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Numerous international bodies have advocated the development of strategies to achieve the sustainability of marine environments. Typically, such strategies are based on information from expert groups about causes of degradation and policy options to address them, but these strategies rarely take into account assessed information about public awareness, concerns, and priorities. Here we report the results of a pan-European survey of public perceptions about marine environmental impacts as a way to inform the formation of science and policy priorities. On the basis of 10,106 responses to an online survey from people in 10 European nations, spanning a diversity of socioeconomic and geographical areas, we examine the public's informedness and concern regarding marine impacts, trust in different information sources, and priorities for policy and funding. Results show that the level of concern regarding marine impacts is closely associated with the level of informedness and that pollution and overfishing are two areas prioritized by the public for policy development. The level of trust varies greatly among different information sources and is highest for academics and scholarly publications but lower for government or industry scientists. Results suggest that the public perceives the immediacy of marine anthropogenic impacts and is highly concerned about ocean pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification. Eliciting public awareness, concerns, and priorities can enable scientists and funders to understand how the public relates to marine environments, frame impacts, and align managerial and policy priorities with public demand.ocean literacy | ocean impacts | Europe | attitudes | ocean health

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There is growing appreciation of the role of aquaculture in diversifying livelihoods of the poor. However, prevailing cultural norms and values, and social relations often influence its development outcomes, which we explore in this study. Socio-cultural dynamics affect the capacity of resource-poor and marginalized groups for the adoption and retention of aquaculture technologies. Gender norms and gender division of labour in a given community not only influence whether men or women participate in aquaculture but also shape their differential access to resources and position in decision-making, with knock-on effect for aquaculture productivity. Ethnic and cultural norms of collectivism, particularly in traditional fishing communities, support aquaculture efforts, but these are often overlooked by many development endeavours. Improved productivity does not necessarily translate into enhanced income, food and nutrition security. In many areas, benefits for women are lower despite their more active participation in aquaculture operations, post-harvest processing and marketing compared to men. Local power relations may limit access to land and water resources as well as inputs and services by the poor, restricting more equitable distribution of income from aquaculture. Nutritional outcome from aquaculture largely depends on preferences and acceptability of fish as a food and local customs regarding its preparation, preservation, cooking and distribution. Aquaculture interventions that take resource base and socio-cultural contexts into account are crucial for realizing increased income, food and nutrition benefits sustainably.