Christopher Kim Pham

University of the Azores | UAc · Institute of Marine Research - IMAR

This report summarizes current threats to the Tagus estuary and adjacent ecosystems, presented in Lisbon in June 2021, and prioritizes actions to maintain or improve ecosystem services for a densely populated area close to the deep ocean.

It is increasingly recognised that deep-sea mining of seafloor massive sulphides (SMS) could become an important source of mineral resources. These operations will remove the targeted substrate and produce potentially toxic plumes from in situ seabed excavation and from the return water pumped back down to the seafloor. However, the spatial extent...

The intensity of deep-sea fisheries on the high seas and the impacts on the marine environment call for effective measures to ensure that fishing does not compromise the commitments established for protecting biodiversity in the deep ocean by the United Nations. In order to prevent significant adverse impacts (SAIs) on vulnerable marine ecosystems...

In the Barents Sea, extensive aggregations of sponges are known to occur, especially in the southwestern portion dominated by large species of Geodia spp. The distribution of deep-sea sponge grounds, considered vulnerable marine ecosystems, often coincides with high fishing efforts targeting demersal fish species and benthic invertebrates using bot...

This work addresses the use of hyperspectral imaging systems for remote detection of marine litter concentrations in oceanic environments. The work consisted on mounting an off-the-shelf hyperspectral imaging system (400-2500 nm) in two aerial platforms: manned and unmanned, and performing data acquisition to develop AI methods capable of detecting...

Survivorship of early life stages is key for the well-being of sea turtle populations, yet studies on animals that distribute around oceanic areas are very challenging. So far, the information on green turtles (Chelonia mydas) that use the open NE Atlantic as feeding grounds is scarce. Strandings occurring in oceanic archipelagos can provide releva...

Lithistid sponges are globally distributed in temperate and subtropical areas, constituting an important component of deep-sea benthic communities where they form structurally complex and vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). In this study, we assess the diversity and investigate the spatial and bathymetric distribution of the lithistid sponges of t...

The seafloor covers some 70% of the Earth's surface and has been recognized as a major sink for marine litter. Still, litter on the seafloor is the least investigated fraction of marine litter, which is not surprising as most of it lies in the deep sea, i.e. the least explored ecosystem. Although marine litter is considered a major threat for the o...

Community ecology based on biological and/or functional traits rather than taxonomic criteria informs general ecological patterns through the study of ecological niches, function, and resistance and resilience to perturbations. There are no repositories for diverse species traits from non-chemosynthetic deep-sea ridges and associated seamounts, whe...

Plastic pollution, and its associated impacts on marine fauna due to chemical contamination, is an area of growing global concern. We analyzed 145 preen gland oil samples from 32 seabird species belonging to 8 families with different foraging habits and life history strategies from around the world for plastic additives and legacy persistent organi...

Few studies have described the effects of physical disturbance and post-recovery of deep-sea benthic communities. Here, we explore the status of deep-sea sponge ground communities four years after being impacted by an experimental bottom trawl. The diversity and abundance of epibenthic megafauna of two distinct benthic communities in disturbed vers...

Community ecology based on biological and/or functional traits rather than taxonomic criteria informs general ecological patterns through the study of ecological niches, function, and resistance and resilience to perturbations. There are no repositories for species traits from non-chemosynthetic deep-sea ridges and associated seamounts, where the i...

Areas like the Mediterranean coastlines, which have high population density, represent locations of high pollution risk for surrounding environments. Thus, this study aims to compare data on the abundance, size, and composition of buoyant plastic particles collected during two weeks in 2019 in the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas with data from 2018. T...

The increased quantity of microplastics entering the oceans is threatening the health of marine ecosystems worldwide. Microplastics are of particular concern because they are available to a wide range of organisms and can possibly transfer potential toxic substances such as trace elements. Herein, we provide baseline information on the spatio-tempo...

The presence of microplastic in marine fishes has been well documented but few studies have directly examined differences between fishes occupying contrasting environmental compartments. In the present study, we investigated the gut contents of 390 fishes belonging to three pelagic (blue jack mackerel, chub mackerel, skipjack tuna) and two deep-sea...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Marine microplastic pollution is an issue of great concern nowadays since high concentrations have been detected in the ocean, mainly in the subtropical gyres that accumulate this type of debris. The long-term effects of this pollution on ecosystems and marine biota are still unknown. The aim of this study is to quantify and characterise microplast...

Plastic pollution is among the most pervasive stressors currently influencing the marine environment and affecting even the most remote areas. To date, there are still fundamental gaps in our understanding of the major pathways and fate of plastic debris in the oceans. Here we show that oceanic insular environments are important transitory reposito...

Deep-sea sponge grounds are vulnerable marine ecosystems, which through their benthic-pelagic coupling of nutrients, are of functional relevance to the deep-sea realm. The impact of fishing bycatch is here evaluated for the first time at a bathyal, sponge-dominated ecosystem in the high seas managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization....

After hatching, juveniles of most sea turtle species undertake long migrations across ocean basins and remain in oceanic habitats for several years. Assessing population abundance and demographic parameters during this oceanic stage is challenging. Two long-recognized deficiencies in population assessment are (i) reliance on trends in numbers of ne...

The deep ocean is the largest and least explored biome with the highest richness of species and phylogenetic biodiversity on Earth. The high costs of using sophisticated technological means to access deep-sea ecosystems gives an inestimable value to specimens collected in these environments. Azorean scientists have long started collaborating with f...

The joint ICES/NAFO Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC) collates new information on the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) for use in annual ICES advisory processes and the development of new methods/techniques to further our understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, and further suggests novel management tools to ensure human a...

The following protocol is intended to respond to the requirements set by the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directives (MSFD) for the D10C3 Criteria reported in the Commission Decision (EU), related to the amount of litter ingested by marine animals. Standardized methodologies for extracting litter items ingested from dead sea turtles a...

p>In international fisheries management, scientific advice on the presence of "vulnerable marine ecosystems" (VMEs) per United Nations resolutions, has generally used qualitative assessments based on expert judgment of the occurrence of indicator taxa such as cold-water corals and sponges. Use of expert judgment alone can be criticized for inconsis...

Mining impacts will affect local populations to different degrees. Impacts range from removal of habitats and possible energy sources to pollution and smaller-scale alterations in local habitats that, depending on the degree of disturbance, can lead to extinction of local communities. While there is a shortage or even lack of studies investigating...

In contrast to the vast majority of European maritime territories, the Azores is an isolated oceanic archipelago in the North East Atlantic characterised by small-scale hooks-and-lines fisheries. Yet, in spite of the low environmental impact of such fishing gears, there is no solid integrative information on the discard practices. This study bridge...

The distribution and composition of macro litter floating around oceanic islands is poorly known, especially in the North Atlantic. Due to its isolated location at the fringe of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, the Azores archipelago has recently been proposed as a potential retention zone for floating litter. To further investigate this assump...

Entanglement of marine fauna is one of the principal impacts of marine litter, with an incidence that can vary strongly according to regions, the type and the quantity of marine litter. On the seafloor, areas dominated by sessile suspension feeders, such as tropical coral reefs or deep-sea coral and sponge aggregations, have been termed “animal for...

Marine litter has been identified as one of the major environmental problems that oceans are currently facing. Worldwide efforts are being made to reduce the input of litter into the oceans, and projects aimed at monitoring their quantities are key to evaluate their success. This study, provide baseline information on the quantities of marine litte...

The loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is the most common sea turtle in the Azores. Since they do not nest in the area, a tagging program was started in the 1980’s to try to discover their origin. The result based on size distribution, suggested that they mainly are coming from beaches in SE United States. A collaboration between University of Florida an...

MERCES is producing a census of European marine key habitat maps, degraded habitat maps and investigating key habitat restoration potential.

The overall scope of MERCES Deliverable 1.2 is to review current knowledge regarding the major marine pressures placed upon marine ecosystems in EU waters and the mechanisms by which they impact habitats in order to determine potential restoration pathways.

Mussels, Bathymodiolus azoricus, limpets, Lepetodrillus atlanticus and a crab, Segonzacia mesatlantica were kept alive in aquaria supplied with methane and sulphide for over 5 months. They were observed under red light using time-lapse video in tanks or in a respirometer. All showed periodicities in their behavior. Mussels showed individual periodi...

Here are summarised the most recent improvements in the development of a spatially oriented ecosystem based model to evaluate impacts of fisheries and conservation management scenarios in the archipelago of the Azores, Northeast Atlantic. Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace were used as modelling approach to explicitly simulate spatio-temporal ecosyst...

Juvenile oceanic-stage sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to the increasing quantity of plastic coming into the oceans. In this study, we analysed the gastrointestinal tracts of 24 juvenile oceanic-stage loggerheads (Caretta caretta) collected off the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, in the Azores region, a key feeding ground for juvenile logg...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly being used in aquatic environments for monitoring species, particularly those that are of conservation concern and/or are difficult to visually observe. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) has been employed to detect low abundance species occurring in environmental water samples. However, the qPCR technique has principa...

With increasing demand for mineral resources, extraction of polymetallic sulphides at hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts at seamounts, and polymetallic nodules on abyssal plains may be imminent. Here, we shortly introduce ecosystem characteristics of mining areas, report on recent mining developments, and identify potential stres...

Obtaining a comprehensive knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations of the environmental factors characterizing the Azores region is essential for conservation and management purposes. Although many studies are available for the region, there is a need for a general overview of the best available information. Here, we assembled a comprehensi...

Plastic pollution in the marine environment attracts much attention from both researchers and the general public. Plastic items and other debris are commonly observed everywhere in the ocean, from the surface down to the deep ocean floor. In this study, we analysed 45.2 km of video footage, collected during 56 transects surveying the seafloor of th...

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive intends to adopt ecosystem-based management for resources, biodiversity and habitats that puts emphasis on maintaining the health of the ecosystem alongside appropriate human use of the marine environment, for the benefit of current and future generations. Within the overall framework of ecosystem-based manag...

The Azores is a group of islands located in the NE Atlantic that is largely dependent upon its marine resources. As for most oceanic islands, fishing has always been a key driver of the local Azorean economy. The Azorean fishing industry is a multi-segmented sector, targeting multiple species with a wide range of fishing gears and methods that can...

Marine litter is a global problem, affecting several ecosystems and a countless number of species, with direct socio-economic and environmental impacts on tourism and fisheries. Environmental awareness and public outreach actions are key behaviour change measures, as they target practically any sector of society, and contribute to minimise impacts,...

Despite its geographic isolation from large population centres, the Azores archipelago (north-eastern Atlantic) is not immune to thegrowing environmental threat of marine litter.Recent research developments suggest that many organisms are directly affected by this issue that should be addressed by consistent monitoring efforts. The goal of this stu...

Executive summary On 15th February 2016, the joint ICES/NAFO Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), chaired by Neil Golding (UK) and attended by eleven members, met at ICES HQ, Copenhagen, Denmark, to consider the terms of reference (ToR) listed in Section 1. WGDEC was requested to provide all new information on the distribution of vulnerable...

Inventory of some important datasets related to the physical characteristics of the seafloor surrounding the Azores Archipelago. The objective is to ensure that our compilation is readily available for any researchers interested in this type information but also to support institutions responsible for the management and conservation of local resour...

On 16th February 2015, the joint ICES/NAFO WGDEC, chaired by Neil Golding (UK) and attended by fourteen members (eleven in person, three via WebEx) met in Horta, Faial, Azores to consider the terms of reference (ToR) listed in Section 2. WGDEC was requested to provide all new information on the distribution of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in...

Cold-water corals and sponges aggregations are important features of the deep sea, recently classified as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). VMEs increase habitat complexity, believed to act as feeding, reproductive, nursery and refuge areas for a high number of invertebrates and fish species. In the Azores archipelago (NE Atlantic), VMEs are pre...