Full Title: Climate-Smart Aquaculture: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Air-Breathing Fish for Sustainable Food Systems
Abstract: The global demand for food is expected to double by 2050, presenting a need that is complicated by the many interrelated of pressures on the world’s natural resources from climate change, growing urban populations, and increasing development. As one of the fastest growing food production sectors, aquaculture is poised to contribute an increasing share of the global food demand. However, it will be critical to cultivate food production systems that are well-adapted for emerging conditions, with limited impacts on already burdened ecosystems. The climate-smart aquaculture approach explicitly integrates climate change into adaptation and mitigation strategies for global food systems and offers one approach to actively manage for adaptive food systems that simultaneously meet consumer demands, withstand the current impacts of climate change, and mitigate the effect of future stressors. This study draws on existing frameworks for assessing natural resource management actions within the social-ecological systems perspective to develop a conceptual framework for climate-smart aquaculture, with the intention of assessing the resilience pathways for potential climate-smart actions. In a case study on pangasius (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) the conceptual framework is then applied to evaluate the potential use of air-breathing fish as a viable climate-smart tool. As an air-breathing fish, pangasius have the ability to thrive in marginal, hypoxic aquatic conditions, making them a potentially important finfish in adapting aquaculture systems for greater resilience in the face of climate change. However, there is a need to evaluate landscape suitability to understand if pangasius farming is an effective climate-smart option, given the existing and emerging characteristics of the region. Through the application of the climate-smart aquaculture conceptual framework, this study provides an adaptable tool for exploring climate-smart management decisions in aquaculture and offers insight into the climate-smart potential of an air-breathing fish in the global seafood trade.