Shark interactions in pelagic longline fisheries

Substantial ecological, economic and social problems result from shark interactions in pelagic longline fisheries. Improved understanding of industry attitudes and practices towards shark interactions assists with managing these problems. Information on fisher knowledge and new strategies for shark avoidance may benefit sharks and fishers. A study of 12 pelagic longline fisheries from eight countries shows that incentives to avoid sharks vary along a continuum, based on whether sharks represent an economic disadvantage or advantage. Shark avoidance practices are limited, including avoiding certain areas, moving when shark interaction rates are high, using fish instead of squid for bait and deeper setting. Some conventionally employed fishing gear and methods used to target non-shark species contribute to shark avoidance. Shark repellents hold promise; more research and development is needed. Development of specifically designed equipment to discard sharks could improve shark post release survival prospects, reduce gear loss and improve crew safety. With expanding exploitation of sharks for fins and meat, improved data collection, monitoring and precautionary shark management measures are needed to ensure that shark fishing mortality levels are sustainable.     

黑潮锋区的水温分形特征研究

借助GIS ArcView软件分析提取黑潮锋区域,将一定间隔的经纬度点的温度值生成等值线以此为研究对象,应用网格法计算了20°～30°N,120°～130°E范围内黑潮锋区50m和100m深处水温的分维值,100m深处的分维值波动较50m深处小,但整体上分维值较50m深处大。计算结果符合黑潮锋区强度的实际分布情况,初步认为分形维数能够表征黑潮锋强度,分维值随黑潮锋强度的增大而增大。     

Jenniferann.com,regional development,and realising the aspirations of mana whenua in Pōkeno

During the 1990s, the township of Pōkeno was held up as an example of a declining rural Aotearoa/New Zealand. By‐passed from the national state highway, it lost its status as a service hub and drastic measures were introduced to revitalise the town, including renaming the town “ Jenniferann.com .” Pōkeno has since undergone an unlikely transformation, with foreign investment and its location within an extended Auckland commuter zone meaning that the township has grown exponentially. This article describes the transformation of Pōkeno and uncovers what has been missing from discussions about Pōkeno's reinvention, namely, the place of mana whenua.     

Examining the sensitivity of spatial scale in cellular automata Markov chain simulation of land use change

Understanding the spatial scale sensitivity of cellular automata is crucial for improving the accuracy of land use change simulation. We propose a framework based on a response surface method to comprehensively explore spatial scale sensitivity of the cellular automata Markov chain (CA-Markov) model, and present a hybrid evaluation model for expressing simulation accuracy that merges the strengths of the Kappa coefficient and of Contagion index. Three Landsat-Thematic Mapper remote sensing images of Wuhan in 1987, 1996, and 2005 were used to extract land use information. The results demonstrate that the spatial scale sensitivity of the CA-Markov model resulting from individual components and their combinations are both worthy of attention. The utility of our proposed hybrid evaluation model and response surface method to investigate the sensitivity has proven to be more accurate than the single Kappa coefficient method and more efficient than traditional methods. The findings also show that the CA-Markov model is more sensitive to neighborhood size than to cell size or neighborhood type considering individual component effects. Particularly, the bilateral and trilateral interactions between neighborhood and cell size result in a more remarkable scale effect than that of a single cell size.     

Long-term effects of a toxic algal bloom on subtidal soft-sediment macroinvertebrate communities in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand

The long-term effects (>1 year) of a naturally occurring toxic plankton bloom (Karenia brevisulcata) on subtidal benthic macroinvertebrate communities were investigated in Wellington Harbour, a semi-enclosed temperate embayment in New Zealand. For 3 years communities were sampled at three different sites in the harbour. Analyses revealed that community recovery following the bloom was site-specific. Multivariate analyses indicated that at one site community composition was approaching recovery 3 years post-bloom. At the second site, a sequential recovery process was indicated, whereas at the third site the community composition oscillated from year to year, but did not show any signs of a sequential recovery process. The nature of the hydrodynamic regime was identified as a major factor influencing the observed recovery processes. Communities exposed to an active hydrodynamic regime were less affected by the bloom and differed little in their composition pre- and post-bloom, as they were naturally in a perpetual state of recovery as indicated by a dominance of r-selected species. The community at the hydrodynamically less active site was more affected by the bloom and exhibited temporal differences in composition consistent with successional models. Complete recovery to a pre-disturbance climax community dominated by K-selected species is likely to take 4–5 years, if not interrupted by other disturbances. Given the increased occurrence of harmful algal blooms worldwide, more monitoring and manipulative studies are needed to further evaluate the effects of such disturbances on macrobenthic communities.     

A cross-ecosystem comparison of spatial and temporal patterns of covariation in the recruitment of functionally analogous fish stocks

Temporal and spatial patterns of recruitment (R) and spawning stock biomass (S) variability were compared among functionally analogous species and similar feeding guilds from six marine ecosystems. Data were aggregated into four regions including the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank, the Norwegian/Barents Seas, the eastern Bering Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska. Variability was characterized by calculating coefficients of variation and anomalies for three response variables: ln(R), ln(R/S), and stock–recruit model residuals. Patterns of synchrony and asynchrony in the response variables were examined among and between ecosystems, between- and within-ocean basins and among functionally analogous species groups using pair-wise correlation analysis corrected for within-time series autocorrelation, multivariate cross-correlation analyses and regime shift detectors. Time series trends in response variables showed consistent within basin similarities and consistent and coherent differences between the Atlantic and Pacific basin ecosystems. Regime shift detection algorithms identified two broad-scale regime shift time periods for the pelagic feeding guild (1972–1976 and 1999–2002) and possibly one for the benthic feeding guild (1999–2002). No spatial patterns in response variable coefficients of variation were observed. Results from multivariate cross-correlation analysis showed similar trends. The data suggest common external factors act in synchrony on stocks within ocean basins but temporal stock patterns, often of the same species or functional group, between basins change in opposition to each other. Basin-scale results (similar within but different between) suggest that the two geographically broad areas are connected by unknown mechanisms that, depending on the year, may influence the two basins in opposite ways. This work demonstrates that commonalities and synchronies in recruitment fluctuations can be found across geographically distant ecosystems but biophysical causes of the fluctuations remain difficult to identify.     

模糊ISODATA聚类算法在声速剖面自动分类中的应用

依据中国海浅海区30′按月历史统计声速剖面数据,通过归一化处理和Akima差值采样得到梯度剖面,建立起各方区按月归化后的声速剖面分层梯度样本集,并采用模糊ISODATA聚类算法对声速剖面进行聚类分析.通过对分类结果和类内总方差和的分析表明,聚类参数m值在1.1～2.1之间,并以最远邻系统聚类法结果为初始类中心的模糊分类效果较好.应用该方法对海洋中的声速剖面进行自动分类和区划对海洋环境的战术应用意义重大.     

新型珊瑚海水混凝土力学性能试验研究

为了解决全珊瑚海水混凝土(coral aggregate seawater concrete,简称CASC)的脆性问题,采用碱式硫酸镁水泥(basic magnesium sulfate cement,简称BMSC)为胶凝材料和剑麻纤维为增韧材料制备了一种新型全珊瑚海水混凝土(NCASC),系统测定了基本力学性能,并与普通硅酸盐水泥制备的CASC、碱式硫酸镁水泥砂石混凝土(basic magnesium sulfate cement concrete,简称BMSCC)、普通砂石混凝土(ordinary portland cement concrete,简称OPC)以及普通轻骨料混凝土(lightweight aggregate concrete,简称LAC)的力学性能进行对比。结果表明:立方体抗压强度(f_(cu),m)在15~35 MPa范围内的NCASC的轴心抗压强度(f_c,m)、劈裂抗拉强度(f_(sp),m)与f_(cu),m之间具有较显著的线性关系;对于f_(cu),m为15~35 MPa的混凝土,相同强度NCASC的f_c,m高于OPC、LAC及BMSCC,其f_c,m与f_(cu),m比值最大,大致在0.85~0.96之间,NCASC的f_(sp),m比OPC和LAC高,但比BMSCC低,且随着强度的提高,OPC与NCASC的f_(sp),m间的差距在增大,而LAC和BMSCC与NCASC的f_(sp),m间的差距在缩小;在强度等级C15~C55的范围中,NCASC和CASC的f_(sp),m、f_c,m与f_(cu),m之间的关系基本可以采用相同的线性回归方程来描述,利用这两个回归线性方程得到对应于标准强度等级的CASC和NCASC的f_(sp),m和f_c,m数据,为CASC力学性能研究与结构设计提供参考依据。     

黑潮流域海温适应性观测敏感区诊断方法研究

敏感区诊断是适应性观测的关键问题,集合变换卡尔曼方法(EnsembleTransformKalmanFilter,ETKF)是目前主要的诊断方法之一。将集合变换卡尔曼方法应用于海洋环境适应性观测,根据ROMS海洋模式数据构建海表温度集合预报,以黑潮流域宫古海峡附近海域为验证区进行敏感区诊断计算,分析不同间隔时间条件下敏感区分布情况,结合模拟系统观测试验验证在敏感区进行适应性观测对预报质量的提升效果。结果表明,在诊断所得敏感区内添加观测能够提升预报质量;随时间间隔增大,敏感区向上游区域平移且预报质量提升效果减小;与在验证区整体添加观测相比,敏感区观测对预报质量提升效果基本相同并且观测成本明显减少。     

Multibeam sonar backscatter data processing

Multibeam sonar systems now routinely record seafloor backscatter data, which are processed into backscatter mosaics and angular responses, both of which can assist in identifying seafloor types and morphology. Those data products are obtained from the multibeam sonar raw data files through a sequence of data processing stages that follows a basic plan, but the implementation of which varies greatly between sonar systems and software. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of this backscatter data processing chain, with a focus on the variability in the possible implementation of each processing stage. Our objective for undertaking this task is twofold: (1) to provide an overview of backscatter data processing for the consideration of the general user and (2) to provide suggestions to multibeam sonar manufacturers, software providers and the operators of these systems and software for eventually reducing the lack of control, uncertainty and variability associated with current data processing implementations and the resulting backscatter data products. One such suggestion is the adoption of a nomenclature for increasingly refined levels of processing, akin to the nomenclature adopted for satellite remote-sensing data deliverables.