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Abstract Marine zooplankton are key players in pelagic food webs, central links in ecosystem function, useful indicators of water masses, and rapid responders to environmental variation and climate change. Characterization of biodiversity of the marine zooplankton assemblage is complicated by many factors, including systematic complexity of the assemblage, with numerous rare and cryptic species, and high local-to-global ratios of species diversity. The papers in this themed article set document important advances in molecular protocols and procedures, integration with morphological taxonomic identifications, and quantitative analyses (abundance and biomass). The studies highlight several overarching conclusions and recommendations. A primary issue is the continuing need for morphological taxonomic experts, who can identify species and provide voucher specimens for reference sequence databases, which are essential for biodiversity analyses based on molecular approaches. The power of metabarcoding using multi-gene markers, including both DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) and RNA (Ribonucleic Acid)templates, is demonstrated. An essential goal is the accurate identification of species across all taxonomic groups of marine zooplankton, with particular concern for detection of rare, cryptic, and invasive species. Applications of molecular approaches include analysis of trophic relationships by metabarcoding of gut contents, as well as investigation of the underlying ecological and evolutionary forces driving zooplankton diversity and structure. 

Abstract Knowledge co-production offers a promising approach to design effective and equitable pathways to reach development goals. Fisheries Strategies for Changing Oceans and Resilient Ecosystems by 2030 (FishSCORE), a United Nations Ocean Decade programme, will co-produce knowledge that advances solutions for climate resilient fisheries through networks and partnerships that include scientists, stakeholders, practitioners, managers, and policy experts. FishSCORE will establish (1) a global network that will develop broadly relevant information and tools to assess and operationalize climate resilience in marine fisheries and (2) local and regional partnerships that will apply those tools to identify and forward context-specific resilience strategies. FishSCORE's activities will be guided by a set of core principles that include commitments to inclusivity, equity, co-leadership, co-ownership, and reciprocity. FishSCORE will focus on identifying solutions for climate resilient fisheries, and it will also advance goals associated with capacity, power, and agency that will support iterative, pluralistic approaches to decision-making in fisheries experiencing ongoing climate-driven changes. This process of co-producing knowledge and strategies requires considerable investments of time from all partners, which is well aligned with the Ocean Decade. However, secure funding must be prioritized to support and implement co-production activities over this long time horizon. 

Abstract The Observing Air–Sea Interactions Strategy (OASIS) is a new United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development programme working to develop a practical, integrated approach for observing air–sea interactions globally for improved Earth system (including ecosystem) forecasts, CO2 uptake assessments called for by the Paris Agreement, and invaluable surface ocean information for decision makers. Our “Theory of Change” relies upon leveraged multi-disciplinary activities, partnerships, and capacity strengthening. Recommendations from >40 OceanObs’19 community papers and a series of workshops have been consolidated into three interlinked Grand Ideas for creating #1: a globally distributed network of mobile air–sea observing platforms built around an expanded array of long-term time-series stations; #2: a satellite network, with high spatial and temporal resolution, optimized for measuring air–sea fluxes; and #3: improved representation of air–sea coupling in a hierarchy of Earth system models. OASIS activities are organized across five Theme Teams: (1) Observing Network Design & Model Improvement; (2) Partnership & Capacity Strengthening; (3) UN Decade OASIS Actions; (4) Best Practices & Interoperability Experiments; and (5) Findable–Accessible–Interoperable–Reusable (FAIR) models, data, and OASIS products. Stakeholders, including researchers, are actively recruited to participate in Theme Teams to help promote a predicted, safe, clean, healthy, resilient, and productive ocean. 

Abstract Fishing communities are increasingly required to adapt to environmentally driven changes in the availability of fish stocks. Here, we examined trends in the distribution and biomass of five commercial target species (dover sole, thornyheads, sablefish, lingcod, and petrale sole) on the US west coast to determine how their availability to fishing ports changed over 40 years. We show that the timing and magnitude of stock declines and recoveries are not experienced uniformly along the coast when they coincide with shifts in species distributions. For example, overall stock availability of sablefish was more stable in southern latitudes where a 40% regional decline in biomass was counterbalanced by a southward shift in distribution of >200 km since 2003. Greater vessel mobility and larger areal extent of fish habitat along the continental shelf buffered northerly ports from latitudinal changes in stock availability. Landings were not consistently related to stock availability, suggesting that social, economic, and regulatory factors likely constrain or facilitate the capacity for fishers to adapt to changes in fish availability. Coupled social–ecological analyses such as the one presented here are important for defining community vulnerability to current and future changes in the availability of important marine species.