Both climate change and ocean acidification are going to present challenges for the mariculture industry. Even if we were to immediately cease carbon dioxide production, the time lag between alteration of carbon dioxide concentrations and climatic response is not expected to be seen for some 1,000 years after emissions stop. It is thought it will take even longer for alterations to the ocean’s surface water pH to occur.

Avoidance is not an option. Whilst the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification to marine organisms is still an area of research, there are some areas in which aquaculture can look to adapt to the changing ocean. Here are just a few examples...

This article was written for (and appears in full) on The Fish Site.

Image Credit: Norsk Havbrukssenter/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)