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Three years after bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off Mauritius, spilling 1000 tonnes of a new type of marine fuel oil, CURTIN University-led research has confirmed the oil is still present in an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest close to important Ramsar conservation sites.

Early Wednesday morning, local residents on the island of Sulu, Mindanao found an Indonesian seafarer trapped in fishing nets in a mangrove swamp.

Experts say that coal and coal waste products contain heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury, which can endanger both human and aquatic life in the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

Recently, the rights of small-scale fishers have increasingly been acknowledged in ocean governance because coastal development and various maritime activities have reduced traditional fishing grounds. More specifically, small-scale fisheries (SSF) are increasingly being threatened by ocean grabbing, pollution, and a lack of inclusiveness in decision-making processes. Although there are guidelines to resolve and reduce conflict, formal avenues to include fisher concerns, particularly in the context of ocean development and governance, remain a difficult task. Moreover, there is insufficient information on how fishers are impacted by coastal and marine development and how their concerns are included in the decision-making process. Hence, this study contributes to the SSF discourse by understanding and describing the characteristics and concerns of small-scale fishers from two coastal towns in East Africa with different levels of port development. Using data from perception surveys, focus group discussions, and participatory mapping, we discuss how fishers were involved in the decision-making processes to develop ports in Lamu, Kenya, and Bagamoyo, Tanzania. We found that fishers rely on nearshore ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs because of their accessibility since most fishers only use low-powered boats for fishing. Moreover, we found that the fishers' livelihoods were severely affected by port development and that they were excluded from the decision-making process concerning the port's construction and fishers' compensations. While some fishers believe that new ports in the region can increase their livelihoods by creating new markets and jobs, this is unlikely to happen since most fishers are not qualified to work in formal port-related jobs. We propose three steps that will allow fishermen to participate in port development decision-making processes and contribute to the development of a sustainable SSF. These include improving engagement with fisher

Biological invasions are impacting biodiversity, ecosystem, and socio-economics globally. Marine non-indigenous species (mNIS) can be introduced through human activities, such as maritime shipping and careless discarding of aquarium species. Despite significant efforts to prevent the introduction of mNIS, occurrences continue to arise, including fishes, crustaceans, ascidians, anthozoans, bryozoans, sponges, macroalgae, seagrasses and mangroves (Alidoost Salimi et al., 2021). Once mNIS establish in recipient regions, controlling and eradicating them becomes a challenging task. Early awareness of mNIS could enhance the effectiveness of early response, particularly during the introduction phase, which is critical to reduce the impacts of mNIS in the future. Therefore, it is imperative to develop reliable and cost-effective strategies for the early detection of mNIS before they successfully establish themselves in new habitats and pose threats to local biodiversity.

Bangladesh oil spill 'threatens rare dolphins'.