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Dr Chris Cvitanovic is an Interdisciplinary Research Fellow specialized in knowledge exchange, stakeholder engagement and the governance of marine resources, working at the Centre for Marine Socioecology at the University of Tasmania. Contrarily to most researchers we interview, Chris also has experience working for the government, which gives him a unique approach and understanding of science and policy making, which he certainly shares with enthusiasm and a good dose of humor. FEME: How do you think that social sciences could better interact with environmental sciences? Chris:   I think that both disciplines already have an appreciation of each other, but unfortunately, this doesn’t always translate into more integrative and interdisciplinary research.  I think that researchers need to work towards understanding what each discipline can do by accepting their own limitations, by respecting their differences, and by trying to negotiate the way that the individuals can wo...

To this day, our knowledge on Brazilian whale hunting is still blurred, only few articles and books approach this subject and even those leave tremendous gaps about an activity that is supposed to have killed more than 4 thousand whales per year along the Brazilian coast in its prime years. Although it may sound bizarre for the younger ears, whale hunting only ended in Brazil in 1986. With such a recent past we may wonder if we have learned anything from an activity that almost drove many whale species to extinction that may help us avoid the same mistake with other species.  Even though there is no definitive evidence, some researchers believe that the first indigenous living in Brazil also hunted coastal whales, prior to the arrival of the Portuguese. However, large-scale whaling only began after 1602, when Portugal issued the first whaling license for Brazil. The first whaling installation was built in the island of Itaparica, Bahia state, followed by several others from the sou...

It is always a pleasure to talk to people who think out of the box and Beth is indeed one of those! These days, thinking out of the box may just well mean to do things in the ways we did before, seeing the whole picture and not only the parts. Beth talks about this and much more here, but before we get there, let’s just remind you about who Beth Fulton is, a name very familiar for those studying fisheries. Beth has a PhD in ecomathematics from the University of Tasmania and is a leading marine ecosystem modeller with a background in marine ecology, mathematics and scientific programming. She has been leading the CSIRO ecosystem modelling efforts in Australia for the past 15 years. Her science focus is on marine natural resource management, conservation and ecosystems.  Beth’s team focuses on the development of programs that model marine ecosystem models (e.g. Atlantis, InVitro and CORSA). In particular, such modelling software give equal attention to biophysical and human component...

We already know that parrotfish (Labridae: Scarini) are large (and beautiful!) fishes that play critical functional roles in reef environments when they feed, which in their case, we call “ grazing ”. Parrotfishes spend their day biting off bits and chunks of algae and other benthic organisms with their beak-like teeth. However, macroalgae may not be their preferred dish, they seem to like smaller diet items then what has been previously assumed. Because of this new finding, they have been recently reclassified as microphagous (“eaters of tiny particles”) (Clements et al., 2016), which by no means diminishes their importance in shaping the reef community. In other words, their nutrition comes from protein-rich autotrophic microorganisms, which in their turn are associated with macro organisms. By eating microorganisms, parrotfish affects the structure and composition of benthic communities by maintaining algae free corals.  Unfortunately, fishing pressure on parrotfishes has grown ...

Every time you go to a different beach, the most prudent thing to do is asking local people where the safe places to swim are (places with no currents, for example). It is very likely that you would ask people somehow involved with the sea at that particular beach, such as lifeguards, surfers, and fishermen. The reason is obvious: since they are used to the local environment, they would know the risks. The same is true when researching any specific characteristic of a given area. Sometimes, when you want to understand specificities of a place, the best option is to ask local people about its characteristics and dynamics. When living in a place and depending directly on its resources, people learn how to deal with things available at the place. As these people spend time on their daily activities, they also have more opportunities to observe and accumulate knowledge of the surrounding area. Gathering this local ecological knowledge (LEK) is a good way to learn about local features wit...

Laurent Bopp is a  researcher  at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL) in France. His main research interests concern the links between marine biogeochemical cycles, marine ecosystems and climate. He is an expert in marine biogeochemical and ecosystem models (such as the PISCES model), coupled to Earth System Models (such as the IPSL climate model).  Laurent Bopp during a lecture in the IMBER summer school 2016. Question: Some researchers say that climate change has a higher impact on women than men. Do you agree? Why?  Laurent:  It is a good question. I guess it depends a lot on where in the world they are. I mean, society inequalities between men and women are stronger in some places, and surely climate change is believed to increase inequalities. So, that will be the case where such inequalities exist already. Where inequalities are not so pronounced, we hope not to see so many differences i...

This week Melissa Garren , chief scientific officer of the Pelagic Data Systems and Anne Hawkins of the Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, talk about a new technology against illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing. Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and actor Leonardo Di Caprio unveiled Global Fishing Watch at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, D.C. As its big-name spokesmen would suggest, Global Fishing Watch is a big deal. Created by Google, Oceana, and SkyTruth, it uses satellite data to track and make public the fishing activity of the world’s largest fishing vessels. This enables public oversight and pressures vessel operators to fish legally. Global Fishing Watch is a huge step in the fight against illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing, and there also remains much work to be done. Right now, it’s still possible for vessel operators to turn off their satellite tracking devices, and there are many smaller vessels that have no tracking ...