Cruzan fishers’ perspectives on the performance of the Buck Island Reef National Monument and the red hind seasonal closure

Despite the growing use of marine protected areas and seasonal closures to promote the sustainable use of marine ecosystems, few studies have examined the socio-economic performance of these management strategies. This study details the viewpoints of small-scale fishermen regarding the biological and socio-economic performance of the expansion of the Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) and the red hind seasonal closure off St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The analysis, which drew on 95 in-person closed-ended surveys and 14 semi-structured interviews, showed that fishermen believed that the expansion enhanced fish production within the BIRNM, but they were irresolute about its ability to protect spawning aggregations, replenish fish abundance outside its boundaries and protect fish sensitive sites. Fishermen also reported that the expansion curtailed access to productive lobster and conch grounds and a popular fish-aggregating device which marginalized their livelihoods. The reported conservation benefits of the red hind seasonal closure were more tenuous but broadly mirrored those voiced for the BIRNM. In addition, fishermen stated that the mounting number of closures and gear restrictions has brought about severe economic hardships and has made them more reliant on the southern grounds, which are exposed to industrial and waste treatment effluent.     

Climate change: A looming challenge for fisheries management in southern Africa

It is now widely accepted that the earth's climate is changing under the influence of anthropogenic activities. A number of key changes in the earths atmosphere and ocean have already been detected (including increasing global surface temperature, rising sea levels, increases in incident UV radiation, changes in average annual precipitation, and increases in the variability and intensity of extreme weather events, among others), while speculation regarding future changes is rife. The implications of global climate change for fish stocks and fisheries is of concern to many scientists, but little effort has been made to incorporate observed changes or event such thinking into management models and paradigms. This paper summarises available evidence linking the production of key greenhouse gases with observed and future projected changes in the earth's climate, specifically in respect of a number of key atmospheric and oceanographic parameters likely to affect fish stocks in South Africa (temperature, pressure/wind fields, CO₂ concentration, rainfall, mean sea level and UV radiation). It also explores likely effects of these changes on fish stocks and key fishery sectors. In addition, it highlights a number of positive steps that be taken by management authorities to ensure that they and the fishing communities for which they are responsible are in the best possible position to deal with the effects of changing global climate as they become manifest.     

Harvesting harders Liza richardsoni in the Benguela upwelling region

Harders were fished commercially in the Western Cape even prior to the settlement of Dutch colonialists in 1652. The principal means of exploitation has remained the beach seine, but gill (drift and set) nets and purse-seines have also been used. Yields have increased from about 37 000 fish in 1652 to mostly between 5,5 and 9,1 million fish in recent years. Population biology and ecology of the resource are largely unknown, but the existing information about stock identity and structure, distribution, feeding, growth, reproduction and seasonal availability is synthesized. Provisional data are presented on mesh selectivity of gill nets for harders. Management of the resource has been aimed at protecting juveniles, monitoring catches, limiting and phasing out of large-scale purse-seine fishing, limitation of excessive participation in the fishery, enforcement of human presence during fishing operations, and encouragement to diversify fishing effort. Despite the limited scientific knowledge of the resource, appropriate management action and such fortunate resource characteristics as seasonal fluctuation in availability, natural distribution over much of the coastline and a failure of the species to shoal along with other commercially exploited pelagic species have resulted in harvests remaining within the production capacity of the stock and in prevention of growth overfishing.     

Overview of West African fisheries under climate change: Impacts,vulnerabilities and adaptive responses of the artisanal and industrial sectors

Climate change affects ocean conditions, fish stocks and hence fisheries. In West Africa, climate change impacts on fisheries were projected to be mainly negative through multi-facet ways. However, analysis of adaptation responses of fishers to climate change impacts is scarce. This paper reviews the impacts on climate change on fisheries in West Africa and discusses the potential adaptation strategies adopted by both the artisanal and industrial fishing sectors. Overall, climate change and over-exploitation have altered species composition of fisheries catches in West Africa. The effect of ocean warming on fisheries is indicated by the increase in dominance of warmer water species in the landings, shown from an increase in Mean Temperature of Catch, in the region. Climate change induced changes in potential catch and species composition, which inherently have similar symptoms as over-exploitation, are expected to have repercussions on the economic and social performance of fisheries. Both artisanal and industrial sectors may adapt to these changes mainly through expansion of fishing ground that increases operation costs. Our results highlight that historical changes in target species are more common in industrial than artisanal fisheries. This result challenges the prevailing assumption that artisanal fisheries, given their limited movement capacity, would adapt to climate change by shifting target species and/or gear type.     

Middlemen,informal trading and its linkages with IUU fishing activities in the port of Progreso,Mexico

This paper explores the economic environment that makes informal fish trading possible, the nature of these activities and how they are interconnected or might stimulate IUU fishing activities in the port of Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico. The main argument is that fish trading by middlemen has been developed within the scope of an informal sector which depends on the existence of structural and organizational factors such as: a dual economic system where the formal and informal sectors are complementary, and an institutional environment and a socio-economic network that interconnects both sectors and supports the activity. Research for this study was carried out during 2008 and 2009 in the port of Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico. The survey strategy was a non-probability sample adapting and combining chain referral techniques because middlemen in this region are a hidden population. Findings indicate that the main motivation for middlemen to remain underground is to maximize benefits. In order to do so, they need to build a socioeconomic network which is the center of their trading system. This way of operating generates incentives for fishers to fish illegally because middlemen would buy their products even if they do not meet formal regulations.     

Dysfunction by design: Consequences of limitations on transferability of catch shares in the Alaska pollock fishery

The Eastern Bering Sea fishery for pollock is one of the largest fisheries in the world and has often been touted as an example of sustainable fisheries management. Yet, sustainability requires more than protection of the biological productivity of the targeted fish species. It requires preservation of the flows of net social and economic benefits of the fishery, and flexible governance and management institutions that allow for adaptation to changes in fish abundance as well as changes in consumer demand and in the prices of key inputs. From an economic perspective, the Alaska pollock fishery was unsustainable before passage of the American Fisheries Act (AFA) in 1998. The AFA permanently divided the pollock Total Allowable Catch (TAC) giving a 10% allocation to the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program and partitioning the remainder among four fishing sectors. It allowed CDQ to be leased to any sector but largely prohibited leasing or sale between other sectors. These limits on intersectoral transfers have reduced the ability of sectors to respond to changes in the abundance and distribution of pollock, implementation of management measures intended to benefit other species, and changes in the prices of input factors and products. This paper explores these consequences.     

Placer Deposits of Southern Tamil Nadu Coast, India

Exploration for placer deposits, especially for ilmenites, has been undertaken systematically in the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, India. On the basis of drainage network. Coastal landforms, lithology, and neotectonics, the study area has been grouped into five sectors: Mandapam, Valinokkam, Tuticorin, Manappad, and Kanyakumari. Ilmenites are abundant in Kanyakumari (Max. 53.39 wt%) and Tuticorin (Max. 20.88 wt%) sectors, negligible in Manappad (Max. 0.60 wt%) and Valinokkam (Max. 3.88 wt%) sectors and absent in the Mandapam sector. The abnormal enrichment of ilmenites in the Kanyakumari sector in the absence of any drainage network points to the possibility of a relict source. Literary and scientific evidence corroborates the existence of an Eastern Gondwana land called Lemuria, South of Kanyakumari which was later submerged in the Flandrian transgression. The association of other heavy minerals with ilmenites like overgrown and outgrown zircon supplements the idea of a longer stay of ilmenites in the depositional basin. Ilmenites from these fossil strandlines must have been reworked by the present day coastal processes and deposited in favorable bay-like NE-SW coastal configurations in Kanyakumari-Kuttankuli and Kallar-Vaippar regions under high energy wave conditions. The present study has disclosed the enrichment of ilmenites up to 1 m in depth in the above two zones which can be commercially exploited. The present study also calls for confirming part of the lost continent called Lemuria or Eastern Gondwana by systematic scientific investigations.     

Estimates of fishery potentials of the EEZ of India

An attempt has been made to estimate the fishery potentials of the EEZ of India on the basis of data on primary and secondary production. The total column primary production and zooplankton production have been calculated to be 265·9 and 9 million tonnes of carbon per year, respectively. From these values the fishery potential has been estimated as 2·5 million tonnes per year. To this, if we add the estimated demersal fish catch, being 1·2 million tonnes per year, the total potential yield comes to 3·7 million tonnes per year. Since the present average total catch is about 1·6 million tonnes in a year, the fish catch could be doubled.     

Placer Deposits of Southern Tamil Nadu Coast,India

Exploration for placer deposits, especially for ilmenites, has been undertaken systematically in the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, India. On the basis of drainage network. Coastal landforms, lithology, and neotectonics, the study area has been grouped into five sectors: Mandapam, Valinokkam, Tuticorin, Manappad, and Kanyakumari. Ilmenites are abundant in Kanyakumari (Max. 53.39 wt%) and Tuticorin (Max. 20.88 wt%) sectors, negligible in Manappad (Max. 0.60 wt%) and Valinokkam (Max. 3.88 wt%) sectors and absent in the Mandapam sector. The abnormal enrichment of ilmenites in the Kanyakumari sector in the absence of any drainage network points to the possibility of a relict source. Literary and scientific evidence corroborates the existence of an Eastern Gondwana land called Lemuria, South of Kanyakumari which was later submerged in the Flandrian transgression. The association of other heavy minerals with ilmenites like overgrown and outgrown zircon supplements the idea of a longer stay of ilmenites in the depositional basin. Ilmenites from these fossil strandlines must have been reworked by the present day coastal processes and deposited in favorable bay-like NE-SW coastal configurations in Kanyakumari-Kuttankuli and Kallar-Vaippar regions under high energy wave conditions. The present study has disclosed the enrichment of ilmenites up to 1 m in depth in the above two zones which can be commercially exploited. The present study also calls for confirming part of the lost continent called Lemuria or Eastern Gondwana by systematic scientific investigations.     

The transition from the Soviet system to a market economy as a cause of instability in the Estonian coastal fisheries sector

This study analyzes how overall changes in political and economic life during the last decade have affected the Estonian coastal fishery of the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of the nineties, the opportunity to export fish to the European market emerged. Opening of this new market resulted in rapidly increasing pressure on fish stocks. Some of the most important coastal fishery resources were over-fished because of high export market demand coupled with insufficient resource management and ineffective control and enforcement mechanisms. The costs associated with fishery have grown much more than the first-buyer prices. Additionally, dynamic development of the Estonian economy has resulted in substantial increases in earnings in other economic sectors and therefore the relative wealth of fishermen has steadily declined. This has resulted in increasing social problems. In conclusion, countries in transition may encounter serious difficulties in the fisheries sector, arising from privatization and economic reforms, which may affect the fisheries even years after the establishment of new ruling principles.     

Impacts of climate change on commercial fish stocks in Norwegian waters

The Norwegian fishing areas extend over various marine ecosystems that will respond differently to climate change. In the North Sea the productivity of the boreal fish species are likely to decrease under global warming and new warm-water species are expected to become more abundant. In the arctic marine ecosystem of the Barents Sea the fish productivity is expected to increase and their distributions expand northward and eastward under global warming increasing the importance of the Russian as well as the Norwegian sectors of the Barents. In the past, decadal-scale climate variations have been shown to strongly influence productivity and distributions of fish stocks. The importance of such shorter-term variations are expected to continue also under global warming. Under global warming the optimum temperature for fish farming along the Norwegian coast will be displaced northwards from the northern part of West Norway towards the Helgeland coast.     

Impact of fish farming facilities on Posidonia oceanica meadows: a review

The impact of fish farming facilities on Posidonia oceanica meadows was assessed from studies of intensive facilities carried out over the last few years. The disturbances caused by these fish farms were measured by means of both abiotic (light, sediment, interstitial water) and biotic variables (meadow density, leaf biometry, lepidochronology, primary production, epiphytes, reserve carbohydrates in the rhizomes), in function of increasing distance from cages and/or inside a geographically close reference site. The results showed significant degradation of these seagrass meadows in all the sectors investigated. When fish farming cages were placed above a P. oceanica bed, the meadow was severely degraded or disappeared and the sediment showed a strong increase in organic matter that could lead to anoxia phenomena. The irreversible impact of fish farming projects on P. oceanica meadows requires the application of the precautionary principle. Several recommendations (site selection, preliminary studies and monitoring over time) are suggested in order to enable piscicultural activities to be incorporated in a global process of Integrated Coastal Zone Management.     

基于渔业统计数据的南海区渔业资源可捕量评估

科学确定海洋渔业可捕量是开展捕捞限额管理的前提和关键。南海区渔业资源种类繁多,无明显大宗经济鱼种,且产量统计不够完善,使得可捕量的量化评估较为困难。根据渔业产量统计数据,利用一种简化的产量模型对南海区渔业资源总可捕量以及11个重要经济类群的可捕量进行了评估。结果表明,南海区渔业资源最大可持续产量为308.6万t,总可捕量为246.9万~277.8万t。从11个重要经济类群的评估结果来看,这些类群在20世纪90年代后均遭受过不同程度的过度捕捞。目前状态较好,未处于过度捕捞状态的有蓝圆鲹和竹荚鱼、沙丁鱼类、马面鲀类、鲷类、鳓类和鲐类等6个恢复力较高的类群;而其他5个恢复力较低的类群,尤其是海鳗类和石斑鱼类,目前处于过度捕捞状态。     

Cooperation and the emergence of maritime clusters in the Atlantic: Analysis and implications of innovation and human capital for blue growth

The so-called ‘blue economy’ is gaining emphasis in European policy making due to the expansion of its relevance beyond traditional economic sectors but also to new and developing ones that exhibit rapid growth. Much of the discourse has focused on the emergence and consolidation of maritime clusters. However, there has been less attention on the regional development aspect and this article provides a timely contribution to filling the gap in knowledge by presenting the findings and analysis of a survey applied to blue economy organisations in Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Scotland. Specifically, issues of innovation, human capital and social capital provide the basis of inquiry around the creation and consolidation of maritime clusters. The article uses the survey data to understand the determinants of the variety of cooperation dynamics. A key finding reveals that participation in innovation activities and absorptive capacity are critical factors in increasing cooperation. From the analysis it is clear that there are significant discrepancies in participation between sectors, such as tourism where participation rates are below average. The article concludes by defining the core activities that should feature in a maritime cluster.     

The potential of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) as a combined biomarker for oestrogens and androgens in European waters

The majority of endocrine disruption studies in Europe have been on non-indigenous species (some of them tropical!)--and none of which has traits that make them suitable for the detection of androgenic compounds. To overcome these problems, we have been developing the stickleback as a model biomarker for testing the effect of endocrine disrupters in European waters. Its advantages are: it is the only fish with a quantifiable in vivo androgen and anti-androgen endpoint (the production of the glue protein, spiggin, by the kidney); it is the only fish in which it will be possible to simultaneously test oestrogenic and androgenic properties of compound; it has a genetic sex marker; it is found in all EU countries; it survives and breeds in both seawater and freshwater; it is extremely robust and can be readily deployed in situ; it displays a variety of pronounced reproductive behaviours; it has a simple and short life cycle, low fecundity and high egg/fry survival rates.     

Application of wave spectral information in marine forecasting

Ocean wave spectra were for many years regarded as scientific information of little use for practical purposes. In the last decade, this has changed. Within many marine sectors there are now stronger demands for more accurate spectral information which directly have an impact on safety and regularity of operations and on the sustainability of constructions. This paper shows examples of applications, mostly from routine forecasting service experience in the North Sea and the North East Atlantic.     

TAC management in North Sea flatfish fisheries

The Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union adopted in 1983 is primarily focused on a science-based TAC management system with fixed national quota shares. The quality of the assessments of plaice and sole, the consistency of the scientific advice, the congruency of the management decisions, and the enforcement of the regulations are reviewed over a 15-year period. The conclusion is that there have been problems at each level, with the ultimate effect that the policy has not been able to restrict fishing mortality and that the level of overexploitation has only increased. It is argued that the present TAC system has created more problems than it has resolved. Attention is drawn to the autonomic economic developments within the fishery and to the potential for managing the fishery more effectively from the cost side rather than the profit side.     

卵生型鱼类卵子发育潜能评估研究进展

鱼类卵子发育潜能(即卵子质量)是繁育工作所用卵子好坏的直接体现。雌性亲鱼性成熟过程中,卵巢内卵母细胞营养物质的积累及其正常减数分裂过程极易受外界环境影响,进而使亲鱼所产卵子可发育能力往往有较大波动,故提前预测亲鱼所产卵子的发育潜能,将对苗种繁育的风险防范及育苗产业健康发展带来积极影响。文章叙述了卵子及其成分特征,从卵子外形、卵质脂肪酸、氨基酸、蛋白、酶活等生化组成以及母源性RNA等角度对卵子质量研究现状做了概括,并对各自研究中存在的问题进行探讨。综上所述,从形态、脂肪酸、遗传物质等综合方面对卵质进行分析并建立其多元回归模型,将有助于找出影响卵质因素的关键信息;同时将卵质研究与家系构建相结合,后续跟踪、统计仔稚鱼至商品鱼这一生长阶段的生长参数,进行遗传评估,并最终确立具有最大经济效益的卵子参数,才是目前经济鱼类卵质标准研究需加强的方向。该研究将为今后卵生型鱼类卵子发育潜能预测方法研究提供科学依据,同时为鱼类繁育工作风险预判提供具实践性的方法资料。