilient, sustainable food system,” she said.
“Given we know that global climate volatility will likely increase, it will be important to understand the vulnerabilities in the system and act on this information with policy and management changes to help stabilise food production locally.”
“Seafood is a critical source of healthy protein and micronutrients, and ensuring the stability and sustainability of its production will ensure the growing demand for seafood is always met.”
