Food security

One of the greatest challenges facing our world is how to feed an ever-increasing global population in a context of climate change, economic uncertainty and growing competition for natural resources. The sustainability of fisheries is crucial to the livelihoods, food security and nutrition of billions of people, but fish stocks are under threat due to overfishing, and many other pressures including pollution and coastal development. In order to maintain and even restore the productivity of the ocean we need to ensure cohesive fisheries management, sustainable aquaculture practices and protection of key habitats.

At PML we aim to improve the security of food resources by understanding the drivers of food-webs supporting them; by striving to understand how environmental and climate change impact these living resources and their distribution; by modelling marine productivity and ecosystems to drive fisheries models investigating different climate and management strategies; by understanding that food resource exploitation occurs within a diversity of other marine resource uses, and that managing these often conflicting interests requires an understanding the structure of their associated economy.

Aquaculture or farming of both shellfish and finfish is a huge global industry which will likely have to expand to meet future needs. Our research can help to better understand how aquaculture interacts with the changing surrounding environment and how it may be affected by climate and other human-induced changes.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is also causing a humanitarian and ecological crisis with current rates of fishing driving several species towards extinction whilst jeopardising the livelihoods of artisanal fishing communities. We are using the latest satellite tracking technology to develop robust methodologies to detect and track vessels engaged in illegal fishing and dumping activities, monitor pollution from these vessels and to develop indicators to monitor local issues under the UN Sustainable Development Goal – Life Under Water. By engaging with local communities, managers, and international policy makers, we can tailor these and other science tools to support the development of solutions underpinning food security.

Making a difference

Our work will provide the scientific background and monitoring capabilities for greater transparency and sustainable management of fisheries to help avoid the irreversible depletion of fish stocks, thus enhancing food and economic security whilst maintaining the health of our ocean.

Current research topics include:

Air-sea gas exchange Aquaculture Biodiversity Capacity development Carbon and nutrient cycles Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Earth Observation Invasive species Marine plastics Marine spatial planning Modelling the Marine Environment New technologies Ocean acidification Renewable energy Valuing the marine environment

Projects

FAO-PML collaboration
Completed

FAO-PML collaboration

Contact: Dr Jorn Bruggeman

The aim of this work is to provide estimates of total fish biomass for the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the world’s oceans in order to...

SOLSTICE-WIO

SOLSTICE-WIO: Sustainable Oceans, Livelihoods and food Security Through Increased Capacity in Ecosystem research in the Western Indian Ocean

Contact: Dr Eleni Papathanasopoulou

SOLSTICE – WIO is a four year collaborative GCRF project that aims to strengthen capacity in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region to address...

AQUAculture USEr driven operational Remote Sensing information services (AQUA-USERS)
Completed

AQUAculture USEr driven operational Remote Sensing information services (AQUA-USERS)

Contact: Dr Andrey Kurekin

With global population expansion, the demand for high-quality protein is rising dramatically, and fish farming is gaining importance to ensure food...

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Other recent news articles

News

Director of Science talks food security at New York UN meeting

PML’s Director of Science, Prof. Manuel Barange, has been invited to be an expert panellist at the 15th United Nations Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on “Oceans and the Law of the Sea” in New York, which runs from 27th to 30th May 2014. 

News

Putting fish back on the menu

A new paper featuring contributions from PML Director of Science Professor Manuel Barange outlines why fish deserve more attention in food policies in our quest to meet the nutritional needs of a growing global population.

News

Good catch for the Food & Agriculture Organization

Professor Manuel Barange, Director of Science and Deputy Chief Executive of Plymouth Marine Laboratory, is moving to a new and exciting role with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome from May.  

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Related recent publications

  1. Andrello, M; Guilhaumon, F; Albouy, C; Parravicini, V; Scholtens, J; Verley, P; Barange, M; Sumaila, UR; Manel, S; Mouillot, D. 2017 Global mismatch between fishing dependency and larval supply from marine reserves. Nature Communications, 8. 16039. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16039
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  2. Tittensor, DP; Eddy, TD; Lotze, HK; Galbraith, ED; Cheung, W; Barange, M; Blanchard, JL; Bopp, L; Bryndum-Buchholz, A; Büchner, M; Bulman, C; Carozza, DA; Christensen, V; Coll, M; Dunne, JP; Fernandes, JA; Fulton, EA; Hobday, AJ; Huber, V; Jennings, S; Jones, M; Lehodey, P; Link, JS; Mackinson, S; Maury, O; Niiranen, S; Oliveros-Ramos, R; Roy, T; Schewe, J; Shin, Y-J; Silva, T; Stock, CA; Steenbeek, J; Underwood, PJ; Volkholz, J; Watson, JR; Walker, ND. 2018 A protocol for the intercomparison of marine fishery and ecosystem models: Fish-MIP v1.0. Geoscientific Model Development, 11 (4). 1421-1442. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1421-2018
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  3. Schmidt, W; Raymond, D; Parish, D; Ashton, IG; Miller, PI; Campos, C; Shutler, JD. 2018 Design and operation of a low-cost and compact autonomous buoy system for use in coastal aquaculture and water quality monitoring. Aquaculture Engineering, 80. 28-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaeng.2017.12.002
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  4. Jones, AC; Mead, A; Kaiser, MJ; Austen, MC; Adrian, AW; Auchterlonie, NA; Black, KD; Blow, LR; Bury, C; Brown, JH; Burnell, GM; Connolly, E; Dingwall, A; Derrick, S; Eno, NC; Gautier, DJH; Green, KA; Gubbins, M; Hart, PR; Holmyard, JM; Immink, AJ; Jarrad, DL; Katoh, E; Langley, JCR; Lee, DOC; Le Vay, L; Leftwich, CP; Mitchell, M; Moore, A; Murray, AG; McLaren, EMR; Norbury, H; Parker, D; Parry, SO; Purchase, D; Rahman, A; Sanver, F; Siggs, M; Simpson, SD; Slaski, RJ; Smith, K; Syvret, MLQ; Tibbott, C; Thomas, PC; Turnbull, J; Whiteley, R; Whittles, M; Wilcockson, MJ; Wilson, J; Dicks, LV; Sutherland, WJ. 2014 Prioritization of knowledge needs for sustainable aquaculture: a national and global perspective. Fish and Fisheries, 16 (4). 668-683. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12086
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  5. Bene, C; Barange, M; Subasinghe, R; Pinstrup-Andersen, P; Merino, G; Hemre, G-I; Williams, M. 2015 Feeding 9 billion by 2050 – Putting fish back on the menu [in special issue: Feeding 9 billion: Challenges and Choices for 2050] Food Security, 7 (2). 261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-015-0427-z
    View publication

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