Benefits of marine ecosystems for people’s health and well-being Authors Josep Lloret Institut d’Ecologia Aquàtica, Universitat de Girona Arnau Carreño Institut d’Ecologia Aquàtica, Universitat de Girona Keywords: oceans and human health, fishery resources, maritime recreational activities, health protection, conservation of marine ecosystems. Abstract Marine ecosystems provide us with different goods and services, such as new medicines, healthy seafood products and recreational opportunities that contribute positively to the physical and mental health of people through both the treatment of certain diseases such as cancer (with new antitumoral drugs developed from marine species) and the prevention of diseases connected with cardiovascular risk, Alzheimer’s or depression. Marine ecosystems, however, are also an important source of health risks as a result of the proliferation of harmful algae (HABs), pollutants, parasites, etc. Likewise, many marine species and habitats are suffering from various anthropogenic and environmental impacts that threaten to reduce or eliminate the benefits to health and to increase the health risks of marine ecosystems. Studies on the relation between marine ecosystems and people’s health and well-being are still few in number. An innovative research line called “oceans and human Health” is now underway that applies various interdisciplinary mechanisms for the purpose of furthering the study of the complex links between human health and marine ecosystems. Its ultimate goal is to contribute to the protection of marine ecosystems so that they can continue to provide benefits for people’s health and to reduce health risks. This paper summarizes all these aspects,which are of special importance in the case of the Mediterranean Sea.Keywords: oceans and human health, fishery resources, maritime recreational activities, health protection, conservation of marine ecosystems. Downloads Download data is not yet available. Downloads PDF (Català) Issue Vol. 70 (2020) Section Destacats de recerca License The intellectual property of the articles belongs to the respective authors. At the time of submitting the articles to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, authors accept the following terms: — Authors assign to the SCB (a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, public communication (including communication through social networks) and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, in any form and medium, including digital platforms. The Publications Committee reserves the right to accept or refuse submitted articles and the right to make any editorial changes it deems appropriate. If the suggested changes are accepted by authors, they should re-submit the article with such changes. — Authors answer to the SCB for the authorship and originality of submitted articles. In other words, authors assure that submitted articles do not contain fragments of works by other authors or fragments of their own previously published works; that the content of articles is original, and that the copyright of third parties is not infringed upon. Authors accept this responsibility and undertake to hold harmless the SCB for any loss or damage resulting from non-compliance with this obligation. Furthermore, they should include a statement in articles submitted to the journal regarding their responsibility for the content of the articles. — Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for the reproduction of all graphic material included in articles, and they should moreover ensure that images, videos, etc., have been created with the consent of the individuals appearing in them, and that material belonging to third parties is clearly identified and acknowledged as such within the text. Likewise, authors should provide the respective consents and authorisations to the SCB when submitting articles. — The SCB is exempt from any liability arising from the possible infringement of intellectual property rights by authors. In all cases, it undertakes to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies, if necessary. — Unless otherwise stated in the text or in the graphic material, the contents published in the journal are subject to an Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Spain (by-nc-nd) license from Creative Commons, the full text of which may be consulted at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/deed.en. Therefore, the general public is authorised to reproduce, distribute and communicate articles as long as their authorship and publishing entity are acknowledged, and no commercial use is made of them nor derivative work produced from them. — The journal is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by the authors of published articles.
