Duke of Cambridge meets Cefas staff in Kuwait and Oman
Earlier this month the Duke of Cambridge met Cefas staff working in Oman and Kuwait on his first official visit to the countries.
 Cefas’ Brett Lyons discussing global marine issues with the Duke of Cambridge during his visit to the Jahra Reserve.
His Royal Highness (HRH) visited the Jahra Reserve alongside Cefas and the Kuwait Environment Public Authority (KEPA). He observed the unique wetland ecosystems and learned how UK scientists are helping Kuwaiti partners to protect these environments and the animals which live there.
Cefas is working with KEPA to provide advice and research on marine conservation and environmental pollution to support capacity building, environmental management and sustainable development.
On his tour HRH observed some of the 300+ bird species inhabiting this unique freshwater wetland and met Siân Limpenny, Cefas’ Middle East Operations Director. Later Cefas marine scientist Brett Lyons introduced the Duke to scientists from the EPA and talked about Cefas’ longstanding partnership, before introducing a number of Kuwaiti NGOs tackling marine litter pollution and youth leaders who have set up socially responsible enterprises.
You can view a short video bulletin on HRH’s visit to the reserve here.
 The Duke of Cambridge testing the DNA content of a sample during his tour of the molecular disease testing laboratory.
In Oman Cefas' Will Le Quesne, Middle East Programme Leader, joined the Duke of Cambridge on a tour of Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) Marine Science Center. Will leads the UK-Gulf Marine Environment Partnership (GMEP) Programme. Through the UK-GMEP Programme Cefas is working with partner organisations in the Gulf to address global marine challenges including climate change, antibiotic resistance, marine conservation and developing blue economies.
His Royal Highness (HRH) visited the molecular disease testing laboratory where he heard about the work MAF and Cefas are undertaking to support sustainable development of Oman's aquaculture industry. Will also joined HRH on the beach as he met local fishermen to hear about how they fish and how they view the challenges of sustainability and climate change.
You can see our favourite tweets from the Duke of Cambridge's visit to Kuwait and Oman here.
Investigating antibiotic resistance in the Gulf
 Cefas staff are collaborating with colleagues in the United Arab Amirates (UAE) as part of a survey of spatial variability of antibiotic resistance in UAE waters. Here they are training researchers at Zayed University (UAE) in techniques to screen for antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development, and can affect anyone, of any age, in any country. To date most research into antibiotic resistance, otherwise known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), has focussed on clinical settings. However, the extent of AMR in the environment has been underestimated and the marine environment plays a key role in enabling the development and spread of AMR.
Cefas has conducted a baseline survey of the presence of AMR in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) marine environment in collaboration with partners across the region. This will help build understanding and capability to address the environmental and veterinary components of AMR, and to establish a network of researchers across the GCC.
In November the UK-GMEP Programme ran a regional workshop in Oman to review the initial findings of the survey, to review the requirements for the AMR national action plans and to consider future research needs and collaborations. The workshop was attended by delegates from across the GCC, UK experts and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Exploring the consequences of climate change in the Gulf
 Cefas’ John Pinnegar presenting at the ROPME climate change workshop.
With infrastructure and settlements concentrated in vulnerable coastal locations, and extreme marine environmental conditions, climate change is a massive threat to the Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Climate change experts from Cefas’ Centre of Excellence in Marine Climate Change are providing technical support to the Regional Organisation for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) to implement the ROPME Marine Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Regional Action Plan.
As part of the regional action plan, Cefas ran a regional climate change risk assessment workshop in Oman last month. The workshop saw Cefas, ROPME and invited experts join together to undertake the first marine climate change risks assessment for the region. The ROPME climate change workshop identified the most urgent risks associated with marine and coastal climate change to biodiversity and society in the region, which will form the basis of the next stages of the regional action plan.
The Cefas climate team facilitated the workshop, drawing on their extensive experience in the UK and commonwealth countries, to support climate action in the region. In January the first ROPME/UK-GMEP Blue Carbon meeting will take place, bringing together regional experts to create the first regional blue carbon inventory for the ROPME region.
Climate change vulnerability in Oman’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors
 In December, Cefas scientists visited Oman to begin a HSBC funded climate change vulnerability assessment of Oman’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.
Cefas scientists are carrying out an assessment of risk and vulnerability for individual fishing fleets, fishing communities and for aquaculture facilities throughout Oman. During the trip, they met with the HSBC local office in Muscat, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and researchers from Sultan Qaboos University. The team collated data on fisheries landings and socio-economics in order to assess regional differences in resilience and adaptive capacity. The team also met with stakeholders from commercial fishing and aquaculture companies and visited fish markets to gain a fuller understanding of Omani fisheries.
The project will help fishers and policy makers identify which species, regions and sectors of the industry are most at risk from future climate change, enabling evidenced-based climate change adaptation measures and policies to be put in place.
Developing regional and national plans to tackle marine litter
 Cefas staff cataloguing litter collected from a Kuwaiti beach.
Last year Cefas developed regional expertise positioning itself as a leading voice in the Gulf on matters related to marine litter and plastic pollution through UK-GMEP Programme funding.
This initiative has now received further funding via the UK Gulf Science Innovation Network (SIN). This work will fund a series of meetings, culminating in a workshop in February 2020, to work with Kuwaiti based researchers, policy makers and NGOs. The workshop will focus on marine litter but will also consider wider waste management practises and strategies in Kuwait. It will explore the level of public engagement on the issue, recognising that changes in consumer and societal behaviour are key to successful intervention actions.
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