CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. However, measuring the effectiveness and impacts of these trade regulations for commercially exploited aquatic species remains challenging. This study highlights observed or documented changes in elasmobranch fisheries in eight Southeast Asian countries before and after the listing of sharks and rays in CITES’ Appendix II, and the influence of CITES across five pillars or sectors of a “fishery assessment framework” developed especially for this purpose. Fisheries experts reported change was most common in the “governance” (e.g., policy, regulation and compliance) and “fisher(y)” sectors (e.g., structure and effort) of the assessment framework. The smallest change was recorded in “markets” (e.g., structures and prices) and “sociocultural” sectors (e.g., consumption, livelihoods and community awareness). Overall, the study demonstrates a measurable, albeit small, mostly positive influence of CITES in five of eight countries, while noting predominantly negative influences across two, and ongoing challenges for all in maintaining legal trade of these CITES‐listed species. The study concludes by offering guidance on future needs: most notably, more effort for long‐term collection of fundamental fisher‐, stock‐ and market‐related data to inform adaptive management and facilitation of legal trade where it is shown to be sustainable. Furthermore, as many of the shark and ray species under CITES provisions are transboundary stocks, increased support for communication and cooperation among regional fishery stakeholders is an ongoing need.

A geophysical technique was employed to investigate seawater intrusion into freshwater aquifers in the coastal environment of the Lagos, Badagry, and South-Western Nigeria. Electrical resistivity method employing the Schlumberger technique was used to acquire data for eighteen vertical electrical soundings, and five 2-D electrical resistivity imaging using the Wenner array to investigate the vertical extent of seawater intrusion. The Wenner electrode array, which utilizes current electrode half spacing from 1m to 600m, was used to acquire resistivity data in the proximity of the lagoon. Curve types such as the KQ, KQQ, and HKQ were generated for the investigated area also; 4-5 geoelectric layers were generated to a maximum depth of 68m. The subsurface lithology comprise of fine through medium grained sand to coarse sand intercalated in most cases with sandy clay and clayey sand. The resistivity of the intruded saline water was found to range between 7-32Ωm at a depth interval of 9.2 -54.5m and the thickness of saline layers was found to be greater in areas close to the coast. This study shows that both the 2D electrical resistivity imaging and wenner sounding resistivity methods are efficient tools for investigating the saltwater-freshwater interface in coastal areas. Detailed survey should be carried out before citing boreholes due to variation in depth to deeper fresh aquifers. It is recommended that down-the-hole geophysical loggings should be carried out after drilling so that the screen can be installed at appropriate non-saline zone.

This study was carried out to ascertain the suitability of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research's groundwater resources for aquaculture purposes. The samples were subjected to physico-chemical analyses and the parameters analyzed are Iron,