“O Mar Está para Peixes?” – an Interactive Platform for Open Source Fishery Data in Rio De Janeiro State

Despite the wide dissemination of information access, open data scarcity in fisheries science is still seen as a challenge. Thus, initiatives such as Sea Around Us and Fish Stats stand out. Particularly in developing countries, fishery data collection systems are precarious and there is a lack of national platforms to make fisheries data available. In Brazil, some states such as São Paulo and Santa Catarina have their own data repositories in web platforms, but there are limitations for dynamic queries. In addition, fisheries management based on the “Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries” (EAF) have been discussed and adopted, and environmental variables have been used as indicators to increase the robustness of fishery models. In this sense, the present work proposes a fishery data compilation platform named O mar está para peixes? (Are there fish in the sea?), which contains fishery data and fishery-related satellite remote sensing data (i.e. sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration) for the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The platform is divided in five sections: Fishery, Habitat, Map, Satellite and Download. These sections make data available for dynamic and  personalized consultations, with the option of downloading the data. A standard spreadsheet developed for users to submit their own data is  presented, with the goal of promoting participation and the collective  construction of the platform. This is a new step towards the development of  an EAF in Rio de Janeiro, which will potentially open the pathway for the  integration of public agencies, research institutions, fishing industry and artisanal fishermen

Phytoplankton composition from sPACE: Requirements, opportunities, and challenges

Ocean color satellites have provided a synoptic view of global phytoplankton for over 25 years through near surface measurements of the concentration of chlorophyll a. While remote sensing of ocean color has revolutionized our understanding of phytoplankton and their role in the oceanic and freshwater ecosystems, it is important to consider both total phytoplankton biomass and changes in phytoplankton community composition in order to fully understand the dynamics of the aquatic ecosystems. With the upcoming launch of NASA\u27s Plankton, Aerosol, Clouds, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, we will be entering into a new era of global hyperspectral data, and with it, increased capabilities to monitor phytoplankton diversity from space. In this paper, we analyze the needs of the user community, review existing approaches for detecting phytoplankton community composition in situ and from space, and highlight the benefits that the PACE mission will bring. Using this three-pronged approach, we highlight the challenges and gaps to be addressed by the community going forward, while offering a vision of what global phytoplankton community composition will look like through the “eyes” of PACE

Putting marine microbes on the map: determining the global distribution of marine picophytoplankton using a combination of satellite and field data

Picophytoplanktonic cells (0.2-2 μm) are the dominant phytoplankters in the largest marine biomes on Earth: the subtropical gyres. The overaching aim of this thesis is to develop algorithms that use remote-sensing observables to map the distribution of the smallest and most abundant member of picophytoplankton, Prochlorococcus, and assess its contribution to the marine carbon cycle. To understand how the photoacclimatory status and growth of Prochlorococcus and its sister genera Synechococcus are influenced by light and nutrients, experiments were conducted in the South Atlantic Gyre (SAG). Results from the manipulation experiments show that, in the central region of the SAG, nutrient addition can induce marked changes in the optical properties of Prochlorococcus cells when subjected to saturating light levels, leading to a decrease in cell abundance, whereas at the gyre periphery no substantive changes in cell growth or optical characteristics were observed. Since light plays a central role in shaping the distribution of cyanobacteria, an empirical algorithm based on relationships between Prochlorococcus abundance and remotely-sensed observables was developed. The outputs were then used in a modified primary production model to predict the vertical distribution of carbon fixation by Prochlorococcus. The models estimate that &amp;Tilde; 3.4 x 1027 Prochlorococcus cells in the global ocean fix 4.7 Gt C year-1. Most of the cell biomass and primary productivity is concentrated in the subtropical gyres and areas near the Equatorial Convergence, and 61&amp;percnt; of the carbon fixation occurs in the upper water column (0-45 metres), where only 43&amp;percnt; of the cells reside. However, in the gyres, carbon fixation is highest (62&amp;percnt;) in deeper layers (45-200m), and both cell abundance and carbon fixation show marked seasonal patterns. The models developed in this study provide an unprecedented view of the vertical distribution of Prochlorococcus cells and their corresponding rates of carbon fixation in the global ocean.</p

Putting marine microbes on the map: determining the global distribution of marine picophytoplankton using a combination of satellite and field data

Picophytoplanktonic cells (0.2-2 &mu;m) are the dominant phytoplankters in the largest marine biomes on Earth: the subtropical gyres. The overaching aim of this thesis is to develop algorithms that use remote-sensing observables to map the distribution of the smallest and most abundant member of picophytoplankton, Prochlorococcus, and assess its contribution to the marine carbon cycle. To understand how the photoacclimatory status and growth of Prochlorococcus and its sister genera Synechococcus are influenced by light and nutrients, experiments were conducted in the South Atlantic Gyre (SAG). Results from the manipulation experiments show that, in the central region of the SAG, nutrient addition can induce marked changes in the optical properties of Prochlorococcus cells when subjected to saturating light levels, leading to a decrease in cell abundance, whereas at the gyre periphery no substantive changes in cell growth or optical characteristics were observed. Since light plays a central role in shaping the distribution of cyanobacteria, an empirical algorithm based on relationships between Prochlorococcus abundance and remotely-sensed observables was developed. The outputs were then used in a modified primary production model to predict the vertical distribution of carbon fixation by Prochlorococcus. The models estimate that &Tilde; 3.4 x 1027 Prochlorococcus cells in the global ocean fix 4.7 Gt C year-1. Most of the cell biomass and primary productivity is concentrated in the subtropical gyres and areas near the Equatorial Convergence, and 61&percnt; of the carbon fixation occurs in the upper water column (0-45 metres), where only 43&percnt; of the cells reside. However, in the gyres, carbon fixation is highest (62&percnt;) in deeper layers (45-200m), and both cell abundance and carbon fixation show marked seasonal patterns. The models developed in this study provide an unprecedented view of the vertical distribution of Prochlorococcus cells and their corresponding rates of carbon fixation in the global ocean.</p