**10. Conclusions**

Due to its ubiquity, mercury can be present in a wide range of spaces and environmental matrices that, due to its presence, can alter the balance in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The concentrations, reported in the different studies addressed for this compilation, reveal the diversity of the possible sources for the marine environment of the Colombian Caribbean, generating a cause for concern due to the connotations that this metal has for human and environmental health.

Despite the limitations in accessing financial and logistical resources to carry out each of these investigations, the scientific community has been able to join efforts to show the current status of mercury contamination in coastal ecosystems, understanding that it is necessary to continue with the efforts to understand or elucidate in greater depth the impacts that mercury is having on marine-coastal organisms and on the human population of the Caribbean region. In this sense, the environmental control and surveillance authorities must seek mechanisms to control mercury emission or contamination sources for the protection of marine ecosystems, as established in article 12 of the Minamata Agreement. Also, the same agreement in its article 19, establishes the need to carry out monitoring studies in the environment and in the vulnerable population for the evaluation of the impacts on ecosystems [4].

Contribution No. of the Institute for Studies in Marine Sciences, CECIMAR, of the National University of Colombia, Caribbean Campus.

*Marine Pollution - Recent Developments*
