Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2026.1739325
Ding Peng Liu, Taemin Heo
The rapid expansion of offshore renewables, particularly wind and wave, has intensified competition for marine space and constrained conventional fisheries, raising concerns for food security. To reconcile energy and seafood production, two multi-use strategies have emerged: integrated multi-purpose offshore platforms and co-location of distinct facilities within the same site. While most multi-purpose offshore platforms concepts remain pre-commercial, co-location offers a simpler, lower-risk pathway by deploying aquaculture systems alongside offshore energy arrays. This review synthesizes technical feasibility, site-selection methods, operational and maintenance synergies, and socio-ecological considerations for co-locating offshore wind/wave energy with aquaculture. We catalog global pilots and emerging commercial efforts, summarize decision tools, and outline criteria spanning resource exploitation, structural requirements, operational suitability, and environmental/socio-political constraints. We highlight cross-system interactions, especially wave “shadowing” that alters local metocean conditions, with implications for accessibility, structural reliability, and aquaculture performance. Finally, we propose an adaptive, iterative framework that updates site rankings after layout-driven climate modifications, and identify research gaps in reliability-constrained layout optimization, cable/anchoring risk management, and standardized screening checklists to move from pilots to bankable deployments.
{"title":"Co-locating offshore renewables and aquaculture: feasibility, site-selection, and O&M synergies—a state of the art review","authors":"Ding Peng Liu, Taemin Heo","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2026.1739325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2026.1739325","url":null,"abstract":"The rapid expansion of offshore renewables, particularly wind and wave, has intensified competition for marine space and constrained conventional fisheries, raising concerns for food security. To reconcile energy and seafood production, two multi-use strategies have emerged: integrated multi-purpose offshore platforms and co-location of distinct facilities within the same site. While most multi-purpose offshore platforms concepts remain pre-commercial, co-location offers a simpler, lower-risk pathway by deploying aquaculture systems alongside offshore energy arrays. This review synthesizes technical feasibility, site-selection methods, operational and maintenance synergies, and socio-ecological considerations for co-locating offshore wind/wave energy with aquaculture. We catalog global pilots and emerging commercial efforts, summarize decision tools, and outline criteria spanning resource exploitation, structural requirements, operational suitability, and environmental/socio-political constraints. We highlight cross-system interactions, especially wave “shadowing” that alters local metocean conditions, with implications for accessibility, structural reliability, and aquaculture performance. Finally, we propose an adaptive, iterative framework that updates site rankings after layout-driven climate modifications, and identify research gaps in reliability-constrained layout optimization, cable/anchoring risk management, and standardized screening checklists to move from pilots to bankable deployments.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"92 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1696369
Alp Gokgoz, Simon P. Oliver, James Brown, Voltaire Cerna, Gary Cases, Andrew Lawrence, Isabelle Faringstam
Population risk assessments are important tools for understanding the sustainability of shark populations and informing their conservation. In the Philippines, policy makers have made inroads to progress legislative protection for sharks in recent years, yet a ban on targeted shark fisheries has not guaranteed the sustainability of their populations and bycatch and illegal fishing still represent a significant threat to elasmobranchs across the archipelago. Pelagic thresher sharks ( Alopias pelagicus ) are important to the region’s tourism economy but little is known of the status of their populations. We designed, tested, and deployed a remote stereo camera system (stereocam) to survey pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea and investigated their population dynamics over a 4-month period from December 2019 to March 2020. The stereocam was effective and accurate in taking key morphometric measurements from in situ observations that we used to assess the maturity of individual male and female pelagic thresher sharks. We then constructed a continuous four-stage model from our demographic data and best life history parameter estimates to determine the sustainability of A. pelagicus populations in the region. Our model projections showed that pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea would be vulnerable to a hypothetical fishing mortality of 5.3% per annum, with the removal of 15–18 females resulting in a decline in the population. Our study represents the first attempt to characterise the demographics of pelagic thresher sharks with stereo videography and provides a framework for future non-invasive assessments of threatened pelagic species.
{"title":"Stereo videography reveals fragility in a high value thresher shark population","authors":"Alp Gokgoz, Simon P. Oliver, James Brown, Voltaire Cerna, Gary Cases, Andrew Lawrence, Isabelle Faringstam","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1696369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1696369","url":null,"abstract":"Population risk assessments are important tools for understanding the sustainability of shark populations and informing their conservation. In the Philippines, policy makers have made inroads to progress legislative protection for sharks in recent years, yet a ban on targeted shark fisheries has not guaranteed the sustainability of their populations and bycatch and illegal fishing still represent a significant threat to elasmobranchs across the archipelago. Pelagic thresher sharks ( <jats:italic>Alopias pelagicus</jats:italic> ) are important to the region’s tourism economy but little is known of the status of their populations. We designed, tested, and deployed a remote stereo camera system (stereocam) to survey pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea and investigated their population dynamics over a 4-month period from December 2019 to March 2020. The stereocam was effective and accurate in taking key morphometric measurements from <jats:italic>in situ</jats:italic> observations that we used to assess the maturity of individual male and female pelagic thresher sharks. We then constructed a continuous four-stage model from our demographic data and best life history parameter estimates to determine the sustainability of <jats:italic>A. pelagicus</jats:italic> populations in the region. Our model projections showed that pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea would be vulnerable to a hypothetical fishing mortality of 5.3% per annum, with the removal of 15–18 females resulting in a decline in the population. Our study represents the first attempt to characterise the demographics of pelagic thresher sharks with stereo videography and provides a framework for future non-invasive assessments of threatened pelagic species.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"287 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Introduction High-precision radio wave propagation over maritime environments is of great importance for ensuring reliable maritime wireless communications. Methods To support the development of maritime transmission services, this work employs genetic algorithms to extract features from measured maritime data, thereby constructing a data-model-driven propagation model. The proposed model is established using measurement datasets collected in the South China Sea, covering the frequency range of 99 MHz to 1000 MHz over transmission distances up to 60 km. By integrating the strengths of both data-driven and model-driven approaches, a high-precision empirical model for maritime VHF and UHF propagation loss is developed. Specifically, we first analyze the propagation mechanisms of radio waves in the study region based on the measured data, and then combine them with the ITU-R P.2001 model to define a driving model with undetermined coefficients. These coefficients are subsequently determined using genetic algorithms through feature extraction from the measurement data. Finally, the proposed model is validated against the measurement dataset. Results Results demonstrate that the model achieves an average root-mean-square error of 2.13 dB, representing a 72.73% improvement compared with the ITU-R P.2001 model. Discussion The study of high-precision radio wave propagation over maritime environments is of great importance for ensuring reliable maritime wireless communications.
{"title":"Measured data and empirical model jointly driven prediction for path loss of VHF and UHF communication in the South China Sea","authors":"Yulong Hao, Zhongle Wu, Hongmei Zhao, Zehao Chen, Jinzi Ma, Jing Wang, Cheng Yang","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2026.1755348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2026.1755348","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction High-precision radio wave propagation over maritime environments is of great importance for ensuring reliable maritime wireless communications. Methods To support the development of maritime transmission services, this work employs genetic algorithms to extract features from measured maritime data, thereby constructing a data-model-driven propagation model. The proposed model is established using measurement datasets collected in the South China Sea, covering the frequency range of 99 MHz to 1000 MHz over transmission distances up to 60 km. By integrating the strengths of both data-driven and model-driven approaches, a high-precision empirical model for maritime VHF and UHF propagation loss is developed. Specifically, we first analyze the propagation mechanisms of radio waves in the study region based on the measured data, and then combine them with the ITU-R P.2001 model to define a driving model with undetermined coefficients. These coefficients are subsequently determined using genetic algorithms through feature extraction from the measurement data. Finally, the proposed model is validated against the measurement dataset. Results Results demonstrate that the model achieves an average root-mean-square error of 2.13 dB, representing a 72.73% improvement compared with the ITU-R P.2001 model. Discussion The study of high-precision radio wave propagation over maritime environments is of great importance for ensuring reliable maritime wireless communications.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2026.1758141
Xiaojing Miao
Establishing a coherent network of area-based management tools (ABMTs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) is critical for the sustainable development of the ocean, which hinges on effective cooperation between the BBNJ Agreement and existing mechanisms. This paper introduces the concept of institutional complementarity as a novel perspective focused on synergistic potential, exploring pathways for such cooperation. It discusses significant gaps in complementarity between the BBNJ Agreement and existing mechanisms across three core dimensions: strategic objectives, operational rules and management practices, posing substantial challenges to effective cooperation. To address these challenges, this paper proposes stepwise pathways for strengthening institutional complementarity: coordinating objectives from dialogue to shared strategic plans, promoting rule compatibility from scientific guidelines to rule coordination, and enhancing management from collaborative capacity-building to joint actions.
{"title":"Establishing a coherent ABMTs network: how the BBNJ Agreement can foster cooperation with existing mechanisms from the perspective of institutional complementarity","authors":"Xiaojing Miao","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2026.1758141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2026.1758141","url":null,"abstract":"Establishing a coherent network of area-based management tools (ABMTs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) is critical for the sustainable development of the ocean, which hinges on effective cooperation between the BBNJ Agreement and existing mechanisms. This paper introduces the concept of institutional complementarity as a novel perspective focused on synergistic potential, exploring pathways for such cooperation. It discusses significant gaps in complementarity between the BBNJ Agreement and existing mechanisms across three core dimensions: strategic objectives, operational rules and management practices, posing substantial challenges to effective cooperation. To address these challenges, this paper proposes stepwise pathways for strengthening institutional complementarity: coordinating objectives from dialogue to shared strategic plans, promoting rule compatibility from scientific guidelines to rule coordination, and enhancing management from collaborative capacity-building to joint actions.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2026.1732248
Woo-Hee Cho, Chang K. Seung, Ji-Hoon Choi, Do-Hoon Kim
Seafood industries of Busan in South Korea have currently suffered a notable decline in both regional output and value-added unlike the production growth in the past. In this situation, this study tries to evaluate the economic contribution of Busan’s seafood industries using the hypothetical extraction method (HEM), a well-established technique that has rarely been applied in fisheries contexts. Also, this study is a rare attempt to utilize the theoretically rigorous HEM to quantify the economic contribution of seafood industries within the SAM framework, addressing the limitation of IO models that do not consider distributional effects. The results showed, among others, that Wholesale Trade and Transportation Services are key industries for fishery managers and policymakers to recognize, as the economic contribution of the seafood industries to these sectors account for a large share of the regional economy due to their strong direct and total linkages. Interestingly, this study also discovered that the seafood industries make substantial contributions to several unexpected industries compared to their direct contributions, such as Real Estate & Leasing and Health & Social Services, due to accounting for the distributional effects captured in the SAM model.
{"title":"Evaluating economic contribution of seafood industries in Busan using hypothetical extraction method","authors":"Woo-Hee Cho, Chang K. Seung, Ji-Hoon Choi, Do-Hoon Kim","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2026.1732248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2026.1732248","url":null,"abstract":"Seafood industries of Busan in South Korea have currently suffered a notable decline in both regional output and value-added unlike the production growth in the past. In this situation, this study tries to evaluate the economic contribution of Busan’s seafood industries using the hypothetical extraction method (HEM), a well-established technique that has rarely been applied in fisheries contexts. Also, this study is a rare attempt to utilize the theoretically rigorous HEM to quantify the economic contribution of seafood industries within the SAM framework, addressing the limitation of IO models that do not consider distributional effects. The results showed, among others, that Wholesale Trade and Transportation Services are key industries for fishery managers and policymakers to recognize, as the economic contribution of the seafood industries to these sectors account for a large share of the regional economy due to their strong direct and total linkages. Interestingly, this study also discovered that the seafood industries make substantial contributions to several unexpected industries compared to their direct contributions, such as Real Estate &amp; Leasing and Health &amp; Social Services, due to accounting for the distributional effects captured in the SAM model.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"280 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146115944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2026.1703896
Paul G. Thomson, Charitha B. Pattiaratchi, Christine E. Hanson
Over 16 years, Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Ocean Glider program has collected high-resolution optical sensor data (scatter, chlorophyll- a (Chl)) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence) across 400+ missions. While these data are consistent within a mission, end users require assurance of dataset comparability over numerous missions and years. To understand sensor data stability, we compared ECOPuck scale factors (SFs) following calibrations and between instruments of the same model. We also examined variability in the fluorescent response of different phytoplankton species and the effect on Chl estimates. Finally, we compared matchups between ECOPuck fluorescence and Chl bottle samples. We found that SFs for Chl were stable and highly comparable over different missions and sensors, changing < 9% following calibration and <15% between instruments of the same model. SFs for scatter and CDOM following calibration for most sensors were also stable (changing <8%) but showed variability between sensors of the same model (generally <18%, but reaching 35%). We found large variations in the fluorescent response of different phytoplankton species compared to the factory-provided Chl SF (from a centric diatom species), indicating that in situ phytoplankton community composition may affect Chl estimates from fluorescence. Finally, we found that ECOPuck data overestimates in situ Chl by 1.1–2.9 times. Overall, our results indicate that Chl estimates between instruments of the same model are comparable. This significant finding provides researchers with confidence to unlock the treasure trove of IMOS glider data via ‘big data’ analyses and build vital regional oceanographic climatologies.
16年来，澳大利亚综合海洋观测系统（IMOS）海洋滑翔机项目在400多个任务中收集了高分辨率光学传感器数据（散射、叶绿素- a （Chl)）和彩色溶解有机物（CDOM）荧光）。虽然这些数据在一个任务中是一致的，但最终用户需要确保数据集在多个任务和年份之间的可比性。为了了解传感器数据的稳定性，我们比较了校准后和同一型号仪器之间的ECOPuck尺度因子（sf）。我们还研究了不同种类浮游植物的荧光响应变异性及其对Chl估计的影响。最后，我们比较了ECOPuck荧光和Chl瓶样品的匹配关系。我们发现，在不同的任务和传感器中，Chl的SFs是稳定的，具有高度可比性。9%的校准和&；lt；同一型号仪器之间相差15%。大多数传感器校准后的散射和CDOM的SFs也很稳定（变化&；lt;8%），但在同一模型的传感器之间存在差异（一般为&；lt;18%，但可达35%）。我们发现，与工厂提供的Chl SF（来自中心硅藻种）相比，不同浮游植物物种的荧光响应存在很大差异，这表明原位浮游植物群落组成可能会影响荧光估计的Chl。最后，我们发现ECOPuck数据高估了原位Chl 1.1-2.9倍。总体而言，我们的结果表明，相同模型的仪器之间的Chl估计值具有可比性。这一重大发现使研究人员有信心通过“大数据”分析解锁国际海事组织滑翔机数据的宝库，并建立重要的区域海洋气候学。
{"title":"Understanding the stability of the ECOPuck optical sensor: evaluation of long-term ocean glider data streams across decades","authors":"Paul G. Thomson, Charitha B. Pattiaratchi, Christine E. Hanson","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2026.1703896","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2026.1703896","url":null,"abstract":"Over 16 years, Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Ocean Glider program has collected high-resolution optical sensor data (scatter, chlorophyll- <jats:italic>a</jats:italic> (Chl)) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence) across 400+ missions. While these data are consistent within a mission, end users require assurance of dataset comparability over numerous missions and years. To understand sensor data stability, we compared ECOPuck scale factors (SFs) following calibrations and between instruments of the same model. We also examined variability in the fluorescent response of different phytoplankton species and the effect on Chl estimates. Finally, we compared matchups between ECOPuck fluorescence and Chl bottle samples. We found that SFs for Chl were stable and highly comparable over different missions and sensors, changing &lt; 9% following calibration and &lt;15% between instruments of the same model. SFs for scatter and CDOM following calibration for most sensors were also stable (changing &lt;8%) but showed variability between sensors of the same model (generally &lt;18%, but reaching 35%). We found large variations in the fluorescent response of different phytoplankton species compared to the factory-provided Chl SF (from a centric diatom species), indicating that <jats:italic>in situ</jats:italic> phytoplankton community composition may affect Chl estimates from fluorescence. Finally, we found that ECOPuck data overestimates <jats:italic>in situ</jats:italic> Chl by 1.1–2.9 times. Overall, our results indicate that Chl estimates between instruments of the same model are comparable. This significant finding provides researchers with confidence to unlock the treasure trove of IMOS glider data via ‘big data’ analyses and build vital regional oceanographic climatologies.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146110618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1684707
Olivia Fortunato-Jackson, Merrill Baker-Médard, Easton R. White
Small-scale fisheries play an essential role in supporting food security and economic resilience in Madagascar’s coastal communities. These fisheries are diverse, ranging from offshore net and line fishing, often dominated by men, to nearshore gleaning and hand-held spearfishing, frequently practiced by women. Despite their importance, they remain underrepresented in official statistics, and women’s contributions are often underreported. Few studies have examined how gender, gear type, and regional context interact to shape catch composition and productivity across ecological and social settings. To address this gap, we analyzed catch-per-unit-effort data from 9,068 fishing trips conducted in 2023–2024 across 17 villages in two coastal regions of Madagascar: Diana in the north and Atsimo-Andrefana in the southwest. We examined how gear use, catch composition, and productivity varied by gender and region, complemented by social surveys documenting fishers’ habitats, access modes (e.g., walking, sailboat), and key organisms harvested. Framed within a coupled human-natural systems perspective, our approach recognizes reciprocal links between ecological conditions, fishing practices, and socio-economic contexts. Gamma GLMs showed that catch-per-unit-effort was consistently higher in Diana, consistent with healthier reefs and greater access to efficient gears. Spearguns, predominantly used by men, yielded the highest predicted catch-per-unit-effort (3.00 kg fisher -1 h -1 in Diana; 1.23 in Atsimo-Andrefana). Hand-held spears also performed well, particularly in Diana, where women had slightly higher catch-per-unit-effort than men (2.13 vs. 1.85 kg fisher -1 h -1 ), reflecting shorter, targeted trips for octopus and fish. In contrast, fishers in Atsimo-Andrefana operated in habitats characterized as more degraded and used less advanced gear, resulting in lower overall catch-per-unit-effort and greater diversification, especially among women harvesting invertebrates. All catch-per-unit-effort values were calculated using total trip duration, and some catch weights were imputed from average species weights. Despite uneven sampling effort, sensitivity analyses confirmed these factors did not alter conclusions. This analysis provides a quantitative baseline for future work tracking how coupled social and ecological dynamics in these fisheries evolve over time. Our results highlight how ecological conditions, gear access, and gendered practices shape fishing strategies, emphasizing the need for management approaches addressing both environmental change and the social realities of communities dependent on marine resources.
{"title":"Regional and gendered patterns in Madagascar’s small-scale fisheries","authors":"Olivia Fortunato-Jackson, Merrill Baker-Médard, Easton R. White","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1684707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1684707","url":null,"abstract":"Small-scale fisheries play an essential role in supporting food security and economic resilience in Madagascar’s coastal communities. These fisheries are diverse, ranging from offshore net and line fishing, often dominated by men, to nearshore gleaning and hand-held spearfishing, frequently practiced by women. Despite their importance, they remain underrepresented in official statistics, and women’s contributions are often underreported. Few studies have examined how gender, gear type, and regional context interact to shape catch composition and productivity across ecological and social settings. To address this gap, we analyzed catch-per-unit-effort data from 9,068 fishing trips conducted in 2023–2024 across 17 villages in two coastal regions of Madagascar: Diana in the north and Atsimo-Andrefana in the southwest. We examined how gear use, catch composition, and productivity varied by gender and region, complemented by social surveys documenting fishers’ habitats, access modes (e.g., walking, sailboat), and key organisms harvested. Framed within a coupled human-natural systems perspective, our approach recognizes reciprocal links between ecological conditions, fishing practices, and socio-economic contexts. Gamma GLMs showed that catch-per-unit-effort was consistently higher in Diana, consistent with healthier reefs and greater access to efficient gears. Spearguns, predominantly used by men, yielded the highest predicted catch-per-unit-effort (3.00 kg fisher <jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> h <jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> in Diana; 1.23 in Atsimo-Andrefana). Hand-held spears also performed well, particularly in Diana, where women had slightly higher catch-per-unit-effort than men (2.13 vs. 1.85 kg fisher <jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> h <jats:sup>-1</jats:sup> ), reflecting shorter, targeted trips for octopus and fish. In contrast, fishers in Atsimo-Andrefana operated in habitats characterized as more degraded and used less advanced gear, resulting in lower overall catch-per-unit-effort and greater diversification, especially among women harvesting invertebrates. All catch-per-unit-effort values were calculated using total trip duration, and some catch weights were imputed from average species weights. Despite uneven sampling effort, sensitivity analyses confirmed these factors did not alter conclusions. This analysis provides a quantitative baseline for future work tracking how coupled social and ecological dynamics in these fisheries evolve over time. Our results highlight how ecological conditions, gear access, and gendered practices shape fishing strategies, emphasizing the need for management approaches addressing both environmental change and the social realities of communities dependent on marine resources.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146110617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the seed production of commercially valuable blackthroat seaperch Doederleinia berycoides , the sex ratio is often skewed toward males. To address this imbalance, several environmental and dietary approaches have been examined; however, the issue remains unresolved. Assessing the effectiveness of such treatments requires reliable methods for early sex identification before stocking hatchery-reared juveniles into the wild. However, the processes of sex differentiation and the potential for protandry remain unexamined in this species. In this study, observations of wild populations showed no significant sex-ratio bias, and no histological evidence of gonads indicated protandrous sex change. This suggests that the male-biased sex ratio observed in hatchery populations is unlikely to result from protandry but is instead more likely driven by environmental factors associated with artificial rearing conditions. Histological analysis of early developmental stages of hatchery-reared juveniles (80–125 days post hatching, dph) and 1-year-old fish revealed that the presence of ovarian cavities in both undifferentiated gonads, testes, and ovaries, indicating that ovarian cavity formation is not a reliable marker for sex identification. Moreover, because oocytes were still not observed even at 120 dph, histological sex identification prior to stocking hatchery-reared juveniles was considered impossible. Consequently, RNA-seq and differentially expressed gene analyses were employed for the first time in this species to identify genetic markers of sex differentiation. qPCR analysis showed predominant expression of cyp11b1 , dmrt1 , and amh in the testis of the 2-year-old male, and foxl2a and wnt-4a in the ovary of the 2-year-old female, respectively. Notably, foxl2a expression was also detected in female fin tissue, suggesting the potential for non-lethal female sex identification. These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of sex differentiation, support discrimination between the sexes, and clarify the occurrence of phenotypically normal females in hatchery-reared blackthroat seaperch.
{"title":"Male-biased gonadal differentiation in hatchery-reared blackthroat seaperch Doederleinia berycoides and development of molecular markers to elucidate sex differentiation mechanisms","authors":"Mako Tori, Rasindu Galagoda, Yuichi Fukunishi, Seiichi Muraki, Kentaro Hamamoto, Yuri Kida, Shumpei Okamura, Reiko Nagasaka, Yutaka Takeuchi","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1725026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1725026","url":null,"abstract":"In the seed production of commercially valuable blackthroat seaperch <jats:italic>Doederleinia berycoides</jats:italic> , the sex ratio is often skewed toward males. To address this imbalance, several environmental and dietary approaches have been examined; however, the issue remains unresolved. Assessing the effectiveness of such treatments requires reliable methods for early sex identification before stocking hatchery-reared juveniles into the wild. However, the processes of sex differentiation and the potential for protandry remain unexamined in this species. In this study, observations of wild populations showed no significant sex-ratio bias, and no histological evidence of gonads indicated protandrous sex change. This suggests that the male-biased sex ratio observed in hatchery populations is unlikely to result from protandry but is instead more likely driven by environmental factors associated with artificial rearing conditions. Histological analysis of early developmental stages of hatchery-reared juveniles (80–125 days post hatching, dph) and 1-year-old fish revealed that the presence of ovarian cavities in both undifferentiated gonads, testes, and ovaries, indicating that ovarian cavity formation is not a reliable marker for sex identification. Moreover, because oocytes were still not observed even at 120 dph, histological sex identification prior to stocking hatchery-reared juveniles was considered impossible. Consequently, RNA-seq and differentially expressed gene analyses were employed for the first time in this species to identify genetic markers of sex differentiation. qPCR analysis showed predominant expression of <jats:italic>cyp11b1</jats:italic> , <jats:italic>dmrt1</jats:italic> , and <jats:italic>amh</jats:italic> in the testis of the 2-year-old male, and <jats:italic>foxl2a</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>wnt-4a</jats:italic> in the ovary of the 2-year-old female, respectively. Notably, <jats:italic>foxl2a</jats:italic> expression was also detected in female fin tissue, suggesting the potential for non-lethal female sex identification. These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of sex differentiation, support discrimination between the sexes, and clarify the occurrence of phenotypically normal females in hatchery-reared blackthroat seaperch.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146110616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2026.1688255
Daniel Ørnes Halvorsen, Corrado Chiatante, Cameron Louis Penne, Asmita Singh, Sivert Bakken, Glaucia Moreira Fragoso, Roger Birkeland, Alberto Dallolio, Joseph Landon Garrett, Tor Arne Johansen, Ingrid Helene Ellingsen, Morten Omholt Alver
The effective monitoring of dynamic marine phenomena, such as phytoplankton blooms, across multiple spatial and temporal scales remains challenging. However, emerging closed-loop observation systems which integrate adaptive, multi-platform sensors with operational ocean models offer substantial potential to enhance accuracy and responsiveness. An operational closed-loop state estimation system was developed and tested in near real-time during a two-month field campaign in Frohavet, Norway. This closed-loop system integrated an Ensemble Kalman Filter with a coupled physical–chemical–biological ocean model across nested domains from the North Atlantic shelf to local coastal regions. Observations from the agile CubeSat HYPSO-1 nano-satellite and an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV, AutoNaut) were assimilated, dynamically informing the USV’s navigation and demonstrating the feasibility of adaptive, multi-tiered monitoring. Incorporating HYPSO-1 chlorophyll- a observations improved phytoplankton estimates at regional scales, while assimilating USV-based chlorophyll- a data further refined the predictions locally. The campaign highlighted operational challenges, including communication delays, software constraints, persistent cloud coverage, and solar storms. Post-campaign analyses identified and mitigated ecosystem model biases related to silicate dynamics and fixed carbon:nitrogen:chlorophyll- a conversion factors, further improving the model accuracy. Addressing these limitations through greater automation, tighter integration, and robust contingency planning is critical to scaling future closed-loop ocean monitoring systems.
{"title":"Operational closed-loop system for multi-scale chlorophyll-a monitoring along the Norwegian coast","authors":"Daniel Ørnes Halvorsen, Corrado Chiatante, Cameron Louis Penne, Asmita Singh, Sivert Bakken, Glaucia Moreira Fragoso, Roger Birkeland, Alberto Dallolio, Joseph Landon Garrett, Tor Arne Johansen, Ingrid Helene Ellingsen, Morten Omholt Alver","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2026.1688255","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2026.1688255","url":null,"abstract":"The effective monitoring of dynamic marine phenomena, such as phytoplankton blooms, across multiple spatial and temporal scales remains challenging. However, emerging closed-loop observation systems which integrate adaptive, multi-platform sensors with operational ocean models offer substantial potential to enhance accuracy and responsiveness. An operational closed-loop state estimation system was developed and tested in near real-time during a two-month field campaign in Frohavet, Norway. This closed-loop system integrated an Ensemble Kalman Filter with a coupled physical–chemical–biological ocean model across nested domains from the North Atlantic shelf to local coastal regions. Observations from the agile CubeSat HYPSO-1 nano-satellite and an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV, AutoNaut) were assimilated, dynamically informing the USV’s navigation and demonstrating the feasibility of adaptive, multi-tiered monitoring. Incorporating HYPSO-1 chlorophyll- <jats:italic>a</jats:italic> observations improved phytoplankton estimates at regional scales, while assimilating USV-based chlorophyll- <jats:italic>a</jats:italic> data further refined the predictions locally. The campaign highlighted operational challenges, including communication delays, software constraints, persistent cloud coverage, and solar storms. Post-campaign analyses identified and mitigated ecosystem model biases related to silicate dynamics and fixed carbon:nitrogen:chlorophyll- <jats:italic>a</jats:italic> conversion factors, further improving the model accuracy. Addressing these limitations through greater automation, tighter integration, and robust contingency planning is critical to scaling future closed-loop ocean monitoring systems.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"276 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146110619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-02DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1674917
Michael Jordan, Margaux Steyaert, Natalie Y.N. Ng, Kevin Hopkins, Raymond D. Ward, Chris Yesson, Emma Ransome
In benthic marine ecosystems, small organisms that dwell within the habitat matrix comprise the majority of species richness but are inherently difficult to sample. This limits our ability to document the biodiversity of these ecosystems. Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS), artificial reefs that mimic the three-dimensional complexity of benthic habitats, can alleviate this challenge. However, ARMS have been applied infrequently in many temperate locations, including the United Kingdom (UK). To showcase the applicability of ARMS to the UK, this paper applies standardized Smithsonian ARMS protocols for image analysis as well as DNA barcoding and metabarcoding of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene to 3 ARMS units deployed in the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) Nearshore Trawling Exclusion zone, a conservation area created in 2021 to facilitate the recovery of seabed habitats. We document 176 genera across 22 eukaryotic phyla as well as 1,920 > 2 mm motile specimens with a biomass of 312 g. We identify 15 notable species, including the 4th UK record of Cephalothrix simula , a non-native poisonous nemertean with the potential to enter the food supply. We also assess the complementarity of image analysis and DNA metabarcoding in describing sessile communities, finding that the two methods produce meaningfully different estimates of relative abundance for some phyla, particularly Cnidaria (77x difference) and Bryozoa (72x difference). As our oceans come increasingly under threat from global change, it is imperative that we can accurately describe their biodiversity. We advocate for ARMS as a critical tool for measuring UK marine benthic biodiversity and discuss the use of ARMS in closing gaps in reference databases as well as in assessing ecosystem function and environmental disturbance in benthic habitats.
{"title":"Autonomous reef monitoring structures as a tool for assessing UK marine benthic biodiversity","authors":"Michael Jordan, Margaux Steyaert, Natalie Y.N. Ng, Kevin Hopkins, Raymond D. Ward, Chris Yesson, Emma Ransome","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1674917","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1674917","url":null,"abstract":"In benthic marine ecosystems, small organisms that dwell within the habitat matrix comprise the majority of species richness but are inherently difficult to sample. This limits our ability to document the biodiversity of these ecosystems. Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS), artificial reefs that mimic the three-dimensional complexity of benthic habitats, can alleviate this challenge. However, ARMS have been applied infrequently in many temperate locations, including the United Kingdom (UK). To showcase the applicability of ARMS to the UK, this paper applies standardized Smithsonian ARMS protocols for image analysis as well as DNA barcoding and metabarcoding of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene to 3 ARMS units deployed in the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) Nearshore Trawling Exclusion zone, a conservation area created in 2021 to facilitate the recovery of seabed habitats. We document 176 genera across 22 eukaryotic phyla as well as 1,920 &gt; 2 mm motile specimens with a biomass of 312 g. We identify 15 notable species, including the 4th UK record of <jats:italic>Cephalothrix simula</jats:italic> , a non-native poisonous nemertean with the potential to enter the food supply. We also assess the complementarity of image analysis and DNA metabarcoding in describing sessile communities, finding that the two methods produce meaningfully different estimates of relative abundance for some phyla, particularly Cnidaria (77x difference) and Bryozoa (72x difference). As our oceans come increasingly under threat from global change, it is imperative that we can accurately describe their biodiversity. We advocate for ARMS as a critical tool for measuring UK marine benthic biodiversity and discuss the use of ARMS in closing gaps in reference databases as well as in assessing ecosystem function and environmental disturbance in benthic habitats.","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146101376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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