title: A quantitative metric to identify critical elements within seafood supply networks.
abstract: A theoretical basis is required for comparing key features and critical elements in wild fisheries and aquaculture supply chains under a changing climate. Here we develop a new quantitative metric that is analogous to indices used to analyse food-webs and identify key species. The Supply Chain Index (SCI) identifies critical elements as those elements with large throughput rates, as well as greater connectivity. The sum of the scores for a supply chain provides a single metric that roughly captures both the resilience and connectedness of a supply chain. Standardised scores can facilitate cross-comparisons both under current conditions as well as under a changing climate. Identification of key elements along the supply chain may assist in informing adaptation strategies to reduce anticipated future risks posed by climate change. The SCI also provides information on the relative stability of different supply chains based on whether there is a fairly even spread in the individual scores of the top few key elements, compared with a more critical dependence on a few key individual supply chain elements. We use as a case study the Australian southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii fishery, which is challenged by a number of climate change drivers such as impacts on recruitment and growth due to changes in large-scale and local oceanographic features. The SCI identifies airports, processors and Chinese consumers as the key elements in the lobster supply chain that merit attention to enhance stability and potentially enable growth. We also apply the index to an additional four real-world Australian commercial fishery and two aquaculture industry supply chains to highlight the utility of a systematic method for describing supply chains. Overall, our simple methodological approach to empirically-based supply chain research provides an objective method for comparing the resilience of supply chains and highlighting components that may be critical.
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Éva E
authors.initials: ÉE
authors.lastname: Plagányi
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van Putten
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Thébaud
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Alistair J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hobday
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Innes
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Lilly
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lim-Camacho
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Norman-López
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Rodrigo H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Bustamante
authors.affiliation: University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farmery
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Aysha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.affiliation: University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frusher
authors.affiliation: University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Bridget
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.affiliation: University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Gretta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pecl
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pascoe
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schrobback
authors.affiliation: Climate Adaptation Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017747:Seafood / Q000600:supply & distribution*