The Our Shared Ocean podcast makes its first trip to the Caribbean Sea, home to 26 Small Island Developing States, to find out about the work of the National Fisheries Authority in Jamaica and how Iceland and Ireland are playing a part in the growth and development of the Jamaican Aquaculture Industry.

Leanne Bennett, a proud Jamaican, Acting Senior Research officer and current Masters Student tells us about her love of aquaculture, local oyster fisheries and how she ended up in Iceland. Although Jamaica’s oyster fishery is in its infantile stages an increase in anthropogenic activities have created a need to understand the correlation between the natural environment and its effects on oyster population and growth performance. Specifically, as the extent of coastal Mangroves declines so does the natural habitat of the Mangrove oyster, Crassostrea rhizophorae.

The research will help establish a more streamlined value chain responding to the growing demand for oyster locally and internationally. Leannes’ Masters research is supervised by Prof David Benhaim a fish behaviour specialist in the Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology from Holar University in Iceland. David is primarily interested in aquaculture but also in evolutionary Biology and Ecology and shares some rather optimistic projections for the longevity of the Our Shared Ocean podcast itself.

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Are you a Marine Scientist or student based in a Small Island Developing State. Would you like to tell us about your research?

Visit www.oursharedocean.ie to learn more and remember to subscribe rate and review on YouTube or your favourite podcast platform.

The Our Shared Ocean Podcast is a funding initiative by the Government of Ireland through Irish Aid and managed by the Marine Institute.

In our first episode we visit Palau, a small island nation in the western Pacific to meet researchers from the Palau International Coral Reef Centre (PICRC), whose conservation efforts focus on understanding biodiversity and addressing human impact on coral reefs and marine ecosystems. E. Ikelau Otto, Chief Researcher provides a fascinating oversight into the regions bio-geography and environmental issues while highlighting the cultural significance of conservation in Palau.

We learn about the vital work of the PICRC which co-ordinates local and regional coral reef monitoring efforts to ensure national objectives are met and about the importance of understanding how ecosystems and species diversity are influenced by the natural cycles of sun and moon.

Dr. Piera Biondi and Christina Karanassos discuss their own research including a project supported and funded by the Our Shared Ocean programme. Their study entitled ‘Assessing the reproduction and status of a key reef fishery species, the longnose emperor (Lethrinus olivaceus), to inform fisheries management in Palau', will monitor vulnerable fish species of ecological and commercial significance. Reef fisheries are an important part of the local culture, economy, and food security in many Pacific Island nations, however, effective management decisions are often hindered by a lack of biological information on target species. The study aims inform a new reef fisheries management plan and improve management of Palau’s reef fisheries resources.

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Are you a Marine Scientist or student based in a Small Island Developing State. Would you like to tell us about your research?

Visit www.oursharedocean.ie to learn more and remember to subscribe rate and review on YouTube or your favourite podcast platform.

The Our Shared Ocean Podcast is a funding initiative by the Government of Ireland through Irish Aid and managed by the Marine Institute.

The Our Shared Ocean Podcast brings you stories of lived experience from across the world as part of Ireland's response to the environmental and economic challenges facing many Small Island Developing States.

Coming up in the Our Shared Ocean Podcast:

• Using lunar cycles to improve management of fisheries in the Western Pacific
• How Iceland and Ireland are helping to develop Jamaican Aquaculture
• What are Nature-based solutions and how will they help coastal resilience initiatives in Timor-Leste, Trinidad, Jamaica & Galway
• Citizen science in the least developed country in the western hemisphere
• Automated low-cost sensors to improve coral-reef resilience in Guam
• From Maynooth to Bermuda to the Caribbean to hear about the implications of a changing climate for storm frequency and intensity

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Are you a Marine Scientist or student based in a Small Island Developing State. Would you like to tell us about your research?

Visit www.oursharedocean.ie to learn more and remember to subscribe rate and review on YouTube or your favourite podcast platform.

The Our Shared Ocean Podcast is a funding initiative by the Government of Ireland through Irish Aid and managed by the Marine Institute.