Bloom or Bust: Retrospective Analysis of the Giant Jellyfish, \u3ci\u3eNemopilema nomurai\u3c/i\u3e (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae), Ecology in the East Asian Marginal Seas

The Giant Jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai, is a large-bodied bloom-forming jellyfish that occurs in the semi-enclosed basins of the East Asian Marginal Seas. N. nomurai has bloomed more frequently in the past 20 years than in any period previously recorded. In Japan, recent N. nomurai blooms were responsible for millions of dollars in lost revenue and equipment damage to commercial fisheries alone. This study statistically analyzed 21 environmental factors in connection with N. nomurai occurrence (using occurrence as a proxy for blooms). Eight factors resulted in a statistically significant or marginally significant (p ≤ 0.10), linear or non-linear relationship with jellyfish occurrence. Significant linear factors were jellyfish aquaculture, kelp aquaculture, benthic structures, Pacific saury fisheries and shellfish fisheries. Significant non-linear factors were chub mackerel, jellyfish, Ohkotsk mackerel fisheries. Jellyfish aquaculture and jellyfish fisheries target Rhopilema esculentum, a very similar species to N. nomurai, and the results of the analysis show that the two species are intertwined ecologically. One of the factors with a significant relationship, jellyfish aquaculture, matched the expected trend (positive linear correlation). Three non-linear significant relationships resulted in a partial confirmation of the expected trend. The results and lack of expected response is likely at least partially due to limitations of the N. nomurai data. The jellyfish dataset was left skewed, and when summarized by year (average occurrences/year), was reduced to nine data points. Analysis of more jellyfish occurrence data, along with continued exploration of the statistical relationships with aquaculture, fishing, and coastal development, is recommended

Effect of Pyriproxyfen, a Malaria Vector Larvicide, on the Growth and Mortality of Vannamei Shrimp

Anopheles mosquito shared a breeding site with the vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Anopheles mosquito larvae commonly live in both stagnant fresh and brackish water. The potential breeding habitat of Anopheles mosquito larvae may be rice fields, pools or ponds, swamps, ditches, and slow-current streams. One of the effective strategies to control malaria is to apply chemical insecticides. Pyriproxifen is a larvicide that contains juvenile hormone-like compounds. Juvenile hormone-like compounds can affect mosquito morphogenesis, characterized by the failure of the larvae to develop into pupae. With a completely randomized design, the shrimp fry was divided into 4 groups,  6 repetitions, 20 individuals each. Shrimp fry in each experimental unit was placed and maintained in plastic jars containing 2.5 L of brackish water. The results showed that the insect growth regulator (IGR) with the active ingredient pyriproxyfen at various concentrations had no significant effect on the growth, mortality, and survival of vannamei shrimp fry.  It can be concluded therefore that pyriproxifen larvicide was safe to be used for controlling malaria mosquito vectors in hatcheries and breeding ponds of vannamei shrimp

Towards Environmental Sustainability in Marine Finfish Aquaculture

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production sectors and has great potential for food security and livelihoods. However, it generates concerning consequences for the environment, including chemical and biological pollution, disease outbreaks, unsustainable feeds and competition for coastal space. Recent investigations are focusing on sustainable techniques (e.g., polyculture, offshore facilities) to improve the relationship between the industry, environment and society. This review provides an overview of the main factors of ecological concern within marine finfish aquaculture, their interactions with the environment, and highlights sustainable alternatives that are currently in use or development. Adequate environmental monitoring and location of farms, the reduction and exploitation of wastes and chemicals being used is crucial to ensure the growth and continuity of aquaculture production

Coming Stakes in the Ocean: Food Production, Shipping and Trade, Tourism, Ecosystem-biodiversity, New Technologies and Climate Change Challenges in Bangladesh

Blue economy is an emerging concept in all over the world where Bangladesh is not in exception. The blue economy of Bangladesh is subject to multiple interlinked activities. Among the major activities, food production, shipping and trade, tourism, ecosystem-biodiversity, new technologies and climate change challenges are the most promising sectors which are discussed in this chapter to project the present and future potential, constrains, ways to overcome in the context of the blue economy of Bangladesh following various published literatures. The review has revealed that Bangladesh has enormous resources which have great potential to uplift the existing economy, improving livelihoods, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. However, there are lot of constrains which hinder to get the ultimate fruit from these potentialities. The major constrains include lack of policy, institutional or organizational structure and coordination, data or information, knowledge in innovating and diversifying marine products and services, marketing strategies, continuous scientific research, skilled manpower with motivation and dedication, public awareness, maritime security and concern in marine and coastal environment. Initiations to overcome these constrains with long and short term strategic plans and properly implementing the strategic decisions will bring the state more productive and could be a model country with blue economy approach

Sustainable marine ecosystems: deep learning for water quality assessment and forecasting

An appropriate management of the available resources within oceans and coastal regions is vital to guarantee their sustainable development and preservation, where water quality is a key element. Leveraging on a combination of cross-disciplinary technologies including Remote Sensing (RS), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, cloud computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is essential to attain this aim. In this paper, we review methodologies and technologies for water quality assessment that contribute to a sustainable management of marine environments. Specifically, we focus on Deep Leaning (DL) strategies for water quality estimation and forecasting. The analyzed literature is classified depending on the type of task, scenario and architecture. Moreover, several applications including coastal management and aquaculture are surveyed. Finally, we discuss open issues still to be addressed and potential research lines where transfer learning, knowledge fusion, reinforcement learning, edge computing and decision-making policies are expected to be the main involved agents.Postprint (published version

Atlas of Ocean Wealth

The Atlas of Ocean Wealth is the largest collection to date of information about the economic, social and cultural values of coastal and marine habitats from all over the world. It is a synthesis of innovative science, led by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with many partners around the world. Through these efforts, they've gathered vast new datasets from both traditional and less likely sources.The work includes more than 35 novel and critically important maps that show how nature's value to people varies widely from place to place. They also illustrate nature's potential. These maps show that one can accurately quantify the value of marine resources. Further, by enumerating such values, one can encourage their protection or enhancement for the benefit of people all around the world. In summary, it clearly articulates not just that we need nature, but how much we need it, and where

Evaluation of the recreational marron fishery against environmental change and human interaction: Final FRDC Report – Project No. 2003/027

The distribution of marron in the southwest of Australia has seen many changes since European settlement. Reconstructions of their range from historical records suggested that marron inhabited the waters between the Harvey River and Denmark River. Due to translocation, their range has expanded as far north as the Hutt River and as far east as Esperance. Although at present marron still exist in all the original rivers within the southwest, their distribution within these rivers has contracted. Poor water quality, salinity, low rainfall and environmental degradation in the upper and lower reaches have restricted marron populations