Persistent gender bias in marine science and conservation calls for action to achieve equity

The increasing consideration of gender balance in conservation science and practice has been reflected in the setting of global commitments. Yet, women remain under-represented in science and conservation decision-making. We compiled and analyzed data on the representation of women in hiring, publishing, funding, and leadership positions in European Union marine sciences and conservation. To explore scientists' perceptions of gender imbalance in marine sciences and conservation more broadly, we conducted a global survey and analyzed 764 questionnaires from 42 countries. Participants were also asked to identify measures that promote gender equity. We found a consistent pattern of women being under-representated across institutions and nations characterized by a relatively balanced representation of men and women in early career stages and a growing gap in later stages, with women occupying only 13% to 24% of senior positions. The same pattern was found in publishing, funding, and leadership of research institutes. Survey results demonstrate that most marine scientists are aware of the general and persistent gender bias, and perceive that it may compromise our ability to effectively solve conservation problems. Measures that increase fairness in evaluations (e.g. for hiring) and that support work-life balance ranked high, whereas gender-oriented measures, such as gender-specific scholarships, received less support. Our findings suggest that mechanisms promoting a fairer share of family responsibilities and transparent processes in hiring and evaluation are the most promising path to a more balanced participation of women in scientific leadership and conservation decision-making. Such measures may benefit not only women but diversity more generally

A review of the combined effects of climate change and other local human stressors on the marine environment

Climate change (CC) is a key, global driver of change of marine ecosystems. At local and regional scales, other local human stressors (LS) can interact with CC and modify its effects on marine ecosystems. Understanding the response of the marine environment to the combined effects of CC and LS is crucial to inform marine ecosystem-based management and planning, yet our knowledge of the potential effects of such interactions is fragmented. At a global scale, we explored how cumulative effect assessments (CEAs) have addressed CC in the marine realm and discuss progress and shortcomings of current approaches. For this we conducted a systematic review on how CEAs investigated at different levels of biological organization ecological responses, functional aspects, and the combined effect of CC and HS. Globally, the effects of 52 LS and of 27 CC-related stressors on the marine environment have been studied in combination, such as industrial fisheries with change in temperature, or sea level rise with artisanal fisheries, marine litter, change in sediment load and introduced alien species. CC generally intensified the effects of LS at species level. At trophic groups and ecosystem levels, the effects of CC either intensified or mitigated the effects of other HS depending on the trophic groups or the environmental conditions involved, thus suggesting that the combined effects of CC and LS are context-dependent and vary among and within ecosystems. Our results highlight that large-scale assessments on the spatial interaction and combined effects of CC and LS remain limited. More importantly, our results strengthen the urgent need of CEAs to capture local-scale effects of stressors that can exacerbate climate-induced changes. Ultimately, this will allow identifying management measures that aid counteracting CC effects at relevant scales

The Status of Coastal Benthic Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea: Evidence From Ecological Indicators

The Mediterranean Sea is subject to multiple human pressures increasingly threatening its unique biodiversity. Spatially explicit information on the ecological status of marine ecosystems is therefore key to an effective maritime spatial planning and management, and to help the achievement of environmental targets. Here, we summarized scientific data on the ecological status of a selection of marine ecosystems based on a set of ecological indicators in more than 700 sites of the Mediterranean Sea. For Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds, rocky intertidal fringe, and coastal soft bottoms, more than 70% of investigated sites exhibited good to high ecological conditions. In contrast, about two-thirds of sites for subtidal rocky reefs were classified to be in moderate to bad conditions, stressing the need for prioritizing conservation initiatives on these productive and diverse environments. Very little quantitative information was available for the southern Mediterranean Sea, thus monitoring programs and assessments in this area are essential for a representative assessment of the health of marine coastal ecosystems in the whole basin. This overview represents a first step to implement a baseline that, through georeferenced data on ecological status, could help identifying information gaps, directing future research priorities, and supporting improvements to spatial models of expected cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems

Spearfishing Regulation Benefits Artisanal Fisheries: The ReGS Indicator and Its Application to a Multiple-Use Mediterranean Marine Protected Area

The development of fishing efficiency coupled with an increase of fishing effort led to the overexploitation of numerous natural marine resources. In addition to this commercial pressure, the impact of recreational activities on fish assemblages remains barely known. Here we examined the impact of spearfishing limitation on resources in a marine protected area (MPA) and the benefit it provides for the local artisanal fishery through the use of a novel indicator. We analysed trends in the fish assemblage composition using artisanal fisheries data collected in the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve (BSNR), a Mediterranean MPA where the spearfishing activity has been forbidden over 15% of its area. Fish species were pooled into three response groups according to their target level by spearfishing. We developed the new flexible ReGS indicator reflecting shifts in species assemblages according to the relative abundance of each response group facing external pressure. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) increased by ca. 60% in the BSNR between 2000 and 2007, while the MPA was established in 1999. The gain of CPUE strongly depended on the considered response group: for the highly targeted group, the CPUE doubled while the CPUE of the untargeted group increased by only 15.5%. The ReGS value significantly increased from 0.31 to 0.45 (on a scale between 0 and 1) in the general perimeter of this MPA while it has reached a threshold of 0.43, considered as a reference point, in the area protected from spearfishing since 1982. Our results demonstrated that limiting recreational fishing by appropriate zoning in multiple-use MPAs represents a real benefit for artisanal fisheries. More generally we showed how our new indicator may reveal a wide range of impacts on coastal ecosystems such as global change or habitat degradation

The nature and extent of evidence on methodologies for monitoring and evaluating marine spatial management measures in the UK and similar coastal waters : a systematic map

Background: Anthropogenic degradation of marine ecosystems is widely accepted as a major social-ecological problem. The growing urgency to manage marine ecosystems more effectively has led to increasing application of spatial management measures (marine protected areas [MPAs], sectoral [e.g. fishery] closures and marine spatial planning [marine plans]). Understanding the methodologies used to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures against social, economic, and ecological outcomes is key for designing effective monitoring and evaluation programmes. Methods: We used a pre-defined and tested search string focusing on intervention and outcome terms to search for relevant studies across four bibliographic databases, Google Scholar, 39 organisational websites, and one specialist data repository. Searches were conducted in English and restricted to the period 2009 to 2019 to align with current UK marine policy contexts. Relevant studies were restricted to UK-relevant coastal countries, as identified by key stakeholders. Search results were screened for relevance against pre-defined eligibility criteria first at title and abstract level, and then at full text. Articles assessed as not relevant at full text were recorded with reasons for exclusion. Two systematic map databases of meta-data and coded data from relevant primary and secondary studies, respectively, were produced. Review findings: Over 19,500 search results were identified, resulting in 391 relevant primary articles, 33 secondary articles and 49 tertiary reviews. Relevant primary articles evaluated spatial management measures across a total of 22 social, economic and ecological outcomes; only 2.8% considered all three disciplines, with most focused exclusively on ecological (67.8%) or social (13.3%) evaluations. Secondary articles predominately focused on ecological evaluations (75.8%). The majority of the primary and secondary evidence base aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MPAs (85.7% and 90.9% respectively), followed by fisheries closures (12.5%; 3.0%) with only 1.8% of primary, and 6.1% of secondary, articles focused on marine plans or on MPAs and fisheries closures combined. Most evaluations reported within primary articles were conducted for a single site (60.4%) or multiple individual sites (32.5%), with few evaluating networks of sites (6.9%). Secondary articles mostly evaluated multiple individual sites (93.9%). Most (70.3%) primary articles conducted principal evaluations, i.e. basic description of effects; 29.4% explored causation; and 0.3% undertook benefit evaluations. Secondary articles predominately explored causation (66.7%) with the remainder conducting principal evaluations. Australia (27.4%), the USA (18.4%) and the UK (11.3%) were most frequently studied by primary articles, with secondary articles reporting mostly global (66.7%) or European (18.2%) syntheses. Conclusions: The systematic map reveals substantial bodies of evidence relating to methods of evaluating MPAs against ecological outcomes. However, key knowledge gaps include evaluation across social and economic outcomes and of overall merit and/or worth (benefit evaluation), as well as of: marine plans; networks of sites; real-time, temporary or seasonal closures; spatial management within offshore waters, and lagoon or estuary environments. Although the evidence base has grown over the past two decades, information to develop comprehensive evaluation frameworks remains insufficient. Greater understanding on how to evaluate the effectiveness of spatial management measures is required to support improved management of global ocean resources and spaces

Workshop on Cumulative Effects Assessment Approaches in Management (WKCEAM)

The Workshop on Cumulative Effects Assessment Approaches in Management (WKCEAM), convened by Vanessa Stelzenmüller, Roland Cormier, and Gerjan Piet, at ICES headquarters, Copenhagen, Denmark, 26–27 February 2019. There were 17 participants from Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, including par-ticipants from ICES Secretariat. Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) approaches are considered as key to sound policymaking and planning in governance and management. Their actual implementation in marine planning and management processes is yet to be seen. Cumulative effects are the result of multiple activ-ities that exert pressures on ecosystem components and their functions. The meeting focused discussions of the differences between CEA approaches in governance, marine planning and regulatory processes with particular attention to the scientific information needed of such pro-cesses. Presentation and breakout group discussions were used to examine the differences in these processes to understand ways to improve the usability and uptake of CEA and to identify science needs. The report is structured along the terms of reference that shaped the agenda. The first day was dedicated to the relevance of CEAs in environmental policies, marine planning and regulatory processes while the second day outlined the scientific and data challenges to operationalize CEAs in such processes. Based on the findings, WKCEAM recommends the creation of a Working Group on Cumulative Effects Assessment in Management

A review of the combined effects of climate change and other local human stressors on the marine environment

Climate change (CC) is a key, global driver of change of marine ecosystems. At local and regional scales, other local human stressors (LS) can interact with CC and modify its effects on marine ecosystems. Understanding the response of the marine environment to the combined effects of CC and LS is crucial to inform marine ecosystem-based management and planning, yet our knowledge of the potential effects of such interactions is fragmented. At a global scale, we explored how cumulative effect assessments (CEAs) have addressed CC in the marine realm and discuss progress and shortcomings of current approaches. For this we conducted a systematic review on how CEAs investigated at different levels of biological organization ecological responses, functional aspects, and the combined effect of CC and HS. Globally, the effects of 52 LS and of 27 CC-related stressors on the marine environment have been studied in combination, such as industrial fisheries with change in temperature, or sea level rise with artisanal fisheries, marine litter, change in sediment load and introduced alien species. CC generally intensified the effects of LS at species level. At trophic groups and ecosystem levels, the effects of CC either intensified or mitigated the effects of other HS depending on the trophic groups or the environmental conditions involved, thus suggesting that the combined effects of CC and LS are context-dependent and vary among and within ecosystems. Our results highlight that large-scale assessments on the spatial interaction and combined effects of CC and LS remain limited. More importantly, our results strengthen the urgent need of CEAs to capture local-scale effects of stressors that can exacerbate climate-induced changes. Ultimately, this will allow identifying management measures that aid counteracting CC effects at relevant scales