Offshore aquaculture: Spatial planning principles for sustainable development |
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| Authors: | Rebecca R Gentry Sarah E Lester Carrie V Kappel Crow White Tom W Bell Joel Stevens Steven D Gaines |
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| Institution: | 1. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA;2. Department of Geography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA;3. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, USA;4. Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, California Polytechnic Institute San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA;5. Earth Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Marine aquaculture is expanding into deeper offshore environments in response to growing consumer demand for seafood, improved technology, and limited potential to increase wild fisheries catches. Sustainable development of aquaculture will require quantification and minimization of its impacts on other ocean‐based activities and the environment through scientifically informed spatial planning. However, the scientific literature currently provides limited direct guidance for such planning. Here, we employ an ecological lens and synthesize a broad multidisciplinary literature to provide insight into the interactions between offshore aquaculture and the surrounding environment across a spectrum of spatial scales. While important information gaps remain, we find that there is sufficient research for informed decisions about the effects of aquaculture siting to achieve a sustainable offshore aquaculture industry that complements other uses of the marine environment. |
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| Keywords: | cumulative impacts disease environmental effects fisheries mariculture marine spatial planning ocean zoning open‐ocean aquaculture tradeoffs |
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