The aquaculture supply chain in the time of covid-19 pandemic: Vulnerability, resilience, solutions and priorities at the global scale

• Main Authors: Mangano, M. C., Berlino, M., Corbari, L., Milisenda, G., Lucchese, M., Terzo, S., Bosch-Belmar, M., Azaza, M. S., Babarro, J. M. F., Bakiu, R., Broitman, B. R., Buschmann, A. H., Christofoletti, R., Dong, Y., Glamuzina, B., Luthman, O., Makridis, P., Nogueira, A. J. A., Palomo, M. G., Dineshram, R., Sanchez-Jerez, P., Sevgili, H., Troell, M., AbouelFadl, K. Y., Azra, M. N., Britz, P., Carrington, E., Celic, I, Choi, F., Qin, C., Dionisio, M. A., Dobroslavic, T., Galli, P., Giannetto, D., Grabowski, J. H., Helmuth, B., Lebata-Ramos, M. J. H., Lim, P. T., Liu, Y., Llorens, S. M., Mirto, S., Pecarevic, M., Pita, C., Ragg, N., Ravagnan, E., Saidi, D., Schultz, K., Shaltout, M., Tan, S. H., Thiyagarajan, V, Sara, G.
• Format: Article
• Published: Elsevier Science Ltd 2022
• Subjects: GE Environmental Sciences
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/42107/

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had severe, unpredictable and synchronous impacts on all levels of perishable food supply chains (PFSC), across multiple sectors and spatial scales. Aquaculture plays a vital and rapidly expanding role in food security, in some cases overtaking wild caught fisheries in the production of high quality animal protein in this PFSC. We performed a rapid global assessment to evaluate the effects of the COVID19 pandemic and related emerging control measures on the aquaculture supply chain. Socio-economic effects of the pandemic were analysed by surveying the perceptions of stakeholders, who were asked to describe potential supply-side disruption, vulnerabilities and resilience patterns along the production pipeline with four main supply chain components: a) hatchery, b) production/processing, c) distribution/logistics and d) market. We also assessed different farming strategies, comparing land-vs. sea-based systems; extensive vs. intensive methods; and with and without integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, IMTA. In addition to evaluating levels and sources of economic distress, interviewees were asked to identify mitigation solutions adopted at local / internal (i.e., farm site) scales, and to express their preference on national / external scale mitigation measures among a set of a priori options. Survey responses identified the potential causes of disruption, ripple effects, sources of food insecurity, and socio-economic conflicts. They also pointed to various levels of mitigation strategies. The collated evidence represents a first baseline useful to address future disaster-driven responses, to reinforce the resilience of the sector and to facilitate the design reconstruction plans and mitigation measures, such as financial aid strategies.