EXPLORING CLIMATE-RESILIENT ADAPTATIONS OF FARMED FISH FOR CLIMATE-SMART AQUACULTURE

Exploring climate-resilient adaptations in farmed fish for climate-smart aquaculture is one strategy for helping to improve food security for the world's growing population under changing environmental conditions. People worldwide rely on fish as a primary source of protein and income, supporting a rapidly growing aquaculture industry that provides roughly half of the global fish supply. In an era of global climate change and high demand for animal protein, increasing the production of fish through sustainable and environmentally sensitive practices is critical. The development of climate-smart aquaculture can provide responsible management strategies to the aquaculture industry. One aspect of this effort involves optimizing the culture of fish species that are adaptable with characteristics such as a tolerance for hyposaline conditions, wide temperature ranges, and the ability to breathe air.  Incorporating the culture of air-breathing species like the Pangasius catfish into climate-smart aquaculture not only provides the potential to grow local economies, it also addresses some of the concerns about environmental threats and takes advantage of the evolutionary ecology of these species in their natural environments. However, it is also necessary to fully understand the positive and negative tradeoffs associated with increasing fish production to ensure that practices remain environmentally and socially responsible.