Search

This Special Issue on Crustacean Genomics arises from the TCS 2017 conference held in Barcelona, Spain, between 19 and 22 June, 2017. Applications of next generation sequencing have expanded rapidly over recent years, unveiling many new and exciting areas of genomic research. This includes novel insights into physiology, reproductive biology, response to environmental challenges, and their evolutionary history. Despite their importance, crustaceans still lack genomic resources compared with other widely-studied groups such as insects and vertebrates. The present volume integrates a collection of contributions from the speakers, and compiles the main results presented during the symposium. Following the structure of the Crustacean Genomics workshop, contributed papers have been arranged in two main blocks, a first set of studies focused on the use of transcriptomics to investigate crustacean physiology and reproduction while the second set focused on molecular systematics and evolutionary studies.

It has been widely acknowledged that fishery discard practices constitute a purposeless waste of valuable living resources, which plays an important role in the depletion of marine populations. Furthermore, discarding may have a number of adverse ecological impacts in marine ecosystems, provoking changes in the overall structure of trophic webs and habitats, which in turn could pose risks for the sustainability of current fisheries. The present review aims to describe the current state-of-the-art in discards research, with particular emphasis on the needs and challenges associated with the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) in European waters. We briefly review the international and European policy contexts of discarding, how discard data are collected and incorporated into stock assessments, selectivity in fishing and the main consequences of discarding for ecosystem dynamics. We then review implementation issues related to reducing discards under the EAFM and the associated scientific challenges, and conclude with some comments on lessons learned and future directions.