Assessing stakeholder perceptions to guide social and ecological fit of marine protected areas.

Effective social and ecological interventions that can benefit both nature and people are needed to halt the degradation of ecosystems and subsequent negative impacts on human well-being. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly used to foster the sustainability of coastal social-ecological systems. However, because MPAs are often proposed and implemented by external actors, ensuring they are fit to the local social and ecological context remains a challenge. Here, we introduce a framework to identify the place-based social and ecological goals for an MPA. We use a marine conservation project in the Philippines as a case study. We assess the perceptions of local communities and decision-makers across four categories: (i) marine importance, (ii) environmental stressors, (iii) proposed management options, and (iv) MPA goals and needs. Assessing these is a way to refine marine conservation goals locally, adapt the implementation of planned interventions, and monitor their future outcomes.

Occurrence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and benzotriazole UV stabilizers in the hadal amphipod Hirondellea gigas.

The accumulation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and benzotriazole UV stabilizers (BZT-UVs) were examined in the hadal amphipod Hirondellea gigas caught from a near-land trench off the Japan island (9200 m). H. gigas were collected from two distinct sites: one is located at the outlet of submarine canyons directly connected to land and the other is apart from the outlet and geographically isolated from the first site. The level of the PBDEs in H. gigas at the canyon outlet (mean 219 ng/g lipid weight (l.w.)) was significantly higher than that in the isolated site (mean 42 ng/g l.w.) and BZT-UVs were only detected within the first site (mean 1.5 ng/g wet weight). In addition to vertical transport from the surface water, near-land trenches associated with submarine canyons and troughs may have more complex influx of contaminants through horizontal transportation from the land, resulting in more severe contamination.

Development and expansion in the marine social sciences: Insights from the global community.

The importance of understanding the complexities of societal relationships with our global ocean, and how these influence sustainable management and effective, equitable governance, is crucial to addressing ocean challenges. Using established horizon scanning method, this paper explores current trends in marine social sciences through a survey of the global marine social science research and practitioner community (n = 106). We find that marine social sciences research is broad, covering themes relating to governance and decision-making, stakeholder participation and engagement, the socio-cultural dimensions of marine systems, ocean literacy, community-based and area-specific management, and the blue economy, and identify future research priorities highlighted by the community. Our results, however, suggest several barriers persist, including the relationship between marine social sciences and other disciplines, and the visibility and recognition of marine social sciences both internal and external to academia. Finally, the paper generates prospective thinking and highlights recommendations for future research and practice.