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Lead by Jenny Puopolo, the crew of Merry Oyster¡¯s loads crates full of handpick oysters onto the boat on thetidal flats of Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts, United States of America. This industry is vulnerable to the effects of ocean acidification.

Food from the sea represents the largest maritime industry in terms of the numbers of people involved. In 2017, the total first sale value of total production was estimated at $221 billion, of which $95 billion was from marine aquaculture production (including fish, shellfish and seaweed).

Global surface ocean pH has declined on average by approximately 0.1 since the Industrial Revolution, an increase in acidity of about 30 per cent. Ocean pH is projected to decline, approximately, by an additional 0.2¨C0.3 over the next century unless global carbon emissions are significantly curtailed.

"Ocean Lotus Leaf", the art of fishing with seine nets in Quang Ngai province, Viet Nam.

Global fisheries and aquaculture production is at a record high and the sector will play an increasingly important role in providing food and nutrition in the future.

But there is extensive evidence that some of the world¡¯s fisheries are not managed sustainably meaning that the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the fisheries related targets under Goal 14 as well as others relating to food security, have not yet been met. Some progress has been noted.

However, issues remain in various forms, including: overfishing; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity; excessive fishing and stock depletion; the impacts of bottom trawling fisheries on vulnerable marine ecosystems; abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear that continues to diminish ecosystem integrity; knowledge gaps and management practices.

10 m under the sea surface in Italy, a gardener tends to his plants. Nemo's Garden consists of 6 air filled biospheres and is an innovative experiment in alternative agriculture.

Science, technology and innovation play a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to achieve SDG 14, as well as related Goals, new strategies and solutions are needed to tackle the complex problems that they highlight and to increase the current pace of progress in all of them.

A researcher checks the status of the Reef Aquarium inside the laboratory of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Further scientific research will help in assessing the achievement of targets under Sustainable Development Goal 14, especially during the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. As part of the Decade, innovative approaches to science, involving many disciplines and many sectors of society, are recognized as being necessary to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Family from fishing community in the state of West Bengal, India.

Small scale fishers produce 40% of the global fisheries catch. Small scale fisheries and fish workers account for 90% of the people who work worldwide in capture fisheries value chains.

492 million people depend at least partially on small scale fisheries for their livelihoods. Around 45 million women participate in small scale fisheries. In other words, four in ten fishers and fishworkers are women.

Women harvesting seaweed in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania.

With regard to the Sustainable Development Goals in general, and Goal 14 in particular, seaweed farming and harvesting are relevant to various targets. 14.1 on reducing marine pollution, since they require no fertilizer inputs and recycle nutrients; 14.2 on sustainably managed and protected marine and coastal ecosystems; 14.3 on reducing ocean acidification, by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide; 14.4 on reducing over exploitation of fisheries, by reducing fishing in capture fisheries; 14.5 on conservation of marine and coastal areas; and 14.b by supporting small-scale artisanal fisheries.

Seaweed farming and harvesting also contribute to achieving the other Goals, including but not limited to Goal 2 on achieving food security and Goal 8 on sustained and inclusive economic growth, especially since women and children are involved in the process.

¡°Matrix of Boat¡±, fishermen's boats lined up neatly when anchored to avoid super typhoon No. 9, Viet Nam.

Anthropogenic climate change has increased precipitation, winds and extreme sea level events associated with a number of observed tropical cyclones.

There is emerging evidence of a number of regional changes in tropical cyclone behaviour, such as an increase in the annual global proportion of category 4 or 5 tropical cyclones in recent decades, extremely severe tropical cyclones occurring in the Arabian Sea, cyclones making landfall in East and South East Asia, an increase in frequency of moderately large storm surge events in the United States since 1923 and a decrease in frequency of severe tropical cyclones making landfall in eastern Australia since the late 1800s.

The impact of such weather events on coastal communities can cause human and material losses that are a major obstacle to sustainable development.

Marine biologists tend to the coral nursery at COMO Cocoa Island, Maldives.

Global declines in coral cover continue, primarily owing to increasing ocean temperatures associated with climate change, as well as extractive activities, pollution and sedimentation, novel coral diseases and the physical destruction of coral reefs.

Coral reefs are important as a source of income and protein to millions of people through fishing activities; a major source of income through tourism; and a basis for sociocultural identity. Coral reefs are important for coastal protection and flood risk reduction.

The understanding of the value of ecosystem services provided by coral reefs is improving, not only in terms of direct economic benefits (market use value), but also through less tangible use, such as aesthetic value. Indeed, the value of coral reefs for health and well being far exceeds traditional economic valuations.

Volunteers hard at work as part of a coral restoration project on Pom Pom island in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, Malaysia.

Greenhouse gases and climate change are considered by many reef scientists to be the key risk to future coral reefs. To combat losses of coral reefs, coral reef restoration techniques are being improved and widely used and are demonstrating some success.

Further investigations are taking place to understand the response of corals to climate change and to develop methods that help corals to adapt to future conditions. Research into coral reef resilience will be a key factor in protecting them.

Saturation divers working on a fish counting exercise on the outer reef of Moorea, French Polynesia, France.

Substantial knowledge gaps remain concerning coral reefs, in particular with regard to responses of coral reef communities to climate change and how those responses might influence human use of coral reefs.

Projections suggest continued decreases in coral abundance, reef associated fishes and the architectural complexity of reef frameworks.

Scientific divers assess the marine biodiversity on the top of a seamount in Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal.

Seamounts and pinnacles are common topographic features of the global ocean.

Sampling effort has increased in recent years but only a small percentage of seamounts has been sampled in detail. Limited sampling, combined with high environmental variability among seamounts, constrains biodiversity knowledge.

Fishing, especially bottom trawling, constitutes the greatest current threat to seamount ecosystems but marine debris or litter, climate change and potential seabed mining are additional concerns. However, initiatives to protect seamounts are increasing.

Mangrove reforestation project in a small bay of an island in Fiji.

Despite their ecological and socioeconomic importance, especially as carbon sinks, mangrove forest areas have been decreasing annually.

The ocean and, in particular, coastal areas have an impact on all Sustainable Development Goals. Intertidal habitats provide the most common examples of marine ecosystem goods and services, and coastal habitats have value for biodiversity as well as being of service to humanity.