Indicators of ocean health and human health: developing a research and monitoring framework.

Abstract

We need to critically assess the present quality of the marine ecosystem, especially the connection between ecosystem change and threats to human health. In this article we review the current state of indicators to link changes in marine organisms with eventual effects to human health, identify research opportunities in the use of indicators of ocean and human health, and discuss how to establish collaborations between national and international governmental and private sector groups. We present a synthesis of the present state of understanding of the connection between ocean health and human health, a discussion of areas where resources are required, and a discussion of critical research needs and a template for future work in this field. To understand fully the interactions between ocean health and human health, programs should be organized around a "models-based" approach focusing on critical themes and attributes of marine environmental and public health risks. Given the extent and complex nature of ocean and human health issues, a program networking across geographic and disciplinary boundaries is essential. The overall goal of this approach would be the early detection of potential marine-based contaminants, the protection of marine ecosystems, the prevention of associated human illness, and by implication, the development of products to enhance human well-being. The tight connection between research and monitoring is essential to develop such an indicator-based effort.

Dynamics of Vibrio with Virulence Genes Detected in Pacific Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) Off California: Implications for Marine Mammal Health

“…Cumulative effects of one or more of these factors may have contributed to the deterioration of marine mammal health [10,11,13,35]. Because infectious marine diseases appear to be increasing and are of immediate concern to marine mammal health, the dynamics and virulence potential of aquatic microbes should be investigated [4,10,28,38,48,75].…”

“…Baseline epidemiological data on marine pathogens can be obtained from a representative marine mammal to aid in disease mitigation in marine mammals [10,36,48,65,83]. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are an excellent indicator species because they are long-lived and upper-level trophic consumers that inhabit coastal areas throughout the northern hemisphere.…”

“…Malnourished individuals may be more susceptible to enteric pathogens [44]. To better understand impacts of enteric pathogens on the health of harbor seals, enumerating these pathogens in healthy and stranded seals is warranted [10,16,32,48,51].…”

Oceans and human health: Emerging public health risks in the marine environment

“…All of these physical factors may interact with biological, socioeconomic and cultural factors to result in impacts on human ceans morbidity and mortality. It is increasingly important to understand the environmental and societal phenomena that lead to health impacts in order to design policy strategies to minimize the negative impacts (Rayner and Malone, 1998;NRC, 1999;Knap et al, 2002;Wolff, 2002). The interactions between oceans and human health are increasing, in part, due to the increasing numbers of humans living within close proximity of the world's oceans.…”

Ocean health and human health.

“…Some waste is toxic, some carries human pathogens, and some alters marine food chains in ways detrimental to human well-being. The links between human and ocean health often grab the public's attention via local events such as beach closures and seafood contamination from sewage, but the geographic scale of our impacts on ocean ecosystems is global, reaching even remote human populations (Knap et al 2002).…”