Since 2012 a huge amount of marine debris caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has been arriving on Northeastern Pacific shores. Often healthy macroalgae were attached to them, which may become introduced to the Northwestern Pacific coasts and disturb their ecosystems. In order to elucidate the diversity of those macroalgae, and to establish a basis for detecting their new introduction to Northwestern Pacific coasts, we have examined their species diversity by morphology and genetic identifications. We have obtained gene sequences for 205 specimens, and identified 49 species as Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris (JTMD) macroalgae. Most of them are known to be distributed in Japan and showed identical or very closely related genetic types to those of Tohoku, and confirmed to be originated from the area. Several species such as Ceramium sungminbooi, Ectocarpus crouaniorum, Polysiphonia koreana, etc. have not been reported from Japan, but this is explained by the shortage of taxonomic information.

Biodegradation of chemically dispersed oil at low temperature (0–2 °C) was compared in natural seawater from Arctic (Svalbard) and a temperate (Norway) fjords. The oil was premixed with a dispersant (Corexit 9500) and small-droplet oil dispersions prepared. Faster biotransformation of n-alkanes in the Arctic than in the temperate seawater were associated with the initially higher abundance of the alkane-degrading genus Oleispira in the Arctic than the temperate seawater. Comparable transformation of aromatic hydrocarbons was further associated with the late emergences Cycloclasticus in both seawater sources. The results showed that chemically dispersed oil may be rapidly biodegraded by microbial communities in Arctic seawater. Compared to oil biodegradation studies at higher seawater temperatures, longer lag-periods were experienced here, and may be attributed to both microbial and oil properties at these low seawater temperatures.

Marine anthropogenic debris was sampled from two beaches on the remote South Pacific island Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Abundance, composition, and the attached fouling assemblages on stranded litter were analysed. Most litter (n = 172 items found) was composed of plastic material, and 34% of all litter items were fouled. The main fouling species was the encrusting bryozoan Jellyella eburnea. Transporting vectors were exclusively made from plastics and were mainly small items and fragments, probably stemming from the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre. We present the first report of Planes major, Halobates sericeus, and Pocillopora sp. on anthropogenic litter in the South Pacific.

Microplastic ingestion has been reported for several marine species, but the level of contamination in transitional systems and associated biota is less known. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of microplastic ingestion in three commercial fish species: the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), the seabream (Diplodus vulgaris) and the flounder (Platichthys flesus) from the Mondego estuary (Portugal). Microplastics were extracted from the gastrointestinal tract of 120 individuals by visual inspection and digestion solution. A total of 157 particles were extracted from 38% of total fish (96% fibers), with 1.67 ± 0.27 (SD) microplastics per fish. Significantly higher amount of ingested microplastics was recorded for D. vulgaris (73%). The dominant polymers identified by μ-FTIR were polyester, polypropylene and rayon (semi-synthetic fiber). It is reported for the first time the presence of this pollutant in fish populations from the Mondego estuary raising concerns on their potential negative effects.

The concentrations of nine trace metals (Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Cd, and Pb) were measured in different tissues of two pelagic and five demersal fish species collected from the Miri coast, Sarawak. The sequence of accumulation of trace metals in different tissues were: liver > gill > gonad > muscle. Zn (301.00 μg g⁻¹) and Cd (0.10 μg g⁻¹) was the maximum and minimum accumulated elements. According to the Hazard Index calculation, none of the elements will pose any adverse health effects to humans for both ingestion rates (normal and habitual fish consumers) proposed by USEPA, except for Pb and Cd in certain fish species. On the basis of the results, the level of elements in the edible muscle tissues of all the analyzed fish species from the Miri coast are below the maximum permissible limits of Malaysian and International seafood guideline values and safe for consumers.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews the literature and presents the current status of the use of socio-acoustic surveys in soundscape studies, through the indication of appropriate question formats, types, and topics for each data collection method (soundwalks, interviews, listening tests, and focus group) for the involved public and acoustic stimuli. RECENT FINDINGS: The ISO 12913-2 establishes ways of data collection and reporting requirements for soundscape studies (International Organization for Standartization 2017), including the triangulation technique. This standard recommends some data collection methods, like soundwalks and interviews. Even so, some authors are using different methods to collect data, such as focus group and listening tests. This study investigated through 52 peer-reviewed papers published on the last 20 years the current status of socio-acoustic studies regarding question topics and types, used stimuli, and characteristics about the participants, using the four major adopted data collection methods in soundscape studies: soundwalks, interviews, listening tests, and focus group. Some topics like “soundscape quality” and “sound sources identification and evaluation” are common in the recent studies, as well as the adoption of some question types such as semantic differential scale, the staple scale, and ranking order scale.

Manure is a valuable source of plant nutrients; however, continuous application to soils may lead to accumulation of phosphorus (P), increasing the risk of P loss into waterways triggering freshwater eutrophication. This review paper summarizes and critically evaluates relevant research findings published within the last 5 years on manure P mobility in soils and management strategies to mitigate losses identifying future research needs. Past and recent research evidence on manure P mobilization and losses from soils have yielded inconsistent and often confounding results, because of the interactive effects of source factors and the existence of concurrent transport pathways. Although far from being conclusive, a few general trends are worth noting; P losses were greater with (a) increasing soluble P applied with manure, (b) vulnerable soils with limited P sorption capacity and/or susceptible to preferential flow/erosion, (c) conditions conducive to P release and transport, and (d) reduced soil-manure P interaction following application. Effective mitigating strategies included (a) generating low-P manure, (b) processing manure to reduce total and/or soluble P, and (c) adopting best management practices (BMPs) during and post-manure application. Future research should focus on a better understanding of the interactive effects of source factors on short- and long-term manure P loss via different transport pathways. Existing mitigation efforts and new directions should focus on reducing P buildup in soil by employing a combination of strategies during generation, processing, and application of manure, coupled with site- and time-specific BMPs selected based on the dominant pathway of P loss.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In the face of rising water demands and dwindling freshwater supplies, alternative water sources are needed. Desalination of water has become a key to helping meet increasing water needs, especially in water-stressed countries where water obtained by desalination far exceeds supplies from the freshwater sources. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent technological advancements have enabled desalination to become more efficient and cost-competitive on a global scale. This has become possible due to the improvement in the materials used in membrane-based desalination, incorporation of energy-recovery devices to reduce electricity demands, and combining different desalination methods into hybrid designs. Further, there has been a gradual phasing-in of renewable energy sources to power desalination plants, which will help ensure the long-term sustainability of desalination. However, there are still challenges of reducing energy demands and managing waste products from the desalination to prevent adverse environmental effects. This article reviews the history, location, components, costs, and other facets of desalination and summarizes the new technologies that are set to improve the overall efficiency of the desalination process.

Fluorescence microscopy is an important step in visual identification of microplastics and is used to highlight white and transparent plastics that are otherwise easily missed or misidentified. Investigators using fluorescence must proceed with caution, however, as fluorescence photobleaching can significantly reduce the fluorescence output of samples within experimentally relevant time frames. We report on the photobleaching rate and subsequent lack of fluorescence recovery of five common plastics. Our results reveal statistically different photobleaching rates across plastic types. In the best-case scenario of low illumination intensity and a robust plastic, initial fluorescence intensity decayed by 10% in just 11(3) s and by 33% in 230(40) s. In all cases, fluorescence failed to recover more than 13(8)% in 3 h. These results indicate that significant bleaching can occur while searching a sample for plastics to identify and that the lack of recovery can compromise samples for further study.

All maritime states have the challenge of maintaining the environmental quality of their seas while at the same time maximising their economic potential thus requiring appropriate science, governance and management measures. In Europe, directives and regulations are used to address the pressures affecting the health and sustainability of marine resources, and to promote Good Environmental Status (GES) (e.g. the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, MSFD), while having a coherent and integrated pattern of sea use (e.g. the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, MSPD). Therefore, an approach is required to meet these challenges for all maritime states including, for Europe, the joint adoption of these two directives. As such an approach does not yet exist, one is proposed here based on a hypothetical example and a Best Expert Judgement (BEJ) methodology. Forty-two marine science, management and impact assessment specialists provided views on a hypothetical marine scenario to derive and interrogate a framework applicable to marine areas with multiple uses and users. The scenario allowed the severity of the activity effects-footprints to be determined on the 11 MSFD Descriptors of GES with that severity being weighted according to the area of each activity effect-footprint. In turn, this allowed the calculation of marine regional environmental status thereby indicating whether the adoption of quality assessment and spatial planning can be mutually beneficial, or are antagonistic in meeting environmental targets. This paper uses the proposed approach to discuss maximising the assimilative capacity of a marine area and minimising the environmental degradation due to new activities. It especially shows the role of BEJ in cases where marine adaptive management is still required despite their being an often paucity of information or data on which to base management decisions.