The European vision for oceans and seas—Social and political dimensions of the Green Paper on Maritime Policy for the EU

The EU Green Paper on Maritime Policy is the European response to the new generation of ocean strategies based on science, technology and innovation aimed at new objectives, such as the strengthening of security and access to new resources. The European character of the proposal is found in the presence of social, cultural and historical elements, what is called the “European vision”. The viability of a European vision of the oceans and the idea of maritime empire as an extension of the current concept of empire within the general context of emerging ocean strategies are the elements offered up for debate on this European Union initiative.     

A community-wide intercomparison exercise for the determination of dissolved iron in seawater

The first large-scale international intercomparison of analytical methods for the determination of dissolved iron in seawater was carried out between October 2000 and December 2002. The exercise was conducted as a rigorously “blind” comparison of 7 analytical techniques by 24 international laboratories. The comparison was based on a large volume (700 L), filtered surface seawater sample collected from the South Atlantic Ocean (the “IRONAGES” sample), which was acidified, mixed and bottled at sea. Two 1-L sample bottles were sent to each participant. Integrity and blindness were achieved by having the experiment designed and carried out by a small team, and overseen by an independent data manager. Storage, homogeneity and time-series stability experiments conducted over 2.5 years showed that inter-bottle variability of the IRONAGES sample was good (< 7%), although there was a decrease in iron concentration in the bottles over time (0.8–0.5 nM) before a stable value was observed. This raises questions over the suitability of sample acidification and storage.     

Burial and scour around short cylinder under progressive shoaling waves

The results of a laboratory experimental program aimed at better understanding the scour around and burial of heavy cylindrical objects under oscillating flow on a sandy bed are described. This study was motivated by its application to the dynamics of isolated cobbles/mines on a sandy floor under nonlinear progressive waves, such as that occur in shallow coastal waters beyond the wave-breaking region. In the experiments, nonlinear progressive waves were generated in a long wave tank of rectangular cross-section with a bottom slope. Model mines (short cylinders) were placed on the sandy bottom and the temporal evolution of the bed profile and the velocity field in the near field of the object were observed. Experiments were conducted at relatively high Reynolds numbers for a range of flow conditions, which can be characterized by the Keulegan–Carpenter number and Shields parameter. Depending on the values of these parameters, four different scour regimes around the cylinder including periodical burial of cylinder under migrating sand ripples were observed; they were classified as: (i) no scour/burial, (ii) initial scour, (iii) expanded scour, and (iv) periodic burial cases. A scour regime diagram was developed and the demarcation criteria between different regimes were deduced. Semi-empirical formulae that permit estimation of the scour depth with time, the equilibrium maximum scour depth and length, and conditions necessary for the burial of the cylinder as a function of main external parameters are also proposed.     

黄鳍鲷LDH同工酶的组织特异性研究

以黄鳍鲷为材料进行两方面研究:（1）用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳方法，对其肌肉，心脏，肝脏，血清，玻璃体，晶状体，脑等组织器官进行LDH同工酶分析比较，结果表明，不同组织中LDH的同工酶谱带不相同，存在着组织特异性：（2）用聚丙烯酰胺等电聚焦电泳法对其肌肉，血清的LDH同工酶进行分离 ，结果得到12－15条电泳区带，等电点范围在pH为3．65－9．58之间。     

The influence of salinity on the solubility of Zn and Cd sulphides in the Scheldt estuary

In the estuary of the river Scheldt, where an oxygen gradient exists in addition to the salinity gradient, redox processes will be of major importance for trace metal mobilisation. In this study, the influence of salinity and pH on the redox processes of dissolved Zn and Cd sulphides is investigated together with the effects on the ratio of the dissolved Zn and Cd concentrations. The speciation of these metals is calculated with the chemical equilibrium programme +. Zn sulphides are oxidised at lower oxygen concentrations than Cd sulphides, due to lower stability constants, causing a sudden increase or peak in the dissolved Zn/Cd ratio. The formation of dissolved Cd chloride complexes when oxidation occurs at high salinities (S=15) increases the mobility of Cd, causing a decrease in the Zn/Cd peak of the total dissolved concentrations. The peak is three to four times smaller at S=15 than when oxidation occurs at S=2. The simple model calculations compare very well with field data. The Scheldt estuary is suitable to illustrate these calculations. In the 1970s, the anoxic part of the estuary reached S=15–20, but since the early 1980s it has dropped to S=2–10. Historic data on metals in the estuary from 1978, 1987 and the 1990s were used to compare with the equilibrium calculations. The increase of the dissolved Zn/Cd peak at low salinity as a consequence, of the decreasing anoxic region is confirmed well by the data. The good agreement between model calculations and field data is a proof of the extreme importance of redox processes for the solubility of Zn and Cd sulphides in the estuary.     

Diet shifts of Caribbean grunts (Haemulidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae) and the relation with nursery-to-coral reef migrations

The spatial size distribution of grunts and snappers have previously indicated the separation of juveniles in nursery habitats from the adults on the coral reef. This implies life cycle migrations from nursery habitats (such as seagrass beds and mangroves) to the coral reef. If diet shifts are related to such migrations, then the diets of these fish must change before or around the fish size at which such migrations take place. A wide size range of juveniles of two grunt species (Haemulon sciurus and Haemulon flavolineatum) and of two snapper species (Lutjanus apodus and Ocyurus chrysurus) were caught in seagrass beds and mangroves, and their gut contents identified and quantified. Regression analysis between fish size and dietary importance of small crustaceans showed a negative relationship in all four species. Positive relations were found for H. sciurus, L. apodus and O. chrysurus between fish length and the dietary importance of decapods, and for L. apodusand O. chrysurus between fish length and prey fish importance. Critical changes in the fish diets with fish size were examined by application of a Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). The CCA yielded three clusters of size-classes of fishes with similar diets, and application of a Mantel test showed that each of these clusters had significantly different diets, and that each cluster diet was significantly specialised. The size at which a fish species ‘switched’ from one cluster to another was compared with size-at-maturity data and with the typical size at which these species migrate from the nursery habitats to the coral reef. H. sciurus and H. flavolineatum may be prompted to migrate from the nursery habitats to coral reef habitats because of dietary changes, or because of the development of the gonads. For L. apodus and O. chrysurus, a dietary changeover forms a more likely explanation for nursery-to-reef migrations than does sexual maturation because these species reach maturity at sizes much larger than the maximum size of individuals found in nursery habitats. Although other factors may theoretically initiate or promote the migration patterns, the results of this study indicate that ontogenetic dietary changes may crucially influence the nursery-to-coral reef migrations of these reef fish species.     

The Huelva (Spain) Tsunami-Ready Station and Its Interaction with Storm Emma (March 2018)

Abstract

The sea level station operating since 1996 at Mazagón (Huelva, Spain) has been progressively upgraded to fit tsunami warning requirements, due to its location in one of the main regions at risk. Its radar water level sensor was complemented in 2017, with the addition of a pressure sensor. The performance of both sea level sensors and their response to sea level oscillations, at different frequencies, is assessed. Particular emphasis is put on the effect of extreme events, such as Storm Emma, when alternative methods to obtain 1-min data are tested, in contrast to the one based on arithmetic means. The overall differences are small, for the whole period of study (centered-root-mean-square-error below 1?cm, for 5-min, and hourly data; similar tidal parameters and sea level oscillations with periods between 30?s and 5?min). However, during Storm Emma, the pressure sensor presents sensibly lower readings than the radar, with the centered-root-mean-square-error rising to 80?mm on the March 2^nd 2018. A new method to compute 1-min data, based on medians, reduced this value to 10?mm for the same day.     

Otolith shape as a stock discrimination tool for ling (Genypterus blacodes) in the fjords of Chilean Patagonia

ABSTRACT

Genypterus blacodes, in terms of its fishing history and local economic importance, is an emblematic species harvested in Chilean Patagonia (41°00’–57°00’S). Most of the current fisheries and biological knowledge of this species come from the open ocean, whereas information about the species in fjords and inner channels is fragmentary. In 2018, two research surveys targeting G. blacodes were conducted in the fjords and inner channels of Chilean Patagonia. A total of 253 pairs of sagittal otoliths were sampled at three different localities, and their contours were modelled using wavelet analysis as a tool for stock discrimination. Contours were compared using canonical analysis, and classification was performed using linear discriminant and Random Forest analyses. The results indicated that the wavelet method is efficient in modelling otolith contours, and the discriminant analyses showed differences among fishing grounds across the latitudinal gradient, thus confirming the hypothesis that G. blacodes conform to at least two separate stock units in Chilean Patagonia. Fishing grounds that were closer in space showed higher levels of misclassification. The discussion focuses on how environmental variables and the geography of fjords shape stock differences and how this information can be used for the sustainable management of G. blacodes.