Toxic microalgae, viruses and chemical contaminants are floating in our waters. These hazardous materials pose a high risk to the livelihood of the sea dwellers. Especially the aquaculture is affected by this rising problem.

The marine aquaculture sector has grown continuously over the past years, according to the FAO’s world review of fisheries and aquaculture.

Plastic products made of PVC, Polystyrene and other prominent plastics are flooding the market. They are a growing threat to the environment, as they are found in the sea or dumped in land fills .

European sea product consumption is on the rise. With overfishing being a threat to the natural balance of the ocean, the alternative is to turn to aquaculture, the industrial production of fish and seafood.

Scientists in Spain are growing bacteria that can transform organic waste into polymers inside their cells . And in Holland researchers are experimenting with algae which can also produce bioplastic components .

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is a much sought after delicacy. Due to huge fishing pressure, tuna stocks have decreased dramatically . There are now signs of recovery, according to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas .

The Oceans are filled with a diversity of life forms. This means that getting a complete picture of marine biodiversity is challenging.

The life that inhabits the world’s oceans has almost infinite variety. It remains an untapped source of diversity.

Bernard Kloareg is the director of the Station biologique de Roscoff , a major science facility for marine research located in the Brittany region of France.

One litre of sea water contains about one billion bacteria.

Sea bass or sea bream, by far the most consumed fish species around the Mediterranean area, increasingly originate from aquaculture.

Nobody knows the underlying biological mechanisms of the European eels migration . Thanks to an EU-funded research project called eeliad , now about toreach completion, biologists have revealed some of its secrets, including a better understanding of its biology and migration route.

Only about 50% of every fish sold as fillet is actually eaten.  Often, fish heads, viscera, skin and bones are discarded.

In 2010, nearly two tons of fish was found dead due to lack of oxygen on the coastal line of the Romanian Black Sea.  Oxygen depletion , or hypoxia , occurring in the water is thought to be responsible.