Publication: Understanding the Role of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Carbon Sequestration: White Paper
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2024-07-26
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2024-07-26
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This white paper Aprovides the current state of scientific understanding of the field and suggests next steps forward in terms of how modeling can contribute to filling this gap. The report is structured to support the future development or enhancement of models, featuring a map of the key stocks and flows, an analysis of how fish transform and ‘produce’ carbon, an exploration of the carbon biochemical transformations in the marine environment, and an examination of physical transport within the marine ecosystem. Additionally, it includes dedicated sections on the implications of sediment interactions with mobile demersal fishing gears for carbon sequestration, the significance of marine macroalgae-kelp ecosystems in the biological carbon pump, and noteworthy policy initiatives related to marine carbon sequestration. The research conducted here identified general gaps, such as the need to better characterize how different fish contribute to and consume the various carbon flows identified in the marine realm, or the need to better characterize the interrelation between trawling activities and sedimentary ecosystems. Specific difficulties have been identified arising from the fact that most fishing activities take place on the marine shelf, where key physicochemical and biological processes are often more complex than in the open ocean where carbon flows are better understood, leading to a higher level of complexity in evaluating carbon sequestration times in coastal areas. This white paper concludes with a summary how existing models could be enhanced to overcome some of the identified knowledge limitations. To accomplish this, the development of coupled food-web models with carbon sequestration models is proposed, aiming to attain a more realistic understanding of the implications of fishing activities for carbon sequestration. In the final section, this vision is elaborated on with recommendations for next steps.
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“World Bank. 2024. Understanding the Role of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Carbon Sequestration: White Paper. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41959 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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