Sizing blue carbon risks and benefits from bivalve aquaculture

Blue carbon ecosystems cover a small ocean area but are critically important for their role in carbon sequestration and storage, and their location, primarily in the coastal zone, often puts them at risk due to their use for human activities. Bivalve aquaculture, which can have both positive and negative effects on ecosystem functioning, is expanding its footprint in coastal environments, creating increased opportunities for interaction with BCEs. Here, we estimate both the current and future overlap of bivalve aquaculture and BCEs, finding significant areas of interaction, particularly in regions, such as Asia, that have high concentrations of bivalve aquaculture. We estimate this area of overlap could encompass 41,188 bivalve farms, and stores approximately 12.12 million Mg C and sequesters 147,456 Mg C yr ^− 1 . This presents both risks and opportunities for conservation and highlights the need for further research and strategic coastal management.