The Marine Biologist Issue 35

ISSUE 35 JULY 2025
ISSN 2052-5273
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
BLOOMING
OCTOPUS

2
i n s i d e
ISSUE 35 JULY 2025
ISSN 2052-5273
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
BLOOMING
OCTOPUS
ON THE COVER:
Common octopus (Octopus
vulgaris) © Shutterstock/
Tomasz Dutkiewicz
contents
REGULAR
03 EDITORIAL
04 IN BRIEF
AN OCEAN OF
SCIENCE
06 A TALE OF GLASS
CITIES BENEATH THE
WAVES
An extraordinary habitat
faces an uncertain future.
10
18
Back cover
Juvenile moon jellyfish (Aurelia
aurita) medusae.
Chris Parkes © MBA.
22
10 SNAPSHOTS IN TIME;
THE DARWIN TREE OF
LIFE PROJECT
Collecting biodiversity
samples: the fieldwork
behind the data.
14 RAYS OF HOPE FOR
SHARKS AND THEIR
RELATIVES
Is shark and ray
conservation paying off?
POLICY
16 MANAGING
INSHORE FISHERIES
AND MARINE POLICY
REFORM
17 ACT NOW WHERE
THE SCIENCE IS CLEAR
A note from the UN Ocean
Conference.
18 SCIENCE
DIPLOMACY IN THE
SOUTH CHINA SEA
FEATURES
20 AN OCTOPUS BLOOM
IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
The marauding mollusc
leaves fishermen reeling.
22 A COMMUNITY-LED
COMEBACK FOR COASTAL
BIODIVERSITY
A team effort for native
oyster restoration.
25 RESPONDING TO
SHIP-SOURCE POLLUTION
EVENTS WORLDWIDE
Meet ITOPF, the spill advisers
for industry and government.
28 POLLUTION AND PAIN
FOR PROFIT
The real cost of capture
fisheries in a seafood
superpower
30 INVESTIGATING BLUE
CARBON ON A EUROPEAN
SCALE
An EC initiative to assess
seabed carbon storage
capacity.
33 CAN TRADITION AND
CULTURE FUTUREPROOF
GREEK SEAS?
28
The Marine Biologist is the Membership
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Editor
Guy Baker
editor@mba.ac.uk
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Editorial Board
Guy Baker, Eliane Bastos, Matthew Bunce,
Sophie Stafford.
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Alex Street
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ISSN: 2052-5273
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July 2025
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l e t t e r f r o m t h e e d i t o r 3
ONE WORLD
ONE OCEAN
THE VOICE OF
MARINE BIOLOGY
36 MEET THE MEMBERS
37 CHANGING CHANNELS
Dynamic young educators
explore different strokes for
different folks!
39 BURSARY WINNERS
REPORT BACK
40 MEET THE EDITORIAL
BOARD OF THE JOURNAL
OF THE MARINE
BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
41 THE MBA
POSTGRADUATE
CONFERENCE
42 REVIEWS
14
25
42
Are
blooming
octopus
here
to stay?
The film, Ocean with David Attenborough raises wider
awareness of destructive industrial fishing practices.
Currently, the UK’s approach to managing fishing activity
focuses on protected features within MPAs. If policy shifted to
‘whole site’ protection, the ecological resilience of the UK’s MPA
network would be enhanced and there would be greater clarity in
management and communication. It’s not a cut and dried issue:
fishers have valid concerns about spatial squeeze, although the
local catch for some fisheries would be expected to increase
through spillover from protected areas. Either way, opportunities
abound to listen and learn, and as a more ocean-literate society we
can debate the future of fishing meaningfully and with nuance.
More than three times as many world leaders attended the
recent UN Ocean Conference as did the second UNOC. The High
Seas Treaty could be months away from entering force, and amidst
the announcements and proclamations, commentators reported
momentum and an encouraging sense of hope. Our Editorial
Board member Eliane Bastos was at the conference: read more
on page 17.
It’s gratifying but not surprising to see our content nailing the
major issues that drive global conferences and discourse on the
ocean. Over its 141 years, the MBA has been a prominent force in
shaping and reflecting this agenda. Our research section covers
marine biodiversity as Dr Angela Stevenson guides us on a dive to
the seafloor where a city of glass sponges awaits. The Darwin Tree
of Life (DToL) is a major genome mapping initiative. Follow DToL
and MBA scientists as they tackle logistical challenges to bring
back marine biodiversity samples. And on the heels of the UK
Blue Carbon Mapping Project comes a Europe-wide investigation
of blue carbon. 1 Athena Allen explains why this is crucial for
sustainable ocean governance.
In our cover story, we look at the common octopus, an enigmatic
creature that has spread across the English Channel, consuming
crabs, lobsters, and scallops on the way. The big question is, are
blooming octopus here to stay? Find out more on page 20.
Territorial disputes are fuelling environmental destruction in the
South China Sea. But we are ocean optimists, and James Borton
calls on governments in the region to focus on shared ecological
goals for food security. Supported by the legal framework of the
High Seas Treaty, this could open the door to transborder MPAs
and the multilateralism we sorely need.
Reading our article about the oil spill response organization
ITOPF, I was put in mind of the 1970s kids’ show Thunderbirds.
Like the characters in the show, ITOPF is on call 24/7 to respond to
potentially catastrophic incidents. As far as I know, ITOPF staff do
not mobilize in specialized machines from a secret tropical island,
but the work they do dealing with ship-source pollution incidents
is vital.
As always, we aim to give voice to our ocean community:
connecting members, sharing knowledge, and supporting marine
biological journeys. A big thank you to everyone who filled in the
readers’ survey—we’re using the responses to develop and improve
the magazine.
Guy Baker, EDITOR
editor@mba.ac.uk
1. Hills, H. 2025. The importance of blue carbon in the management of coastal
reserves. The Marine Biologist, 34, 34
July 2025

4
i n b r i e f
A green turtle in Apo Island Marine Sanctuary, Pilippines.
Anna Varona, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In encouraging news for marine turtle conservation, over half of
the world’s sea turtle populations are showing signs of recovery.
A new global survey published in Endangered Species
Research assessed 48 populations across six sea turtle species
using Regional Management Units (RMUs), which incorporate
genetic data, nesting sites, and migratory patterns.
Researchers evaluated threats including direct harvesting,
bycatch, habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.
Many populations—particularly in the Atlantic and among
green turtles—are rebounding. However, others remain
vulnerable. Critically endangered leatherback turtles,
for example, continue to face significant threats due to
their extensive migrations, which cross multiple national
boundaries. All seven regions inhabited by leatherbacks are
exposed to high environmental risks, underscoring the need
for coordinated international conservation strategies.
Protective measures such as the US Endangered Species
GLOBAL
ASSESSMENT
FINDS HOPE
FOR SEA TURTLE
RECOVERY
Act (1973) and Mexico’s 1990 ban on turtle capture have
played a key role in population recovery by reducing
commercial harvesting and protecting nesting beaches.
Still, bycatch in fishing gear remains a major concern. While
new technologies offer promising solutions, widespread
implementation is crucial.
This marks the first major global update on sea turtle
populations in over a decade and is a major win for global
conservation efforts. It celebrates important conservation
gains while highlighting the urgent need to address ongoing
threats to ensure long-term survival.
Sources: Endangered sea turtle populations show signs of recovery in
more than half the world, survey finds | AP News
Wallace, B. et al. 2025. Updated global conservation status and priorities
for marine turtles. Endangered Species Research, 56: 247-276. doi:
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01385.
MARINE MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION SUCCESSFULLY
PROSECUTES FOR ILLEGAL FISHING IN AN MPA
In a legal first, the MMO has brought a successful
conviction for contravention of a Marine Protected
Area byelaw.
The case was brought against the owner and skipper
of the French trawler Pierre D’Ambre, who pleaded
guilty to using bottom-towed fishing gear (trawling) in
the Offshore Brighton MPA in April 2024. This MPA lies
approximately 45 km offshore and protects 862 km² of
seabed in the eastern English Channel. Bottom-towed
fishing gear is banned in specified areas to protect rock
exposed to strong currents but is permitted in the rest of
the MPA.
The rocky seabed hosts colourful sponges, while coarse
sediment supports burrowing worms and bivalves. Mixed
sediments are also home to starfish, including locally
abundant brittle stars, urchins, and anemones. These
habitats are vital for maintaining biodiversity and are
vulnerable to damage by bottom-towed gear.
The skipper and the vessel’s owner were handed a fine
of £40,000 plus costs. Peter Clark, Director of Operations
at MMO, said: ‘Healthy seas are the foundation of a
thriving, sustainable fishing industry. This successful
prosecution shows that we will act decisively to uphold
the rules and safeguard the long-term future of our
marine environment.’
Sources: www.gov.uk/government/news/first-ever-mpa-byelaw-
High energy circalittoral
rock in the Offshore
Brighton Marine
Conservation Zone.
© JNCC and Cefas.
prosecution-secures-guilty-plea-and-40000-financial-order
thefishingdaily.com/latest-news/french-skipper-fined-40000-in-firstprosecution-under-mpa-byelaw
jncc.gov.uk/our-work/offshore-brighton-mpa
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

A sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), Victoria, British Columbia,
Canada. Ed Bierman, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
i n b r i e f 5
SEA STAR REFUGE
The fjords of the central British
Columbia coast are providing a
refuge for the critically endangered
sunflower sea star, a keystone species of
eastern Pacific coastal ecosystems.
The catastrophic decline of Pycnopodia
helianthoides through sea star wasting
disease was a factor in the widespread
loss of kelp forests (over 90 per cent loss
of kelp coverage in northern California)
and disruption of ecosystem services
from Alaska to northern Mexico between
2014 and 2016.
This new research suggests that the
unique oceanographic
conditions within the
fjords are optimal for
healthy sea stars and/
or inhibit the spread of
disease. The authors stress the
limitations on the conclusions that can
be drawn, due to a lack of pre-wastingdisease
baseline data and the alternative
possibility of population resistance to the
disease.
Even though refugia conditions are
not guaranteed to persist as climate
change progresses, the authors say
that measures to
protect these sea star
populations could be vital
for their recovery.
Sources: Madden Gehman, A-L. et al.
2025. Fjord oceanographic dynamics provide
refuge for critically endangered Pycnopodia
helianthoides. Proceedings of the Royal Society
B. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.2770
Rogers-Bennett, L. and Catton, C. 2019. Marine
heat wave and multiple stressors tip bull kelp
forest to sea urchin barrens. Scientific Reports, 9:
1-9. doi.org.10.1038/s41598-019-51114-y
SEA FAN REEF
DISCOVERED OFF
ENGLAND’S SOUTHWEST
COAST DURING FILMING
OF OCEAN WITH DAVID
ATTENBOROUGH
A vibrant and exceptionally
well-preserved pink sea fan
reef has been discovered
off the south-west coast of
England.
In an extraordinary
moment of chance during
the production of Ocean
with David Attenborough,
Dr Bryce Stewart, Senior
Research Fellow at the MBA
and Associate Fellow at the
The newly discovered pink sea fan (Eunicella
verrucosa) reef.
© Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios.
University of Plymouth, and filmmakers from Silverback Films and Open
Planet Studios came across this flourishing habitat which has remained
untouched in an area that is extensively fished.
After initially discovering the reef with drop down cameras, divers
descended to film it in high definition. In collaboration with the
underwater robotics company ‘PicSea’, the reef was then mapped in
3-D using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
‘This pink sea fan reef is a stunning and significant find; a little
sanctuary,’ said Dr Stewart. ‘These delicate corals grow incredibly slowly
and support a rich variety of marine life. Discovering this habitat intact
gives us both an urgent reason and a rare opportunity to act now to
protect it for future generations.’
The reef, located on difficult-to-trawl terrain, may have escaped the
impact of fishing thanks to its unique topography. However, its survival
is far from assured. Efforts led by Dr Stewart are already underway to
secure formal protection for the site.
‘The MBA is instrumental in informing better ocean management,’ said
Dr Stewart. ‘This discovery, like much of our research, shows the power of
science to drive conservation and influence meaningful policy.’
FIRST EVIDENCE
OF SHARK
VOCALIZATION
CHALLENGES LONG-
HELD BELIEFS
In a discovery that upends decades of
assumptions, scientists have recorded the
first confirmed sounds made by sharks. In a
study published in Royal Society Open Science,
researchers have recorded rig sharks (Mustelus
lenticulatus) producing high-frequency clicking
sounds—the first confirmed instance of active
sound production in sharks.
While handling juvenile rig sharks, marine
biologist Carolin Nieder noticed that the
animals emitted rapid, crackling clicks. Further
investigation using underwater microphones
confirmed that the sharks consistently produced
these sounds when startled, especially in the first
few seconds of handling.
Unlike many sound-producing fish, sharks lack a
swim bladder. To uncover the mechanism behind
the clicks, researchers created 3D models of the
sharks’ jaws and teeth. They hypothesize that the
overlapping, plate-like teeth may generate the
sounds when the jaws snap shut. Interestingly, the
clicks fall outside the sharks’ own hearing range
but within that of some predators, like toothed
whales—suggesting a possible defensive function
rather than communication.
Nieder’s team call for further studies to explore
the biological purpose of these vocalizations and
to accurately determine the sound-producing
mechanism.
Sources: Nieder, C., Parmentier, E., Jeffs, A.G. and
Radford, C. 2025. Evidence of active sound production by
a shark. Royal Society Open Science, 12(3). doi:https://doi.
org/10.1098/rsos.242212.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-recordfirst-known-shark-sounds/
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

6
a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
A TALE OF GLASS
CITIES BENEATH
THE WAVES
Angela Stevenson guides us through a captivating but fragile habitat.
Hidden in the cold, dark depths of the Northeast Pacific
Ocean lies a city like no other—a metropolis not of steel and
concrete, but of living sponges mostly made of glass. These
majestic structures rise above the seafloor like underwater
skyscrapers, standing as a shimmering, otherworldly reflection of the
city of Vancouver on the shoreline above (see Fig. 1).
These glass sponge reefs, or bioherms, built by species like
Aphrocallistes vastus, Heterochone calyx, and Farrea occa, are
massive. They can tower over 20 metres high (the height of a
six-story building) and stretch for kilometres along the seafloor.
Layer by layer, generation after generation, the sponges grow
atop the skeletal remains of their ancestors. This foundation is
home to a true underwater metropolis of fish and invertebrates.
Nature’s silent engineers
Glass sponges are animals belonging to the class Hexactinellida.
They are widespread across the seafloor but are typically only
found in the deep sea (rarely appearing in waters shallower than
70 m), where they form sponge gardens. However, from southern
Alaska, through British Columbia, to northern Washington State,
they uniquely occur as complex reef-forming structures and are
found in water as shallow as 20 metres.
Foremost amongst the multitude of services they provide to
ecology and society, these reefs process considerable volumes
of water, twice as fast as mussel beds, which are the next most
intense suspension-feeding community in the ocean. The 19
documented glass sponge reefs in the Salish Sea, for example,
collectively filter 104 billion litres of water each day, representing
one per cent of the total water volume in the Strait of Georgia
and Howe Sound combined. By doing so, glass sponges bring
microbial food energy from marine and terrestrial sources into
local food webs, feeding on and removing up to 90 per cent
of bacteria from the water. Through feeding, excretion, and
symbiont microbial activity, sponges are known to chemically
transform seawater passing through their structure (Fig. 2).
Over centuries of growth, their convoluted structures have
formed a labyrinth of channels and columns, offering natural
nurseries and sanctuaries where crabs, shrimp, rockfish, and
countless other creatures raise their young in safety. Increased
surface area offers abundant space for all to prosper in harmony.
Diving into a lost world
Visiting this submerged city feels like drifting through another
world. Let me bring you on a dive into one of the ocean’s most
July 2025
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7
a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 7
Figure 1. Glass sponge bioherm
from Anderson Bay, Texada
Island, in the Strait of Georgia,
British Columbia, Canada.
© Jeff Marliave, Ocean Wise.
Figure 2. ‘Just Breathe’. Acrylic on canvas (80 x 60 cm), depicting
the tremendous collective filtration power of glass sponge reefs.
© Angela Stevenson / ildaite_art.
living T. rex roaming your local hiking trail—a species thought to
have vanished millions of years ago, suddenly revealed to be
alive and well, in our own back yard!
captivating hidden realms. As I descend into the pitch-black
depths, the noise of the surface world fades into silence. I touch
down gently on the seafloor, my torchlight cutting through the
darkness. Gradually, a vast silhouette emerges ahead. Towering
before me are enormous sponges—delicate giants glowing softly
in my light beam. Their translucent forms twist in every direction
like ghostly clouds frozen in time—it’s no wonder they’re called
‘cloud sponges’.
The reef pulses with life, each moment unveiling something
new—a squat lobster peering through the sponge’s delicate
frame, a sudden burst of colour flashing past as fish dart through
the shadows of this usually pitch-dark world. It is both calming
and electric, like stepping into a dream where the world itself
glows with vibrant colours (Fig. 3).
What makes these reefs even more astonishing is their history.
Less than four decades ago these remarkable animals were
known only from their fossilized remains, and were thought to
have been lost to extinction nearly 40 million years ago. That
changed in 1986. While mapping the seafloor off the coast of
British Columbia, geologist Dr Ken Conway rediscovered living
glass sponge reefs—ancient relics of a prehistoric world, still
thriving in the deep. It was the marine equivalent of finding a
An uncertain future
But these ancient and vast reefs are fragile. Human-driven
changes are tipping the ocean’s balance, casting the future
of these underwater cities into uncertainty just as we are
beginning to grasp how vital they are to the web of life within
and around them, including our own lives.
To understand how they might fare, my colleagues and I
ran the first ever long-term experiment of its kind on juveniles
of Aphrocallistes vastus. In a carefully controlled laboratory
environment, we exposed living glass sponges to the kind of
warmer and more acidic ocean conditions scientists predict
over the coming decades. And for 4 months we watched
closely to see how they would respond (Figs 4 & 5).
Given how crucial sponges are for filtering water, we set out
to understand how their feeding and filtration abilities might be
altered. Would they still function effectively in slightly warmer
(+1.8 o C), slightly more acidic (–0.2 units) waters? What about
the incredible biodiversity they support? Would their delicate,
glass-like skeletons remain intact, or would they weaken and
fracture under increasing stress from acidification and warming
when combined with the strong currents they thrive in and
the busy marine life they sustain? And at what point would we
begin to see signs of irreversible tissue damage?
Our goal was to explore not just their chances of survival,
but also how climate change could affect their essential role in
marine ecosystems—and, by extension, the many benefits they
provide to us.
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
Figure 3. ‘Glass Sponge Reef’. Acrylic on canvas (80 x 60 cm),
depicting the unexpectedly vibrant burst of colour from the vast
biodiversity supported by the reef. © Angela Stevenson / ildaite_art.
Figure 4. Juvenile glass sponge Aphrocallistes vastus collections
during field sampling. Each are contained in their own bags and in
situ water for transportation from the seafloor to the lab. Diver: Donna
Gibbs, Ocean Wise. © Angela Stevenson.
Figure 5. Juvenile glass
sponge Aphrocallistes
vastus in their mesocosm
enclosures in the University
of British Columbia, Canada.
© Angela Stevenson.
The results of our study were alarming. When exposed
to future ocean conditions (warmer, more acidic water),
glass sponges filtered water two to four times slower and
became two to six times weaker compared to sponges kept
in ambient conditions (Fig. 6). In warmer waters, half of them
stopped feeding within just 2 weeks—an entire month earlier
than those in ambient conditions. Many stopped feeding
altogether. Unsurprisingly, these periods of starvation led to
tissue damage. After just 30 days of warming, we saw signs of
irreversible tissue loss (Fig. 7).
Glass sponge reefs are ancient, towering structures, built layer
by layer over generations. These structures not only support
future generations, but also a bustling range of marine life—thus
the sponges themselves, as a habitat for this biodiversity, endure
constant physical stress from the creatures they support. When
we tested how their skeletons held up after 4 months under
future ocean scenarios, we found that they broke more easily and
became more bendy—less stiff, and thus likely to be less able to
withstand pressure, and less able to feed in fast-flowing water.
That combination could halt reef formation entirely.
July 2025
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 9
Figure 8. Glass sponge Aphrocallistes
vastus forming a complex habitat for
invertebrates and fish, like this rock fish
(in sponge barrel), at Gambier Island,
Howe Sound, in British Columbia,
Canada. © Adam Taylor, Marine Life
Sanctuaries Society.
have already occurred at depths where the sponges live. In 2016,
only a few brief cooling spells may have rescued the sponges
from extensive damage. If the water had been just half a degree
warmer at depth, we might have observed severe loss among
the sponges.
Not all marine species respond the same way. In a parallel
study we conducted, feather stars—relatives of sea stars and
sea urchins that share these reefs—actually grew faster in
warmer waters. These contrasting responses underscore
just how complex and unpredictable biodiversity shifts may
be in a changing ocean. But for glass sponges, the ancient
architects of underwater glass cities, warming seas pose
an existential threat. And should they decline, the intricate
ecosystems they support may begin to unravel.
Reflections in haiku form
Deep dwelling glass city
Millennial scales of life
Shattered by climate
Figure 7. Irreversible
tissue damage from
warming in Aphrocallistes
vastus (translucent
segment in lower half).
The top half of sponge is
living, healthy tissue.
© Angela Stevenson.
Figure 6. Using a
fluorescent dye to
monitor filtration of a
juvenile glass sponge in
the lab. © Abi Hayward.
Reasons for hope
The future of these ecosystems may appear uncertain, but
there is reason for hope. Thanks to the persistent efforts of
my colleagues at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Ocean
Wise, and NGOs such as the Marine Life Sanctuaries Society
(MLSS)—all of whom contributed to this study—combined with
the strong support of local communities, glass sponge reefs
have gained critical protections to help them endure the
challenges ahead.
The first major step came with government-imposed fishing
closures for all glass sponge bioherms in British Columbia’s
Strait of Georgia. Then, in a landmark achievement, these
rare habitats were awarded UNESCO World Heritage status,
recognizing their regional and global significance, and
ensuring stronger conservation efforts.
These new designations provide a crucial buffer, giving
these ancient, fragile ecosystems their best chance at
surviving the more frequent marine heatwaves and ocean
changes expected in the coming decades. With continued
research, conservation, and community action, we can help
protect these underwater cities for generations to come. l
• Dr Angela Stevenson 1,2,3 (angste@mba.ac.uk)
1. Marine Biological Association, Senior Research Fellow.
2. University of Plymouth.
3. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research.
Instagram: @ildaite_art
@angela_adoba_maya
Further reading
Conway, K.W., Barrie, J.V., Austin, W.C., and Luternauer, J.L. 1991. Holocene
sponge bioherms on the western Canadian continental shelf. Continental Shelf
Research 11(8–10), 771-90.
Does the potential loss of sponges matter?
This matters because sponges don’t just support marine
biodiversity, they also play a critical role in ocean health.
Their filtration powers fuel ecosystems by turning suspended
particles and dissolved carbon into food for other animals. A
twofold to sixfold drop in filtration alone could disrupt nutrient
cycles and energy flow across entire regions.
And this isn’t just hypothetical. In Howe Sound, where we
collected our samples, extended periods of ocean warming
Stevenson, A., Archer, S.K., Schultz, J.A., Dunham, A., Marliave, J.B., Martone,
P., and Harley., C.D.G. 2020. Warming and acidification threaten glass sponge
Aphrocallistes vastus pumping and reef formation. Scientific Reports, 10:8176.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65220-9
Stevenson, A., Ó Corcora, T.C., Harley, C.D., and Baumiller, T.K. 2022. Ability
to swim (not morphology or environment) explains interspecific differences
in crinoid arm regrowth. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 783759. https://doi.
org/10.3389/fmars.2021.783759
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July 2025

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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
July 2025
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 11
SNAPSHOTS
IN TIME:
THE DARWIN
TREE OF LIFE
PROJECT
Navigating fieldwork challenges on a biodiversity
sampling trip to Alderney. By Inez Januszczak.
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
Snorkelling off Alderney. © Chris Fletcher.
to the weather, the boat back has been
cancelled.’
These are not the words you want to hear
‘Due
when staying on Alderney, the northernmost of
the inhabited Channel Islands, if you have a dry shipper full
of marine specimens, flash frozen at –160°C, ready for whole
genome sequencing. However, that was the situation we
found ourselves in when sampling marine invertebrates for the
Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) Project in late 2024.
DToL aims to sequence the genomes of 70,000 species of
eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland, including Crown
Dependencies. It is affiliated with the Earth Biogenome Project
with the aim to sequence all complex life on earth. Eukaryotes
are organisms with cells that have a membrane-bound nucleus
and probably make up the most famous groups of living things,
from animals and plants all the way to fungi and seaweeds.
There are approximately 75,000 eukaryotic species in the
UK—the number keeps changing based on the fluid scientific
definition of what a species is (ask five systematic scientists and
they will give you five different answers).
The key difference between the DToL and other large
biodiversity monitoring initiatives is that whole genome data
is generated. Unlike DNA barcoding (another sequencing
technique that analyses shorter strands of DNA within a
genome) the whole genome is everything. Understanding the
whole genome means you have access to the entirety of an
organism’s makeup. It is an incredible tool that allows scientists
to do all kinds of analysis, including measuring changing genes
over time, or even attempting to answer the dreaded question
‘what is a species’?
The difficultly around sampling for whole genome
sequencing is that DNA degrades extremely quickly. Before
the natural process of decomposition gets to the cells and
tissue, the DNA must be preserved in its best possible
form. Currently, this involves flash freezing at extremely low
temperatures, between –160 and –80°C (depending on the
technology used). In theory, DNA can be stored for hundreds
of years in this way, and some museums—like the Natural
History Museum (NHM) in London—already have liquid
nitrogen freezers that go down to –250°C.
Sampling against the clock
Combining these methods with fieldwork has its challenges,
and this is especially the case with marine material. Marine
invertebrates have all the undesirable traits when it comes to
preserving specimens for long-term storage—they are usually
small and squishy and can change colour and form once they
are out of the water. Marine organisms can also be extremely
hard to identify to species in the field. All the organisms
included in the DToL target list can require years, if not
decades, of expertise to extract and name.
Thankfully, in Alderney, the NHM DToL Sampling Team (me
and Senior Research Assistant Chris Fletcher) was accompanied
by a team of experts including Patrick Adkins, Rebekka Uhl,
and Belle Heaton from the Marine Biological Association. This
field trip to Alderney was organized by the Porcupine Marine
Natural History Society (PMNHS), an expansive natural history
society set up in 1977, which seemed to number among its
membership the entire Seasearch Guides’ authorship. Along
with the local expertise of the Alderney Wildlife Trust and their
volunteers, there was an army of scientists ready to record,
monitor, and observe the available wildlife.
We had 7 days to scour the coasts of Alderney for marine
material which could be identified and flash frozen live, then
taken back to the NHM for processing. For this, we used dry
shippers: small containers originally designed to transport
frozen eggs and sperm for IVF (in-vitro fertilization). They can
be ‘charged’ with liquid nitrogen prior to being moved and
can keep at –160°C for up to a week. One issue is that they
are extremely sensitive and can drop temperature at any
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 13
In the church lab.
© Iain Dixon.
A fan worm, Parasabella langerhansi, sampled for the
Darwin Tree of Life project. © Chris Fletcher.
Frances Dipper (PMNHS) and Alex Purdie (Alderney wildlife trust).
© Charlotte Cummings.
point. The PMNHS’ decision to hire a boat to take us from
Poole Harbour direct to Alderney was a wise one, especially
given the time constraints.
After setting up a mock-up lab in the church hall, every
day was spent looking for unique species for the project.
Specimens had to be identified, cleaned, then flash frozen.
Only a small amount of tissue is needed, and DToL has an
extensive tracking system to prevent sampling duplication.
By day 7, we had collected 87 specimens and 65 species
for DToL—29 of which had never been collected by the project
before. Alderney was an incredible place to sample—I had
never been anywhere so steeped in not only wildlife, but a
dark and fascinating history, with WWII bunkers rising up in the
landscape beyond the cliffs and creeks. We celebrated our final
day with fish and chips by the harbour, ready for our boat back.
But that was not to happen. Extreme tides meant the direct
boat back to Poole was cancelled, and there wouldn’t be
another trip for 2 days. Chris and I, hyper-aware of the dry
shipper freezing capacity, decided to get a plane to Guernsey,
stay in a hotel and then take a ferry back to Poole, where
we would catch a train back to London. Finding out that the
Guernsey to Poole ferry was affectionately known as ‘the vomit
comet’ was another unwanted surprise.
Safely stored samples
Two days later, back at the museum, the relief was indescribable
when we opened the dry shipper lid to find it was still at –160,
despite being days over its usual freezing capacity. This was the
first time specimens have been frozen on Alderney and brought
back to the museum in this way. They are now at the Wellcome
Sanger Institute, where the human genome was first generated
The dry shipper on the plane to Guernsey. © Chris Fletcher.
in 2003. Back then, generating a whole genome cost $3 billion
and took 13 years. Now we can do the same, but across all
organisms, for a fraction of the time and cost. All this data is
publicly generated and free. Hopefully, like the bunkers on
Alderney Island, these genomes represent a snapshot in time
that can be studied for many years in the future. l
• Inez Januszczak (inez.januszczak@nhm.ac.uk), Sampling Coordinator for the
Darwin Tree of Life Project (Natural History Museum).
www.researchgate.net/profile/Inez-Januszczak
Large-scale sampling projects rely entirely on the knowledge of taxonomists,
ecologists, and other experts. Marine invertebrates are still understudied
compared to other (usually terrestrial) taxonomic groups. Thank you to
everyone who collected, identified, and took part in this trip.
Further reading
Darwin Tree of Life project: www.darwintreeoflife.org
Earth Biogenome Project: www.earthbiogenome.org
Alderney Wildlife Trust: www.alderneywildlife.org
Porcupine Marine Natural History Society page: pmnhs.co.uk
www.mba.ac.uk
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e
RAYS OF
HOPE FOR
SHARKS
AND THEIR
RELATIVES
Joel Holmes finds that for some of these species
conservation is paying off.
Figure 1. Association between body size and the probability of an increasing
abundance trend for (a) all chondrichthyans, (b) sharks, and (c) rays and skates.
Binomial generalized linear mixed effects models with ± 95% credibility intervals (blue
shading). Values below 0.5 (red line) abundance trend indicate greater probability
of a decreasing trend. Distribution of lengths for each class/order with median body
length (red dashed line). Silhouettes sourced from Phylopic (Keesey, 2024).
For centuries, we viewed the oceans as an endless
bounty, but overfishing has pushed many species
to the brink. Over the last century, the capacity of
industrial fishing has significantly expanded, and the
global fishing fleet has more than doubled, with devastating
impacts on sharks and their relatives. Sharks belong to the
group Chondrichthyes, which also includes rays and the
elusive chimaeras or ‘ghost sharks’. Chondrichthyans are
particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to slow growth rates,
late maturity, and small numbers of offspring; traits which
contribute to sluggish population recovery rates. Overfishing
is the main driver of their decline, with targeted fishing
for meat, fins, and oil, alongside significant bycatch from
unsustainable methods like pelagic longlining.
I collated abundance time series data from the opensource
database Sharkipedia and set out to investigate how
chondrichthyan populations have changed over the past
century, particularly whether larger species and offshore
populations are more at risk, and whether conservation efforts
are beginning to pay off.
Size matters
I found that size is an indicator of species survival; larger
chondrichthyan species are significantly more likely to
experience population declines (Fig. 1a). This trend is
strongest in sharks, which make up two-thirds of the dataset;
larger rays aren’t significantly more likely to experience
declines, and I had insufficient data for ‘ghost sharks’
(Fig. 1b–c). Larger shark species grow slower, mature later,
and produce fewer offspring, making them less resilient to
overfishing than smaller species.
Figure 2. The association between distance from land and the
probability of an increasing abundance trend for populations.
Binomial generalized linear mixed effects model with ± 95%
credibility intervals. Values below 0.5 (red line) abundance trend
indicates greater probability of a decreasing trend.
Figure 3. Change in global chondrichthyan abundance trends since
1950. A visualization of sliding window analysis using
20-year windows to calculate linear regression with ± 95% credibility
intervals. Values above zero (red line) indicate that global abundance
trends over the 20-year period were positive on average.
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a n o c e a n o f s c i e n c e 15
Oceanic declines
Many oceanic chondrichthyans have life histories that
make them particularly at risk from overfishing. My
analysis shows that offshore populations are more likely
to decline (Fig. 2). The migrations and movements of
these species often overlap with pelagic longline fisheries
which target tuna and other fish species but often capture
sharks and rays as bycatch. Oceanic chondrichthyans are
left with few refuges. Nearshore populations, by contrast,
may benefit more from national protective policies and
the actions of non-governmental organizations. This
highlights the urgent need for enhanced conservation
measures in the high seas to protect chondrichthyans.
Targeted conservation of
chondrichthyans appears to
be paying off
Rays of hope
Despite declines over the past century, my analysis
revealed a promising shift: global abundance trends
have been improving since 1991. Abundance trends
reached their worst between 1972 and 1991 but have
been improving ever since and have been positive since
2007 (Fig. 3). Targeted conservation of chondrichthyans
appears to be paying off, a positive sign in the Decade of
Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Significant
progress is still needed to ensure the recovery of many
chondrichthyan species. Right now, only 8.3 per cent of
our oceans are protected—a drop in the ocean compared
to the 30 per cent target for 2030. There’s still a long way
to go, but these small signs of recovery show that change
is possible.
While overfishing has driven alarming declines in
chondrichthyan populations, signs of recovery offer hope.
Conservation efforts are starting to make a difference, but
urgent action is needed, especially in offshore waters,
to ensure lasting, enforced protection. Safeguarding
chondrichthyans isn’t just about preserving these
remarkable animals; it’s about protecting the health of our
ocean’s ecosystems and securing their future. l
• Joel Holmes (joel.m.holmes@outlook.com), Biology undergraduate at the
University of Bristol.
linkedin.com/in/joelmholmes
Further reading
Dulvy, N.K., Pacoureau, N., Rigby, C.L., Pollom, R.A.,
Jabado, R.W., Ebert, D.A., Finucci, 12B., Pollock, C.M.,
Cheok, J., Derrick, D.H., et al. 2021. Overfishing drives over
one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction
crisis. Current Biology 31, 4773-4787.e8. (doi:10.1016/j.
cub.2021.08.062)
Finucci, B., Pacoureau, N., Rigby, C.L., Matsushiba, J.H.,
Faure-Beaulieu, N., Sherman, C.S., VanderWright, W.J.,
Jabado, R.W., Charvet, P., Mejía-Falla, P.A., et al. 2024.
Fishing for oil and meat drives irreversible defaunation of
deepwater sharks and rays. Science 383,1135-1141.
(doi:10.1126/science.ade9121)
Queiroz, N., Humphries, N.E., Couto, A., Vedor, M., da
Costa, I., Sequeira, A.M.M., Mucientes, G., Santos, A.M.,
Abascal, F.J., Abercrombie, D.L., et al. 2019 Global spatial
risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries.
Nature 572, 461-466. (doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1444-4)
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

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p o l i c y
MANAGING INSHORE FISHERIES
AND MARINE POLICY REFORM
A promising model for governing inshore
waters must be supported in order to
realize its potential.
Fishing Boat, Beer, Devon. Christine Matthews,
CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs)
are pivotal in England’s marine governance. Established
under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, these
ten regional authorities oversee fishing activity within 6
nautical miles of the coast. Their statutory duty is twofold,
to ensure the sustainable exploitation of sea fisheries
resources while balancing environmental, social, and
economic considerations. The IFCAs must also manage
fisheries to ‘further conservation objectives’ in marine
protected areas (MPAs).
To deliver these duties, IFCAs have byelaw-making and
enforcement powers. The IFCAs also gather data and
undertake assessments of fish stocks and MPAs, and develop
management recommendations through stakeholder
engagement and debate.
Democratic and accountable decision-making
The IFCAs are contributing to new Fisheries Management
Plans (FMPs), thereby seeking to align national objectives with
the socio-economic realities of coastal communities. Each
IFCA brings together representatives from local government,
fishers, conservation groups, and statutory agencies such as
Natural England (NE), the Marine Management Organisation
(MMO), and the Environment Agency (EA), thus promoting
transparency and community legitimacy.
In establishing the IFCAs, ministers sought to foster
more democratic and accountable decision-making by
broadening stakeholder representation and enhancing public
engagement. As a result of this approach, IFCAs’ processes
are generally perceived as inclusive and effective. In contrast,
bodies such as the MMO, NE, and EA hold broader statutory
powers related to marine licensing and environmental
protection, not characterized by such access and openness.
To take a terrestrial example, these tensions were
highlighted in the Dartmoor farming inquiry, where NE was
criticized for inadequate engagement with local landholders.
In response, NE is rebuilding trust by improving transparency
and strengthening these relationships through better
communication and collaboration.
IFCAs are intended to deliver responsive, locally informed
marine management. Their success, however, depends on having
the staffing and funding not only to monitor and enforce, but also
to adapt to emerging environmental threats such as changes
in fish distribution due to ocean warming, the rapid declines in
the inshore fishing fleet, the ability to negotiate fair allocations
of shared stocks with European neighbours, and increased
spatial pressures brought about by accelerated offshore wind
development. With the introduction of FMPs and increasing
public scrutiny, the ability of IFCAs to deliver their statutory role
will be a critical test of local marine governance.
Therefore, it is timely to reimagine the IFCAs’ role. While their
structure is a good model for regional participatory governance,
their impact remains limited by stakeholder engagement
challenges, resource constraints, and a lack of understanding
of the work they do. IFCAs can enhance their operational
practices, for example by strengthening collaboration with
other organizations, and through finding synergies and
improving consistency across the IFCAs. Addressing these
systemic challenges demands decisive ministerial action
to ensure adequate resourcing, and implementation of the
recommendations in the recently completed review of IFCAs by
Newcastle University (Coulthard, 2024).¹ Strengthening the role
of IFCAs will be essential as England navigates an increasingly
complex and contested marine policy landscape. l
• April Kellett, Katy Brown, Hiya Jethwani, and Scarlett Kearney, University
of Plymouth (School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences).
1
Coulthard, S. 2024. Recognising achievement and strengthening
capacity in the delivery of regional co-management of England’s inshore
seas. Newcastle University. Available online Report out on IFCAs
performance - AIFCA [accessed 19/05/2025]
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ACT NOW WHERE THE SCIENCE IS CLEAR
Eliane Bastos reports from the One Ocean Science Conference at the Third United Nations Ocean Conference
(UNOC) where scientists and policymakers call for action on ocean sustainability.
For 2 weeks in June, Nice became the ocean capital
of the world. A diverse multitude of scientists,
educators, advocates, campaigners, and policymakers
gathered with a common goal of ‘accelerating action
and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use
the ocean’.
The One Ocean Science Congress
The week before UNOC, over 2,000 natural and social
scientists converged on Nice for a special side event
dedicated to science. The One Ocean Science Congress
(OOSC) encompassed the shallows to the deep-sea, and
the equator to the polar regions. Their aim was to provide
scientific insights into current and future trajectories in
ocean health that decision makers could use to inform their
response to the call for action for ocean sustainability. The
message was clear: planetary health and wellbeing are
unequivocally dependant on ocean health, the growing threat
to ocean health must be stopped and reversed as a matter of
urgency, and there must be no delay to policy interventions.
The pressures on the ocean are manifold; the solutions
and associated uncertainties are also diverse. The scientific
community issued a joint manifesto calling upon all parties
gathered at UNOC to unite and lead with courage where the
science is clear, and humility where uncertainty remains, by:
• acting now where science is clear: the evidence is
overwhelming. Inaction is indefensible;
• advancing knowledge before irreversible decisions: where
uncertainty exists, caution—not recklessness—must guide us,
• turning knowledge into action, and action into justice:
knowledge must serve people and the planet.
Building bridges
The important role of science is evident within OOSC, UNOC,
and the Ocean Decade overall. What is also clear is the need
to build bridges and work across boundaries and world
views. Keynote speaker Michelle Bender of Ocean Vision
Legal reminded us that Indigenous people have cared for and
sustainably managed our shared ocean resources for millennia.
David Obura of IPBES (Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services), echoed this, adding that we cannot solve problems
within the same paradigm that created them.
I added my voice to the many who advocated for listening
across the ocean community in order to understand the needs
and contributions of diverse peoples for whom ocean matters
are central to their lives. Without meaningful community
engagement and education, scientific efforts to understand
the ocean are undermined and public support for the policies
to secure the future health of the ocean cannot be achieved.
Implicit in this is the acknowledgement that the ocean itself
has rights and that this should guide our ethical engagement
with it. In particular, an ocean-literate society is increasingly
recognized as the foundation of all the UNOC and the Ocean
Decade’s efforts.
The meeting rooms have fallen silent. We wait expectantly
to see whether the discussions on sustainably managing the
ocean, increasing scientific cooperation, mobilizing finance, and
preventing further harm will manifest as strong commitments in
the Nice Declaration. While we wait, we continue doing what we
do: remaining motivated to better understand the life support
system of the planet we call home. l
• Eliane Bastos Mem.MBA (esrb23@bath.ac.uk)
The One Ocean Science Congress in Nice at the
Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC).
© Eliane Bastos.
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

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p o l i c y
SCIENCE DIPLOMACY IN
THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
Can science diplomacy turn the tide of geopolitical ambition? By James Borton.
A healthy coral reef off Malaysia.
© Sylvia Jagerroos.
In the cerulean depths of the South China Sea, coral reefs rise
like submerged cathedrals—elaborate, living architectures
built not of stone, but of calcium carbonate and time.
These ecosystems, some millennia in the making, harbour
a symphony of biodiversity: reef-building corals, reef fish,
molluscs, echinoderms, and countless microbial partners in an
intricate web of life. But that natural wealth is under siege.
Satellite images and scientific studies paint a grim picture as
human activities take a steep toll: the seascape of the South
China Sea has become a sprawling environmental crime
scene, marked by the destruction of once-thriving coral reefs
now reduced to lifeless debris. What’s unfolding beneath the
waves is not just an environmental crisis—it’s a regional and
global emergency. Without immediate action, we risk losing
one of Earth’s last great marine reservoirs of life.
These visual and scientific records serve as a sobering
reminder of the fragility of marine environments in the face
of geopolitical ambition and unsustainable practices. As
pressure mounts on the South China Sea’s ecosystems, the
urgency for coordinated conservation, sustainable marine
management, and science-based policy intervention becomes
increasingly clear.
This ecological devastation stems largely from the aggressive
actions undertaken by claimant nations such as China, Vietnam,
Malaysia, and Taiwan, who have transformed fragile marine
ecosystems into militarized zones through large-scale land
reclamation projects. These activities involve dredging, islandbuilding,
and infrastructure development that inflict long-term
damage on biodiversity and accelerate the decline of coral
ecosystems that are already under threat from climate change
and pollution. According to the Asia Maritime Transparency
Initiative, island-building in the South China Sea has destroyed
more than 2,500 hectares of coral reefs.
Marine scientists call for ‘blue parks’
In response to these escalating environmental threats, a
growing emphasis on environmental security—viewed through
the lens of scientific research and conservation—has begun to
reshape the discourse around the South China Sea. Scientists,
environmentalists, and policymakers are highlighting the
urgent need to protect this ecologically vital region by
advocating for the establishment and expansion of marine
protected areas, often referred to as ‘blue parks’.
These protected marine reserves aim to preserve
biodiversity, restore damaged ecosystems, and create
buffers against geopolitical conflict by prioritizing ecological
stewardship. The growing momentum behind these initiatives
signals a potential shift from conflict-driven exploitation to
science-informed conservation, offering a more sustainable
path forward for this strategically and ecologically significant
maritime region.
The High Seas Treaty, adopted in 2023 to safeguard marine
biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions, provides a legal
framework that could bolster the creation of networked
marine protected areas in the contested South China
Sea—offering a collaborative, science-based approach to
conservation in a region fraught with geopolitical tensions.
By enabling multilateral governance over shared ecosystems,
the treaty may help transcend sovereignty disputes and foster
regional cooperation on environmental stewardship.
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p o l i c y 19
Destroyed coral in the Spratly Islands,
2016. © John McManus.
Marine reserves aim to ... create
buffers against geopolitical
conflict by prioritizing ecological
stewardship
Claimant nations are increasingly taking action to integrate
science with policy as they navigate the complex and often
volatile geopolitics shaped by environmental change.
Vietnam, a claimant in the South China Sea and also
involved in land reclamation, is taking steps to address
environmental challenges by expanding its marine protected
area programme. A notable example is Cu Lao Cham, a
vibrant ecological site located about 20 kilometres off the
central coast. Spearheaded by Professor Chu Manh Trinh, a
biologist from Da Nang University, the area’s conservation
efforts gained international recognition when it was
designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 2009 for
its ecological and cultural importance.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) in the South China Sea are
sparse and fragmented due to ongoing geopolitical tensions.
While countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam
have established national MPAs within their own exclusive
economic zones (EEZs), there is no regional or transboundary
conservation effort. Disputes over territories, especially
around the Spratly and Paracel Islands, hinder collaboration.
Despite these challenges, successful examples like the
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in the Philippines, a UNESCO
World Heritage site, show the potential for effective marine
conservation in the region.
Although China’s artificial island building accounts for
nearly two-thirds of the damage to marine habitats in
the South China Sea, it has established over 270 marine
protected areas, reflecting a growing commitment to marine
conservation. This expansion signals a shift toward sciencebased
policymaking and a recognition of the need to protect
biodiversity amid threats like overfishing, pollution, and
climate change.
These MPAs are crucial for the conservation of marine
biodiversity in the South China Sea, providing habitats for
numerous marine species, including endangered sea turtles
and dolphins. However, they also face challenges from
overfishing, illegal harvesting, and environmental degradation
due to human activities. Strengthening enforcement and
expanding conservation efforts are essential to ensure the longterm
health and sustainability of these marine ecosystems.
Marine scientists across the region are acutely aware that
the continued degradation of coral reef ecosystems is driving
a decline in fish stocks, with serious implications for food
security among all nations with territorial claims in the South
China Sea.
Professor John McManus, a marine biologist from the
University of Miami, has conducted underwater surveys in the
Spratly Islands since the early 1990s. He and other scientists
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July 2025

20
p o l i c y
Vietnamese trawlers in Cu Lao
Cham, where the fishing is
good. © David Monk.
Drone overview of Cu Lao Cham, a model marine protected
area off Vietnam’s central coast. © David Monk.
estimate it could take 10–20 years for damaged reefs to recover,
as dead coral must first stabilize before new growth can occur.
The evidence is unequivocal: the ongoing depletion of
marine resources in the Spratly and Paracel Islands constitutes
a collective threat—one that transcends borders and demands
coordinated scientific and policy responses. Without
immediate and collective action, one of the world’s most
important marine ecosystems may be pushed beyond the
point of recovery.
Scientific and policy cooperation required
It is time to convene leading scientists with expertise in marine
biodiversity and environmental sustainability in the troubled
waters of the South China Sea for a dedicated science
policy forum. Their collaboration could lay the foundation
for establishing a South China Sea International Science
Commission. As more marine scientists engage in joint
workshops and communicate through the universal language
of science, they are encouraging governments to designate
additional marine protected areas.
The ‘blue parks’ serve as models for how nations and communities
can come together to safeguard biodiversity, even in regions
marked by political tension. By focusing on shared ecological
goals—such as preserving critical habitats, protecting endangered
species, and ensuring the sustainability of fisheries—MPAs encourage
collaboration based on mutual environmental interests rather
than territorial claims. In doing so, they offer a practical framework
for transcending geopolitical disputes, demonstrating that
environmental stewardship can act as a unifying force.
Coral reefs are not confined by national borders—nor should
their stewardship be. Transboundary scientific collaboration and
marine protected areas are essential if we are to preserve these
ecological treasures. l
• James Borton (asiareview@yahoo.com), non-resident Senior Fellow at Johns
Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute.
James Borton’s new book, Harvesting the Waves: How Blue Parks Shape Policy,
Politics, and Peacebuilding, is out now. www.universal-publishers.com/book.
php?method=ISBN&book=1599427745
20 f e a t u r e
AN OCTOPUS BLOOM IN
THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
The ripples of this unexpected event continue to spread. By Guy Baker.
Tucked away in seabed dens in the Western English
Channel, a new generation of common octopus is
developing, carefully guarded by mothers whose final
act is to tend over their brood of eggs. Once hatched,
the larval octopus will disperse widely, oblivious to the fact
that their fate is being closely watched.
Winners and losers
Trawlers and potters in northern France and South West
England have been landing increasing quantities of common
octopus (Octopus vulgaris) since 2022. One trawler recently
landed almost 20 tonnes into Newlyn, Cornwall, worth a
record-breaking £158,000.
The surge in abundance could be a blessing for the
small-scale fishing sector, as O. vulgaris are a high-value, nonquota
species, meaning there is no limit on what can be landed.
But there’s a problem: these large, adaptable predators enter
fishermen’s pots and devour the crab, lobster, spiny lobster,
scallops, and whelks within. Populations of common octopus
have bloomed in the Western English Channel before, in 1900
and in 1950, leaving many shellfishermen with no option but
to stop fishing. Marine Biological Association scientist Walter
Garstang focused on the damage to the shellfishery when he
wrote in a 1900 paper of ‘marauding bands’ of large octopus off
the south coast of England.
Beshlie Pool, Executive Officer of South Devon and
Channel Shellfishermen, said, ‘The influx of common octopus
into Channel waters is extremely worrying for our fleet of
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f e a t u r e 21
shellfishermen. Whilst some are able to catch octopus and
make a reasonable living for at least the short term, others are
facing significant drops in their traditional catches.’
The common octopus is found worldwide in temperate
and tropical seas. It is commercially important and occupies a
central role in food webs in temperate ecosystems.
‘Cephalopods such as a squid, octopus, and cuttlefish are
generally ‘winners’ when it comes to changing seas, even
with issues like climate change and overfishing’ says Alix
Harvey, Ecology Laboratory and Research Aquarium Manager
at the MBA. ‘Their short lifespan, rapid reproduction, and
intelligence allows them to exploit new environments.’
Plankton surveys in the years before the 1950 bloom
showed that octopus larvae originated on the south side of
the English Channel. This year, octopus have been observed
to be breeding on the English side. Once larval octopus
settle out of the plankton, the juveniles need a mild winter
to survive—not unlikely around southern England as sea
temperatures rise. However, recruitment of cephalopods in
general is variable year on year and is sensitive to extreme
climatic events.
Fishers and regulators working together
Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority
(D&SIFCA) oversees fishing activity in South Devon where
octopus numbers are highest. The relevant legislation here
is the Potting Permit Byelaw which stipulates that ‘escape
gaps’ must be fitted to crab and lobster pots with entrances
constructed from netting to allow the escape of juvenile or
undersized crustaceans. Introduced as a beneficial stock
conservation measure, the escape gap makes a convenient
exit for voracious octopus after they have finished dining on
fishermens’ catches of shellfish.
D&SIFCA has clarified that under the existing potting bylaw,
if fishing for octopus only, the escape gap can be closed, but
any crustaceans caught in a pot with a closed escape gap
must be returned to the sea. Conversely, if fishing for crab,
lobster, and spiny lobster, the escape gap must remain open.
As well as acting rapidly to enable fishers to adapt legally to
the situation, D&SIFCA is working with fishers to understand
how effective a closed escape gaps is for retaining octopus.
This responsive collaboration to gather evidence is an
important part of the IFCA’s role.
A national meeting between fishers, the Marine
Management Organisation, and scientists took place recently
to discuss the impacts of the influx of octopus, how to protect
existing stocks of crustaceans and shellfish, the octopus
fishery in the short and long term, and potential management
solutions.
An alignment of environmental factors has once again
helped common octopus move into the northern limits of
their range in large numbers. It is important to understand
how long-term climate and ecological trends will affect the
future distribution of O. vulgaris, not least because its fate is
bound up with that of fishers in the region. Interdisciplinary
research will be key to inform policies that deliver the best
outcomes for the environment, fishers’ livelihoods, and the
resilience of coastal communities. l
• Guy Baker Mem.MBA (editor@mba.ac.uk)
Further reading
Garstang, W. 1900. The plague of octopus on the south coast, and its effect
on the crab and lobster fisheries. Journal of the Marine Biological Association
of the United Kingdom 6: 260-273. doi:10.1017/S0025315400006639
Rees, W.J. and Lumby, J.R. 1954. The abundance of octopus in the English
Channel. Journal of The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
33: 515-536.
Schickele, A., Francour, P. and Raybaud, V. 2021. European cephalopods
distribution under climate-change scenarios. Scientific Reports 11: 3930
(2021). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83457-w
www.devonandsevernifca.gov.uk/octopus-escape-gaps
The den of a common octopus
in Torbay, Devon, where a
female guards her eggs for 3–4
months until they hatch.
© Keith Hiscock.
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22 f e a t u r e
A COMMUNITY-LED COMEBACK FOR
COASTAL BIODIVERSITY
The Solent Seascape Project is helping to restore native oysters to the Solent. By Amy Schofield.
July 2025
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f e a t u r e 23
This spring, a powerful transformation took place
beneath the surface of the Solent, the stretch of
water between the Isle of Wight and the mainland
on England’s south coast. On the banks of the River
Hamble, an army of volunteers prepared 10,000 native oysters
(Ostrea edulis) for a new life on the seabed. These aren’t just
any oysters—they’re part of one of the UK’s most ambitious
marine habitat restoration efforts to date, led by the Blue
Marine Foundation through the Solent Seascape Project.
At the heart of this initiative is a seemingly simple mission:
to restore the Solent’s lost oyster reefs and, with them, unlock
countless benefits for the marine environment. For both
scientists and volunteers, the project represents a synthesis
of rigorous ecological science and the power of community
involvement—a model for how local action can support ocean
health on a significant scale.
after the native oyster stocks collapsed from 200 to 20 tonnes
per year over a 5-year period. Coincidentally, researchers at
the University of Portsmouth were contacted by the America’s
Cup sailing team at the same time, as they were looking to
improve biodiversity around their headquarters. Oysters were
suggested as a solution and a working group was formed.
With the licensing and permission process for work
on the seabed being complex and time consuming,
suspended nurseries were installed in the interim to
increase the larval supply.¹
‘In 2017 it was calculated that in that year alone, over
1 billion larvae were released from the nursery systems
containing 10,000 oysters across the Solent; this addressed
the recruitment limitations of the area,’ said Luke. The next
step was to address the poor state of the seabed—the system
was substrate limited, meaning that there was not enough
suitable material for larvae to settle on.
‘After years of planning, research at the Universities of
Portsmouth and Southampton, and licence applications, we
began scaling up. This process of deploying shell and gravel—
or ‘cultch’, designed to promote larval settlement—and then
live oysters on top of this will hopefully kickstart restoration of
self-sustaining populations.
‘If we can establish a number of these sites in protected
areas, it is hoped that we can tip the balance in the right
direction in favour of the oysters and start to see recovery of
the population Solent-wide,’ Luke explained.
Dr Luke Helmer, Restoration Science Manager
at Blue Marine Foundation. © Luke Helmer.
Estuary ecosystem engineers
Once the foundation of the Solent’s marine ecosystem and
local economy, native oysters have declined by more than
95 per cent due to overharvesting, pollution, and habitat
degradation. The project to reintroduce native oysters
harnesses their ability to greatly alter the marine environment
for the better.
‘These oysters are ecosystem engineers that create
complex, three-dimensional reef structures providing habitat
for hundreds of marine species. A review of the literature
suggests that over 400 species are associated with native
oysters across their biogeographical range,’ explained Dr
Luke Helmer, Restoration Science Manager at Blue Marine
Foundation.
Oysters have an enormous biofiltration capacity, so such a
huge loss of numbers has a big impact. The Solent was once
home to Europe’s largest native oyster fishery, supporting
700 workers on 450 vessels. At the end of the 1970s over 15
million oysters were harvested annually.
‘When you equate that to the estimated range of filtration
rates, that is somewhere between 2 and 5 billion pints [1.1
and 2.8 billion litres] of water filtered every day!’ said Luke. At
a time when we are seeing increasing issues with water quality
and clarity around the UK coastline, native oysters can be part
of the solution: ‘Problems need to be addressed at the source,
but these oysters can certainly have an impact if restored at
scale,’ Luke added.
A coincidental start
The project began back in 2014 when Blue Marine was
contacted by the Southern IFCA (Inshore Fisheries and
Conservation Authority), asking if restoration was possible
A native oyster (Ostrea edulis) prior to deployment on the seabed.
The dots are tags for mark and recapture studies to assess growth
and survival. © Luke Helmer.
Multiple benefits
results. A pilot reef created in the Hamble is now home
to live, breeding oysters. With hydrophones capturing the
underwater sounds of oyster activity, researchers now have
acoustic evidence that these reefs are alive, filtering, and
teeming with life.
The native oyster is being restored for the many benefits,
or ecosystem services, that the species and habitat provides.
These include improvements to water clarity and quality,
1
Helmer, L., et al. 2017. Saving the Solent, one oyster at a time. The
Marine Biologist, 9, 14.
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24 f e a t u r e
an army of volunteers
prepared 10,000 native oysters
for a new life on the seabed
biodiversity, and attempts to revive the cultural heritage and
love of the native oyster.
Luke and his team of researchers sample the reef areas
every year, looking at the location and composition of the
seabed material and how it changes over time, how many
oysters there are and at what density, the species that the
areas support (through grab sampling and eDNA), and
changes in water quality over time.
‘We also look at how the reefs are recruiting through spat
(juvenile oysters) collections. We compare our reef sites to
similar sites where no action has been taken, to ensure that
it is indeed our actions that are having the intended positive
effects,’ says Luke.
The next phase will expand the reef to four hectares—an
impressive leap in scale, made possible by community support
from citizen scientists and years of foundational research from
the University of Portsmouth and University of Southampton.
Community involvement
Community involvement in this project is vital, with over
150 volunteers helping to clean and deploy oysters. ‘The
Solent Seascape Project is a collaborative long-term initiative,
working to restore multiple habitats across the Solent, and
without the amazing volunteers of the Solent and beyond, we
simply could not get this many oysters in the water!’ says Luke.
‘Our small team couldn’t clean 10,000 oysters in a few days,
so we are extremely grateful to everyone who signed up to
help. Without the lab facilities and support of the University of
Portsmouth’s Institute of Marine Sciences, we couldn’t do this
work either.’
The team was vigilant to ensure that only native oysters were
introduced to the reef, and that any other unwanted ‘hitchhiker’
organisms were removed beforehand, to avoid unintentionally
introducing non-native or harmful species into the environment.
Once scrubbed to remove hitchhikers and treated for
biosecurity, the oysters were taken by local fishers and
dropped on areas of the seabed prepared with cultch. Over
time, this will help to create self-sustaining oyster populations
in protected areas across the Solent.
Citizen science in action
Among those volunteering to scrub and deploy oysters this
year was James Hart, a Marine Environmental Science student
who discovered the project through his university network.
‘I wanted to take on a project with lasting impact. Having
spoken to my university colleagues, I was told about the
Oyster Reef Restoration Project. I went down and took part
in 4 days of oyster cleaning.’ The experience helped to
deepen James’ understanding of marine diversity and led to
encounters with many interesting new people who share his
passion for creating tangible change.
A call to the marine community
For marine scientists, the Solent oyster restoration initiative
represents not only a success for marine conservation,
but also a flourishing local case study in successful habitat
restoration. It highlights the importance of collaborative
action in science, where academic institutions, NGOs, local
Above: Volunteers cleaned 10,000 oysters at the University of
Portsmouth’s Institute of Marine Sciences. © Luke Helmer.
Above: Deploying oysters in the Hamble. © Louise MacCullum.
fishers, and citizen scientists work in partnership to achieve
ecosystem-scale outcomes.
Inspired to take part? With oyster restoration just one element
of the project (others include saltmarsh, seagrass, and seabird
habitat restoration), there are many ways to get involved.
‘We will be running more volunteer events in the future, as
we are going to need to get many more oysters in the water
to start seeing changes. All our events are shared through
the Solent Seascape Project website, where we also have
other volunteering opportunities as part of the project with
other project partners,’ says Luke. ‘Anyone signed up to the
oyster opportunities will be informed of future oyster events. It
would be great to see MBA members there!'. l
• Amy Schofield (amysch@mba.ac.uk) MBA Senior
Communications Officer.
For volunteering opportunities and more information,
visit: solentseascape.com/get-involved
July 2025
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f e a t u r e 25
RESPONDING
TO SHIP-SOURCE
POLLUTION EVENTS
WORLDWIDE
Example of an oiled sandy shoreline. © ITOPF.
An introduction to the International Tanker Owners
Pollution Federation (ITOPF) by Joe Lane.
When a marine pollution event occurs, the
consequences for marine life can be severe
in the short term. For more than 5 decades,
ITOPF (the International Tanker Owners
Pollution Federation Limited) has been working to mitigate
the impacts of pollution in the marine environment, providing
expert technical advice and scientific guidance to those
involved in response.
ITOPF was established in the wake of the Torrey Canyon oil
spill in 1967, originally to facilitate claims and compensation
for the clean-up operations and pollution damage arising from
tanker spills. Since then, its remit has evolved and ITOPF now
offers five key services: spill response, damage assessment
and claims analysis, contingency planning and advisory work,
training and education, and information services.
The company has responded to more than 850 spills in more
than 100 countries, in some of the most highly biodiverse
locations on the planet, including The Solomon Islands, Tristan
da Cunha, Singapore, Madagascar, The Philippines, Taiwan,
Indonesia, Mozambique, Angola, Madeira, Morocco, South
Africa, the United States, and the Mediterranean.
Operating on a not-for-profit basis, ITOPF provides these
services to its Members, Associates and their Protect and
Indemnity (P&I) insurers, and other stakeholders involved in
responding to incidents of ship-source pollution including
national governments, intergovernmental organizations, and
coastal administrations. In this position, ITOPF has worked
Above: ITOPF advising on clean-up techniques. © ITOPF.
closely throughout its history with United Nations subsidiaries
such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the
International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds),
and many academic institutions, as well as holding a position
as visiting professor at the World Maritime University in
Malmo, Sweden.
ITOPF’s Members are any ocean-going vessel classed
as a tanker, including combined carriers, FPSOs (floating
production storage and offloading vessels) and barges. Its
Associates are non-tanker vessels or bareboat charterers,
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26 f e a t u r e
including container ships, bulk carriers, and some pleasure
craft such as large yachts.
With office locations in London and Singapore, its staff total
48. Around 20 of the team respond internationally to marine
pollution events, a service available 24-7 all year round. The
responders are a multi-skilled, multilingual force of marine
biologists, environmental scientists, chemists, geologists,
and engineers who are primed to travel at a moment’s notice
to attend spills of any cargo, or any fuel, whenever they are
needed.
When a pollution event occurs, the initial notification to ITOPF
is made through its 24-7 emergency phone line. A call can come
from several maritime stakeholders, including P&I insurers,
shipowners, port authorities, governments, the IOPC Funds, or
the IMO, or anyone who has witnessed a pollution incident.
Assessing incidents
After notification, ITOPF begins its preliminary investigation
and assessment into the incident. This work covers the likely
scale and extent of the pollution, the pollutant’s fate and
behaviour, potential environmental and economic impacts,
and what the local levels of preparedness for a spill response
may be. ITOPF’s team has many tools at its disposal for
its desktop analysis, including remote sensing imagery,
using optical and radar satellite imagery and imagery from
overflights by drones and piloted aircraft to determine if
pollution is present and how it may be behaving.
Dependent on the initial information available on the
pollutant spilled, the team will also begin mapping and
modelling the substance to predict its fate and movements.
It will assess where the pollution may come ashore or remain
at sea, potentially dispersing or emulsifying, and what type
of response effort is required to begin the clean-up and
potential access requirements. When responding to oil spills,
the key properties ITOPF’s Technical Team look to understand
in these early stages are the density, viscosity, pour point,
distillation characteristics, wax, and asphaltene content.
ITOPF’s extensive experience in responding to spills
of many different types of substances enables its rapid
understanding of what impacts there may be on the marine
environment and on those associated with it.
Information is gathered on environmentally sensitive areas
in the spill area such as mangroves or saltmarshes, or if there
is commercial activity like fishing zones or fisheries which may
be impacted.
Oil spills can cause a wide range of impacts to the marine
environment, both as a result of physical smothering and
ecotoxicological effects. The severity of impact typically
depends on the quantity and type of oil as well as the
sensitivity of the affected organisms and their habitats.
For saltmarshes, the impact of an oil spill depends on the
time of year it occurs relative to periods of plant growth.
Temperate or cold-region marshes are dormant during
winter months, while in the Mediterranean, growth is slow
during high summer temperatures. A single pollution event
is unlikely to cause more than temporary effects, but longerterm
damage, possibly over several years, can be inflicted
by aggressive clean-up activity, such as trampling, the use of
heavy equipment, or removal of contaminated substrate.
In the case of mangroves, their location leaves them
highly vulnerable to ship-source pollution events and they
are extremely sensitive to contamination by oil, dependent
largely on the substrate in which the mangroves are
growing. Typically, mangroves grow in muddy, anaerobic
sediments and rely on oxygen supplied through small pores
on aerial roots. Heavy oil inundation of the root systems
Manual clean-up efforts at the site of oiled
mangroves. © ITOPF.
may block this oxygen supply, causing mangroves to die.
However,, in open, aerated sediments the root systems
draw oxygen from seawater and have a higher tolerance to
smothering by oil.
While oil has historically been the primary pollutant to
which ITOPF has responded, in recent years, the types of
substances have diversified to include chemicals, plastics,
coal, iron ore, and other cargoes.
For instances where Hazardous Noxious Substances (HNS)
or plastic pellets are released, a key information requirement
is what state the chemical may be in, including its method
of transportation and whether its release occurred above or
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f e a t u r e 27
Left: ITOPF on-site in the Arctic. © ITOPF.
Below: Taking oil samples on-site at an oiled shoreline. © ITOPF.
ITOPF made £60,000
available for short-term
projects and up to £40,000
for PhD projects
below the waterline. In the case of plastic pellets, they are
extremely mobile and when released at sea can disperse
across vast distances with little encouragement from
meteorological and oceanographic conditions.
However, as the shipping industry sails towards
decarbonization, ITOPF has kept abreast of the new
developments in alternative fuels such as ammonia, methanol,
and hydrogen and the potential risks and hazards associated
with spills of these substances.
Sharing knowledge and improving responses
Understanding the breadth of response options available to
clean up spills of pollutants enables ITOPF’s team to provide the
most technically sound advice to the response operations teams.
An effective clean-up operation usually includes removal
of any bulk pollutants, reducing the geographical extent and
duration of pollution damage, and allowing natural recovery
to commence. At times, natural cleaning processes may be
preferable to aggressive clean-up methods using heavy
machinery and equipment.
Over the course of ITOPF’s history, it has amassed over half
a century of experience and knowledge which is distilled into
a series of films, Technical Information Papers (TIPs), and a
multitude of other papers and presentations.
The majority of its documents are available to download
from its website free of charge. ITOPF also possesses one
of the largest technical libraries on marine pollution in the
world, primarily a source of reference for its team, but open to
visitors by appointment.
It has fostered an environment for steady learning
through its Research and Development Award. Continuous
improvement in the understanding of the fate and effects
of pollutants will lead to improvements in accepted ‘best
practice’ for spill response and environmental monitoring.
Since the Award was established, more than £600,000 has
been distributed to 13 separate research and development
projects worldwide on behalf of ITOPF’s shipowners and their
P&I insurers.
From 2021, ITOPF made £60,000 available for short-term
projects (1–2 years) and up to £40,000 for PhD projects plus a
student stipend and university fees. This supports PhD or shortterm
projects which have the potential to lead to improvements
in spill preparation and response, as well as new techniques for
monitoring and restoring marine habitats. ITOPF has awarded
the funding to projects covering research into plastic pellets,
the behaviours of low and ultra-low sulphur fuel oils (LSFO and
VLSFO), tracking of rehabilitated oiled birds, emerging risks in
marine transportation, developing resources for training spill
responders, and many more.
As ITOPF moves with the times and shipping’s race to
decarbonization, its mission statement ‘To promote effective
response to marine spills of oil, chemicals and other
substances as a means of reducing impacts on the
environment and affected communities’ could not be more
relevant. As new blends and types of fuel emerge, ITOPF
expertise is required by the maritime industry to understand
their fate, behaviours and potential risks and hazards to the
marine environment and those dependent upon it. l
• Joe Lane (joelane@itopf.org) ITOPF Communications Officer.
www.itopf.org
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28 f e a t u r e
POLLUTION AND
PAIN FOR PROFIT
Maya Solly looks into the real costs of Thailand’s commercial fishing industry.
In recent years, the ethics of commercial capture fishing
have come under increasing scrutiny. While global
fisheries supply 17 per cent of the world’s animal protein
and support over 58 million workers, the ecological and
human costs are growing ever more difficult to ignore.
As one of the world’s largest seafood exporters, Thailand
allocated over $1 billion to its fisheries in 2018. Thailand’s
commercial fishing industry plays a pivotal role in global
seafood supply chains; however, their reputation in
environmental and worker’s health has been recognized
internationally, to the extent that the EU issued a ‘yellow
card’ warning in 2015 in regard to illegal, unreported, and
unregulated fishing.
Despite reform efforts, Thailand’s capture fisheries continue
to raise serious concerns, ranging from ecosystem collapse
and marine pollution to worker exploitation and public health
risks. These issues highlight a growing ethical dilemma: can the
pursuit of economic gain through industrial fishing continue
to justify the mounting environmental degradation and human
suffering it leaves in its wake?
An industry in crisis
Historically, Thailand’s fisheries were dominated by lowimpact,
small-scale methods like traps and gillnets. However,
industrialization in the 1960s—spurred by generous subsidies—
shifted the balance toward mechanized trawlers and purse
seiners (see Fig. 1). These now dominate Thai waters and are
notorious for high bycatch and environmental degradation.
Today, over 80 per cent of Thailand’s fish stocks are
overfished. Despite recent regulations, weak enforcement has
allowed this to continue. In 2022, an all-time high of over 60 per
cent of fish captured from active fishing gear consisted of ‘trash
fish’—damaged or juvenile species unfit for human consumption
(Fig. 2). While some are repurposed as feed for aquaculture
or livestock, this trend signals overexploitation rather than
efficiency.
Ecological and human health at risk
Thailand’s commercial fleets, both large and small-scale, have a
disproportionate impact on marine biodiversity. In 2022 alone,
small-scale fisheries unintentionally captured over 5.6 million
rays and half a million sharks. These elasmobranchs play a
key ecological role as apex predators, and their removal can
trigger cascading effects throughout the ecosystem. Trawling,
in particular, not only harms benthic communities, but also
releases carbon stored in sediments—by some estimates, up to
1.5 billion tonnes annually—contributing to climate change. As
Thailand pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per
cent by 2030, addressing trawling’s carbon footprint becomes
increasingly urgent.
Additionally, Thailand is the sixth-largest contributor of lost
fishing gear globally. These ghost nets continue to trap marine
life long after being discarded, affecting turtles, corals, and even
supporting the spread of invasive species. Over time, plastic
gear photodegrades into microplastics, which accumulate in
marine food chains. These microplastics absorb and concentrate
heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, and cadmium. When
ingested by fish, they pose a risk to human consumers (Fig. 3).
Up to 54 per cent of Thai commercial fish species have tested
positive for microplastic contamination, with the highest levels in
tuna and grouper. As globally exported seafood, this creates not
just an ecological threat, but a serious public health concern.
Cultural traditions vs health warnings
Despite health risks, seafood consumption is culturally
embedded in Thai society. For example, in northern Thailand,
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f e a t u r e 29
Figure 1. An adapted visual
representation of the main
commercial fishing methods
in Thailand. © Ole Arve
Misund.
raw fish remains widely consumed, despite the known risk of
parasitic infection. This raises the question: if contaminated
marine fish were flagged as unsafe, would warnings alter
consumption behaviours?
Case studies from abroad suggest they possibly would,
but improved health is not necessarily promised. When the
Mohawk community in North America were advised to avoid
locally contaminated fish, many turned to processed foods—
leading to a spike in diabetes rates. A similar outcome in
Thailand could emerge if healthy alternatives are not provided,
particularly among low-income groups.
Fish feel pain—and so do fishermen
Animal welfare in fisheries is also finally receiving overdue
attention. Research shows fish display behaviours consistent
with pain, including reduced movement, physiological stress,
and altered responses to analgesics. Yet capture methods,
especially trawling and purse seining, often expose fish to
trauma and stress long before death.
Meanwhile, on-board conditions for human workers can be
distressing. Thailand’s fishing industry has long been linked with
forced labour, trafficking, and debt bondage. However, as stocks
are depleted, fishing trips are getting longer to achieve a profitable
catch; long fishing trips are correlated with increased exploitation,
including 21-hour workdays, abuse, and mental health disorders.
While reforms like vessel monitoring and biometric IDs have
been introduced, corruption, power exploitation, and lack of
enforcement leave little improvement overall.
A call for reform
Thailand’s marine capture fisheries embody the complex
trade-offs between food security, economic development,
and environmental ethics. Without reform, the industry risks
Figure 2. The composition of
catch from each fishing gear
type. Data: Department of
Fisheries, Thailand. 2022.
Figure 3. The breakdown, ingestion, and bioaccumulation of
microplastics and any associated pollutants along the food chain.
Made with BioRender.
irreversible ecological damage and socio-economic collapse.
Stricter fishing regulations, removal of harmful subsidies,
improved public health guidance, and labour protections are
critical. While small-scale fisheries are not free from issues like
bycatch, their lower ecological footprint and social benefits make
them a more viable long-term solution. Investment in selective
gear, habitat restoration, and community-led conservation can
help rebuild degraded ecosystems while maintaining livelihoods.
Marine conservation and ethical seafood consumption are no
longer niche issues—they’re necessary actions to preserve our
oceans and the communities that depend on them. l
• Maya Solly (sollymr@hotmail.com)
www.linkedin.com/in/mayasolly
Further reading
Environmental Justice Foundation 2023. Scourge of the Seas: The impact of
bottom trawling on Thailand’s marine ecosystems and recommendations for
sector reform. https://ejfoundation.org/resources/downloads/Scourge_of_the_
Seas_EN_Update_AUGUST2023_230823.pdf
Ta, A.T., Babel, S. 2020. Microplastic contamination on the lower Chao Phraya:
Abundance, characteristic and interaction with heavy metals. Chemosphere 257:
127234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127234
Prabakaran, K, et al. Heavy metal bioaccumulation and risk assessment in fishery
resources from the Gulf of Thailand. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 198: 115864.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115864
Molland, S. 2019. What Happened to Sex Trafficking? The New Moral Panic of
Men, Boys and Fish in the Mekong Region. Sojourn. 34. 397–424. https://doi.
org/10.1355/sj34-2f
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30 f e a t u r e
INVESTIGATING BLUE CARB
Action to safeguard and restore seabed carbon storage capacity is hampered by uncertainty. Athena Allen
introduces an EU-wide project that will address knowledge gaps to enable effective protection of seabed habitats.
With 2030 climate targets looming, interest in
blue carbon—the carbon stored in our marine
habitats—has surged. The recent publication
of the Blue Carbon Report for the UK by The
Wildlife Trusts, WWF, and the RSPB, following a technical
analysis carried out by the Scottish Association for Marine
Science (SAMS), highlights this growing subject. These titan
project partners produced a pioneering report which offers
a detailed estimate of the carbon captured and stored in UK
seas and maps this data to support marine spatial planning
efforts aimed at protecting key carbon sinks.
Building on this momentum, the European Climate,
Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) of
the European Commission has launched a similar initiative to
assess the carbon storage capacity of seabed habitats across
European seas. Over the next 18 months, a consortium led by
NatureBureau Ltd and including Nord University, SAMS, and
CLIMAZUL, will carry out this important research to support EU
climate and biodiversity goals.
What is blue carbon?
Blue carbon refers to the carbon captured and stored by
coastal and marine ecosystems, specifically muddy sediment,
saltmarshes, and seagrasses. These habitats are remarkably
efficient at sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide and
a.
storing it not only in their plant biomass but also deep
in waterlogged sediments where decomposition is slow.
Blue carbon ecosystems can store four times more carbon
than terrestrial forests and can retain it for millennia if left
undisturbed, making them powerful natural climate solutions.
However, when these ecosystems are disturbed by human
activities (such as pollution, bottom-towed fishing gear or
unsustainable development), they can release large amounts
of stored carbon back into the atmosphere, contributing to
greenhouse gas emissions (see infographics).
For marine professionals, protecting and restoring blue
carbon habitats offers a rare convergence of climate mitigation,
biodiversity conservation, and support for local livelihoods,
particularly in vulnerable coastal communities. Integrating
blue carbon into marine spatial planning and climate policy is
increasingly seen as crucial to sustainable ocean governance.
Why do we need this project now?
Europe’s seabed ecosystems are under pressure. Threats range
from global challenges like climate change and the overuse of
marine resources—both living and non-living—to more localized
impacts, such as shipping routes, energy infrastructure, tourism,
and agricultural runoff. These fragile habitats are increasingly
Below and opposite top: Marine sediments are vital stores of
global marine carbon. Graphics showing carbon stocks and
factors affecting capture and storage. a) Estimated sizes and
flows of carbon stocks on the Northwest European Shelf. b)
Threats to seabed carbon capture and storage and associated
uncertainties and knowledge gaps. From Legge et al. (2020)³.
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

f e a t u r e 31
ON ON A EUROPEAN SCALE
b.
vulnerable to long-term, and potentially irreversible, damage.
Marine sediments, particularly those in shallow seas less than
1,000 metres deep, are estimated to store 15.5 per cent of
global marine carbon¹. This vast carbon reservoir includes
well-known blue carbon ecosystems which are highly efficient
at capturing and storing carbon. But it's not just these coastal
habitats; the extensive shelf sediments hold carbon at scale.
Like many parts of the world, Europe has made
commitments to protect and improve the health of its marine
environment. These commitments stem from major policy
initiatives such as the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity
Strategy for 2030, and the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and
Waters.’ To meet these ambitious goals, European countries
rely on long-established legislation designed to safeguard
marine ecosystems and promote their sustainable use, such as
the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
The main aim of the MSFD is to achieve ‘Good Environmental
Status’ (GES) in the marine waters of all EU Member States by
2020. While the original deadline has passed, achieving GES
is an ongoing goal. Progress is tracked using 11 environmental
descriptors, two of which directly focus on seabed ecosystems:
Descriptor 1 (Biodiversity) and Descriptor 6 (Seafloor Integrity).
Descriptor 6 is all about the health of seabed habitats—both
the communities of marine life they support and the physical
condition of the seafloor itself.
1
Atwood, T.B., Witt, A., Mayorga, J., Hammill, E. and Sala, E. 2020.
Global patterns in marine sediment carbon stocks. Frontiers in Marine
Science 7:165. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00165
Above: European waters are home to hundreds of species of
macroalgae which absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis
and store carbon in their fronds. © Keith Hiscock.
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

32 f e a t u r e
Above: A sandy sediment seafloor on the continental shelf.
© Keith Hiscock.
To support consistent implementation across the EU, the
thresholds for GES for Seafloor Integrity are defined at a
Union Level. In 2022, experts from Member States² set out
recommended thresholds for GES. While thresholds for the
extent of habitat loss and degradation have been quantified
(no more than 2 per cent of any benthic habitat to be lost and
no more than 25 per cent of that habitat type to be adversely
affected), the threshold for habitat quality remains qualitative
and more subjective, complicating consistent implementation.
When thresholds are not met, Member States are legally
required to reduce pressures to restore GES. Therefore,
providing a quantitative benchmark for quality is essential to
ensure effective protection of seabed habitats across Europe
Addressing knowledge gaps
A key challenge in defining a clear quality threshold for
seabed habitats is a limited understanding of their condition,
their role in maintaining marine ecosystem health, and
how human activities affect them. Despite their ecological
importance, seabed habitats in European waters remain
under-researched, particularly when it comes to their potential
for carbon storage. Existing studies often provide a partial
view, using broad graphics (see infographics a and b) and
lacking site-specific detail.
Bottom-trawl fishing is one of the few human activities
studied in relation to seabed carbon, yet data gaps and
scientific disagreement persist. When it comes to other
potentially harmful activities—aggregate extraction,
dredging, vessel anchoring, wind farm construction, and oil/
gas platforms—data are even more limited. In some cases,
concerns have emerged that excessive carbon accumulation,
for example in aquaculture or sediment dumping, could
cause unintended long-term impacts. In this context, the lack
of robust, consistent data makes it difficult for the European
Commission to define meaningful thresholds for seabed
habitat quality under the MSFD.
2
EU Technical Group on Seabed Habitats and Seafloor Integrity - TG
Seabed Seabed CIRCABC
3
Legge, O., et al. 2020. Carbon on the Northwest European Shelf:
contemporary budget and future influences. Frontiers in Marine Science,
7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00143
Above: Common starfish (Asterias rubens) on a mixed
sediment seafloor. © Keith Hiscock.
The role of the author—NatureBureau
Consultancy
NatureBureau Ltd, the project lead, is a UK-based environmental
consultancy with over 35 years’ experience managing
environmental work across the UK, Europe, and globally. Their
wide-ranging portfolio spans from organizing Biogeographic
Process workshops for Marine Regions to supporting conservation
of CITES-listed shark species with the German Government. The
marine team—Athena Allen (author) and Dr Lissa Batey—have spent
the last 15 years supporting MSFD implementation, making them
ideally placed to lead this specialized project.
Stay updated via @naturebureaultd or visit: naturebureau.co.uk/
case-studies
The seemingly insurmountable nature of the current work
under the MSFD is the reason for the launch of this project.
Over the next 18 months, a team of experts will work to fill
in these critical information gaps—investigating the carbon
storage capacity of different seabed habitats across Europe and
assessing how various human activities impact this function.
Their findings will provide the European Commission with a
much-needed evidence base, supporting future decisions on
how best to protect these vital ecosystems through effective,
science-driven policy.
What will the project do?
The project will produce three core outputs, aligning with
the six main project aims of the European Commission.
The first output will be a comprehensive literature review of
the natural carbon sequestration capacity of the seabed of
various seabed habitats in European waters. The review will
identify knowledge, data, and research gaps, and compare
scientific findings to build a consolidated understanding. The
second output will be a set of digital map layers estimating
the carbon sequestration rates (and its permanence) of
different European seabed habitats in two scenarios:
no human disturbance and different defined human
disturbances (marine activities). The map layers will also
estimate the impacts of the release of carbon from seabeddisturbing
activities on European marine ecosystems.
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

f e a t u r e 33
The final output will be a set of policy-relevant
recommendations to safeguard and restore seabed carbon
storage capacity. These recommendations will consider existing
European marine legislation and propose specific actions to
prevent the loss or re-release of stored carbon.
Together, these outputs will support the development of more
robust and actionable MSFD thresholds, particularly for Seabed
Integrity. They also provide a knowledge base to inform broader
EU marine and climate strategies.
The next steps
With the research phase now underway, the project team is actively
collecting and analysing data. As mapping tools and the literature
review progress, the team will begin formulating practical, scienceinformed
recommendations. These findings will directly support
the EU in advancing Seafloor Integrity thresholds and achieving
GES.
By focusing on the intersection of marine policy, carbon
science, and habitat protection, this project will help the EU take
decisive steps toward integrating carbon storage into marine
environmental planning.
Keep your eyes peeled for an update on our progress in 2026! l
• Athena Allen (athena@naturebureau.co.uk)
@naturebureau_ltd
uk.linkedin.com/company/naturebureau-ltd-
The expert project team
Scottish Association of Marine Science. The UK’s oldest
and largest independent marine science organization, SAMS
delivers ocean-based research through an active academic
and research community. A pioneer in blue carbon since 2014,
SAMS contributed to Scotland’s first carbon budget and a recent
UK-wide inventory. They’ve worked with WWF, NatureScot,
SEPA, and the Scottish Government.
Nord University. Leaders of the Horizon Europe ‘MPA Europe’
project, with a focus on mapping organic carbon across
European seas. This work produced a new database of carbon
concentrations from hundreds of locations, plus biodiversity
maps supporting MPA network design. Nord University brings
expertise in MPA science, biodiversity, informatics, ecosystem
accounting, and marine ecology.
CLIMAZUL. An international consultancy with 15 years of
global experience in ecosystem and resource management,
specializing in the Blue Economy. They work with governments,
financial institutions, and research bodies on marine policy,
capacity building, and strategy. CLIMAZUL leads stakeholder
engagement in MPA Europe and supports Marine Spatial
Planning through EU-level mechanisms.
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

34 f e a t u r e
Fisherman, Mesologgi,
Greece. Geokokkos, CC
BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia
Commons.
ANCIENT
WISDOM TO
MODERN
ACTION
Andreas Vlahodimos-Hinton examines Greece’s
ocean culture and finds lessons for a sustainable
ocean-led society.
Since the dawn of civilization, Greece has learnt and
prospered from the sea. From the epic journeys of
Odysseus to the feast of the epiphany, in which young
men leap into the ocean to retrieve a blessed cross, the
Hellenic world has centred an entire culture around the ocean
and its benefits. This integral link to the sea has unintentionally
created a society focused on the sustainability of its main
resource. But can the customs of this nation of islands help in
understanding the sustainability crisis elsewhere?
Greece offers a unique case study in the fusion of cultural
tradition and environmental responsibility. Despite covering
only 1 per cent of the world’s ocean, the Mediterranean
Sea ranks among the top 25 global biodiversity hotspots,
making its ocean policies and fishing culture crucial to marine
conservation efforts. Fishermen hold a pivotal role in Greek
culture and eco-ideology, maintaining sustainable harvesting
practices and emphasizing local line-caught consumption over
mass imports. By catching only abundant species and reducing
bycatch, small-scale fishers act as population regulators,
preventing ecosystem imbalances. Their intimate knowledge
shaped by generations of experience is increasingly being
incorporated into conservation strategies.
An example of this is Amorgorama, a collaborative project
in Amorgos that integrates traditional fishing knowledge into
a modern conservation initiative, working towards reducing
overfishing while ensuring ecological and economic stability.
This approach breaks down the narratives that portray
fishermen as contributing to marine decline and instead
highlights their role in restoration efforts. Similar challenges
are observed in the United Kingdom, where local fishers
struggle with economic pressures and restrictive policies, and
lack the means to influence policy enjoyed by large operators.
Perhaps by following Greece’s model and integrating the
active engagement of small-scale fishers in marine protection
at the policy level, the decline of the inshore fleet—and coastal
communities—could be arrested.
A lesson from Lent?
A little-discussed contributor to marine sustainability in
Greece is the influence of the Orthodox calendar, which
features fasting periods that limit seafood consumption.
During Lent, followers abstain from fish. These temporary
pauses are followed by most of the country and can be
seen throughout households, markets and restaurants,
reducing fishing pressure on stocks and giving the marine
world chances to breathe and replenish throughout the year.
These cyclic dietary adjustments reinforce the importance
of seasonal consumption, an approach that aligns both land
and marine ecosystems in a sustainable rhythm. Could UK
consumers be encouraged towards seasonal consumption,
helping to reduce pressure on local marine resources while
promoting a more sustainable relationship with the ocean?
Seagrass meadows, particularly Posidonia oceanica,
are vital carbon sinks and biodiversity hubs. Greece has
invested in restoration programmes through projects such as
Reposidonia, to counteract habitat degradation caused by
coastal development and anchor damage. Seagrass meadows
in the UK play a critical role in biodiversity, climate regulation,
and coastal protection. These underwater habitats serve as
nurseries for commercially important fish species, enhance
water quality by trapping sediments, and act as powerful
carbon sinks, absorbing CO2 at rates far exceeding terrestrial
forests. Conservation efforts in both these countries could
share learning to improve understanding of this vital yet often
overlooked marine ecosystem.
In a significant step toward sustainable fisheries
management, Greece became the first EU nation to implement
a ban on bottom trawling in MPAs (in national parks by 2026
and in all marine protected areas by 2030). Bottom trawling
Fishermen hold a pivotal
role in Greek culture and
eco-ideology
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

f e a t u r e 35
Fresco of a
fisherman
holding
dolphin fish.
Akrotiri,
Santorini,
Greece.
Height: 1.10
m. Public
domain, via
Wikimedia
Commons.
devastates seabed habitats and non-target species, leading to
long-term ecosystem degradation. In 2019, 65 per cent of the
Greek fishing fleet consisted of coastal fishing boats and local
fishermen, bringing in 40 per cent of all catch; the remaining
60 per cent was brought in by the 35 per cent of trawlers.
Ninety per cent of UK offshore MPAs are still bottom trawled
for consumption, and the destructive nature of this method
promotes bycatch and habitat destruction. The UK government
missed its 2024 deadline to introduce legislation banning
bottom trawling in MPAs. However, in June, it announced a
consultation on banning the practice in 41 MPAs.
These initiatives highlight Greece’s commitment to
balancing human activity with marine sustainability, and
alignment with other nations seeking to enhance their
ocean conservation. The focus on empowerment of local
knowledge, cultural integration, and holistic conservation
policies creates a society centred around its ocean’s health
and prosperity. Surely a model for how national culture can be
channelled to benefit our marine ecosystems. l
• Andreas Vlahodimos-Hinton (andreas.vlahodimos-hinton@plymouth.
students.co.uk)
@andreas.vhinton
www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-vlahodimos-hinton-99365127b
Further reading
Oceana UK 2025. The Trawled Truth: The case for banning bottom trawling in
marine protected areas. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15364369
THE 141ST ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
AND ANNUAL
SCIENCE TALK
TUESDAY 2
DECEMBER 2025
The Annual General Meeting is how you, as a
member, have your say in the running of the
Marine Biological Association.
The AGM is accompanied by our Annual Science
Talk given by a keynote speaker who has made
significant contributions in their field. This year’s
talk, entitled ‘Why sequence every genome?’,
will be given by Professor Peter Holland FMBA.
Look out for invitations which will be sent via
email in the autumn.
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

36 t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
MEET THE MEMBERS
A regular opportunity to find out more about members of our community.
My role:
I am currently a Marine and Freshwater Biology student at
Aberystwyth University, and am about to graduate. I also
participated in an integrated year abroad programme in which
I worked with the Australian Institute of Marine Science on the
coral heat stress resilience project. Recently, I completed my
dissertation on the effect of cadmium on Arabidopsis thaliana
and its broader impact on freshwater systems.
My typical day:
My days vary depending on my schedule. I tend to wake up
early to walk to work, then—if the weather is nice—indulge in
the Welsh countryside. Recently, my days have been filled with
preparing for talks and submitting final assignments, as well
as refining my dissertation paper.
Name: Nina Strzelecka
MBA Membership category: Student Member
Position: Final year BSc Marine and Freshwater
Biology student
Institution: Aberystwyth University
Marine biology career highlight:
During my internship at the Australian Institute of Marine
Science, I participated in a project on understanding the heat
stress resilience of the coral Acropora tenuis. I learned DNA lab
techniques to understand genotype frontloading and spatial
shifts in microbial assemblages. I also participated in fieldwork
to develop ex-situ coral heat stress testing on freshly collected
coral fragments.
www.linkedin.com/in/nina-strzelecka-775241251
ninastrzelecki8@gmail.com
My role:
I volunteer with several organizations in Plymouth, with missions
ranging from public engagement to scientific research. I am
currently seeking a role to start my career while keeping my passion
for the ocean alive through volunteering.
My typical day involves:
No two days are the same for me. I may be helping MBA researchers
with setting up new experiments, assisting on fieldwork or analysing
kelp samples under a microscope. Other days I may be cleaning
seagrass plants, monitoring water chemistry and maintaining life
support systems with other Seagrass Lab Volunteers at the National
Marine Aquarium. My favourite days are when I guide local schools
and members of the public on rock pooling and snorkelling safaris
on the rocky shores of Wembury Bay for Devon Wildlife Trust.
On the quiet days when I stay home, I keep myself occupied with
job applications and practise my writing skills by assessing and
preparing content for this magazine!
Marine biology journey highlight:
I recently attended the 2025 South West Marine Ecosystems
Conference. This was my first conference experience, and I had
never seen a room full of people so passionate about the ocean.
I was amazed at the sincere curiosity, affection, and camaraderie
between the attendees. We celebrated positive ocean news,
discussed the future of the marine ecosystems around us and how
to play a part in protecting them.
www.linkedin.com/in/harita-ravuru-009763216/
Name: Harita Ravuru
MBA Membership category: Graduate Member
Position: Volunteer/Graduate: BSc Ocean Science
and Marine Conservation, (Hons, Plymouth, 2024)
Institution: Marine Biological Association, Ocean
Conservation Trust, Devon Wildlife Trust, The Rock
Pool Project, University of Plymouth
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
37
CHANGING CHANNELS
Members of the Teen Climate Council are trying out different ways to reach a diverse
audience—and developing their communication skills along the way.
Our collective understanding of climate change
is crucial to our ability to mitigate its effects
on our planet. The nonprofit Aquarium of the
Pacific in Long Beach, California is working
towards making educational resources more accessible
for diverse communities. I am part of their youth volunteer
programme, the Teen Climate Council. We highlight marine
science and conservation education using many different
forms of media, including children’s books and short films.
We cater to different levels of scientific literacy by hosting
events, art projects, and virtual conferences. Facing growing
environmental concerns, it is critical that, as the next
generation of stewards, we emphasize effective conservation
education to sow the seeds of stewardship among the wider
population.
Diverse methods for diverse audiences
The next generation gets inspiration twice a year at the
Aquarium’s Family Science Night. During the event, families
from throughout Southern California explore the Aquarium
of the Pacific for free. The Teen Climate Council utilizes a
hands-on, creative approach for education that includes
activities such as monarch butterfly origami. We also focus
on individual species and approachable calls to action, to
cultivate a message that will stick with a younger audience.
Hands-on activities can also help spark a deeper scientific
Above: A large mural featuring the sunflower sea star by Marjorie Lian,
located at Santa Monica College, California. © Marjorie Lian.
conversation. Seemingly insignificant questions such as, ‘Do
I have to make my butterfly orange?’ can lead to a discussion
on adaptations like warning coloration. Participating in events
such as Family Science Night engages younger audiences so
they can connect with and learn about the environment.
In addition to working with younger demographics, the
Teen Climate Council recently branched out to reach groups
of adults and teens. In 2024, we hosted the first Sustainable
Sit-Down, which was a virtual conference featuring guest
speakers, breakout rooms, and live polls. Expanding on
this, in 2025, we hosted another conference highlighting
two climate experts. Jennie Dean is the Vice President
of Education and Conservation at the Aquarium of the
Pacific and has experience with climate policy as well as
sustainability in a corporate setting. Dr Daniel Swain is a
climate scientist at UCLA focusing on how global warming
affects extreme weather events. Through their expertise, the
Sustainable Sit-Down initiated a higher level of discussion in
an online format, allowing us to reach a diverse audience of
our peers.
Visual and art-based education can impact the audience
on an emotional and subconscious level. An example of
this includes mural projects based on the sunflower sea
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

38
t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
Teen Climate Council members
tabling at an outreach event.
© Teen Climate Council.
star—a species that lives along the Pacific coast of North
America. Other members of Teen Climate Council and I
worked on separate but linked murals to go on display in
important educational spaces in Southern California: one at
the Aquarium of the Pacific and one at Santa Monica College.
We designed both murals to inspire a sense of wonder and
awe for the creatures they depict, because we recognize
that curiosity can spark a desire for understanding in our
audiences. The scale of each mural also helps in creating an
effect that unconsciously draws audiences to
their central figures. By combining scientific
concepts with art, the murals depict important
issues affecting marine habitats, raising
awareness and educating people of all ages.
While the Teen Climate Council hopes to
establish resources for everyone to learn about
the issues our planet faces, we continue to
develop as educators. As a youth-led group, we
offer a unique perspective on education since
we are still students ourselves. For example,
the City of Long Beach is undergoing a large
coastal development plan aimed at changing
the landscape to benefit the community. We
had a chance to meet with Long Beach urban
planners, which allowed us to learn about the coast and
to work together on strategies for gathering more diverse
perspectives. One of the major points of their plan was
involving the community—especially children—in their
discussions. Working with members of the planning team,
the Teen Climate Council learned about different methods of
assessing what younger members of Long Beach value most in
their communities. Meeting with the Long Beach city planners
gave us the opportunity to develop as educators, which will
better equip us to make a positive impact on students.
Through our outreach work, we have seen the importance
Right:The flyer for the Sustainable Sit-Down in
2025. © Teen Climate Council.
of developing a dynamic relationship
between ourselves as educators and those
we are trying to reach. Raising awareness
about climate change is vital, but the method
we choose to approach it with is often just as
important. From teaching children to working
with professors, we have learned how presenting
information in unique ways can impact the way people engage
with it. Establishing the importance of climate education and
customizing messaging based on audiences can pave the way
for educators and audiences to flourish together in the face of
our climate crisis. l
• Marjorie Lian, Teen Climate Council Editorial Lead.
www.aquariumofpacific.org
@aopteens on Instagram
tcc@lbaop.org
THE RAY LANKESTER INVESTIGATORSHIP
AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
The Ray Lankester Investigatorship
supports established researchers
(over 10 years post-PhD) to conduct
marine biology research at the Marine
Biological Association (MBA). The award
offers access to expert collaborators,
research facilities, biodiversity datasets,
and diverse marine ecosystems.
Named in honour of Sir Edwin Ray
Lankester, a key figure in the MBA’s
founding, the award was established
by George Parker Bidder. Investigators
can undertake research for 1–5 months
(minimum 1 month) within 2 years
of appointment, starting in 2026.
Up to £7,500 is available for research
costs and travel, excluding salary or
indirect expenses.
Applicants must be MBA members,
and the MBA encourages applications
from all backgrounds, promoting
equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Look out for the forthcoming
opportunity to apply for
the Peter Baker
Investigatorship and
autumn announcements
for the Molly
Spooner Studentship.
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y 39
MBA STUDENT BURSARY REPORTS
SEAGRASS AQUACULTURE TECHNICIAN WITH
THE OCEAN CONSERVATION TRUST
31 March – 04 April
2025
The MBA bursary supported
me during my week-long
internship as a seagrass
aquaculture technician with the Ocean
Conservation Trust at the National
Marine Aquarium, working on their
Blue Meadows restoration project. It
was an incredible experience that
gave me real insight into NGO
conservation work.
From working in the seagrass lab
to public engagement on a beach to
conducting water chemistry tests, the
week was full of learning and I loved
how no day was the same! I’ve come
away having learnt all about seagrass,
about how integral teamwork is within
an organization, and how conservation
is not always smooth sailing but is
very rewarding.
© Ella Coltman.
During the placement, I got a flavour
of all the different jobs within the Blue
Meadows project: cleaning the seagrass
tables, monitoring the seagrass, helping
set up a new seagrass cultivation site,
science communication with schoolkids,
learning the mechanics behind the pump
systems in the lab, testing water samples,
entering data into spreadsheets. I felt like
I was part of something that was making a
real difference environmentally. Working
alongside people who were so incredibly
passionate about marine conservation
was very inspiring!
I now know that NGOs and marine
research are directions I am definitely
interested in after my marine biology
degree. One of my main takeaways is
that in the future, I want to work in a job
that I enjoy and am passionate about,
and I know that it will be to do with the
wonderful, beautiful ocean!
• India-Rose Currell (Student Member).
THE EUROPEAN CORAL REEF SYMPOSIUM
(ECRS) 2024, NAPOLI, ITALY
© Anja Rossmanith.
2–5 July 2024
An MBA Student Bursary
enabled me to attend the 21st
Marine Biological Association
Postgraduate Conference at the
University of Hull.
This conference marked a milestone
in my academic journey, as I delivered
my first oral presentation in a formal
conference setting. I shared my
undergraduate research on the spatial
and interspecific variation in kelp
epibionts and gave a sneak peek into
my future research plans focussing on
temporal variation in kelp epibionts.
I truly enjoyed the experience; it has
definitely helped grow my confidence in
science communication and develop my
presentation skills.
The conference programme featured
a broad spectrum of presentations
from both postgraduate students
and established marine scientists. A
diverse range of topics were covered:
everything from kelp holdfasts in the
Southern Ocean to the issue of seafood
sustainability. We also had a fantastic
careers panel, whose insights into
career pathways, skills they’ve gained
along the way, and lessons learned
were informative and encouraging.
Throughout the conference, I really
enjoyed networking with fellow
postgraduate students, discussing
our research and exchanging advice.
My personal conference highlight was
the networking social in The Deep
aquarium. We had the unique experience
of exploring the aquarium after hours,
followed by a dinner and marine themed
quiz—a memorable evening spent with
like-minded marine enthusiasts!
This conference has expanded
my network of postgraduate marine
scientists in the UK and abroad, and I am
very grateful to the MBA Student Bursary
for supporting my attendance. I am
already looking forward to seeing some
familiar (and hopefully some new) faces
at next year’s conference in Newcastle!
• Isabel Quinn Mem.MBA
www.mba.ac.uk
July 2025

40
t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y
MEET THE ASSOCIATE EDITORS
OF THE JOURNAL OF THE MARINE
BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the
United Kingdom has been publishing peer-reviewed
articles in the broad field of marine biology since
1887, and in 2020 the journal celebrated its 100th
anniversary volume.
The JMBA publishes articles submitted from all quarters
of the globe and we welcome a range of article formats,
including Research Articles, Reviews, Marine Records, Letters
to the Editor, Editorials, and Obituaries, as well as Perspectives
in Marine Biology. The journal also publishes special issues
which can sometimes support conference proceedings.
As Editor in Chief, I am supported by a talented and
committed Editorial Board and around 20 Associate Editors
who work hard to ensure all manuscripts pass rigorous
independent peer review before acceptance.
We have space to meet just a few of the Associate Editors
here. Details of all JMBA Associate Editors and the Editorial
Board can be found on the JMBA website. 1
• Professor Chris Hauton (c.hauton@soton.ac.uk), JMBA Editor in Chief
Ming-ling Liao
Dr Ming-ling Liao (Ocean University China) has studied the thermal adaptation and biogeographic
distribution of marine molluscs for many years. Her works elucidated the adaptation mechanisms and
responses to temperature of marine molluscs at the nucleic acid and protein levels with a novel research
model combining structural flexibility and functional adaptation.
Deepeeka Kaullysing
Dr Deepeeka Kaullysing is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Mauritius and a marine ecologist
specializing in corallivorous marine molluscs and coral reefs. With extensive field experience across the
Indian Ocean and multiple international collaborations, she also serves on global marine science networks
and advocates for women in STEM and ocean conservation across the Western Indian Ocean.
Leena Riekkola
Dr Leena Riekkola is a Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Auckland, New
Zealand. She uses multidisciplinary approaches (including satellite tracking data and spatial modelling)
to understand the behaviour and habitat use of marine mammals. Through her work, Leena advises
conservation and government agencies so that they can make well-informed decisions around reducing
human impacts on animal populations.
Lucy M. Turner
Dr Lucy Turner is a Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth. She is an ecophysiologist
and works on a variety of marine and freshwater invertebrate species, predominantly crustaceans in the
context of addressing pure and applied research questions. Recent work has particularly focused on the
capability of these species to respond to ongoing and future global change.
Dr Loreto Mardones-Velozo
Dr Mardones-Velozo is a marine biologist with a broad interest in the ecophysiological adaptations of
marine invertebrates to coastal environmental conditions; particularly how natural and anthropogenic
sublethal stresses can impact organisms' fitness across different ontogenetic stages. Her current
research primarily focuses on the functioning of coral reefs, with a particular interest in the intriguing
algae-animal endosymbiosis.
1. https://tinyurl.com/mtjhc8rv
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

t h e v o i c e o f m a r i n e b i o l o g y 41
THE 21ST MBA POSTGRADUATE
CONFERENCE 23–25 APRIL 2025
The University of Hull
proudly hosted this
edition of the MBA’s
conference for early
career researchers, entitled:
Tides of Change: Fostering
Connectivity Across Marine
Disciplines.
Organized by postgraduate
researchers, the conference
brought together 60 participants,
including marine scientists,
policymakers, and ocean
enthusiasts, with participants
from overseas joining virtually to
increase accessibility.
This year’s theme captured the urgent need to enhance
collaboration, not only within marine biology but across
diverse scientific disciplines. As climate change, biodiversity
loss, and human pressures reshape our oceans, fostering
connectivity among researchers is more critical than ever.
Over the course of 3 days, attendees took part in 24
oral presentations, 12 poster sessions, and 12 inspiring
keynotes. A special workshop focused on science
communication and networking, equipping early-career
researchers with essential skills
for reaching broader audiences.
Social highlights included
an opening reception and a
conference dinner held at The
Deep, Hull’s iconic aquarium.
A core aim of the conference
was to support postgraduate
and early career researchers as
they navigate life after study.
Recognizing the growing
uncertainty in academic career
paths, the organizing committee
dedicated an afternoon to a
careers panel and talks by five
professionals working in marine
conservation, policy, education, and industry. This open
dialogue provided a safe space for attendees to seek advice
and share concerns.
With an atmosphere that was both professional and
welcoming, Tides of Change succeeded in its mission:
to connect, inspire, and empower the next generation of
marine scientists.
• Eleanore Burrell (AFHEA)
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www.mba.ac.uk July 2025

42
r e v i e w s
REVIEWS
MBA members review the latest marine biology
books, films, and podcasts.
MBA
member
discount
with this
publisher
SPRING TIDES
EXPLORING MARINE LIFE
ON THE ISLE OF MAN
INTO THE GREAT WIDE OCEAN:
LIFE IN THE LEAST KNOWN
HABITAT ON EARTH
Authors: Fiona Gell
ISBN: 9781474621854
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
Published by: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
magical writer spells out the wonders of the Isle of Man’s marine
A life—and its wider lessons for ocean conservation and policy!
As international ocean policy continued to be undermined in 2025,
it was a relief to review such a deeply knowledgeable, lyrical, and
expansive piece of writing in the greater service of Poseidon.
Fiona Gell’s book on the marine life of the Isle of Man, Spring Tides,
is more than its title suggests: it splices some finer points on marine
species, conservation, and reserve establishment on this odd rocky
outcrop of the Irish Sea with her own life story as a child, mother, and
engaged female scientist.
The importance of women in marine science, and the wider impetus
needed to make waves after centuries of depredations by mankind, is
here in tidal force. That she does this on a former haunt of pirates turned
offshore tax haven and shipping centre, is all the more interesting, given
the lack of public knowledge of the island—and its relevance as marine
political and policy storms form globally.
Readers learn of Gell’s love affair with the sea from childhood; the
fishing folk in her lineage; the mystical-sounding Manx Gaelic infusing
her creative writing; some weird and wonderful species; and, of course,
fishing. By Chapter 3, we meet the King of the Sea: ’No herring, no
wedding’, and other beasts. In Chapter 4, prepare to ‘Dive In’ to discover
through—what appears to me to be a sea seer’s diving mask—the beauty
of 4,000-year-old maerl beds, mermaids’ purses, horse mussel reefs,
ocean quahog mussels, and seagrass helping to sink carbon.
In the context of setting up the island’s first Marine Nature Reserves,
Gell weaves into her core account the rich Viking history of the island—
and so we meet Mann Magnus Barelegs and ‘The Pagan Lady’. The
reserve plans drew on those Gell had worked on in the Indian Ocean
island of Rodrigues—which consequently became my PhD research site
(2004).
General and expert readers alike will be in debt to the insights of this
gifted scientist and magical writer, as lovers of the sea search for ways to
shake the human consciousness into meaningful action.
• Matthew Bunce FMBA
Authors: Sönke Johnsen
ISBN: 9780691181745
Format: Hardback, 248 pages
Published by: Princeton University Press
Into the Great Wide Ocean is a semiautobiographical
account of the author’s
knowledge of life in the pelagic realm. If
you have ever wondered what happens on
research vessels and scientific dives, or what
kind of creatures are living out in the middle of
our oceans, then this book is definitely worth
reading.
The book is structured into eight chapters
titled ‘I never knew the ocean’, ‘Gravity’, ‘Pressure’,
‘Light’, ‘Motion’, ‘Food’, ‘Family’ and ‘Community’,
and within each one, the author uses
everyday examples to explain the adaptations
of animals to life in the open sea.
Johnsen has a bright style of writing that
is enjoyable to read and that demonstrates
his real love of the subject. Occasionally, his
excitement runs away with him, making some
sections a little difficult to comprehend due to
an excess of digressions, but overall, I enjoyed
reading this book. My favourite sections were
those on vision in the ocean, which combined
scientific explanation, personal stories, and humour
to create a very educational and engaging
part of the book.
I would recommend this book to novice and
young marine biologists, especially those interested
in studying pelagic organisms, because of
the descriptive writing style and the insights into
the real lives of marine biologists at sea. There is
a useful ‘Further Reading’ section at the end for
learning more about the organisms described
in the book. I also now have a new favourite
biology quote: ‘Life is mostly about being a fat
cylinder’. Thank you, Sönke Johnsen!
• Laura McMonagle Mem.MBA
July 2025
www.mba.ac.uk

r e v i e w s 43
HOW LIFE WORKS : A USER’S
GUIDE TO THE NEW BIOLOGY
Author: Philip Ball
ISBN: 9781529095982
Format: Paperback, 560 pages
Published by: Picador – Pan MacMillan
The cover of How Life Works
immediately draws in the reader,
with bright and colourful images of
organisms spanning all corners
of biological diversity, from the
familiar ladybird to the bluespotted
ribbontail ray.
This book does exactly what it says on the tin,
presenting an extremely detailed yet accessible account of
how living things work. The opening chapter prepares you
to embark on a voyage of discovery, guided by the genuine
passion and wisdom of the author. Philip Ball guides the
reader through each level of biological organization, from
genes and cells to tissues and bodies. The book concludes
by tackling the modern and complex issues surrounding
medicine and genetic engineering. Throughout the book, the
reader is asked to confront their understanding of biology
and realize that it is far richer and more complicated than
previously thought. How Life Works incorporates the latest
research and insights from the field, integrating them into
what we already know and what we have yet to comprehend.
Difficult concepts are broken down and simplified using
common examples that we can all relate to. As a visual learner,
the use of schematics, images and diagrams, really helped me
digest the more confusing topics.
Reading this book felt like I was sitting down with my
favourite teacher from school, who is understanding and
empathetic, and has a way of explaining things that just make
sense. I highly recommend this book to the beginner biologist
and seasoned pro alike!
• Isabel Quinn, Postgraduate Member
THE SECRET HISTORY OF SHARKS: THE
RISE OF THE OCEAN’S MOST FEARSOME
PREDATORS
Author: John Long
ISBN: 9781529427356
Format: Hardback, 467 pages
Published by: Quercus Books
The Secret History of Sharks delves deep into the
unknown evolution of Earth’s longest-surviving
vertebrate—the shark. Having endured and conquered
during the last 500 million years of climate shifts, Earth
processes, and mass extinctions, the natural history of
this incredible group of fishes is the focus of this new book.
The Australian fish palaeontologist and popular science writer
John Long brings his decades of scientific research and extensive
fossil knowledge to reveal their fascinating secrets of survival.
Beginning in the Ordovician Period 465 million years ago,
when the very first fossils with nurse-shark-like scales appeared,
followed by the first teeth in the Devonian Period, the book
takes us on a compelling and informative journey through
geological time. Interspersed with stories from exciting and
sometimes dangerous field expeditions, the key scientific
DIVE INTO THE
OCEAN
Company: Kaddo
Format: Small handheld toy
Sold by: Quarto
Dive into the Ocean is a game
designed to bring underwater
worlds to life and teach players about
marine life. The game comes with a
viewer, 30 marine animal cards, and
instructions on how to use it. The packaging is fun and
bright, and the cards have fun facts and information about
each creature, with a cool image on the front that you use in
the viewer.
From penguins to anglerfish, and from saltwater
crocodiles to pufferfish, there is a very wide variety of
creatures on offer. To bring the game to life, you place the
card in the back of the binocular viewer (which doubles
as the card storage), hold it up to your eyes, and an
underwater world appears in 3D. For example, the sea otter
card has two swimming otters, but when held to the viewer
you see one 3D swimming otter with fun facts about them.
My favourite was the nudibranch card: it had a cool coral
background and shows the nudibranch in good detail. The
game comes with mini games you can play with the cards,
such as describe what you see without naming the creature.
The game would be best for 4–6-year-old children who
are interested in sea creatures. Overall, I really liked it and
would recommend this game.
• Jacob Whipps, Young Marine Biologist
findings are often nicely accompanied with
biographies of the main scientists involved.
After the sections on the weird buzz-saw jawed
sharks and the ascent and reign of sharks as
super-predators, I particularly enjoyed the latest
megalodon findings that revealed their 20 m
body shape was more like that of a modern-day
basking shark than the white-shark-like creatures
our popular culture would have us believe.
There is a lot of scientific information, but it
is well illustrated by plenty of infographics and
photographs to keep you engaged and carried
along. What comes across in particular is the
author’s real knack for narrative reconstruction,
where he transports us back to what these past
versions of Earth likely looked and felt like.
We are then brought right up to date to
address the alarming plight of sharks today. Will humans
learn to appreciate sharks before it’s too late?
I really enjoyed this book and whilst I wouldn’t recommend
it as a light read, I think if, like me, you are interested in
sharks, shark science, palaeontology, and the stories behind
the discoveries, then this one’s for you.
• Emily Southall, MBA Organizational Member
www.mba.ac.uk July 2025

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