Healthy Oceans Research Articles

Enhancing Human Health and Wellbeing through Sustainably and Equitably Unlocking a Healthy Ocean's Potential.

A healthy ocean is essential for human health, and yet the links between the ocean and human health are often overlooked. By providing new medicines, technologies, energy, foods, recreation, and inspiration, the ocean has the potential to enhance human health and wellbeing. However, climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and inequity threaten both ocean and human health. Sustainable realisation of the ocean's health benefits will require overcoming these challenges through equitable partnerships, enforcement of laws and treaties, robust monitoring, and use of metrics that assess both the ocean's natural capital and human wellbeing. Achieving this will require an explicit focus on human rights, equity, sustainability, and social justice. In addition to highlighting the potential unique role of the healthcare sector, we offer science-based recommendations to protect both ocean health and human health, and we highlight the unique potential of the healthcare sector tolead this effort.

Application of the Ocean Health Index to assess ocean and coastal conditions of the Tokyo Metropolitan area

Ocean ecosystem services are fundamental to coastal economic development and climate regulation. The Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA) is one of the world’s most significant bay areas, with its economic development and residents relying on a healthy ocean and diverse marine ecosystem services. Post-World War II, the coastal zones of TMA have suffered from various human-induced stresses and impacts, jeopardizing the capacity of ocean ecosystem services and sustainable development. Although recent years have seen improvements in basic marine water quality, other ecosystem health issue, such as biodiversity, carbon storage, coastal protection are remain limited and require comprehensive enhancement. To better understand the current state of ocean health, promote more comprehensive ocean management decisions and plans, and support sustainable development in the region, it is essential to evaluate the ocean’s condition in the TMA and to assess future trends and risks. The Ocean Health Index (OHI) offers a comprehensive framework to evaluate global and regional ocean health conditions and their ecosystem services. This study applies the OHI to assess the ocean and coastal health of TMA, with indicators and reference points adjusted based on local conditions. From 2014 to 2019, the OHI assessment results indicate that TMA obtained an overall OHI score of 49 (out of 100), with goals ranging from 13 to 87. The environmental and social goals, such as Tourism and Recreation (87), Clean Water (67), Coastal Livelihoods and Economies (62), Sense of Place (62), and Artisanal Fishery Opportunity (51), are relatively high. In contrast, the ecological goals, such as Biodiversity (14), Carbon Storage (13), Coastal Protection (38), and Food Provision (24), are relatively low. This case study highlights strategies for improving ocean health conditions in TMA from both OHI goals and management structure perspectives. The methods and results provide a quantitative tool for regional marine and coastal management in TMA, aiding regional management organizations to establish quantifiable objectives for actions that were previously difficult to quantify. These results can indirectly promote the establishment of more comprehensive and holistic regional management organizations in TMA, which is currently fragmented, thereby effectively enhancing ocean health in TMA.

Protecting Children’s Rights to Development and Culture by Re-Imagining “Ocean Literacies”

Abstract This paper explores the relevance of existing international legal standards on children’s human rights to a healthy ocean. In particular, we reflect on the still underestimated importance of a healthy ocean for children’s human right to development and cultural rights. Focusing on environmental education, we argue that the concept of ocean literacy should rather be conceptualised as a plurality of “ocean literacies”, better to account for multiple ocean knowledges. Ocean literacies in environmental education should be re-imagined to emphasise a systems approach to the ocean, integrating aspects of environmental justice and avoiding the psychological pressure on children to be responsible for the future of the environment. The paper concludes by providing specific recommendations for contextualising and re-imagining ocean literacies in a time where there is an increased global focus on ocean literacy through the UN Ocean Decade.

A synthesis of the risks of marine light pollution across organismal and ecological scales

Abstract Light pollution is a pervasive global stressor to natural systems. However, due to the proximity of human activities along the coasts and open ocean, light is a pervasive yet commonly overlooked pollutant in many marine habitats. There is a well‐developed body of literature on the visual physiology, behaviour and ecology of many marine taxa, and a re‐evaluation of these data can help inform risks of light pollution to impact marine organisms and ecosystems. This paper identifies key knowledge gaps in the study of marine light pollution ecology and recommends research and management foci for future study. Most work on this pollutant has focused on terrestrial ecosystems and taxa, where experts have learned how anthropogenic light influences behaviour, reproduction cycles and population dynamics. However, light pollution bleeds far beyond the shores, affecting many sensitive ecosystems with light available at unnatural times with varied makeup, such as varying intensities or spectra. This review discusses the current understanding of light dynamics underwater, photoreceptive systems of marine taxa and the documented ecological impacts. This lends a critical basis of understanding for the many gaps in marine light pollution biology. For example, little is known about effects of light on broad groups of marine taxa such as cetaceans, ecosystem‐level effects, or interactive impacts of light and other anthropogenic stressors. Light is a key structuring factor of the marine environment and can therefore elicit immense downstream effects on marine organisms individually, at the population‐ or ecosystem‐level. Light pollution is an urgent concern for marine ecosystems because marine organisms have tight relationships with their natural light environment. As the world moves deeper into the Anthropocene, assessing and mitigating the risks of this pollutant to key environmental and economic marine systems is critical to maintaining a healthy ocean.

Revisiting Traditional Fishing Rights: Sustainable Fishing in the Historic and Legal Context

Poor fishing practices and overfishing are now imperiling livelihoods on small-scale fishing. Traditional fishing rights as one of the legal guarantees for small-scale artisanal fishers under SDG 14 may be abused in various maritime zones, which is precisely because such rights are not well-reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), leading to uncertainty between theories and practice. In order to better implement SDG 14 and its targets for sustainable fishing, this paper examines the practical meaning of traditional fishing rights through tracing back the origins, nature and legal elements of such fishing rights by jurisprudence and state practice, and it differentiates its distinctions between ‘historic rights’. Based on this, the paper analyzes the application of these fishing rights in different maritime zones and suggests sustainable ways of making a balance between the jurisprudence and practice for a healthy ocean.

Reflections on international ocean science and ocean governance: Can our global structures rise to the occasion?

AbstractThere is increasing awareness that the ocean touches all aspects of our lives and that a healthy ocean is central to a healthy planet and sustainable future. The ocean is a highly connected system and ocean science is characterized by voluntary international collaboration supported by an enthusiastic and engaged community. Increasingly, it is being recognized that international structures and instruments need to be stronger and more holistic than the current arrangements. This article outlines some perspectives on this, drawing on experience in ocean science and scientists at national, international and intergovernmental levels.

MLDet: Towards efficient and accurate deep learning method for Marine Litter Detection

The relentless growth of plastic manufacturing since the 1980s has resulted in significant accumulation of litter throughout the ocean. Cleaning up this litter manually poses a major challenge, highlighting the value of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with a robust vision detection algorithm. Despite prior studies, it remains challenging to employ AUVs to detect marine litter in actual maritime habitats. This paper introduces an efficient and accurate deep learning method called MLDet to cope with marine litter detection. The experimental findings show that the proposed method notably outperforms other object detectors. Furthermore, the present study comprehensively discusses the relationship between the proposed detection algorithm and recycling waste collected from marine litter. The encouraging conclusion of the study suggests that a dedicated detection algorithm is a reliable tool for automatically recognizing marine litter and sustaining a healthy ocean.

Human health depends on thriving oceans

Healthy oceans, from coastal waters to remote high seas and deep seabed areas, are integral to human health, wellbeing, and survival. Covering over 71% of the Earth's surface, the oceans serve as an essential carbon sink. 1 Fleming LE Depledge M Bouley T et al. The ocean decade—opportunities for oceans and human health programs to contribute to public health. Am J Public Health. 2021; 111: 808-811 Crossref PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar Oceans also regulate climate-associated human health risks between land and sea, ranging from direct injuries and deaths associated with extreme weather events, to negative effects on food and nutrition security, and even chronic diseases (eg, cancer) from ocean pollution. 2 Landrigan PJ Stegeman JJ Fleming LE et al. Human health and ocean pollution. Ann Glob Health. 2020; 86: 151 Crossref PubMed Scopus (148) Google Scholar Furthermore, oceans are a source of joy, recreation, spiritual and mental wellbeing, healing, and entertainment, enriching human lives beyond their basic needs. Although more is known about areas that are near the coast, it is clear that the deep sea (ie, the seabed beyond national jurisdiction) and the high seas (ie, the parts of oceans beyond national jurisdiction), comprising 64% of the surface of the ocean and nearly 95% of its volume, are equally important for human health and are increasingly affected by global environmental changes. 2 Landrigan PJ Stegeman JJ Fleming LE et al. Human health and ocean pollution. Ann Glob Health. 2020; 86: 151 Crossref PubMed Scopus (148) Google Scholar

Climate change innovative action to overcome marine pollution in Kepulauan Riau

Global Blue New Deal aims to create climate stability and ocean climate nexus, also to elaborate COP26 works remains. The most important agenda is to tackle the disinclination of ocean health action. Even though the awareness of essential meaning of healthy ocean to sustainable blue economy and human well-being. The first pillar is to preserve ocean health due to its impact on the rise of sea level and welfare of local communities by reducing land-based marine pollution. Halt and curb use of plastic nurdles, plastic bags, and micro plastics through use of bans, taxes and other disincentives. The second pillar, conduct naturally friendly solution to promote sustainable environment and resilience for climate risk by supporting global movement to secure 30% of the ocean all over the world by 2030, also leveraging the existence of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Putting coastal communities at the center of a sustainable blue economy: A review of risks, opportunities, and strategies

New approaches to ocean governance for coastal communities are needed. With few exceptions, the status quo does not meet the diverse development aspirations of coastal communities or ensure healthy oceans for current and future generations. The blue economy is expected to grow to USD2.5–3 trillion by 2030, and there is particular interest in its potential to alleviate poverty in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, and to support a blue recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper presents a selective, thematic review of the blue economy literature to examine: (i) the opportunities and risks for coastal communities, (ii) the barriers and enablers that shape community engagement, and (iii) the strategies employed by communities and supporting organizations, which can be strengthened to deliver a ‘sustainable' blue economy and improve social justice for coastal communities. Our review finds that under business-as-usual and blue growth, industrial fisheries, large-scale aquaculture, land reclamation, mining, and oil and gas raise red flags for communities and marine ecosystems. Whereas, if managed sustainably, small-scale fisheries, coastal aquaculture, seaweed farming and eco-tourism are the most likely to deliver benefits to communities. Yet, these are also the sectors most vulnerable to negative and cumulative impacts from other sectors. Based on our evaluation of enablers, barriers and strategies, the paper argues that putting coastal communities at the center of a clear vision for an inclusive Sustainable Blue Economy and co-developing a shared and accessible language for communities, practitioners and policy-makers is essential for a more equitable ocean economy, alongside mainstreaming social justice principles and integrated governance that can bridge different scales of action and opportunity.

Black Women in Ocean Science: Barriers to Advancement and Strategies to Move Forward

Less than 2% of graduate students and 1% of tenured faculty in Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences identify as Black or African-American. Discussions about diversifying ocean sciences are incomplete without acknowledging the distinctive challenges faced by Black women. We present new survey data on the dominant barriers to entry within the field, which can result from racism and discrimination, financial difficulties, and lack of accessibility. We also discuss mitigation strategies that can be employed, with the hope that the entire ocean science community can collaborate to foster a culture of inclusion. We cannot have a healthy ocean if we do not support everyone who wants to study it.

Monitoring Algal Blooms with Complementary Sensors on Multiple Spatial and Temporal Scales

Climate change, and other human-induced impacts, are severely increasing the intensity and occurrences of algal blooms in coastal regions (IPCC, 2022). Ocean warming, marine heatwaves, and eutrophication promote suitable conditions for rapid phytoplankton growth and biomass accumulation. An increase in such primary producers provides food for marine organisms, and phytoplankton play an important global role in fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide and producing much of the oxygen we breathe. But harmful algal blooms (HABs) can also form, and they may adversely affect the ecosystem by reducing oxygen availability in the water, releasing toxic substances, clogging fish gills, and diminishing biodiversity. Understanding, forecasting, and ultimately mitigating HAB events could reduce their impact on wild fish populations, help aquaculture producers avoid losses, and facilitate a healthy ocean.

Blue economy, blue finance and ocean governance for achieving sustainable development goals

AbstractThis research paper is an attempt to define and analyse the concept of the blue economy (BE) and its implications for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study covers aspects such as building a blue economy to achieve SDGs, the importance of a healthy ocean for current and future generations, maintaining the momentum to save the ocean, achievements of the United Nations (UN) conference on the Sustainable Blue Economy, and the highlights of the UN World Water Development Report 2020. This study specifically analyses the health effects and threats to biodiversity, adaptation and mitigation, improved wastewater management, prioritizing water, accessing climate funds, water and climate change, and the relationship between the blue economy and UN SDGs as well as identification of key stakeholders. This is achieved through a detailed literature review on the blue economy that identifies global organizations working on creating a blue economy, elements of the blue economy and current development efforts, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, sustainability and equity, ocean governance, international law and frameworks, and improvement in governance frameworks among other issues. The methodology used attempted to develop a macro, comprehensive, and systematic aggregate database at the country level on macro parameters, namely blue economy, blue finance, BE‐SDGs linkages, water development, marine sector, SDGs data on SDG‐14 (life underwater), SDG‐6 (access to safe drinking water and sanitation), SDG‐3 (good health and well‐being), and optimal management of water resources through scientific techniques, such as building several small reservoirs instead of mega projects, develop small catchment dams and protect wetlands, soil management, micro catchment development, recharging of underground aquifers thus reducing the need for large dams, which has encountered challenges due to data limitations. The results of this research study emphasize broader stakeholder consultations at the global level to resolve the issues relating to blue economy, blue finance, and ocean governance. The most important conclusion and policy implications of the study are that international organizations including the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank are working towards achieving the SDGs in general, and the blue economy, blue finance, and ocean governance in particular.

Strengthening Intergenerational Equity at the Ocean-Climate Nexus: Reflections on the UNCRC General Comment No.26+

The 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact brought the ocean into the international climate regime, and the 2022 Sharm el-Sheikh COP27 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has finally ushered the world into a special fund to respond to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including on the human rights of present and future generations. But much remains to be clarified about how ocean-based mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology will contribute to inter-generational equity. To shed light on these issues, this article starts from the premise that the ocean is an essential but little-understood component of the interdependency between climate change and human rights. It is followed by an exploration of the importance of a healthy ocean for children’s human rights as a way to advance inter-generational equity under the 30-year-old (1992–2022) UNFCCC through systemic interpretation. The upcoming General Comment on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change (General Comment No. 26) by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child presents an opportunity to clarify the role of existing international human rights obligations in strengthening intergenerational equity at the climate-ocean interface on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This appears vital to ensure coordination across intergovernmental bodies and national government departments to safeguard ocean-dependent children’s human rights through climate policy and action at different levels.

How Reinforcement Learning is Helping to Solve Internet-of-Underwater-Things Problems

We present a review of how reinforcement learning (RL) is helping to tackle some of the most challenging problems in the Internet-of-underwater-things (IoUTs). Scientists estimate that 50-80 percent of atmospheric oxygen comes from the ocean, implying that life on earth depends heavily on clean and healthy oceans. This huge significance of the ocean in supporting life on earth is motivating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools to create a sustainable marine ecosystem. We briefly review the RL paradigm, its categorisations and RL algorithms developed to solve important problems in IoUTs. New literature keeps emerging that show innovative applications of RL in underwater communications and networking that far outperform conventional solutions and other ML-based methods. Due to its online learning nature, RL is particularly useful for decision making in dynamic environments such as underwater where the communication channel is stochastic and rapidly varying. We explore the applications of RL in IoUTs, showing different classes of IoUTs problems and high-lighting RL algorithms that are tailored to solving them. Despite the significant progress that has made in the RL field, there are still many challenges and open research problems in the use of RL in IoUTs. We conclude the article with an outline of some of these challenges and suggest some ways forward.

Sustainable Development Goal 14 in the Western Indian Ocean: a socio-ecological approach to understanding progress

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intend to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all people in the world”1. They have become a key driver for policy and decision-making in many regions, including in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. This paper analyses national and regional progress towards achieving SDG 14 in the WIO. Progress of four of the SDG 14 targets that were due in 2020 are analysed. SDG 14 has influenced regional and national policy agendas but current tools to measure this progress fail to provide a detailed picture of achievement towards each target for countries in the WIO. The paper highlights that the region has shown limited success in achieving the targets and SDG 14 targets are unlikely to be reached by 2030. The WIO region lags behind with regard to marine conservation related targets. More than half of the countries have low to average progress on SDG 14.2 on marine areas being covered by area-based management tools. Even more countries are far from achieving the 10 % coverage of marine protected areas under SDG 14.5. The region is performing better with regards to fisheries management targets with most countries classified as making average to good progress towards SDG 14.4 on sustainable stocks and SDG 14.6 on addressing harmful subsidies and IUU fishing. The diversity of the socio-economic and governance contexts in the WIO countries contributes to different levels of progress. The fairly positive ecological state of the WIO supports progress towards SDG 14. Understanding barriers to progress is fundamental to help with the prioritisation of the actions needed to meet the SDG 14 targets by 2030. Regional actors and policy-makers will need to increase their ambitions to meet the SDG 14 targets and ensure a healthy ocean and improved prospects for the region and its citizens. To account for barriers in progress towards SDG 14, the WIO region needs appropriate reporting and monitoring mechanisms and it should follow a holistic regional approach of ocean governance integrating conservation and sustainable resource use. It needs to build capacity and knowledge sharing for implementation of SDG 14 and ocean governance at various levels. Improved implementation of SDG targets will have social, economic and environmental benefits within the region.

Microbial Diseases of Marine Organisms

Healthy oceans and marine environments provide critical life support functions upon which human health and well-being depend [...]

Mesopelagics–New gold rush or castle in the sky?

The growing world population requires large, renewable sources of nutritional food. Fish and other marine resources are nutrient dense and rich in healthy marine omega-3 lipids (EPA and DHA) beneficial to humans and animals alike. However, only about 6% of current fisheries are underexploited. Although improvements in fisheries management can increase marine production, aquaculture and untapped marine resources may contribute to a greater degree. Mesopelagic fish have increasingly gained interest as a massive unexploited marine resource. We did a literature review considering the narratives of mesopelagics (especially fish) as a new source of marine resource and compared this to similar narratives about the zooplankton redfeed (Calanus finmarchicus) - another marine resource that was considered equal in terms of potential. We found that mesopelagics have the potential to contribute to food production through usage in fish feed, but more significantly by direct human consumption. However, proper markets and demand must be present for them to make harvest economically viable. In addition, a thorough knowledge base will need to be generated to understand all the risks and make the harvest sustainable, in order to avoid adverse effects on several important species relying on mesopelagics as food. As technological advancements and ecological knowledge are increasing, with a growing focus on sustainable resources and healthy oceans as per SDG 14 and the UN Ocean Decade, time will tell whether your future diet will consist of mesopelagic fish, granted we are able to find and sustainably harvest the elusive treasure hidden in the twilight depths.

UN Ocean Conference needs transparent and science-based leadership on ocean conservation

The United Nations Ocean conference convened in June 2022. Heads of state, businesses, and civil society organizations met in Lisbon to discuss how to scale up ocean action to achieve SDG 14 goals. In the face of the existential challenges of the climate emergency and species extinction crisis, bold and decisive action on ocean conservation through a shift in the protection paradigm is needed now. Recognizing existing barriers (e.g., political, organizational, social, economic) that operate at various scales (e.g., international, regional and national) and that are precluding achieving a healthy ocean is key and has to be addressed with strong leadership and sound commitments. A roadmap with clear steps and achievements including metrics assessing protection levels, stages of establishment, management effectiveness and equity is now needed to guarantee the success of marine conservation goals. Portugal can and should help lead the way by adopting such a roadmap and approach, but post-2020 decisions need to incorporate, beyond area goals, both the quality and effectiveness of ocean protection through metrics and standards such as those provided by the MPA Guide, Green List and Blue Parks.

ADSWIM and WATERCARE Projects Meet Kids and Youth: The Challenge of Bringing the World of Research to School to Merge Research, Education and Communication

The transfer of communication and knowledge from science and research to the general public is a paramount step to raise people’s awareness about environmental issues and their negative and positive impacts on each of us. Many projects and initiatives seek to raise awareness among citizens, with particular attention to young people, about the importance of maintaining clean and healthy oceans. With this paper, we aim to present the successful communication initiatives developed during two Interreg projects, AdSWiM and WATERCARE, with schools and educational organisations on the local and national levels in Italy and Croatia. Both projects make a special effort to realize dedicated communication strategies with the objective of raising the awareness of environmental topics and issues among young people (i.e., students of different school grades) and teachers. The promotion of ocean literacy among students is crucial, as children and young people represent the future citizens and consumers who will develop attitudes and make decisions that will inevitably affect the environment.