Aquaculture and science: A collaboration for a sustainable blue economy

The workshop was hosted by CEAZA in collaboration with CLAP, the Coastal Socio-Ecological Millennium Institute (SECOS), Universidad Santo Tomás (UST), IOC-UNESCO, H2020 FutureMares and ECLIPSE. The event brought together experts to share knowledge and strategies to address the environmental changes in Chile’s coastal upwelling systems, aiming to build adaptive capacity and foster sustainable practices by learning from the experiences of local aquaculture communities.

The workshop marked a significant step in addressing the climate change-amplified effects of El Niño and La Niña, combined with ocean acidification, warming, and deoxygenation, which are impacting oyster and scallop aquaculture in Tongoy Bay, Chile. Recognizing the urgent need for new collaborations, the participants focused on developing economically and environmentally sustainable practices in response to these changes.

This July meeting built on discussions initiated in November 2023 during the GOOD-OARS-CLAP-COPAS summer school, where local stakeholders highlighted the environmental changes in Tongoy Bay. These initial conversations set the stage for a new project designed to provide tailored scientific support to the local community.

Following this first exchange of knowledge among project collaborators, which aimed to establish conceptual and methodological foundations, a series of participatory workshops between the local aquaculture communities and scientists will take place in August and September 2024.

Most importantly, this initiative will extend beyond Chile to Mexico. The organizers, in collaboration with two UN Ocean Decade programmes— Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) and the Global Ocean Oxygen Decade (GOOD) — will share lessons learned and recommended methodologies. This effort aims to support the application of the produced outputs and further encourage the inclusion of social scientists, as well as small and large industry stakeholders, in the Ocean Decade activities in the coming years.

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About the UNESCO-IOC:

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) promotes international cooperation in marine sciences to improve management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources. The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together by coordinating programmes in capacity development, ocean observations and services, ocean science and tsunami warning. The work of the IOC contributes to the mission of UNESCO to promote the advancement of science and its applications to develop knowledge and capacity, key to economic and social progress, the basis of peace and sustainable development.

About the Ocean Decade

Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) (‘the Ocean Decade’) seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the scientific knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system, and deliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparations and implementation of the Decade.