The University of Alicante is participating in the largest scientific assessment driven to date by the United Nations to analyse the health of the world's oceans. This international project brings together hundreds of specialists from across the globe and currently serves as the primary global benchmark for guiding marine conservation policies internationally.
The Alicante institution’s involvement is delivered through the work of Professor Pablo Sánchez Jerez, from the Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology. He is part of the international team of authors for the third edition of the World Ocean Assessment, the most ambitious report compiled so far on the current state of seas and oceans, coordinated by the United Nations.
According to Sánchez Jerez, the ocean sustains processes fundamental to life on Earth, and we need to understand how its ecosystems are changing with the utmost scientific rigour in order to make effective decisions. Participating in this assessment means contributing directly to the global knowledge required to protect one of the most vital systems for the future of humanity.
The oceans constitute Earth's primary life-support system. Covering more than 70% of the planet's surface, they produce approximately half of the oxygen we breathe thanks to phytoplankton activity, regulate the global climate by transporting heat between continents, absorb around a third of the carbon dioxide generated by human activities, and host an extraordinary biodiversity that sustains complex ecological networks and numerous economic activities.
The health of these ecosystems is closely linked to human well-being. Activities such as fishing, aquaculture, coastal tourism, maritime transport, and numerous industrial sectors depend directly on the good condition of marine ecosystems. However, these natural systems currently face unprecedented challenges stemming from climate change, pollution, habitat loss, the overexploitation of resources, and growing human pressure on coastal areas.
Against this backdrop, the international scientific community agrees that the conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems is one of the major environmental priorities of the 21st century. Among the most effective tools are marine reserves and marine protected areas (MPAs)—spaces capable of recovering exploited species populations, conserving habitats of high ecological value, and increasing ecosystem resilience against global disturbances such as planetary warming.
Numerous scientific studies have shown that these protected areas function as genuine havens for biodiversity. They generate benefits that transcend their own boundaries by exporting larvae, juveniles, and adults to adjacent zones, thereby supporting both conservation and the sustainability of fisheries. It is precisely this need for robust scientific information to guide marine management and conservation that has driven the production of this third edition of the World Ocean Assessment. This global evaluation provides a comprehensive overview of the changes oceans are undergoing, the risks they face, and the potential solutions needed to guarantee their future sustainability.
The assessment is conclusive: the oceans are under increasing pressure from climate change, pollution, resource overexploitation, and the progressive degradation of marine ecosystems. Among the most worrying conclusions are the accelerated warming of ocean waters, marine acidification, rising sea levels, the expansion of oxygen-depleted zones, and the widespread accumulation of plastic and microplastic waste in practically every oceanic ecosystem on the planet.
The report further warns that the loss of marine biodiversity represents a direct threat to ecological stability and to numerous essential ecosystem services that sustain society. In this context, expanding and improving the management of marine protected areas emerges as one of the main international recommendations to strengthen ocean resilience against global change.
Acuicultura marina
Within this international assessment, Professor Pablo Sánchez Jerez has specifically participated as an author of the chapter dedicated to medium- and large-scale marine aquaculture. This is a strategic sector called upon to play a decisive role in sustainable food production within a context marked by global population growth, an increased demand for marine protein, and the need to reduce pressure on wild fish stocks. “The future of global food security will largely depend on developing increasingly sustainable marine production systems. Aquaculture must grow, but it must do so by relying on technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and a balanced coexistence with natural ecosystems,” the researcher notes.
The chapter analyses the evolution of marine aquaculture on a global scale and addresses strategic aspects such as technological innovation, the digitalisation of production systems, the environmental sustainability of farms, the social acceptance of the activity, and the sector's adaptation to the effects of climate change. Furthermore, it identifies significant knowledge gaps and establishes research priorities necessary to advance towards more sustainable production models compatible with marine conservation.
Participation in this international assessment also reflects the intensive research activity carried out by the University of Alicante’s Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology in strategic areas of marine conservation. Its main lines of research include the ecology and management of marine protected areas, the restoration of coastal ecosystems, aquaculture sustainability, the study of marine biodiversity, the assessment of climate change effects, and the development of new tools based on artificial intelligence applied to environmental monitoring.
Over recent decades, the contribution made by University of Alicante researchers to scientific knowledge regarding marine reserves in the Spanish Mediterranean has been especially significant. Their work has allowed for a better understanding of the effects of protection on marine communities, the analysis of recovery processes for species of fishing interest, and has demonstrated the fundamental role of these spaces in making conservation and socio-economic development compatible.