This paper discusses the impacts of Climate Change and anthropogenic activities on coastal lagoons in Ghana. Ghana’s coastal lagoons provide unique ecosystem services. However, they are highly fragile and vulnerable to natural processes and anthropogenic activities. Climate Change impacts, such as increased temperatures, sea-level rise, storm surge and increased precipitation are likely to have ecological

Extreme rainfall events have a negative effect on the coastal area of Jiadung Township in Pingtung County, Taiwan, which experiences critical land subsidence. Local stakeholders have developed various measures for coping with flooding impacts according to past experience. These adaptive measures not only involve managing the impact of heavy rainfall but also resisting the disastrous effects of land

For fishers throughout the Caribbean, major storm events such as hurricanes are a significant component of their life experiences. Over the past few decades, fishers in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) frequently experienced major storms and their aftermath, including Hurricanes Hugo (1989), Marilyn (1995), and Irma and Maria (2017). Using the resilience literature as our theoretical lens, we provide historical

Understanding how Caribbean small-scale fishers can adapt to climate change is critical to sustaining coastal communities and livelihoods in the region. Fishers continuously adapt their practices to climate variability and recurring extreme weather events, such as hurricanes. However, it remains unclear how their “everyday” responses contribute to building their adaptive capacity for future changes

In September 2017, Hurricane María hit the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico threatening the economic and social viability of small-scale fisheries. This study describes the main results of a rapid socio-economic assessment of the storm’s impacts one year after it made landfall. María caused commercial landings to fall by 20% owing to the loss of productive assets, extended power outages, and the loss of

Investigating people’s levels of subjective vulnerability to change can help elucidate important aspects of adaptive capacity to impacts. This is particularly relevant in coastal communities with high exposure to natural disasters, such as those in the Caribbean region, especially given projections of increased frequency and severity of storms as a consequence of climate change. In this study, Puerto

Abstract Globally, changes in the intensity, severity and frequency of storms threaten potentially catastrophic impacts on fisheries. These threats present a significant challenge to Small Island Developing States because of the important contribution of fisheries to multiple aspects of coastal communities’ wellbeing, including food security, coastal economies, and social and cultural identities. Supporting

(2020). Networked Knowledge to Action in Support of Ocean Sustainability. Coastal Management: Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 235-237.

Understanding the physical and biogeochemical interactions and feedbacks between the ocean and atmosphere is a vital component of environmental and Earth system research. The ability to predict and respond to future environmental change relies on a detailed understanding of these processes. The Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) is an international research platform that focuses on the study

Coastal communities are among the most vulnerable to climate risks. Despite the negligence of climate policy at the federal level in the United States, subnational governments have taken action to adapt to climate change impacts. Using national-level data on subnational government climate activities, this research examines three aspects of coastal community adaptation actions. First, it examines whether

Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is a more holistic alternative to single-species management. Currently, all eight regional Fishery Management Councils in the U.S. are carrying out EBFM planning or implementation. However, uncertainty exists on what principles and strategies are most effective to implement EBFM. In this study, council members in the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management

Globally, Indigenous Marine Areas are contributing to ocean sustainability by protecting key habitats and species whilst safeguarding customary uses for local communities. They are emerging as one of the key political mechanisms that can counteract the ravages of the blue Anthropocene. Nevertheless, their contributions are threatened by the accelerating expansion of economic activities, and exclusionary

This article provides an overview of the approach taken by the Marine Knowledge Exchange Network (M-KEN) and an assessment of its activities in valorizing and generating impact from research. M-KEN was formed in 2014 in response to a call for projects to accelerate impact generated from environmental research in the United Kingdom (UK). M-KEN was university-led and focused in the eastern region of

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread around the world with extensive social and economic effects. This editorial focuses specifically on the implications of the pandemic for small-scale fishers, including marketing and processing aspects of the sector, and coastal fishing communities, drawing from news and reports from around the world. Negative consequences to date have included complete

Prior to Hurricane Mitch at the end of the 20th century, migration from Honduras to the United States was confined to a few sending and receiving areas linking, for example, the Caribbean coast of Honduras to New Orleans and parts of the interior to California. By contrast, migration to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico had a long and complex history prior to Hurricane María in 2017—so pervasive,

States and other jurisdictions may protect coral reefs using biological water quality standards outlined by the United States Clean Water Act (CWA). Such protection will require long-term, regional monitoring of the resource using biological indicators and a probability-based sampling design. A 60-station survey targeting nearshore linear coral reef was conducted across southern Puerto Rico in December

Water quality degradation is a chronic problem which influences the resilience of a social-ecological system differently than acute disturbances, such as disease or storms. Recognizing this, we developed a tailored resilience framework that applies ecosystem service concepts to coastal social-ecological systems affected by degraded water quality. We present the framework as a mechanism for coordinating

"This paper reports estimates of the relative and absolute sizes of the coastal population in the United States in the years 1990, 2000, and 2010. The estimates vary greatly among states in both the rate and direction of change, with increases expected for most marine coastal states and declines for most states bordering the Great Lakes. Together, only about 52.9 percent, 53.3 percent, and 53.6 percent