Marine Resource Recovery Following the COVID-19 Event in Southern Thailand

This study investigated coral and reef fish recovery following the COVID-19 event between low and high environmental disturbance reefs at Racha Yai Island, Southern Thailand. Three and four 50-m permanent line transects were set at low and high environmental reefs to collect the percent of live coral cover, fish diversity and abundance, and fish trophic-functional groups based on diet and habitat use. Our results showed a significant rise in the percentage of live coral cover, the number of individual fish, the number of fish species, and species richness at both bays following the COVID-19 lockdown due to a crucial reduction in human activities on the reef. In addition, there were increases in the number of corallivore fishes belonging to Chaetodontidae and Pomacentridae families and a reduction of omnivorous fish at the fish-feeding tourist attraction reefs due during the COVID-19 lockdown due to reducing fish-feeding tourism. This indicated that restricted human activities and reduced anthropogenic stress on a coral reef may have substantial short-term impacts on reef fish diversity. Our insights could help designate guidelines to manage tourist impacts on coral reefs and aid in their prolonged persistence. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee C.E.J, Tehran, Iran.

PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, empowering immediate actions for a sustainable future

Climate scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies reported 2020 as the warmest year on record [1];the Gulf Stream has slowed down dramatically [2];the Last Ice Area has melted away faster than previously estimated [3];and coral reefs continue their constant and global decline [4]. The effects of the pandemic and climate change have also led to a rebalance in focus between efficiency and resilience across the public, private, and people sectors in society. The fodder for our global body of knowledge ultimately are the outputs and insights from our researchers and thought leaders.

COVID-19 lockdown highlights impact of recreational activities on the behaviour of coral reef fishes.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a reduction in human activities and restriction of all but essential movement for much of the world's population. A large, but temporary, increase in air and water quality followed, and there have been several reports of animal populations moving into new areas. Extending on long-term monitoring efforts, we examined how coral reef fish populations were affected by the government-mandated lockdown across a series of Marine Protected Area (MPA) and non-Marine Protected Area (nMPA) sites around Moorea, French Polynesia. During the first six-week lockdown that Moorea experienced between March and May 2020, increases (approx. two-fold) in both harvested and non-harvested fishes were observed across the MPA and nMPA inner barrier reef sites, while no differences were observed across the outer barrier sites. Interviews with local amateur and professional fishers indicated that while rules regarding MPA boundaries were generally followed, some subsistence fishing continued in spite of the lockdown, including within MPAs. As most recreational activities occur along the inner reef, our data suggest that the lockdown-induced reduction in recreational activities resulted in the recolonization of these areas by fishes, highlighting how fish behaviour and space use can rapidly change in our absence.

Engaging in Interdisciplinary Coastal Research During a Pandemic

Developing a deeper understanding of the human dimensions of coral reef restoration and monitoring is imperative in efforts to sustain and restore the world's coral reefs, which are experiencing catastrophic declines. This article reports on the methodologies used to conduct interdisciplinary fieldwork that began in June 2020, investigating how coral restoration practitioners navigated the ecological and societal changes impacting reef restoration and monitoring strategies for the Florida Reef Tract. The necessity to limit face-to-face contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in shifts in the way the researchers communicated with stakeholders regarding environmental management practices. The research team utilized digital ethnographic methodologies to investigate the challenges in testing and implementing monitoring methods used for coral reef restoration. This paper discusses the impact of conducting interdisciplinary team-based research and community engagement during a pandemic. The challenges and opportunities in conducting virtual ethnographic interviews from multi-leveled stakeholder groups through online communication platforms are explored. This work found that the COVID-19 pandemic restructured the way research can be conducted to reach stakeholders who would be unavailable using traditional in-person data collection strategies.

Perception of Innovative Usage of AI in Optimizing Customer Purchasing Experience within the Sustainable Fashion Industry

The research was designed to contribute to scientific efforts in exploring the attitude of fashion stakeholders towards AI and its use in attaining sustainability in fashion industry. Although the role of AI in Fashion has been studied before, the aim of this research is to challenge and analyze the attitudes towards sustainable fashion of both stakeholders and consumers. The research considers the views of consumers, industry professionals and company shareholders on the role AI plays in pursuing ideas of Sustainable Fashion. Contrary to expectations, the companies with significant turnover did not show any greater awareness of the new trends in the fashion business. Furthermore, previous familiarity with the usage of AI did not prove to promote openness towards the recommendation of apps which use AI to promote Sustainable Fashion. The value of this research lies in the findings, which help provide a framework which can be used to change the viewpoint of the key market players. The crucial finding is that the AI approach on sustainability will influence both users (changing their purchasing decisions toward more sustainable choices if provided with a set of information on ecological impact, production choices), and corporate businesses (changing the overall business strategy, planning, marketing communication and production designs). The paper offers milestones for further research on synergies between AI, fashion industry lined with UNS SDGs and purchasing behavior.

Coastal Tourism: Development Strategy of Loang Baloq Beach in Lombok Island, Indonesia

This research aims to generate a development strategy formulation of tourist attraction Loang Baloq beach in Mataram city. This research is a qualitative study with a survey method and description. Data is collected using observation technique, interview (purposive sampling), questionnaire distribution (acci-dental sampling), and documentation study in the book, articles, and other sources. The data analysis technique uses qualitative description, Likert scale, and SWOT analysis to formulate the appropriate strat-egy for Loang Baloq beach development. This research shows that Loang Baloq beach is in the first quadrant, indicating progressive strategy (grand strategy). It means that Loang Baloq beach is in prime condition. Therefore, it enables maximum achievement for growth and progress. The suggested strategy is the strategy that seizes the opportunity and highlights the strengths. Then, the alternative strategy which is generated is based on S-O strategy, S-T strategy, W-O strategy, and W-T Strategy.

Inspiring Technologies for Digital Inclusivity

The article entitled Enhancing Moon Crescent Visibility using Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization and Bilateral Filtering Techniques has automated the determination of the religious festivals date based on the analysis of digital images. The authors have used underwater images that contain coral reef images as their case study. Since underwater images are usually suffering from distortion and light attenuation, an efficient edge detection technique is very important. The paper entitled Detection of Monocrystalline Silicon Wafer Defects using Deep Transfer Learning uses deep learning technique to detect defects in monocrystalline silicon wafer for industrial production.

Potential coral implementation area for Indonesia Coral Reef Garden in Nusa Dua, Bali

The Indonesia Coral Reef Garden (ICRG) program is announced as a coral reef restoration program which can support the marine tourism sector since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Indonesia, particularly in Bali. A comprehensive survey and preliminary study are necessary to be conducted to decide a suitable point or to avoid a premature choice for the restoration location. Field survey in Nusa Dua, Bali was carried out on November-December 2020 to determine physical and chemical characteristics of seawater which appropriate for coral life. The bathymetry result at Nusa Dua, Bali varied from shallow to middle water depth. Area covered with coral, soft coral, coral and sand, sand, and seaweed on the seabed are found over study area. In the depth close to the seabed, the sea condition of temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity, and DO is 26.04 - 28.48 °C, 33.95 - 34.29 PSU, 7.933 - 7.982, 0.81 - 2.44 FTU, and 4.40 - 4.93 mg/L, respectively. Based on the conformity of water quality, the middle depth region has sufficient condition for coral growth. Simple Addition Weighting method is used for determining potential location. The potential coral implementation is located 3-5 km from Tanjung Benoa and in south of Nusa Dua around 1-3 km from coast.

Bioboard

The following topics are under this section:ASIA-PACIFIC — Identification of Therapeutic Points for Genetically Diverse and Fatal LeukaemiaASIA-PACIFIC — Novel Microfluidic Processes for Drug DevelopmentASIA-PACIFIC — Development of Anti-Microbial Coating against COVID-19ASIA-PACIFIC — Partnership between Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School to develop COVID-19 VaccineASIA-PACIFIC — Nanoscopic Insights to Proteins against Huntington’s DiseaseASIA-PACIFIC — Unravelling the Impact of Marine Heatwave on Coral Reef FishesASIA-PACIFIC — Regulation of Plant Pores by MicroRNAsASIA-PACIFIC — Discovering Clues to Longevity in Our GenomeASIA-PACIFIC — Repurposing Nature’s Products to Viable MaterialsASIA-PACIFIC — Reverse Conversion of Oestrogens to AndrogensREST OF THE WORLD — HER2-targeted Antibody Drug Conjugate Shows Promise in Patients with Non-Breast-Gastric CancersREST OF THE WORLD — New Research finds Teeth as a Biological ArchiveREST OF THE WORLD — Finding Treatment for Muscular Dystrophy using CRISPR

Reduced human activity in shallow reefs during the COVID-19 pandemic increases fish evenness.

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a rare opportunity to examine effects of people on natural systems and processes. Here, we collected fish diversity data from coral reefs at the Israeli Gulf of Aqaba during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. We examined beach entrances to the reef, nearby shallow reefs and deeper areas exposed mostly to divers. We found that the lockdown elicited a behavioral response that resulted in elevated species richness at designated reef entrances, predominantly influenced by increased evenness without changes to total abundances. This effect was observed both at the local scale and when several beach entrances were aggregated together. Consequently, non-extractive human activities may have substantial short-term impacts on fish diversity. Our insights could help designate guidelines to manage visitor impacts on coral reefs and aid in their prolonged persistence.

Retirement risks: Invasive coral on old oil platform on the Brazilian equatorial continental shelf.

The objective of this study was to report, for the first time, the presence of an invasive coral (Tubastraea tagusensis) in an oil platform on the Brazilian equatorial continental shelf. This structure is located more than 1200 km north from other oil and gas structures colonized by this coral. We also discussed the retirement and decommissioning of old biofouling-encrusted oil and gas platforms (~62 platforms) from decreased production and the current oil crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This presents an ecological concern due invasive coral range expansion and potential impacts to poorly studied ecosystems such as marginal shallow-water coral reefs and mesophotic ecosystems. It is imperative that mindful risk analysis and rigorous environmental studies must precede the installation of new oil and gas platforms. In addition, decommissioning of retired structures should take into consideration marine restoration and non-indigenous species dispersal, and more specifically, Tubastraea bioinvasion.