Aquaculture: meeting the threats of extreme weather & climate change
According to the FAO, global aquaculture production reached a record high of 114.5 million tonnes in live weight in 2018, with a total farmgate sale value of USD263.6 billion. However, this important industry is wide open to the growing impacts of extreme weather & climate change.
The issues this webinar will cover include:
- Emerging climate-related threats for the aquaculture sector: including raised sea temperatures, with implications for cold water fish like salmon and cod; increased risk of harmful algal blooms and reduced oxygen levels; increased frequency and severity of storms; flooding and/or drought for inland farms.
- Possible mitigation strategies including: relocation of sites; strengthening standards for cages and moorings; better real-time monitoring of marine conditions; relocation further offshore or to land-based RAS (recirculating aquaculture systems) facilities.
- The role the aquaculture sector can play in combating climate change. e.g. aiming for 'net zero' in the production cycle; switching from diesel to electric/hybrid power for vessels and farm sites; using renewable energy or heat from other industries to power RAS sites.
- The opportunities for innovative new and existing businesses to develop solutions to meet the challenges facing aquaculture from extreme weather & climate change.
Chair & Panellists:
Robert Outram
Editor of Fish Farmer Magazine
Rob is an experienced journalist and qualified accountant. Prior to editing Fish Farmer, he edited the award-winning CA Magazine, the membership publication of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He is based in Edinburgh.
Fish Farmer Magazine has been serving the aquaculture industry for more than 40 years. Based in the UK, it has a worldwide distribution and brings up to date news to its readers via its dedicated website, www.fishfarmermagazine.com
Anne Anderson
Head of Sustainability & Development, Scottish Sea Farms
Anne’s career started as a student Environmental Health Officer with Renfrew District Council, working once qualified with Hamilton District Council. She moved to SEPA in 1996, specialising in compliance, regulation and pollution control, and working her way up to Chief Officer of Compliance & Beyond. In 2018, Anne left public sector for private, joining the SSPO as Sustainability Director where she initiated and led the introduction of the sector-wide Scottish Salmon Sustainability Charter. In March 2021 she took on the new role of Head of Sustainability & Development with Scottish Sea Farms, one of Scotland's leading producers of premium farmed salmon.
Dan Fairweather
Executive Director, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Gallagher
Aquaculture insurance veteran Daniel Fairweather is Executive Director, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries with insurance company Gallagher. He is also a member of the Gallagher UK ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) Committee. Previously, Daniel spent almost eight years as divisional director for livestock, aquaculture and fisheries at London-based Willis Towers Watson, before which he was an aquaculture underwriter at the Global Aquaculture Insurance Consortium and an aquaculture underwriter with Royal Sun Alliance. He is a Trustee of The Shark Trust, a UK registered charity working to advance the worldwide conservation of sharks.
Dr. Lynne Falconer
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling
Lynne has over 10 years’ research experience in aquaculture and the environment. Her research focuses on aquaculture planning, environmental interactions, and how climate change will impact fish and shellfish production. She is particularly interested in how data and models can be used to support decision-making within the aquaculture sector. Lynne has worked on a range of projects throughout the world and her research covers both freshwater and marine environments.
Jonathan LaRiviere
Chief Executive of Scoot Science
Jonathan LaRiviere is Chief Executive of Scoot Science, an ocean analytics and forecasting business based in Santa Cruz, California, which aims to help fish farmers protect assets, operate sustainably, and increase profits by enabling a more complete assessment of local ocean conditions. Scoot’s dashboard integrates in-pen sensors with external data sources to provide real-time information and forecasting for conditions in the marine environment. Jonathan co-founded Scoot in 2017 and was previously a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) and a lecturer and adjunct professor at Santa Clara University. His research on reconstructing past ocean temperatures, CO2 levels and climate conditions to understand how the oceans and earth systems respond to climate change has been published in Nature, Nature Geoscience, Science, and Geophysical Research Letters, among other magazines. He holds a PhD in Ocean Sciences from UCSC.
