Prioritizing efforts for conserving rare and threatened species with limited past data and lacking population estimates is predicated on robust assessments of their occupancy rates. This is particularly challenging for elusive, long-lived and wide-ranging marine mammals. In this paper we estimate trends in long-term (over 50years) occupancy, persistence and extinction of a vulnerable and data-poor dugong (Dugong dugon) population across multiple seagrass meadows in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago (India).

Very high levels of prenatal maternal mercury have adverse effects on the developing fetal brain. It has been suggested that all possible sources of mercury should be avoided. However, although seafood is a known source of mercury, little is known about other dietary components that contribute to the overall levels of blood mercury. The objective of the study was to quantify the contribution of components of maternal diet to prenatal blood mercury level.

It is widely documented that marine debris is detrimental to the marine ecological environment. While there are various sources of marine debris, that generated by ships constitutes a significant proportion. Annex V of MARPOL 73/78 is to regulate the discharge of garbage from ships; in particular, it prohibits all kinds of plastics from being discharged into ocean. However, most fishing vessels are virtually exempt from such regulations due to their low gross tonnage, below 400 t.

For many marine species and habitats, climate change and overfishing present a double threat. To manage marine resources effectively, it is necessary to adapt management to changes in the physical environment. Simple relationships between environmental conditions and fish abundance have long been used in both fisheries and fishery management. In many cases, however, physical, biological, and human variables feed back on each other. For these systems, associations between variables can change as the system evolves in time.