According to the objectives of Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability's Blue Food Provision section, our aim is to contribute to addressing the rising challenges created on marine resources due to global change, unsustainable practices, regulatory barriers, and other constraints. We focus on existing and emerging knowledge, technologies and tools to build capacity and maximize the contribution of marine food systems to food security (i.e., fisheries and aquaculture), nutrition and affordable healthy diets, and social equality, ensuring the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
All seafarers wishing to work on a ship must undergo a medical examination prior to embarkation, according to the Maritime Labour Convention, (MLC,2006), and the Standards of Training, Certfication, and Watchkeeping (STCW), in compliance with STCW Regulation I/9 and Section A-I/9. In Spain, this focuses mainly on physical tests of the individual and not so much on his or her mental health. This paper shows the results of a survey on "stress and fatigue in maritime shipboard work". Despite having suffered from both stress and fatigue in the last campaign on board, 49.79% of the respondents acknowledge that they have never been diagnosed with stress, and 52.04% reveal that they have not been diagnosed with fatigue. On the other hand, 55.50% of the participants in this consultation consider it necessary to diagnose stress in the medical examination and 61.40% believe that tests relating to the diagnosis of fatigue are necessary in these examinations. In view of these data, the competent authorities, as well as the different contracting companies, are urged to promote both prevention and mitigation of the possible consequences of suffering from both stress and fatigue in order to avoid unintended consequences such as maritime accidents as a result of stressed and/or fatigued crews, i.e. to include tests on the crew member's mental health before, during and after embarkation in medical examinations, as well as protocols for action by the companies in terms of training and information on these two problems.
A few years ago, we experienced, worldwide, a pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, which had various effects, both physically, emotionally and mentally. During the pandemic, various measures were established to reduce the high contagion among people caused by the virus, restricting contact between people and their activity. Fishing was declared an essential activity and, therefore, could fully develop its commercial activity. In this work we propose to analyze the effects that carrying out fishing activities may have had on maritime accidents in a context marked by uncertainty, the decrease in certain activities, and fear, emphasized by an extreme volume of information. and great media coverage. Under pre-pandemic conditions, the majority of serious maritime accidents in Spain were associated with fishing vessels, and we look here to see if there is an effect of the pandemic restrictions on the number and typology of maritime accidents.
Marine harmful algal blooms (HABs), caused by various aquatic microalgae, pose significant risks to ecosystems, some socio-economic activities and human health. Traditionally managed as a public health issue through reactive control measures such as beach closures, seafood trade bans or closure of mollusc production areas, the multifaceted linkages of HABs with environmental and socio-economic factors require more comprehensive ecosystem-based management approach tools to support policies. This study promotes a coordinated understanding and implementation of HAB assessment and management under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), targeting the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) in European marine waters. We introduce two novel tools: GES4HABs (GES for HABs) decision tree, and MAMBO (environMental mAtrix for the Management of BlOoms), a decision support matrix. These tools aim to streamline HABs reporting and prioritize resource allocation and management interventions. The GES4HABs decision tree defines a sequence of decision steps to identify HAB management strategies according to their state (evaluated against predefined baselines) and causes (anthropic or natural). MAMBO is proposed to address different HABs and their interaction with human and environmental pressures. The matrix utilizes two axes: natural trophic status and level of human influence, capturing major aspects such as nutrient supply. While acknowledging the limitations of this simplified framework, MAMBO categorizes marine regions into quadrants of varying management viability. Regions with high human influence and eutrophic conditions are identified as most suitable for effective management intervention, whereas regions with minimal or mixed human influence are deemed less amenable to active management. In addition, we explore and describe various indicators, monitoring methods and initiatives that may be relevant to support assessments of HAB status and associated pressures and impacts in the MSFD reporting. Finally, we provide some recommendations to promote the consideration of HABs in ecosystem-based management strategies, intensify efforts for harmonizing and defining best practices of analysis, monitoring and assessment methodologies, and foster international and cross-sectoral coordination to optimize resources, efforts and roles.
Maurolicus muelleri is a significant component of the marine ecosystem and has the potential to be a valuable fishery resource. However, in the Bay of Biscay, its primary biological traits remain unclear. This study presents data on the length distribution, age, growth, maturity ogive, spawning season, batch fecundity, and sex ratio for Maurolicus muelleri captured in the Bay of Biscay. The results showed that in spring, the adult spawners (ages of 1 and 2) were dominant in the catches, while in September, immature juveniles (age of 0) born in spring were mostly found. Using standard lengths as a basis, 50% of the fish were mature at 34.1 mm (both sexes combined), and the sex ratio, male to female, was 0.44:0.56. The proportion of females increased with length, and a 1:1 sex ratio was predicted at a standard length of 41.5 mm. The spawning season was allocated to at least between March and September, with a likely peak in May. The batch fecundity ranged from 114 to 919 oocytes/female, and increased with the weight and length of females. The results allowed us to interpret a life history strategy for this species, i.e., a high fecundity for females, which mostly participate in one or two reproductive seasons. Therefore, any possible exploitation of age 0 fish prior to spawning could lead to a decrease in the population from which recovery could be slow.
