Abstract
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities (taste, smell, texture, appearance, ) are key characteristics of seafood when it comes to defining consumer choices. These qualities, which are determined by the biochemical properties of the seafood, can be altered by environmental conditions such as those imposed by ongoing global ocean change. However, these effects have rarely been studied despite their potential important economic and dietary implications; many human communities depend upon seafood as a primary source of nutrition and/or income from the associated seafood industry. The Northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis, makes the 3rd most valuable fishery in Eastern Canada, and figures among the most important fisheries in the North-Eastern Atlantic. This study aimed to determine the impact of combined ocean warming, acidification and hypoxia on a) muscle mineral content as proxy for nutritional quality, and b) the taste, smell, texture, and appearance as proxies for organoleptic quality of this commercially important species. These proxies were determined after an exposure of 30 days under laboratory conditions to different ocean global change scenarios of temperature (2, 6 and 10 °C), pH (7.75 and 7.4) and oxygen (100 and 35% relative to air saturation), in isolation and in combination. Shrimp survival decreased by 25% in the scenario combining the elevated temperature and low pH, and by an additional 31% when hypoxia was superimposed. Mineral contents were globally higher in shrimp exposed to the highest temperature, while organoleptic attributes were comparable across all scenarios tested. Thus, while we do not expect nutritional value and organoleptic quality of shrimp, broadly speaking, to be altered by global changes even in areas where conditions will correspond to our warmest (10 °C) and lowest pH (7.4) scenarios, the lower survival rate we report could negatively impact the viability of shrimp populations and consequently the shrimp industry. This may be particularly true for areas that are currently becoming or are expected to become hypoxic.
Highlights
Seafood is a fundamental component in human nutrition, along with local and global economies
In this study we show that exposure to ocean warming (OW) and ocean acidification (OA) combined, and even more so when these two global drivers co-occur with hypoxia, strongly reduces the survival of the Northern shrimp P. borealis, whilst it does not impact significantly its organoleptic properties
Organoleptic quality of P. borealis will likely remain unchanged according to trained panelists under future predicted global changes (GC) scenarios of OW, OA and hypoxia
Summary
Seafood is a fundamental component in human nutrition, along with local and global economies. It provides a valuable source of proteins, lipids, vitamins and essential minerals (Venugopal and Gopakumar, 2017). Between 1961 and 2016, global human consumption of seafood has annually increased by 3.2%, while in 2015 alone, about 17% of animal protein consumed worldwide came from seafood (FAO, 2018). Marine organisms are facing the simultaneous change of a number of environmental parameters, including increasing temperature and pCO2 levels, and decreasing pH and oxygen (O2) levels as a consequence of global changes (GC) (Caldeira and Wickett, 2003; Sabine et al, 2004; Gruber, 2011). Among various ocean global change drivers, ongoing ocean warming (OW) and ocean acidification (OA), alone or combined, have been shown to negatively impact the survival, development and physiology of several marine invertebrates in the future ocean, including shellfish (e.g., Small et al, 2015; Pillet et al, 2016; Arnberg et al, 2018; Dworjanyn and Byrne, 2018)
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