Topic: One Health -- aquatic invasive species, diseases and food security

Introduction:

Aquaculture plays a key role in food security and poverty reduction worldwide. Several studies have shown that shifting the human diet towards increased consumption of fish and seafood could be a solution to meeting protein needs. For 2.9 billion people, fish and seafood consumption currently represents 20% of their animal protein intake. Today, aquaculture provides almost 50% of the world's fisheries resources and the sector is expected to grow by 62% by 2030. Southeast Asia is home to 90% of the world's aquaculture and over 100 million people depend on this activity.

Aquaculture, both for food and for sport, relies heavily on the use, and therefore the introduction of non-indigenous species. This is true for both marine and freshwater species, but the practice is much more widespread in the freshwater fish farming sector. However, very little light has been shed on the impact of invasive species on aquaculture production; for example, through the emerging infectious diseases they bring either directly as a vector, as a reservoir or as a facilitator through altered environmental conditions.

With this Topic issue, we aim to bring together articles that enhance our understanding of the link between invasive species, emerging infectious diseases (human and animal) and food safety in an aquatic context. Public health stakeholders need to broaden their view of health security beyond infectious diseases and recognise the crucial importance of animal health, the One Health approach, food security and invasive species in a harmonious relationship with nature.

Important deadlines:

Submission deadline: 30th June 2024

Expected time to first decision: 4 weeks after submission

Submission instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All submissions should be made via the online editorial system. If the manuscript is accepted, the article will be published open access with no fee payable by the author.

Guest Editor: