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

本项目获国家科学基金/国家自然科学基金中国(国家自然科学基金委员会)环境可持续性挑战联合研究项目资助。了解相互关联的食物、能源和水(少数)系统之间的联系，对于发展全球可持续的海产品生产至关重要。鱼和贝类是优质蛋白质和不饱和脂肪的重要来源。近岸水产养殖业提供了全球海产品产量的50%以上。然而，在过去的几十年里，由于能源生产和气候变化，水污染严重影响了海鲜物种和这些物种的生产。在这项研究中，来自德克萨斯农工大学科珀斯克里斯蒂分校、路易斯安那州立大学和位于中国的大连海洋大学的研究人员将确定牡蛎生产系统暴露在石油产品污染下的潜在风险，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。为了预测石油产品如何影响墨西哥湾和渤海湾近岸栖息地牡蛎的发育和生长，将开发一个包含模拟环境压力的海洋模型，中国。本次调查产生的数据可以支持《食品安全现代化法案》中对消耗性海产品进行风险排名的目标。本研究旨在解决国家科学基金/国家自然科学基金中国的环境可持续性挑战联合研究中提出的两个主题：1)几个系统的定量和计算建模；2)关键系统问题的创新人类和技术解决方案。该项目以牡蛎作为水产养殖的模式物种，评估原油化合物在应对环境压力时的毒性变化。随着海岸线石油工业活动的增加，牡蛎中石油污染物的积累成为人们对人类健康的担忧。这个项目研究的地点，美国的GOM和中国的BHB，都有一个共同的特点，即强劲的海鲜收获和蓬勃发展的石油生产行业。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几个网络。这种网络的多样性预计将通过本研究中开发的计算建模方法来探索。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物种。此外，这项关于原油对海洋的影响的调查还可能影响到其他海洋污染物，如杀虫剂和药品，这些污染物也已成为陆上/近海水产养殖中令人关切的问题。研究成果将有助于1)更好地了解全球环境变化下石油产品的毒理变化；2)石油产品的改性对水产养殖物种健康的影响；3)识别环境压力修饰的成岩产品及其对牡蛎的毒性，作为陆上/近海水产养殖和石油生产管理的参考；以及4)预测石油生产对全球海洋环境和世界水产养殖与气候变化的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，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.