IHCantabria will assess the risk of climate change for the development of marine aquaculture along the Spanish coastline

Start of the AcuAdapt project, developed through the Pleamar Programme, and co-financed by the
European Union through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund

 

The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria), through its Foundation (FIHAC), has initiated the project AcuAdapt – Adaptation Strategies and Climate Risk Assessment in Spanish Marine Aquaculture, within the framework of the Pleamar Programme of the Biodiversity Foundation, of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, co-financed by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (FEMPA).

The project aims to diagnose and assess the current and future climate risk of Spanish marine aquaculture in coastal areas, estuaries and estuaries, integrating environmental and socioeconomic variables under different climate change scenarios. In a context in which the increase in water temperature, changes in waves or salinity variability may affect both farmed species and infrastructures and operations, AcuAdapt seeks to provide a solid scientific basis to anticipate impacts and strengthen the resilience of the sector.

To this end, the project will apply a methodological approach based on the IPCC climate risk assessment framework, which integrates threat, exposure and vulnerability, together with the Aquaculture Suitability Index developed in previous IHCantabria works, co-financed in previous calls of the PLEAMAR Program (ATLAS, ATLAS-PRO and ACUFLOT projects). The analysis will combine historical data with future climate projections, considering medium and long term time horizons (2040-2060 and 2080-2100). This approach will allow the identification of significant changes in the suitability for cultivation and risk levels for different species and areas of the Spanish coast. In addition, the project will incorporate a preliminary socioeconomic diagnosis to assess the adaptive capacity of coastal communities and the aquaculture sector itself, thus integrating the territorial and human dimension of climate risk.

The results of the project will be translated into thematic cartography and GIS layers compatible with planning and decision support tools, facilitating their use by public administrations and sector agents. In this way, AcuAdapt will contribute to strengthen the integration of climate risk in the Maritime Spatial Management Plans (POEM) and, above all, will provide the scientific-technical information that supports the implementation of the measure A06.L6.M03 of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change 2021-30 (PNACC), promoting a more resilient maritime planning based on scientific evidence.

The project will also have a specific web space on the official website of the Pleamar Program(https://www.programapleamar.es/proyectos/acuadapt-estrategias-de-adaptacion-y-evaluacion-del-riesgo-climatico-en-la-acuicultura), where progress and results will be updated, as well as a space for exchange and participation in the REECEA platform (Spanish Network of Knowledge Spaces for the Blue Economy). These channels will allow the sharing of information, promote dialogue with the sector and facilitate the transfer of knowledge to administrations, professionals and coastal communities.

With this project, IHCantabria consolidates its trajectory in the development of scientific tools oriented to the sustainable planning of the maritime space and the strengthening of the blue economy, giving continuity to previous initiatives in the field of aquaculture and adaptation to climate change.