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产品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。近岸水产养殖提供了全球50%以上的海产品产量。然而，在过去几十年中，海产品物种及其生产受到能源生产和气候变化造成的水污染的严重影响。在这项研究中，来自德克萨斯A M大学科珀斯克里斯蒂分校，路易斯安那州立大学和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的潜在风险以及紫外线辐射，海洋盐度波动和海洋酸化等不利环境因素。将开发一个包含模拟环境应力的海洋模型，以预测石油产品如何影响墨西哥湾（GoM）和中国渤海湾（BhB）近岸栖息地牡蛎的发育和生长。 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）FEW系统的定量和计算建模; 2）创新的人力和技术解决方案，以解决关键的FEW系统问题。该项目使用牡蛎作为模式水产养殖物种，以评估原油化合物对环境压力的毒性变化。随着沿着石油工业活动的增加，牡蛎中石油污染物的积累成为人类健康的问题。 本项目将研究的地点，即美国的墨西哥湾和中国的孟加拉湾，具有共同的特点，即强劲的海产捕捞与蓬勃的石油生产行业。然而，这些海洋环境因其地理位置而存在明显差异。因此，这两个独特的系统代表了多样化的FEW网络。这种多样性的网络，预计将探讨在这项研究中开发的计算建模方法。所采用的策略和方法可以进一步扩展到其他海水养殖物种。此外，对原油对海洋影响的调查可能会转化为其他海洋污染物，如杀虫剂和药品，这些污染物也已成为陆上/近海水产养殖的关切问题。研究结果将提供1）更好地了解全球环境变化下石油产品的毒理学变化; 2）石油产品的改性对水产养殖物种健康的影响; 3）鉴定环境胁迫改性的石油产品及其对牡蛎的毒性，为陆上/近海水产养殖和石油生产的管理提供参考; 4）预测石油生产对全球海洋环境和世界水产养殖业的影响以及气候变化。该奖项反映了NSF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.