Ideas and perspectives: Ushering the Indian Ocean into the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (UNDOSSD) through marine ecosystem research and operational services – an early career's take

Abstract

The Indian Ocean Rim hosts many of the world's underdeveloped and emerging economies that depend on the ocean resources for the livelihoods of the populations of millions. Operational ocean information services cater to the requirements of managers and end-users to efficiently harness those resources and to ensure safety. Fishery information is not the only operational service that will be needed to empower such communities in the coming decades. Coral bleaching alerts, SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)-assisting advisories, conservation or ecotourism assisting services (e.g. TurtleWatch or WhaleWatch), poaching and/or by-catch reduction support and jellyfish, micro-plastic and oil spill watching to name a few, but not an exhaustive list, of the services that are needed operationally. This paper outlines the existing tools and explores the ongoing research that has potential to convert the findings into operational services in near- to midterm.