The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Galapagos Islands' seafood system from consumers' perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic's early stages severely impacted global fisheries, particularly areas heavily reliant on imported food and tourism like the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. To contain the spread of the virus, a full lockdown was implemented. However, the collapse of the tourism industry precipitated the worst economic crisis in the history of this multiple-use marine protected area. This paper examines the impact of the pandemic's early stages on consumption patterns and seafood security in the Galapagos from consumers' perspective, drawing on online surveys conducted during the lockdown. Our findings revealed pre-existing seafood insecurity across the archipelago, further exacerbated by the pandemic on the least-populated island. Nevertheless, the seafood system displayed moderated resilience to the pandemic's socioeconomic disruptions. A variety of adaptive responses were adopted by Galapagos residents to cope with the lockdown. Consumers modified their seafood consumption habits, while fishers adapted their harvesting and marketing strategies. Such adaptive responses were shaped by the unique socioeconomic characteristics of each inhabited island and the ability of seafood suppliers to shift from a tourism- and export-oriented to a resident- and domestic-oriented market. This transition has created novel opportunities to foster a systemic transformation of the Galapagos seafood system to enhance its resilience against future crises caused by new pandemics, climate change, or other natural and anthropogenic drivers of change.

Analysis of metals and metalloid in commercial fish species from the Galapagos Marine Reserve: Toxicological and nutritional assessment

Aquatic pollution derived from metal presence in the Galapagos Islands could affect biodiversity and human health. This research provide a baseline on food safety in commercial fish species of the Galapagos Islands. We sampled muscle tissue of pelagic (Acanthocybium solandri) and demersal (Caulolatilus affinis, Pontinus clemensi, Hyporthodus mystacinus, and Paralabrax albomaculatus) species. Metal and metalloid concentrations per species were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Spectrometry (ICP-OES). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regulation none of the studied species should be ingested; and according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) regulation, all the studied species were above the Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC) for Cd. According to EFSA, C. affinis should not be commercialized. Finally, A. solandri, P. clemensi and H. mystacinus do not represent a human health risk since its Margen of Safety (MoS) < 1 for people of up to 100 kg of body weight.

Fishing during the "new normality": social and economic changes in Galapagos small-scale fisheries due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has profoundly affected human activities around the globe, and the Galapagos Islands are no exception. The impacts on this archipelago include the impairment of tourism and the loss of linkages with the Ecuadorian mainland, which has greatly impacted the local economy. The collapse of the local economy jeopardized livelihoods and food security, given that many impacts affected the food supply chain. During the crisis, the artisanal fishers of the Galapagos showed a high capacity to adapt to the diminishing demand for fish caused by the drastic drop in tourism. We observed that fishers developed strategies and initiatives by shifting roles, from being mainly tourism-oriented providers to becoming local-household food suppliers. This new role of fishers has triggered an important shift in the perception of fishers and fisheries in Galapagos by the local community. The community shifted from perceiving fisheries as a sector opposed to conservation and in conflict with the tourism sector to perceiving fisheries as the protagonist sector, which was securing fresh, high-quality protein for the human community. This study explores the socio-economic impacts and adaptations of COVID-19 on Galapagos' artisanal fisheries based on a mixed methods approach, including the analysis of fisheries datasets, interviews, surveys, and participant observation conducted during and after the lockdown. We illustrate the adaptive mechanisms developed by the sector and explore the changes, including societal perceptions regarding small-scale fisheries in the Galapagos. The research proposes strategies to enhance the Galapagos' economic recovery based on behaviors and traits shown by fishers which are considered potential assets to build-up resilience.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40152-022-00268-z.

Metal and metalloids concentration in Galapagos fish liver and gonad tissues

The Galapagos Islands are one of the best-preserved archipelagos in the world. We sampled individuals of six demersal and three pelagic species. The metal concentration of liver and gonad tissues were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Spectrometry. Findings suggest none of the pelagic species showed metallic concentrations that could pose a risk to their health or reproductive capacity. S. violacea and P. clemensi Zn levels were higher in liver than in gonads, indicating that these species could be in their reproduction period. Zn risk toxicity for the study species is negligible. High concentrations of Cd were found in the liver of C. princeps, C. affinis and P. albomaculatus which could cause morphological and physiological alterations. We hypothesize that the high metal concentrations found in the demersal species could come from the volcanism of the islands, since no major sources of anthropogenic metal contamination can be found in the archipelago.

Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness.

Metals in commercial fish in the Galapagos Marine Reserve: Contribution to food security and toxic risk assessment

Metal pollution in the marine environment can damage places with exceptional biodiversity such as the Galapagos Islands. For this reason, it is important to evaluate the toxic risk from metals derived from fish consumption and to perform a nutritional assessment. We sampled 20 individuals of demersal (Caulolatilus princeps and Mycteroperca olfax) and pelagic (Thunnus albacares and Seriolella violacea) species. The levels of the toxic elements (Al, B, Ba, Cd, Ni, Pb and Sr), and the macroelements, microelements and trace elements (Ca, Cr, Fe, K, Li, Mn, Mo, Mg, Na, V and Zn) of species muscle tissue were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Demersal species have higher concentrations of Cr, K, Mg and Mo; while pelagic species have higher levels of Zn. M. olfax could potentially cause Cd toxicity so it is recommended not to ingest more than 86 and 73 g of this species (i.e. roughly, one serving) per week for men and women, respectively. None of the species could be marketed in Europe and the USA due to Cd level exceed the allowed limits by EFSA and FAO. Furthermore, the dietary intake of C. princeps is recommended due to its high concentration of Ca, Na, K, Mg and Cr, while T. albacares is recommended for people with Zn deficiency. However, due to the Cd level in C. princeps it is not recommended to ingest more than five servings per week. We attribute the source of metals in the studied fish from the volcanic origin of the islands rather than from human pollution. This is the first study that thoroughly estimate concentration of metals in commercial fish species and its contribution to food security in the Galapagos.