Knowledge gaps in ecotoxicology studies of marine environments in Pacific Island Countries and Territories – A systematic review

Microplastics in subsurface coastal waters along the southern coast of Viti Levu in Fiji, South Pacific

“…In addition, comparative studies between offshore and coastal waters have shown that concentration of MPs is generally higher within coastal systems, due to higher exposure to human-made debris (Cordova et al, 2019;Murphy et al, 2016). Studies of MPs have mostly targeted the surface coastal waters around the continents, especially in Europe and the Americas (Boucher and Friot, 2017;Browne et al, 2011;Frias et al, 2010;Isobe et al, 2014;Mohamed Nor and Obbard, 2014;Pauna et al, 2019), while a major knowledge gap on marine MPs has been identified in the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the South Pacific (Varea et al, 2019).…”

Carbonate sediments from Maui bay (coral coast, Fiji) reflect importance of coral reef conservation

“…Among a number of reasons for reef degradation the problematic of water quality and over-fishing have been particularly addressed in Fiji's Coral Coast (Mosley and Aalbersberg, 2003;Taloiburi, 2009;Bonaldo et al, 2017). The gaps in toxicology studies (Varea et al, 2020) and effects of micro plastics in the marine environment (Dehnm et al, 2020) is also a concern for coral reef conservation initiatives. Consequently, the integrity of coral reefs is important for these reasons including tourism benefits, ecosystem services and protection of coastline (Farber, 1987;Harris et al, 2018) with flow-on benefits to livelihoods in coastal communities.…”

Screening of pharmaceuticals in coastal waters of the southern coast of Viti Levu in Fiji, South Pacific

“…This concern is especially perturbing for the small Pacific Islands where wastewater management practices are often poorly implemented and where coastal marine resources are essential in sustaining livelihoods (Barnett and Adger, 2003;Dutra et al, 2021;Todd et al, 2019). Furthermore, the lack of substantive effort in quantifying, monitoring and publishing data with regards to environmental pollutants within Pacific Islands has resulted in a knowledge gap especially with regards to pharmaceutical pollution (Dutra et al, 2021;Varea et al, 2020). As a consequence of these aspects, there is a potential for Pacific Islanders to be chronically exposed to low levels of pharmaceuticals.…”