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Christopher Knight

The United Nations has declared alleviating hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and disease burden as key objectives for the 21st century. Our oceans offer a promising role to accomplish these goals by providing food, nutrition, and livelihoods to billions of people. Yet, ciguatera fish poisoning, the most common seafood borne disease, remains a key impediment as it poses a serious human health threat. Ciguatera causes debilitating neurological, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal symptoms and is responsible for fishing restrictions across the globe. Small island developing states such as the Republic of Kiribati depend on seafood for local livelihood and sustenance and are among the most vulnerable nations to ciguatera outbreaks and associated fishery restrictions. In collaboration with the Kiribati Government and colleagues of the Pacific Planetary Health Initiative, my research investigates the social and ecological drivers of ciguatera and their consequences for human health. In doing so, I strive to provide tangible solutions to prevent ciguatera outbreaks while bolstering access to safe seafood. For the people of Kiribati, maximizing safe seafood harvests alleviates their burden of disease and decreases their reliance on imported Western diets associated with obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. It also protects fishing livelihoods that account for 9-16% of the nation’s GDP through international seafood exports.