Holistic carrying capacity for salmon aquaculture: The implication of social values

Abstract

The increasing need to consider multiple pressures and take a more holistic approach to management of aquaculture has prompted the development of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture (EAA). Carrying capacity (CC) has been identified to support more sustainable aquaculture and inform holistic assessment of aquaculture across multiple management goals and priorities. Yet, how to integrate components holistically, i.e., how a holistic CC approach can be defined, measured, and used in policy contexts, is not fully understood. Therefore, the overall goal of this thesis was to investigate carrying capacity to support holistic assessment of salmon aquaculture in the context of an EAA. This thesis first identifies the opportunities and challenges for operationalizing carrying capacity to support more holistic management, building on a comprehensive literature review (Chapter 2) and consensus (Delphi) with international experts (Chapter 3) in CC and aquaculture. This thesis presents a research agenda to address these gaps (Chapter 2) and presents some general guidelines and recommendations to inform a holistic assessment of aquaculture (Chapter 3). In addition, this thesis also aims to close the gap in understanding social carrying capacity by investigating relevant factors for understanding social indicators and thresholds for aquaculture, focusing on salmon aquaculture in Nova Scotia. Through quantitative (Chapter 4), and qualitative (Chapter 5 and 6) perception research, this thesis identifies a suite of individual, contextual, and perceptual factors influencing social attitudes towards aquaculture. This thesis highlights that developing holistic assessments of aquaculture carrying capacity continues to be complex. The challenges and opportunities identified here present a potential role for holistic carrying capacity as an approach to planning and decision-making within an EAA. The insights, recommendations, and findings from this work advances the development of a process for holistic carrying capacity assessment and begin to close the gap on social carrying capacity based on social acceptance, values, and integration of trust and legitimacy. Finally, this thesis offers a way forward for holistic carrying capacity by outlining a series of interlinked lenses that places social values as integral to identifying social, production, physical and ecological limits.