Collaborative: INFEWS: U.S.-China: Synergistic Effects of Petroleum Production and Ocean Environmental Changes on Oyster Health

本项目通过“国家自然科学基金(NSF) /国家自然科学基金（NSFC）环境可持续性挑战联合研究”的机会获得资助。了解相互关联的食物、能源和水（FEW）系统之间的联系对于全球可持续海鲜生产的发展至关重要。鱼类和贝类是优质蛋白质和不饱和脂肪的重要来源。近岸水产养殖占全球海产品产量的50%以上。然而，在过去的几十年里，由于能源生产和气候变化，海产品物种和这些物种的生产受到了水污染的严重影响。在这项研究中，来自德克萨斯州农工大学-科珀斯克里斯蒂分校、路易斯安那州立大学和中国大连海洋大学的研究人员将确定牡蛎生产系统暴露于石油产品污染以及紫外线辐射、海洋盐度波动和海洋酸化等不利环境因素的潜在风险。将开发一个包含模拟环境压力的海洋模型，以预测石油产品如何影响墨西哥湾（GoM）和渤海湾（BhB）近岸栖息地牡蛎的发育和生长。这项调查产生的数据可以支持《食品安全现代化法案》对食用海产品进行风险排名的目标。本研究旨在解决国家自然科学基金/国家自然科学基金“环境可持续性挑战联合研究”中提出的两个主题；1)少数系统的定量和计算建模；2)关键少数系统问题的创新人力和技术解决方案。本项目以牡蛎为模型水产养殖物种，评估原油化合物在环境胁迫下的毒性变化。随着沿海地区石油工业活动的增加，石油污染物在牡蛎中的积累已成为人们关注的健康问题。本项目研究的两个地点分别是美国的GoM和中国的BhB，这两个地区都有一个共同的特点，即强劲的海产品采收和蓬勃的石油生产工业。然而，由于地理位置的不同，这些海洋环境有明显的差异。因此，这两个独特的系统代表了多样化的FEW网络。这种网络的多样性有望通过本研究中开发的计算建模方法进行探索。所采用的策略和方法可以进一步推广到其他海洋水产养殖品种。此外，这项关于原油对海洋影响的调查可以转化为其他海洋污染物，如农药和药品，这些也已成为陆上/海上水产养殖的关注问题。研究结果将有助于1)更好地了解全球环境变化下石油产品的毒理学变化；2)石油产品改性对水产养殖物种健康的影响；3)鉴定环境胁迫改性的产岩产品及其对牡蛎的毒性，为岸上/海上水产养殖和石油生产管理提供参考；4)预测气候变化下石油生产对全球海洋环境和世界水产养殖的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project was awarded through the "National Science Foundation (NSF) / National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Joint Research on Environmental Sustainability Challenges" opportunity. Understanding the connections between interrelated food, energy, and water (FEW) systems is essential for the development of sustainable worldwide seafood production. Fish and shellfish serve as an important source of high-quality protein and non-saturated fat. Near-shore aquaculture supplies over 50% of global seafood production. However, over the past decades, seafood species and the production of these species have been severely affected by water contamination as a result of energy production and climate change. In this study, investigators from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Louisiana State University, and Dalian Ocean University in China will identify potential risks of oyster production systems exposed to the contamination of petroleum products and the adverse environmental factors of UV radiation, ocean salinity fluctuation, and ocean acidification. An ocean model containing simulated environmental stresses will be developed to predict how petroleum products impact the development and growth of oysters in near-shore habitats in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and in Bohai Bay (BhB), China. Data generated from this investigation could support the Food Safety Modernization Act goals of risk-ranking consumable seafood.This study aims to address the two themes proposed in the National Science Foundation/National Natural Science Foundation of China Joint Research on Environmental Sustainability Challenges; 1) quantitative and computational modeling of a FEW system and 2) innovative human and technological solutions to critical FEW systems problems. The project uses the oyster as a model aquaculture species to assess the toxicity changes of crude oil compounds in response to environmental stresses. With the increasing activities in the petroleum industry along coastal lines, the accumulation of oil pollutants in oysters becomes a concern for human health. The locations to be studied in this project, the GoM in the US and the BhB in China, share the common characteristics of robust seafood harvesting in conjunction with a vigorous petroleum production industry. However, these marine environments have distinct differences due to their geographic locations. Hence, the two unique systems represent diversified FEW networks. This diversity of the networks is expected to be explored by the computational modeling approach developed in this study. The strategies and methods employed can be further extended to other marine aquaculture species. Moreover, this investigation on the marine impact of crude oil can translate to other marine contaminants such as pesticides and pharmaceutical products, which have also become of concern in onshore/offshore aquaculture. Research results will provide 1) a better understanding of the toxicological alterations of petroleum products under global environmental change; 2) the impacts of the modification in petroleum products on the health of aquaculture species; 3) identification of environmental stress modified petrogenic products and their toxicities to oysters that should serve as references for the management of onshore/offshore aquaculture and oil production; and 4) prediction of impacts of oil production on global ocean environments and world aquaculture concurrent with climate change.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.