Linking Production and Consumption: The Role for Fish and Seafood in a Healthy and Sustainable Australian Diet

Quantifying global redundant fisheries trade to streamline seafood supply chains

Seafood plays an important role in sustainably feeding the world and is one of the most traded food products globally. However sustainability improvements are often focused on its production (e.g., aquaculture, fishing) rather than trade. Here, we quantify the magnitude and extent of global 'redundant two-way' seafood trade-the exchange of the same quantity of the same taxonomic species between two countries-to examine its prevalence and potential implications across the seafood supply chain. We focused on wild-caught seafood trade and found that redundant two-way trade has increased by 43%, between 2000 and 2015, making up 3.2% (7.7 Mt) of global seafood trade during that period. Although most countries were involved in redundant two-way seafood trade (111 of 212 analyzed), the majority occurred between five trade partners: Canada and the United States (15%), Germany and the Netherlands (11.8%); Denmark and Sweden (10.6%); Germany and Denmark (7.1%); and France and Norway (7%). Nearly 50% of redundant trade is made up of just four species including Atlantic herring, Atlantic cod, Skipjack tuna and Atlantic mackerel. While deficiencies in global seafood trade data mask seasonal and product heterogeneity, redundant trade could have implications for meeting conservation and sustainable development goals. Future research should build upon these findings to explore specific environmental, economic, and social implications associated with redundant two-way trade to benefit producers and consumers within the seafood supply chain.

Determining baseline radiation levels in marine biota - A comparison of SE Queensland commercial species

Limited data exists on the contribution to radiological dose to members of the public from ingestion of radioactivity in seafood in the Australian diet. There is also a lack of data available to assess the radiological dose to marine fauna in Australian waters. Natural and anthropogenic radionuclides and trace metals were measured in the edible flesh of prawns to determine the radiological dose to humans. The remaining tissues were combined and analysed to enable uptake and environmental radiological doses to be assessed. Although in international studies, the edible flesh is generally measured to determine radiation dose or ingestion of trace metals, the effects of preparation and cooking techniques are rarely assessed. In this study, cooking and preparation techniques that may influence the radiological dose to humans were assessed. Eggs were also removed from a selected number of samples to assess the potential dose in sensitive developmental tissues and possible implications for environmental effects. Order of magnitude differences in 210Po activity concentrations and Cd concentrations were observed between whole animals and the edible flesh of Australian caught King (Melicertus spp.) and Tiger (Penaeus spp.) prawns, with the hepatopancreas primarily responsible for this difference. Most 210Po was unsupported by 210Pb and activity concentrations of all other radionuclides measured (137Cs, 210Pb, 226Ra, 232Th, and 238U) were very low. The major contribution to radiation dose via the ingestion pathway and to the organism itself was from 210Po. Cooking techniques that may lead to leaching of 210Po from the hepatopancreas could substantially increase the radiological dose from ingestion of this isotope. Organism dose estimates using different input assumptions in the radiological assessment tool "ERICA", including site-specific tissue activity concentrations with site- or region-specific media concentrations, were compared with ERICA default distribution coefficients (Kd) and concentration ratios.

Food for all: designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems

Food from the sea can make a larger contribution to healthy and sustainable diets, and to addressing hunger and malnutrition, through improvements in production, distribution and equitable access to wild harvest and mariculture resources and products. The supply and consumption of seafood is influenced by a range of 'drivers' including ecosystem change and ocean regulation, the influence of corporations and evolving consumer demand, as well as the growing focus on the importance of seafood for meeting nutritional needs. These drivers need to be examined in a holistic way to develop an informed understanding of the needs, potential impacts and solutions that align seafood production and consumption with relevant 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper uses an evidence-based narrative approach to examine how the anticipated global trends for seafood might be experienced by people in different social, geographical and economic situations over the next ten years. Key drivers influencing seafood within the global food system are identified and used to construct a future scenario based on our current trajectory (Business-as-usual 2030). Descriptive pathways and actions are then presented for a more sustainable future scenario that strives towards achieving the SDGs as far as technically possible (More sustainable 2030). Prioritising actions that not only sustainably produce more seafood, but consider aspects of access and utilisation, particularly for people affected by food insecurity and malnutrition, is an essential part of designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11160-021-09663-x.

Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Environment, Economy, Society, and Policy

Agri-food systems (AFS) have been central in the debate on sustainable development. Despite this growing interest in AFS, comprehensive analyses of the scholarly literature are hard to find. Therefore, the present systematic review delineated the contours of this growing research strand and analyzed how it relates to sustainability. A search performed on the Web of Science in January 2020 yielded 1389 documents, and 1289 were selected and underwent bibliometric and topical analyses. The topical analysis was informed by the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) approach of FAO and structured along four dimensions viz. environment, economy, society and culture, and policy and governance. The review shows an increasing interest in AFS with an exponential increase in publications number. However, the study field is north-biased and dominated by researchers and organizations from developed countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that while environmental aspects are sufficiently addressed, social, economic, and political ones are generally overlooked. The paper ends by providing directions for future research and listing some topics to be integrated into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary agenda addressing the multifaceted (un)sustainability of AFS. It makes the case for adopting a holistic, 4-P (planet, people, profit, policy) approach in agri-food system studies.

Food for all: designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems

Food from the sea can make a larger contribution to healthy and sustainable diets, and to addressing hunger and malnutrition, through improvements in production, distribution and equitable access to wild harvest and mariculture resources and products. The supply and consumption of seafood is influenced by a range of 'drivers' including ecosystem change and ocean regulation, the influence of corporations and evolving consumer demand, as well as the growing focus on the importance of seafood for meeting nutritional needs. These drivers need to be examined in a holistic way to develop an informed understanding of the needs, potential impacts and solutions that align seafood production and consumption with relevant 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper uses an evidence-based narrative approach to examine how the anticipated global trends for seafood might be experienced by people in different social, geographical and economic situations over the next ten years. Key drivers influencing seafood within the global food system are identified and used to construct a future scenario based on our current trajectory (Business-as-usual 2030). Descriptive pathways and actions are then presented for a more sustainable future scenario that strives towards achieving the SDGs as far as technically possible (More sustainable 2030). Prioritising actions that not only sustainably produce more seafood, but consider aspects of access and utilisation, particularly for people affected by food insecurity and malnutrition, is an essential part of designing sustainable and secure future seafood systems.

Graphic abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11160-021-09663-x.

Relevance and reliability of evidence for microplastic contamination in seafood: A critical review using Australian consumption patterns as a case study

Seafood contamination with, and human consumption of, microplastics (MPs) have recently been highlighted as an emerging concern for global food security. While there is evidence that commercial marine species are contaminated with MPs, it is still unknown if seafood can act as a vector for MP transfer to human consumers. Microplastics have been reported in the digestive tract, gills and in select internal organs of marine animals. However, many of these tissues are not typically eaten by human consumers but discarded. In this critical review, we examined the peer-reviewed literature for evidence of MP contamination in seafood, and the potential transfer to human consumers. Based on known seafood consumption patterns in a typical Australian diet, we assessed the relevance and reliability of the current body of literature to examine the prospect and risk of MP transfer. The relevance of data was considered based on the organism studied, origin of the samples, and the tissues analysed, while reliability was assessed based on procedural methodologies used to derive the data. A review of 132 studies found limited evidence of MP contamination in edible tissues from fresh fish or crustaceans. MP presence was confirmed in packaged fish, as well as in fresh and packaged bivalve molluscs. The limited number of studies satisfying the relevance and reliability criteria (n = 24) precluded a quantitative assessment of the potential risk associated with MP transfer. While consumption of packaged fish and bivalve molluscs may result in the consumption of MPs by humans, it is currently unknown whether this presents a health risk.