“The WAVES Consortium: Working towards adaptive and versatile environmental sustainability in mollusc aquaculture in Southeast Asia (7329)”

The WAVES Consortium: Working towards adaptive and versatile environmental sustainability in mollusc aquaculture in Southeast Asia

Introduction: Mollusc aquaculture produces 20 million tonnes live biomass annually, with Asia hosting >95% of activity and bivalves dominating production. Non-fed species, such as oysters, mussels and benthic clams, offer a ‘low-carbon’ solution to high-quality nutritional security whilst conferring environmental benefits for biodiversity and seawater nutrient status. Molluscs are inexpensive and nutritionally rich, and sector expansion can enhance food security in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, mollusc output as a proportion of aquatic animal aquaculture has declined to 20.3% from 30.2% since 2000, with producers facing many challenges including climate change and disease. Questions remain as to whether mollusc culture can develop and grow into a sustainable and resilient industry by surmounting seed supply constraints and changes in production resulting from climate change. The WAVES Consortium is a UKRI-funded project (2025-28) aiming to address sector challenges holistically to enhance system resilience and promote sustainable sector growth.

Methodology: A systems-thinking approach with stakeholders at its heart is core to achieving our ambition. We are: conducting systems mapping of current mollusc production in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia to understand activities, livelihoods and climate change threats; creating a systems dynamic model to forecast plausible futures for mollusc aquaculture; generating data to support species diversification and hatchery development; and developing context-sensitive roadmaps for sustainable and resilient sector expansion.

Results: Our international, multidisciplinary consortium held its first stakeholder workshop focused on clam production in Hanoi, Vietnam. A systems map was co-produced that provided a visual representation of sector activities and threats, including those driven by climate change such as incidences of disease. The map was interrogated by participants to propose interventions that would mitigate against the identified challenges. Supplementing this new map with data derived from stakeholder interviews, surveys and peer-reviewed and other literature provides the platform for our next step, which is the creation of a systems dynamic model of the sector.

Conclusions: An holistic approach, working closely with stakeholders, is key to identifying pathways towards a resilient and sustainable expansion of the mollusc sector in Southeast Asia. Development of non-fed aquaculture, through improved productivity and enhanced natural resource use, is a key strategy to tackling climate change and marine environment degradation, whilst supporting livelihoods and providing increased food and nutritional security.

1. DESBOIS, ANDREW, INSTITUTE OF AQUACULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING, Presenter