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The COVID-19 global pandemic has had severe, unpredictable and synchronous impacts on all levels of perishable food supply chains (PFSC), across multiple sectors and spatial scales. Aquaculture plays a vital and rapidly expanding role in food security, in some cases overtaking wild caught fisheries in the production of high-quality animal protein in this PFSC. We performed a rapid global assessment to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related emerging control measures on the aquaculture supply chain. Socio-economic effects of the pandemic were analysed by surveying the perceptions of stakeholders, who were asked to describe potential supply-side disruption, vulnerabilities and resilience patterns along the production pipeline with four main supply chain components: a) hatchery, b) production/processing, c) distribution/logistics and d) market. We also assessed different farming strategies, comparing land- vs. sea-based systems; extensive vs. intensive methods; and with and without integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, IMTA. In addition to evaluating levels and sources of economic distress, interviewees were asked to identify mitigation solutions adopted at local / internal (i.e., farm-site) scales, and to express their preference on national / external scale mitigation measures among a set of a priori options. Survey responses identified the potential causes of disruption, ripple effects, sources of food insecurity, and socio-economic conflicts. They also pointed to various levels of mitigation strategies. The collated evidence represents a first baseline useful to address future disaster-driven responses, to reinforce the resilience of the sector and to facilitate the design reconstruction plans and mitigation measures, such as financial aid strategies. • Rapid global assessment of COVID-19 control measures effects. • Stakeholders perceptions survey on socio-economic effects of the pandemic. • Aquaculture supply chain: hatchery, production/processing, distribution, marketing. • Supply-side disruption, vulnerabilities and resilience patterns were highlighted. • Adopted and preferred mitigation solutions at internal and external scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated anthropogenic p CO 2 can delay growth and impair otolith structure and function in the larvae of some fishes. These effects may concurrently alter the larva’s proteome expression pattern. To test this hypothesis, Atlantic herring larvae were exposed to ambient (370 μatm) and elevated (1800 μatm) p CO 2 for one-month. The proteome structure of the larvae was examined using a 2-DE and mass spectrometry. The length of herring larvae was marginally less in the elevated p CO 2 treatment compared to the control. The proteome structure was also different between the control and treatment, but only slightly: the expression of a small number of proteins was altered by a factor of less than 2-fold at elevated p CO 2 . This comparative proteome analysis suggests that the proteome of herring larvae is resilient to elevated p CO 2 . These observations suggest that herring larvae can cope with levels of CO 2 projected for near future without significant proteome-wide changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Most calcifying organisms show depressed metabolic, growth and calcification rates as symptoms to high-CO2 due to ocean acidification (OA) process. Analysis of the global expression pattern of proteins (proteome analysis) represents a powerful tool to examine these physiological symptoms at molecular level, but its applications are inadequate. To address this knowledge gap, 2-DE coupled with mass spectrophotometer was used to compare the global protein expression pattern of oyster larvae exposed to ambient and to high-CO2. Exposure to OA resulted in marked reduction of global protein expression with a decrease or loss of 71 proteins (18% of the expressed proteins in control), indicating a wide-spread depression of metabolic genes expression in larvae reared under OA. This is, to our knowledge, the first proteome analysis that provides insights into the link between physiological suppression and protein down-regulation under OA in oyster larvae. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]