Aquaculture is developing rapidly at a global scale and sustainable practices are an essential part of meeting the protein requirements of the ballooning human population. Locating aquaculture offshore is one strategy that may help address some issues related to near shore development. However, offshore production is nascent and distinctions between the types of aquatic farming may not be fully understood by the public important for collaboration, research, and development. Here we evaluate and report, to our knowledge, the first multinational quantification of the relative sentiments and opinions of the public around distinct forms of aquaculture. Using thousands of newspaper headlines (N-total 1,596) from developed (no. countries = 26) and developing (42) nations, ranging over periods of 1984 to 2015, we found an expanding positive trend of general 'aquaculture' coverage, while 'marine' and 'offshore' appeared more negative. Overall, developing regions published proportionally more positive than negative headlines than developed countries. As case studies, government collected public comments (Ntotal = 1,585) from the United States of America (USA) and New Zealand mirrored the media sentiments; offshore perception being particularly negative in the USA. We also found public sentiment may be influenced by local environmental disasters not directly related to aquaculture (e.g., oil spills). Both countries voiced concern over environmental impacts, but the concerns tended to be more generalized, rather than targeted issues. Two factors that could be inhibiting informed discussion and decisions about offshore aquaculture are lack of applicable knowledge and actual local development issues. Better communication and investigation of the real versus perceived impacts of aquaculture could aid in clarifying the debate about aquaculture, and help support future sustainable growth.
Meseck, S. L.; Alix, J. H.; Swiney, K. M.; Long, W. C.; Wikfors, G. H.; Foy, R. J.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
We used flow cytometry to determine if there would be a difference in hematology, selected immune functions, and hemocyte pH (pH(i)), under two different, future ocean acidification scenarios (pH = 7.50, 7.80) compared to current conditions (pH = 8.0...
The sustainability of future water resources is of paramount importance and is affected by many factors, including population, wealth and climate. Inherent in current methods to estimate these factors in the future is the uncertainty of their predict...
Describing and monitoring biodiversity comprise integral parts of ecosystem management. Recent research coupling metabarcoding and environmental DNA (eDNA) demonstrate that these methods can serve as important tools for surveying biodiversity, while ...
Natural habitats have the ability to protect coastal communities against the impacts of waves and storms, yet it is unclear how different habitats complement each other to reduce those impacts. Here, we investigate the individual and combined coastal...
Weirathmueller, M. J.; Stafford, K. M.; Wilcock, W. S. D.; Hilmo, R. S.; Dziak, R. P.; Trehu, A. M.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(10): e0186127.
Description:
In order to study the long-term stability of fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) singing behavior, the frequency and inter-pulse interval of fin whale 20 Hz vocalizations were observed over 10 years from 2003-2013 from bottom mounted hydrophones and se...
Routson, C. C.; Overpeck, J. T.; Woodhouse, C. A.; Kenney, W. F.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
Two sediment records of dust deposition from Fish Lake, in southern Colorado, offer a new perspective on southwest United States (Southwest) aridity and dustiness over the last similar to 3000 years. Micro scanning X-ray fluorescence and grain size a...
Sistla, S. A.; Roddy, A. B.; Williams, N. E.; Kramer, D. B.; Stevens, K.; Allison, S. D.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
Tropical forest conversion to pasture, which drives greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss, remains a pressing socio-ecological challenge. This problem has spurred increased interest in the potential of small-scale agrofore...
Starting in 2006, a new source of intense salt dust storms developed in Mar Chiquita (Cordoba, Argentina), the largest saline lake in South America. Storms originate from vast mudflats left by a 30-year expansion-retreat cycle of the lake due to chan...
Lester, L. A.; Ramirez, M. G.; Kneidel, A. H.; Heckscher, C. M.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
Barrier islands on the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico are an internationally important coastal resource. Each spring hundreds of thousands of Nearctic-Neotropical songbirds crossing the Gulf of Mexico during spring migration use these islands beca...
Weijerman, M.; Fulton, E. A.; Kaplan, I. C.; Gorton, R.; Leemans, R.; Mooij, W. M.; Brainard, R. E.;
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(12): e0144165.
Description:
Millions of people rely on the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs, but sustaining these benefits requires an understanding of how reefs and their biotic communities are affected by local human-induced disturbances and global climate change. E...
Vargas-Angel, B.; Richards, C. L.; Vroom, P. S.; Price, N. N.; Schils, T.; Young, C. W.; Smith, J.; Johnson, M. D.; Brainard, R. E.;
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(12): e0142196.
Description:
This paper presents a comprehensive quantitative baseline assessment of in situ net calcium carbonate accretion rates (g CaCO3 cm(-2) yr(-1)) of early successional recruitment communities on Calcification Accretion Unit (CAU) plates deployed on coral...
Williams, I. D.; White, D. J.; Sparks, R. T.; Lino, K. C.; Zamzow, J. P.; Kelly, E. L. A.; Ramey, H. L.;
Published Date:
2016
Source:
PLOS ONE
Description:
In response to concerns about declining coral cover and recurring macroalgal blooms, in 2009 the State of Hawaii established the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA). Within the KHFMA, herbivorous fishes and sea urchins are protected,...
United States, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service,. Center for Satellite Applications and Research (U.S.). United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,. Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.). National Marine Protected Areas Center (U.S.).
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(11): e0140828.
Description:
Incorporating warming disturbances into the design of marine protected areas (MPAs) is fundamental to developing appropriate conservation actions that confer coral reef resilience. We propose an MPA design approach that includes spatially-and tempora...
Ransome, E.; Geller, J. B.; Timmers, M.; Leray, M.; Mahardini, A.; Sembiring, A.; Collins, A. G.; Meyer, C. P.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(4): e0175066.
Description:
The advancement of metabarcoding techniques, declining costs of high-throughput sequencing and development of systematic sampling devices, such as autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS), have provided the means to gather a vast amount of divers...
Luo, J. G.; Ault, J. S.; Shay, L. K.; Hoolihan, J. P.; Prince, E. D.; Brown, C. A.; Rooker, J. R.;
Published Date:
2015
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(10): e0141101.
Description:
For centuries, the mechanisms surrounding spatially complex animal migrations have intrigued scientists and the public. We present a new methodology using ocean heat content (OHC), a habitat metric that is normally a fundamental part of hurricane int...
Becker, S. L.; Brainard, R. E.; Van Houtan, K. S.;
Corporate Authors:
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service,. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (U.S.),. Office of Habitat Conservation (U.S.). United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,. Coral Reef Conservation Program (U.S.). National Marine Protected Areas Center (U.S.).
Published Date:
2019
Source:
PLOS ONE. 2019; 14(4): e0214972.
Description:
Sea turtle populations are often assessed at the regional to sub-basin scale from discrete indices of nesting abundance. While this may be practical and sometimes effective, widespread in-water surveys may enhance assessments by including additional ...