The importance of expert knowledge in conservation planning – Comment to an article by C.J. Klein et al.

This paper comments and discusses the article ‘Evaluating the influence of candidate terrestrial protected areas on coral reef condition in Fiji׳ by Klein et al. in Marine Policy 44 2014. Klein et al. integrate land-sea planning by optimising the design of Fiji׳s expanded protected area network to benefit coral reefs, while maintaining a terrestrial network that is representative of Fiji׳s various terrestrial ecosystems. They discuss the benefits of various spatial conservation models compared to a candidate protected area network proposed by Fiji׳s Protected Area Committee (FPAC), which is based on expert knowledge and a scoring system. This paper argues that their analyses are best interpreted as the FPAC network outperforming the models proposed by Klein et al. in protecting terrestrial biodiversity. The FPAC network performs better because it includes data that was not available for spatial modelling, especially the percentage of endemic species per ecosystem and the practicalities of protecting an area earmarked for conservation. This suggests that expert knowledge can be an important resource for conservation planning, especially in developing countries, and that spatial conservation planning should harness this knowledge.     

Overpressure preventing quartz cementation? – Comment to Stricker et al. (2016)

There is increasing evidence that quartz cementation can be viewed as a process controlled by temperature and insensitive to effective stress. This view of quartz cementation in sandstones is often referred to as the illite-mica induced dissolution model (IMID), which assumes quartz dissolution to occur along stylolites and clay laminae rather than at quartz-quartz grain contacts. In the present comment it is argued that the exceptional reservoir quality in the Skagerrak Formation of the Heron Cluster, North Sea, is due to grain coatings and rapid Cenozoic burial limiting the exposure to quartz cementation. This line of reasoning implies overpressure has had neglectable porosity preserving effect in the Heron Cluster.     

Reply to J.J. Muñoz-Perez et al. Comments on “Confirmation of beach accretion by grain-size trend analysis: Camposoto beach, Cádiz, SW Spain” by E. Poizot et al. (2013) Geo-Marine Letters 33(4)

In a novel finding for a beach environment, Poizot et al. (2013) identified an FB+ trend (sediments becoming finer, better sorted and more positively skewed upshore) on a well-developed swash bar on the upper foreshore of the Camposoto beach of Cádiz in SW Spain. In their Discussion of that paper, Muñoz-Perez et al. (2014) provide some supporting arguments and also report grain-size, beach profile and other data from nearby beaches which differ from those of Poizot and colleagues for Camposoto beach, pointing out that a trend observed on one beach may not apply to a neighbouring beach. However, even though the absolute values differ, the overall trends actually do show the same general behaviour. In our Reply to their comments, we also address some difficulties in comparing granulometric datasets generated by different analytical techniques.     

Is a stock overfished if it is depleted by overfishing? A response to the rebuttal of Agnew et al. to Froese and Proelss “Evaluation and legal assessment of certified seafood”

This contribution is a response to the rebuttal of Agnew et al. (2012) to Froese and Proelss (2012) “Evaluation and legal assessment of certified seafood”. It corrects some factually wrong statements in the rebuttal, revisits the definitions of ‘depleted’ and ‘overfished’, and notes that the rebuttal agrees with the international definition of ‘overfishing’ (F>FMSY) that was used by Froese and Proelss (2012). The rebuttal presents an analysis of 45 MSC-certified stocks. Of these, 27% are ‘depleted’ (according to the definition used by MSC) or ‘overfished’ (according to the definition used by Froese and Proelss 2012) and 16% are subject to ‘overfishing’, basically confirming the critique of Froese and Proelss (2012). This response concludes that MSC has to change its rules for certification such that (1) overfishing is not allowed and (2) ‘depleted’ stocks are marked as such.     

Comment on Gazi et al. (2020): Detecting Coral Reef Degradation on St. Martin’s Island,Bangladesh?

Ocean Science Journal - St. Martin’s Island is a small sedimentary island situated at the southernmost part of Bangladesh (20°37.6′ N and 92°19.3′ E). The island is...     

The U.K. Marine and Coastal Access Bill—A missed opportunity to enhance protection from marine environmental pollution?

The Marine and Coastal Access Bill, when it becomes law, may well be considered a welcome addition to the legislation protecting the marine coastal environment. It is argued, however, in this paper that the Bill could have addressed a number of issues including the matter of shipowners’ privileges, locus standi, the designation and setting up of an environmental fund, and the difficulties associated with places of refuge for vessels in distress.     

Learning from the systematic approach to aquaculture zoning in South Australia: A case study of aquaculture (Zones – Lower Eyre Peninsula) Policy 2013

South Australia is among the regions internationally, where there are currently strong drivers for anthropogenic and ecosystem marine planning decisions. Specifically, South Australia, in both State and adjacent Commonwealth Waters, is currently accommodating increasing interests such as oil exploration by multi-national companies in the Great Australian Bight, implementation of recently declared State Marine Parks, an increased public awareness of marine developments, commissioning of a desalinisation plant, government-focused marine science initiatives, long-standing commercial fisheries, a transparent legislative and political stage, and a relatively new aquaculture industry. Amongst this growing diversity in marine-based activities, a dedicated aquaculture legislative framework was created in South Australia with the commencement of the Aquaculture Act 2001 (the Act) to centralise the legislative processes required to underpin aquaculture regulation and administration. This centralisation has helped to create an effective platform to streamline administrative processes, reduce duplication between various government agencies such as planning authorities and environment protection agencies, and ultimately fostered investment in, and growth of, the South Australian aquaculture industry. As such Aquaculture zone policies are a key strategic management tool for sustainable aquaculture development in South Australia into the future. This paper provides a case study (Aquaculture (Zones – Lower Eyre Peninsula) Policy 2013) of the legislated regional marine planning framework for aquaculture development used in South Australia, with a focus on the key functions and processes that may have broader applications.     

The best catch data that can possibly be? Rejoinder to Ye et al. “FAO's statistic data and sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture”

Here we reply to a commentary by Ye et al. (Mar. Policy 2017; Ye et al.) on our article (Pauly and Zeller, 2017 [2]) commenting on FAO's interpretation of current fisheries trends in SOFIA 2016 (The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture). We show how arguments such as FAO's catch statistics being “the best they can possibly be”, and other manifestations of FAO's difficulties in constructively engaging with comments compromises FAO's stated goal to engage with academia and civil society. This is particularly serious in an age where the value of an open scientific discourse is increasingly under threat, as is the food security of many poor countries in which fish supplied by domestic fisheries constitutes a strong component of local diets.     

Morpho-tectonic evolution of the ?anakkale Basin (NW Anatolia): evidence for a recent tectonic inversion from transpression to transtension

Onshore and offshore seismic and geologic-morphologic evidence from the wider region of the ?anakkale Basin indicates that this area has been widely exposed to transpressional tectonism, which already commenced in the Pliocene. During this transpressional tectonism, the Gelibolu Fault and the Anafartalar Shear Zone on the Gelibolu Peninsula, as well as the Bozcaada-Biga Shear Zone on the Biga Peninsula were activated. As a consequence, the northern part of the Gelibolu Peninsula, and a broad zone between Bozcaada Island and the Karaburun Peninsula were uplifted to form the northern and southern boundaries of the ?anakkale Basin, respectively. This remained a low-elevation intermontane basin between these two highlands. The original morphology of the ?anakkale Basin may have developed as a coastal and shelf section of the large extensional Marmara Sea Basin at the end of the Late Miocene. This tectonic phase was followed in the Pliocene by the transpressional tectonism of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, which destroyed the initial morphology and formed the present V-shaped basin. The activity of the Gelibolu Fault and the Anafartalar Shear Zone along the northern boundary of the ?anakkale Basin ended in the late Pleistocene with the initiation of the northern segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone. The tectonism along the northern boundary of the ?anakkale Basin thus shifted from a transpressional to a transtensional regime. Seismic data indicate that the Bozcaada-Biga Shear Zone continues to be active to the present day.     

The 1996 IOC contaminant baseline survey in the Atlantic Ocean from 33°S to 10°N: introduction,sampling protocols,and hydrographic data

The third in a series of cruises designed to establish the present-day concentrations of trace elements and synthetic organic compounds in major water masses of the ocean, the 1996 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Contaminant Baseline Survey occupied six vertical profile stations in the subtropical and tropical Atlantic. Underway surface samples also were acquired in the transects between these stations. This paper uses the temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrient, and chlorophyll results from the cruise to set the hydrographic background for the other papers in this special volume. Major features sampled during the surface transect include the Brazil Current, the South Equatorial Current, and the offshore Amazon Plume. Utilizing the above parameters to identify water masses, we observed Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) that ranged from a relatively undiluted form at 33°S (Station 10) to a highly attenuated form at 8°N (Station 6). Similarly, North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) was obtained in various mixing stages along its flow path, and samples of NADW and AABW exchanging through the Romanche Fracture Zone to the eastern Atlantic basins were also taken. In addition to these deep water masses, representative samples of Antarctic Intermediate Water and Circumpolar Deep Water were acquired. Besides standard hydrography, these data also were used to verify the sampling integrity of the trace metal-clean, Go Flo bottles deployed on a Kevlar hydrographic cable.     

Reprint of: Diagenetic controls on evolution of porosity and permeability in lower Tertiary Wilcox sandstones from shallow to ultradeep (200–6700 m) burial,Gulf of Mexico Basin,U.S.A.

Reservoir quality is a critical risk factor in deep to ultradeep reservoirs at depths >4.5 km. Analysis of Paleogene Wilcox sandstones on the upper Texas Gulf Coast provides insight into the evolution of reservoir quality during shallow to ultradeep burial diagenesis. Reduction of porosity and permeability with burial in Wilcox sandstones was evaluated using subsurface samples from 200 to 6700 m, at temperatures of 25–230 °C. Diagenesis and petrophysical properties were interpreted from petrographic data and core analyses. Wilcox sandstones are mostly lithic arkoses and feldspathic litharenites having an average composition of Q₅₉F₂₂R₁₉. Provenance did not change significantly during Wilcox deposition in this area, nor does average sandstone composition vary among lower, middle, and upper Wilcox sandstones. However, composition does vary with sequence-stratigraphic position; lowstand slope-fan deposits contain more rock fragments than do deposits from highstand or transgressive systems tracts. Given observations from this onshore dataset, Wilcox sandstones deposited in deepwater environments in the Gulf of Mexico are likely to contain more rock fragments than their linked highstand equivalents.