The impact of artisanal fishing on coral reef fish health in Hat Thai Mueang,Phang-nga Province,Southern Thailand

This study investigates whether there has been a decline in fish stocks of a coral reef in Thailand, and if so, whether that decline is due to small-scale fishing. The research methods used included fish sampling by UVC, interviews and questionnaires with key informants and artisanal fishers. The results confirmed that there has been a decline in piscivores and carnivores (though not herbivores), and the main perceived threat came not from artisanal but from commercial fishing. Recommendations are to replace the largely unrestricted fishery with a more regulated regime backed by effective enforcement.     

Retraction: Evaluation of Co‐Digestion at a Commercial Dairy Anaerobic Digester

The above article published online on 16 June 2011 in Wiley Online Library ( http://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ), and in Volume 39, pp. 697‐704, has been retracted by agreement between the Editor‐in‐Chief, Prisca Henheik, and Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation carried out by Washington State University (WSU) which determined that research misconduct had occurred with respect to fabricating experimental data and falsifying data that formed the basis of a section of this article on the part of the corresponding author. Furthermore, WSU determined that the corresponding author did not declare an existing commercial conflict of interest when submitting the paper to the peer‐‐reviewed journal CLEAN ‐ Soil, Air, Water.     

The 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy's system of governance—rhetoric or reality?

The 2002 Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was claimed to be a radical overhaul of a failing system. Several EU fish stocks—particularly North Sea cod—had reached dangerously low levels, and there was widespread dissatisfaction with the way in which the CFP was operating. The European Commission took the opportunity of the legal requirement to review some features of the CFP (principally access provisions) in 2002, to undertake a broader reappraisal of the CFP. One of the features of this reappraisal was an attempt to improve the CFP's system of governance by increasing the amount of stakeholder participation, decentralisation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness and coherence. In this paper, the conclusion is reached that this attempt to improve the quality of governance in the 2002 CFP reform package has been more rhetorical than real.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114001601

Data from a migmatised metapelite raft enclosed within charnockite provide quantitative constraints on the pressure-temperature-time[P-T-t) evolution of the Nagercoil Block at the southernmost tip of peninsular India.An inferred peak metamorphic assemblage of garnet,K-feldspar.sillimanite,plagioclase,magnetite,ilmenite,spinel and melt is consistent with peak metamorphic pressures of 6-8 kbar and temperatures in excess of 900℃.Subsequent growth of cordierite and biotite record high-temperature retrograde decompression to around 5 kbar and 800 C.SHRIMP U-Pb dating of magmatic zircon cores suggests that the sedimentary protoliths were in part derived from felsic igneous rocks with Palaeoproterozoic crystallisation ages.New growth of metamorphic zircon on the rims of detrital grains constrains the onset of melt crystallisation,and the minimum age of the metamorphic peak,to around560 Ma.The data suggest two stages of monazite growth.The first generation of REE-enriched monazite grew during partial melting along the prograde path at around 570 Ma via the incongruent breakdown of apatite.Relatively REE-depleted rims,which have a pronounced negative europium anomaly,grew during melt crystallisation along the retrograde path at around 535 Ma.Our data show the rocks remained at suprasolidus temperatures for at least 35 million years and probably much longer,supporting a long-lived high-grade metamorphic history.The metamorphic conditions,timing and duration of the implied clockwise P-T-t path are similar to that previously established for other regions in peninsular India during the Ediacaran to Cambrian assembly of that part of the Gondwanan supercontinent.     

Controls on the morphological evolution of embayed beaches: Morphometry versus external forcing

The morphological evolution of embayed beaches on a microtidal coast is assumed to largely respond to the degree of exposure to wave conditions, decreasing the mobility with increasing beach indentation (and vice versa). However, the number of sediment arrivals at the beach or the impact of extreme storms can modify this relationship. Here, we present an analysis of 10 embayed beaches along the Catalan coast with different morphometric and sedimentary characteristics to identify the most relevant parameters controlling the morphological evolution of these embayed beaches at the inter-annual and decadal scales. The study was mostly based on LiDAR topographic data collected from 2012 to 2017, aerial photographs from 1945 to 2021, sediment sampling and a long-term series analysis of the forcing parameters (waves, sea level, precipitation and land-use changes). The results show a net loss of volume on all the studied beaches at an inter-annual scale and a general shoreline retreat during the last few decades, suggesting the influence of common processes on the evolution of the studied beaches. Smaller pocket beaches with medium-to-high indentations are more sensitive to changes induced by local factors and show higher variability in the volume of the emerged beach and shoreline position than larger beaches. The most relevant factors influencing the evolution of the studied beaches on a decadal scale were identified as changes in sea level and the reduction in sediment inputs provided by streams due to land-use changes in the drainage basin. At the inter-annual scale, the impact of extreme events is the main factor controlling beach behaviour. These general trends can be opposite locally for beaches that receive large amounts of sediment via longshore transport from adjacent beaches.     

Analysis of the impact of conservation measures on stream flow regime in catchments of the Loess Plateau,China

Catchments in the Loess Plateau have been under the influence of human activities for centuries. In the last four decades, soil conservation measures have accelerated and intensified. These measures were designed to reduce soil erosion, improve agricultural productivity, and enhance environmental quality. It is important to evaluate the effects of these measures on hydrology in order to develop sustainable catchment management plans in the region. This study evaluated changes in stream flow data for four selected catchments in the Loess Plateau following large‐scale soil conservation measures. The non‐parametric Mann–Kendall test was used to identify trends in annual stream flow and the results showed significant downward trends in three of the four catchments. The Pettitt test indicated that a change point occurred in 1978 in these three catchments. Annual precipitation in all the catchments showed no significant trend during the period of record. Comparison of daily flow duration curves for two 20‐year periods (1957–1978) and (1979–2003) showed significant changes in stream flow regime. Reduction in most percentile flows varied between 20 and 45%, and the reduction in low flows was greatest. Overall, the reductions in daily flow were increasing with time, with significant changes occurring in the 1990s. However, it is not clear whether these catchments have seen the full effects of the soil conservation measures, so the results of this study might underestimate the final impact of soil conservation on stream flow regime. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal evolution of the Tertiary Shimanto Belt, Muroto Peninsula, Shikoku, Japan

Abstract The Shimanto accretionary complex on the Muroto Peninsula of Shikoku comprises two major units of Tertiary strata: the Murotohanto Sub-belt (Eocene-Oligocene) and the Nabae Sub-belt (Oligocene-Miocene). Both sub-belts have been affected by thermal overprints following the peak of accretion-related deformation. Palaeotemperatures for the entire Tertiary section range from ～ 140 to 315°C, based upon mean vitrinite reflectance values of 0.9–5.0%R_m. Values of illite crystallinity index are consistent with conditions of advanced diagenesis and anchimetamorphism. Illite/mica b₀ lattice dimensions indicate that burial pressures were probably no greater than 2.5kbar. In general, levels of thermal maturity are higher for the Murotohanto Sub-belt than for the Nabae Sub-belt. The Eocene-Oligocene strata also display a spatial decrease in thermal maturity from south to north and this pattern probably was caused by regional-scale differential uplift following peak heating. Conversely, the palaeothermal structure within the Nabae Sub-belt is fairly uniform, except for the local effects of mafic intrusions at the tip of Cape Muroto. There is a paleotemperature difference of ～ 90°C across the boundary between the Murotohanto and Nabae Sub-belts (Shiina-Narashi fault), and this contrast is consistent with approximately 1200 m of post-metamorphic vertical offset. Subduction prior to Middle Miocene probably involved the Kula or fused Kula-Pacific plate and the background geothermal gradient during the Eocene-Oligocene phase of accretion was ～ 30–35°C/km. Rapid heating of the Shimanto Belt evidently occurred immediately after a Middle Miocene reorganization of the subduction boundary. Hot oceanic lithosphere from the Shikoku Basin first entered the subduction zone at ～ 15 Ma; this event also coincided with the opening of the Sea of Japan and the rapid clockwise rotation of southwest Japan. The background geothermal gradient at that time was ～ 70°C/km. Whether or not all portions of the inherited (Eocene-Oligocene) palaeothermal structure were overprinted during the Middle Miocene remains controversial.