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Preparation is the key to reducing the impact of a tsunami, which is why Australia is focused on maintaining our early warning systems and working with our neighbours to develop better strategies to manage tsunami risk.

A new WCS study published in the journal Ecosystem Health and Sustainability of fish traders in coastal Kenya shows that women largely occupied fisheries with the lowest profits and are not saving money while working in these fisheries. Management actions that intend to increase profits and sustainability, such as restrictions on use of gear that catch the smallest fish, have the potential to exclude female traders unless management also promotes social equity and gender coexistence.

A new study appearing in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series has found that conserving fish diversity in Madagascar's coral reef systems may depend on maintaining fish biomass above critical levels, according to scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and ES Caribbean.

A key component of successful coastal management efforts is an effective communication and engagement strategy focused on raising awareness of a region to different stakeholders to encourage more pro-environmental behaviors. Accordingly, in recent times there has been a proliferation of research focused on improving engagement and communication with different users of the coastal environment. Despite this effort, a paucity of evidence is available to guide better communication and engagement with visitors (i.e., tourists). Addressing this knowledge gap is critical given the adverse impacts of current global coastal tourism on ecosystem health, and projected future increases in coastal tourism. Using a case study of the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area (WHA) in Australia, we contribute toward filling this gap by identifying visitors' perception of the region and their self-reported and intended pro-environmental behaviors. We also identify the types of information they access and trust, and explore whether different message framings on the value of the WHA influence visitors' intended pro-environmental behavior. We determine that although visitors to the Ningaloo Coast WHA are optimistic about the future sustainability of the region, they have low understanding of the rules and regulations in place to support its management. Further, we find that visitors consider tourism to be a serious threat to the future of the region. However, most participants in our study considered the quality of their own environmental behavior to be high, and thus not contributing to these threats, although this did differ by gender. Finally, we highlight that visitors to the Ningaloo Coast WHA, for the most part, obtain their knowledge of the region during their visit, primarily through local signage and visitors centers. We discuss the implications of these results, and highlight future considerations for coastal managers when developing visitor-focused communication and engagement stra

* Construction of Asset Wealth Index for Tanzanian Small-Scale Fisheries based on a Multiple Correspondence Approach. * Less wealthy fishers target fewer species and are less able to absorb changes in management measures such as closures. * Wealthier fishers with high adaptive capacity are able to better absorb the short-term losses of fisheries closures.

Islands are biodiversity hotspots yet, paradoxically, are also extinction hotspots.

A planned artificial reef (AR) deployment program as part of a fisheries enhancement might be a useful tool for managers to supplement traditional ways to utilize available space and augment local productivity. Several AR deployment initiatives have been carried out globally, but they are rarely subjected to a rigorous site selection process. We created a site selection procedure in this study that includes systematic stages including exclusion mapping, underwater visual transect, benthic composition, seawater quality, and comparative visual mapping. This research focused on restoring the fishing grounds for artisanal fishermen by deploying AR along the southeast coast of India. The results of each stage in the procedure enabled us to choose suitable locations at a target depth with low wave action, no slope, and a good substrate capable of supporting an AR. Analysis of variance (ANOVA-one way) showed significant (p < 0.05) spatial variation for depth, slope, seawater current, salinity, chlorophyll-a, benthic density, and diversity. The geographical information system (GIS) based model output showed space allocation for AR deployment. The GIS methodology for site selection was developed to be easily adaptable to the demands of diverse artificial reef programs. The integrated strategy has proven to be a successful regulatory intervention for AR deployment practices in order to facilitate coastal restoration and management.

Human activities in the oceans increase the extinction risk of marine megafauna. Interventions require an understanding of movement patterns and the spatiotemporal overlap with threats. We analysed the movement patterns of 33 white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) satellite-tagged in South Africa between 2012 and 2014 to investigate the influence of size, sex and season on movement patterns and the spatial and temporal overlap with longline and gillnet fisheries and marine protected areas (MPAs). We used a hidden Markov model to identify 'resident' and 'transient' movement states and investigate the effect of covariates on the transition probabilities between states. A model with sex, total length and season had the most support. Tagged sharks were more likely to be in a resident state near the coast and a transient state away from the coast, while the probability of finding a shark in the transient state increased with size. White sharks moved across vast areas of the southwest Indian Ocean, emphasising the need for a regional management plan. White sharks overlapped with longline and gillnet fisheries within 25% of South Africa's Exclusive Economic Zone and spent 15% of their time exposed to these fisheries during the study period. The demersal shark longline fishery had the highest relative spatial and temporal overlap, followed by the pelagic longline fishery and the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) shark nets and drumlines. However, the KZN shark nets and drumlines reported the highest white shark catches, emphasising the need to combine shark movement and fishing effort with reliable catch records to assess risks to shark populations accurately. White shark exposure to shark nets and drumlines, by movement state, sex and maturity status, corresponded with the catch composition of the fishery, providing support for a meaningful exposure risk estimate. White sharks spent significantly more time in MPAs than expected by chance, likely due to increased prey abundance

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.

Ethnobiological knowledge is an important part of people's capacity to manage, conserve, and improve the governance of mangrove ecosystems. This paper assesses the ethnobiological importance of mangroves to coastal communities adjacent to seven mangrove forests in Southern and North-western Sri Lanka. 197 households were interviewed, and respondents identified various mangrove ecosystem goods and services. Fruit juice produced from Sonneratia spp. and salads made with Acrostichum aureum L. young leaves constitutes valuable edible products in both regions. Rhizophora mucronata Lamk. and Lumnitzera racemosa Willd., were employed as alternative sources of fuel. Other uses of mangroves include wood for construction, chemical, and medicinal products. However, the usage extent was significantly higher in the Southern province (87.6%) compared to the North-western province (51%). Five indices were developed to understand the ethnobiological knowledge of respondents (Mangrove Use Index, Perception Index, Regulation Awareness Index, and Knowledge Index, Mangrove Dynamics Index). Except for the Mangrove Use Index, the rest of the indices were significantly different between the provinces. Communities with higher mangrove knowledge showed lesser usage. Respondents had negative attitudes towards the regulations that limit/did not allow the community to enter mangrove forests. Community participation, ethnobiological importance, and perspectives regarding how the community wants to manage mangrove forests should be taken into account to avoid conflicts in the future. Considering local perceptions and translating them into mangrove management regulations can be effective in guiding sustainable mangrove management in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries in the world.

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) are often undervalued and unmanaged as a result of a lack of data. A study of SSFs in Menabe, western Madagascar in 1991 found diverse catches and a productive fishery with some evidence of declining catches. Here we compare data collected at the same landing site in 1991 and 2011. 2011 had seven times greater total monthly landings due to more people fishing and higher individual catches. Catch composition showed a lower mean trophic level in 2011 indicating overfishing, the true extent of which may be masked due to changes in technology and fishing behaviours. Limited management action since 2011 means these trends have likely continued and an urgent need for both greater understanding, and management of these fisheries remains if they are to continue providing food and income for fishing communities.

There is growing awareness of the need for greater acknowledgement of underwater prehistoric cultural resources as part of management and regulation of the seabed around many maritime countries, especially those with large indigenous populations and history such as Australia. Prehistoric cultural places and landscapes inundated by Post-glacial sea-level rise on Australia's continental shelf remain largely out-of-sight and out-of-mind, hence awareness and hence legal protection of this resource is lacking. There is a clear need for greater integration of archaeology and cultural heritage management within the marine sciences as well as a greater awareness of this resource as part of a common heritage more generally. This paper explores some of the dichotomies between Western and Indigenous cultures in valuing and managing the seabed. We argue that in developing science-policy, an attempt at least needs to be made to bridge both the gap between the nature and culture perspectives, and the jurisdictional divide between land and sea. Part of the answer lies in a convergence of Indigenous knowledge with Western science approaches, focused around our understanding of physical processes impacting past and present coastal landscapes and on the seabed itself. We explore several case studies from northern and Western Australia that are trying to do this, and which are helping to provide a greater appreciation of the inundated landscapes of the inner shelf as part of a common heritage.

* Fish catch before and after covid curfews was evaluated in gear and reserve management. * Curfew regulation compliance was higher near the reserve than gear managed sites. * Catch rates and incomes were variable but displayed greatest increases adjacent the reserve. * Rates of changes after the curfew mostly followed the longer-term trends in catches. * Curfew accelerated long-term declines in CPUE in gear-restricted but not reserves fisheries.

Ports and neighbouring cities function as connectors between land and water and have long accommodated a substantial flow of goods and services. Port cities in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region and the Global South (GS) are rapidly and inevitably expanding as the demand for global trade increases. However, this expansion has numerous impacts on the surrounding marine ecosystem and the socio-economic livelihoods of local communities. We propose a framework to evaluate the sustainability of port cities in the WIO region and more broadly for cities in the GS. Through an exploratory approach, a systematic literature review (SLR) was undertaken to identify existing themes on port city and marine ecosystem sustainability indicator frameworks. The results revealed a strong bias towards sustainability publications designed for port cities in Global North. The approach developed from this study focuses on the socio-economic and environmental attributes relevant to ports in the WIO region and for GS countries. This draws from the Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) framework and includes 78 indicators. The indicators are designed to identify and report on the complex land and sea interdependencies of port cities. To test the validity of these indicators their interdependencies were examined through a Causal Network (CN) structure which identified 12 priority DPSIR CN. These were also mapped to the UNSDGs enabling the wider applicability and transferability of the framework. The resulting framework enables port cities in emerging economies to establish robust sustainable reporting systems and provides a framework that offers a unique lens for evaluating interactions embedded in the land and sea continuum.

* Fisheries regulators rely on a culture of compliance to encourage adherence to fisheries legislation and regulations. * Fisheries management mechanisms are routinely adopted to prevent non-compliance. * Literature reveals a common culture of non-compliance across geographic locations and fisheries. * Results are drawn from a study of 945 participants to understand the culture of compliance among West Australian fishers. * Results improve understanding of non-compliance for this inshore fishery and how responses can encourage a compliant culture.

Monitoring of reef restoration efforts and artificial reefs (ARs) has typically been limited to coral fragment survival, hampering evaluation of broader objectives such as ecosystem recovery. This study aimed to determine to what extent AR design influences the ecological recovery of restored reefs by monitoring outplanted coral fragments, benthic cover, coral recruitment and fish and invertebrate communities for two years. Four AR designs (16 m2), unrestored controls and natural reef patches as reference (n = 10) were established in Mkwiro, Kenya. ARs consisted either of concrete disks with bottles, layered concrete disks, metal cages or a combination thereof. A mixture of 18 branching coral species (mainly Acropora spp.) was outplanted on ARs at a density of 7 corals m-2. After two years, 60% of all outplanted fragments had survived, already resulting in coral cover on most ARs comparable (though Acropora-dominated) to reference patches. Coral survival differed between ARs, with highest survival on cages due to the absence of crown-of-thorns sea star predation on this design. In total, 32 coral genera recruited on ARs and recruit densities were highest on reference patches, moderate on concrete ARs and low on cages. ARs and reference patches featured nearly twice the fish species richness and around an order of magnitude higher fish abundance and biomass compared to control patches. Fish abundance and biomass strongly correlated with coral cover on ARs. AR, reference and control patches all had distinct fish species compositions, but AR and reference patches were similar in terms of trophic structure of their fish communities. Motile invertebrates including gastropods, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and sea stars were present at ARs, but generally more abundant and diverse at natural reference patches. Taken together, all studied ecological parameters progressed towards reef ecosystem recovery, with varying influences of AR design and material. We recommend a combinat

The Introduction of this paper argues that current coastal and ocean management approaches like marine spatial planning (MSP) often do not adequately acknowledge and integrate Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). This is problematic because how humans value and perceive coastal and marine resources is integrally linked to how they use and manage these resources, especially in adapting to social-ecological change. Coastal and marine resources are situated within complex social-ecological systems that are culturally, economically, historically and politically embedded. Therefore, management approaches have to integrate transdisciplinary and contextual perspectives in order to be relevant, sustainable and adaptive. Following extensive research in Algoa Bay, South Africa this article highlights several pathways to bridge the gap between existing ILK and current coastal and ocean management approaches. The Methods section discusses how the authors worked in tandem with a bottom-up (engaging with Indigenous and local coastal and marine resource users) and top-down (engaging with coastal governance authorities and practitioners) approach. In order to answer the primary research question "How can ILK be integrated into area-based ocean management like MSP"? the authors employed arts-based participatory methods as well as in-depth interviews and workshops with coastal governance authorities and practitioners over several months. This work then culminated in a one-day multi-stakeholder workshop which brought both ILK holders and coastal authorities and practitioners together to collaboratively identify pathways to integrate this knowledge into coastal and ocean management. In the Results and Discussion section the authors present and discuss five co-identified pathways to integrate ILK in coastal and ocean management which include: adopting contextual approaches to coastal and ocean management; increasing transparency and two-way communication between coastal authorities and