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Annual monsoon rains arrived at the Kerala coast in southern India on Wednesday, a day later than forecast, a weather office source said, easing fears over farm and economic growth after two straight droughts hit rural income and agricultural output. The monsoon delivers nearly 70 percent of rains that

Annual monsoon rains arrived at the Kerala coast in southern India on Wednesday, a day later than forecast, a weather office source said, easing fears over farm and economic growth after two straight droughts hit rural income and agricultural output. The monsoon delivers nearly 70 percent of rains that

Coastal waters are dynamic because of anthropogenic activities that contribute nutrients and contaminants. These changes have the potential to alter patterns of primary production and thus pelagic food webs. Here, we investigated the spatial variation of the phytoplankton community and its response to changing environmental variables at 84 stations along the five coastal districts of Tamil Nadu (TN). During the present study, 85 phytoplankton species were recorded, such as diatoms (64), dinoflagellates (18), silicoflagellates (1), and Cyanophyceae (2). The maximum phytoplankton abundance was recorded on the Thanjavur coast and gradually decreased towards the south coast of Tamil Nadu. Among the phytoplankton community, 50% was dominated by pennate diatoms, attributed to higher NO3− concentrations in the coastal waters due to agricultural discharge. Cluster analysis revealed that Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli formed a closed cluster, whereas Thanjavur and Pudukottai formed a separate closed cluster associated with higher nutrient and metal concentrations, highlighting the difference in physicochemical parameters between the northern and southern districts of the TN coast. Relatively high nutrient concentrations in the coastal waters of northern districts are of greater concern, which could impact the coastal ecosystem. Coastal eutrophication is becoming a widespread phenomenon, causing disruption in the food chain and ecosystem balances and hence requiring regular monitoring and management.

According to the latest report on the state of World Food and Agriculture Organization fisheries and aquaculture (SOFIA, 2022), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) are among the five most caught finfish species of the world, with 2,827 and 1,569 thousand tons in 2020, respectively. The tropical purse seiners deploy large nets around tuna schools in the tropical waters of the world. This method targets three main tuna species, skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye (Thunnus obesus) tunas, which are mainly used for canning or frozen markets. This important fishery provides employment opportunities for many people in developing countries. Landings for the European long-distance fishery targeting tuna and tuna-like fishes from Indian Ocean, amounted to 303,638 tons valued at EUR 423.7 million (Prellezo et al., 2022), where the Spanish fleet of purse seiners targeting tropical tuna is the most important. The Spanish tropical purse seine fleet fishing in the Indian Ocean accounts for 26% of the skipjack and yellowfin tunas caught from Indian Ocean, which represent approximately 3% of worldwide catch for both species.

The Socotra Archipelago (Yemen), a group of four islands off the north-eastern tip of Africa in the western Indian Ocean, has a population that relies heavily on small-scale fishing for livelihoods and food security. However, the reporting of fisheries catches by Yemen has consistently been incomplete, with artisanal (small-scale, commercial) catches underreported and small-scale non-commercial subsistence and recreational catches not reported at all. Here, we reconstruct the total small-scale catches and fishing effort from the waters of the Socotra Archipelago for 1950 to 2019, and derive catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) estimates for these fisheries. The catch officially reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization on behalf of Yemen that was assumed taken from the archipelago is thought to be around 20% of the total reconstructed catch for the archipelago. The reconstructed small-scale catch increased from ~1,500 t in 1950 to an all-time peak of 12,000 t in 2000 before declining to 3,300 t by 2014. Thereafter, catches increased again slightly to just over 3,700 t·year-1 by 2019. Artisanal catches accounted for around 70% of total small-scale catches prior to 2010, but made up only around 46% by 2019. Conversely, subsistence catches increased from ~1,000 t in 2010 to ~2,000 t in 2019, and accounted for 54% of total catches by 2019. Small-scale fishing effort increased by over 1000% since 1950 and reached over 11 million kWdays by 2019. The CPUE derived for small-scale fisheries declined by 78% since 1950, from 1.4 kg·kWday-1 to 0.3 kg·kWday-1 in 2019, with most of the decline occurring after 2000. Our findings suggest resource overexploitation, and may assist efforts to more sustainably manage the Socotra Archipelago's fish stocks. Small-scale fisheries support food and nutrient security of the local population, not least during political and humanitarian crises such as in Yemen.

BoBBLE drones scour the oceans for data.

Scientists use underwater robots to study India's monsoon.

El Niño threatens southern Africa with yet another drought.

El Niño threatens southern Africa with yet another drought.

The ocean may be a key missing link

Researchers from Florida State University have created a tool for objectively defining the onset and demise of the Indian Summer Monsoon - a colossal weather system that affects billions of people annually.

Run-off from fertilisers has made Bay of Bengal reach 'tipping point', say experts.

Dipole: the 'Indian Niño' that has brought devastating drought to East Africa.

Monsoon rains arrive at southern Kerala coast, Northeast two days early: IMD.

Researchers have found a new way to use satellites to monitor the Great Whirl, a massive whirlpool the size of Colorado that forms each year off the coast of East Africa, they report in a new study.

In coming decades as coastal communities around the world are expected to encounter sea-level rise, the general expectation has been that people's migration toward the coast will slow or reverse in many places.