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On 27 October, fisheries biologist Cornelia E. Nauen visited Leiden University (LU) to give the 7th Environmental Humanities LU talk about her work with Mundus maris - Sciences and Arts for Sustainability, the non-governmental organization she co-founded in 2010, and which promotes restoration, conservation and sustainable use of aquatic ecosystems, respect and support for small-scale fishers and their traditional cultures.

We produce globally enough food for all humans on the shared planet. Yet, according to latest estimates by the World Food Programme (WFP), conflicts, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertilizer prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions. As many as 783 million people are facing chronic hunger. Europe has been active in supporting the fight against food insecurity and more, both short-term through ECHO and more long-term, primarly with FAO, WFP and other UN agencies. This was the backdrop for the FAO Office in Brussels headed by Raschad Al-Khafaji to invite to a gathering into the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels on this year's World Food Day. The motto was: 'Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind' in recognition that some 70% of all accessible freshwater resources go into food production.

PranayaKumarParidaSmall-scale inland fisheries of India primarily take place in rivers, lakes, floodplain wetlands, reservoirs, and estuaries upon which 23.12 million fishers depend for their livelihoods and nutritional security. Inland fisheries are affected by multi-dimensional impacts. In particular climate change, irrigation structures, encroachment from agriculture and urbanization, siltation, high fishing pressure, etc. are affecting their sustainability. In his V2V lecture Dr. Pranaya Kumar Parida, a Scientist at the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) suggested that a number of social, economic, technological and ecological interventions can help address at least some of these issues. His talk focuses on the initiatives of the research institute to promote sustainability by responding to vulnerabilities and transitioning towards viability.

The new President of Nigeria has created a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy as one of the innovations to social and economic development of Nigeria. However, fisheries and associated issues of healthy and productive aquatic environments remain so far under the Ministry of Agriculture, even though they are very important to a sustainable Blue Economy. The webinar organised on 26 September 2023 by Mundus maris and Fish Party with educational and research partners in Nigeria was intended to cast light on this sector and what was needed to enhance its resilitence. Special attention was paid to "Gender and Youths’ Economic Sustainability in the Decade of the Ocean Dialogue" as noted in the subtitle.

This was a great day for climate protection. On 15 September, 250,000 people turned out in 250 cities and towns in Germany alone demanding Climate Justice NOW!. Many more shouted out this demand around Europe and across the globe. Fridays For Future and countless supporters in civil society, trade unions and a wide range of scientists, artists, and green and blue activists took to the streets. On Sunday, some other marches are scheduled in Brussels, Belgium, and other places. Mundus maris supported the renewed drive demanding governments to stop fossils and rather throw their support decisively behind renewables. An unbelievable 440 Billion USD have been invested over the last months in new fossil extractions on land and in the sea!

The FishBase Team of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, headed by Prof. Jos Snoeks, hosted the annual FishBase-SeaLifeBase Symposium for the fourth time on 4 September 2023. The public event featured interesting talks by representatives of many of the organisations already sustaining work on the global biodiversity data systems covering all fish species and all non-fish animals in the ocean or planning to do so. In addition, several researchers from other Belgian research institutes gave presentations of related work. As a new feature two flash talk sessions offered further research updates for online and onsite participants. The scientific advances presented thanks to using these data systems were impressive.

Excellent opportunity to join a lecture of acclaimed author and long-time friend, Daniel Pauly, at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands, on 2 September 2023. Despite the weekend, the lecture hall was packed full with scientists, managers, representatives of civil society and nature protection organisations, media and some people from government departments. They were not disappointed in their expectation to hear a bold interpretation of deep history of our species as it invaded every last corner of the planet. Means, as a species we are successful, aren't we? Let's see in a whistle stop tour through our history.

Fridays for Future and a very large number of organisations, including Mundus maris, invite you to join the world-wide marches to wean our economies from fossil fuels and protect the climate. After record-breaking temperatures, wildfires of unprecedented scale and torrential rains wreaking havoc in others everybody understands that it's high time to act and transform the way we do business, move, produce and consume in ways to fast track renewables and phase out fossils - really fast.

Download the poster which you can easily print on A4, A3 or even bigger on carton and use during the action day. Look up the march or strike activities closest to you.

Small-scale fisheries face multidimensional vulnerabilities from natural (e.g., disasters, ecosystem shifts) and human factors (e.g., policy, aquaculture, infrastructures, pollution). Despite extensive research on these, the connection between vulnerability and water quality remains unexplored. Fishing communities relate fish to aquatic health, highlighting the importance of water quality. In this webinar Navya Vikraman Nair, PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, Canada, delved into how water quality impacts vulnerabilities in small-scale fisheries.

Africa remains the world’s youngest continent with a median age of 19.7 years.By 2050, one in three young people will live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates suggest that 80-90 percent of African workers are engaged in the informal sector. Each year, 10-12 million African youth enter the labor market, but the African Development Bank estimates that only three million formal jobs are created annually. Meanwhile, nearly half of all African countries rank in the bottom quartile of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and a new wave of predominantly young people risk their lives in search of better futures in Europe and elsewhere because they see none at home.

The pursuit of creating sustainable fisheries worldwide is of utmost importance due to its numerous benefits. This presentation by Dr. Evans Kwasi Arizi, a fisheries scientist specialising in fish stock assessment, dynamics, and oceanography at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, aims to enhance understanding of the biological and managerial approaches to fisheries. Healthy stocks help improving the socio-economic well-being of fishing communities.