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How does plankton affect the weather? How does the biodiversity of these organisms shape our existence? How do the diminishing numbers of diatoms, a type of micro-algae, and the revival of dinoflagellates or archaic cyanobacteria, threaten our health? Why is the severest impact of ocean plastic pollution not even covered by the media? And why is the Iodysseus programme at the heart of the issues faced by the planet’s global ecosystem?

The mega event at FAO HQ in Rome from 18 to 21 November about fisheries sustainability attracted some 750 registered participants. Structured in fine detail, the eight sessions with up to six keynotes and an equal number of panels of five experts each per day placed a heavy emphasis on statements. That relegated discussions mostly into the few breaks and social hours. A large set of speakers, geographically, institutionally and thematically diverse and with good gender balance, summarised their current understanding of the status and expected futures of fisheries around the globe.

Started in 2010 by Mr. Idowu Hunyinbo, this year's Fish Party event focused on the topic "Impacts of climate change on fisheries and food security". Stella Williams, Vice President of Mundus maris, was the keynote speaker at the celebrations which were held at Lagos State University (LASU) on Saturday, 9 November. Climate change is the big disruptor in fisheries and many other marine and coastal conditions and activities as sea level rise, acidification, lack of oxygen, storm surges and other effects impact on ecosystems and people's lives and habitats.

Following on from earlier exchanges on promoting ocean literacy in conjunction with World Ocean Day, Mundus maris Vice President, Prof. Stella Williams was invited by the Director of Fisheries, Mrs. Kadijatu Jalloh, and Mrs Ranita A.S. Koroma, Environmental Safeguards Specialist of the Freetown Emergency Recovery Project, Ministry of Finance, to meet with interested personalities in order to present key aspects of the work of the organisation.

A broad range of research organisations supported the workshop organised by Denis Bailly and his team of the Ocean University Initiative in Brest. During two days, 5-6 November 2019, participants discussed in small groups what social sciences and humanities research can contribute to address major challenges and opportunities to implement the SDGs of Agenda 2030, with special attention to SDG14, Life under Water.

From 14 to 16 October, the capacity-building workshop for artisanal fishers in Yoff - an activity conducted in the context of the small-scale fisheries academy in Senegal - brought together some thirty professionals. They reflected on their reality, analysed their economic activities and identified concrete measures to improve their livelihoods.

As every year, Mundus maris participated in the Good Food events calendar in Brussels, again as the only voice to bring essential information to fish and seafood consumers about what constitutes legitimate products. That means products providing mandatory information on the species, the regional sourcing, the production method and whether it's fresh or frozen. Fish sellers at the Flagey market on 19 October were among those asking for info.

The Mundus maris team in Argentina had a busy month by contributing to the 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration, held 10 to 13 Oct. in Susa, Tunisia, and at the VI National Congress of Biodiversity Conservation, convened from 15 to 18 Oct. at the National University of La Rioja, La Rioja capital, Argentina.

The quality of statistics about West African fisheries has often been criticised, mainly because the data about catches, biomass estimates and other key features assessed by national research institutes and sector administrations are frequently incomplete and not up-to-date.That means few stocks can be confidently assessed with conventional data-intensive methods. This is where a new algorithm (CMSY) based on only catch and resilience estimates comes to the rescue of robust management in such data poor conditions.

20-27 September 2019, we saw a record 7.6 million people take to the streets and strike for climate action. The biggest climate mobilisation in history. From Jakarta to New York, Karachi to Amman, Berlin to Kampala, Istanbul to Québec, Guadalajara to Asunción, in big cities and small villages, millions of people joined hands and raised their voices in defense of the climate.

Sunday without cars is a much loved event on the Brussels agenda encouraging families, cyclists and all manner of groups into taking over streets and parks all around town. Mundus maris staffed again an information stand at Merode attracting much attention and a good number of conversations with by-passers.