A hybrid interactive workshop with over 30 people, exploring “human impacts on oceans”, was held on 3 September 2024 in Aberdeen’s Anatomy Rooms by Aberdeen Climate Action and the Blueremediomics project in which colleagues from the University of Aberdeen Law School (Abbe Brown) and Chemistry Department (Marcel Jaspars) were involved.
The workshop explored public attitudes on innovative topics such as blue carbon, seaweed harvesting, marine energy and new tech in industrial fishing, particularly with a view to the “do no significant harm principle”. In this context, the ‘do no significant harm’ principle raised critical questions about the best approaches to ecosystem restoration, carbon capture, and sustainable solutions, prompting participants to consider the ethical boundaries of chemical, biological and other interventions.
Scientific Presentations
The workshop started with two presentations by Abbe Brown (Professor in Intellectual Property at the University of Aberdeen) and Eric McVicar (fisher, mechanical engineer, lecturer, fishing researcher and government adviser), followed by an open discussion with the audience.
Abbe’s presentation focused on Blue Carbon and Aquaculture with a view to new research and technology being developed in these areas. Current blue carbon research explores steps that can be taken to enhance carbon capture by manipulating ocean chemistry such as through adding Olivine (magnesium iron silicate); manipulating ocean biology (by putting iron into the ocean to stimulate algae blooms and sequester carbon); and geoengineering and synthetic biology (to deliver new creatures and new ways of taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the ocean). However, there is uncertainty about the consequences of these possible new scientific paths for the environment, as highlighted by Abbe.
Following this, Abbe introduced the ongoing aquaculture work as part of the BlueRemediomics project, which addresses issues such as waste and escape, fish welfare and disease, sustainability and efficiency in the context of finding improved solutions to human food security and increasing the access to protein for humans. She addressed some of the current issues related to aquaculture systems, for instance relating to carbon flows in aquaculture systems compared to natural systems.
Following Abbe’s presentation, Eric explored changes in fishing practices in Scotland and in the Arctic over the last 50 years (from when he had a trawler license) and the impact of technology. Eric noted that in recent years, there has been a move away from traditional technologies. Traditional practices were very labour intensive, which led to a movement of using “non-selective trawling”. Although this led to more fish being caught, it also increased levels of bycatch, juvenile stock and unwanted fish species that are simply thrown back into the water. Eric noted that there are other, more sustainable technological solutions to this.
Discussion
The presentations were followed by an open discussion, where concerns were shared about ocean pollution, untreated sewage and increased acidification of the ocean. It was agreed that humans often take actions on land without understanding the scale and impact on our oceans, destroying the environment on a daily basis. An argument was made that more human efforts should first focus on restoring our ecosystems such as seagrass beds and focus on current methods of carbon reduction, before moving on to any new approaches. There were calls for caution about using new technology to produce more food, as this can impact wild salmon stocks. It was suggested that there is a need to bring aquaculture onshore and that some new practices are being developed to regenerate Loch Maree.
BlueRemediomics Relevance
The Blueremediomics project explores Harnessing the Marine Microbiome for Novel Sustainable Biogenics and Ecosystem Services and has discovery platform, product and environment and policy and engagement strands. Through the scientific research there is a focus on “doing no significant harm”. The project also engages directly with how one can – or should – assess and ensure that scientific solutions do no significant harm, drawing in particular from ongoing research regarding marine microbiome manipulation to engage with blue carbon and sustainable approaches to aquaculture. This was the third project Town Hall event, and a valuable opportunity to engage with a wide group of different members of the public at an event which was open to everyone.
Aberdeen Climate Action
Aberdeen Climate Action is 10 year old and active community group which explores climate in the widest sense. This was Aberdeen Climate Action’s 80th climate cafe.