Socio-economic drivers and indicators for artisanal coastal fisheries in Pacific island countries and territories and their use for fisheries management strategies

This is the first regional study of artisanal fisheries in Pacific Island countries and territories that demonstrated that the future of the region's artisanal fishery sector and the livelihood of coastal communities will be highly dependent on alternative subsistence and income sources, which are necessary to reduce fishing pressure to a sustainable level to maintain ecosystem services and food security. The overall objective of this study was to identify socio-economic indicators and drivers to improve the understanding of the dynamics between socio-economic conditions and current exploitation levels of finfish and invertebrates of coastal communities in 17 Pacific Island countries and territories. We showed that exploitation rates and thus possible overexploitation are not solely the consequence of a simple demographic growth process but are in fact a result of the choices people have. Our results confirmed a close relationship between resource exploitation rates and economic development at the national level and the availability of alternative income opportunities at the community level. Multivariate analysis results suggest that communities in countries with somewhat unfavourable conditions and limited access to alternatives and fishing households in communities with overall favourable economic conditions are at highest vulnerability as they have the highest dependence on coastal fisheries resources. Alternative economic opportunities at the national scale and availability of alternative income at the community level vary significantly between cultural groups. Based on our results, the development of management strategies with realistic expectations of ensuring livelihood of coastal communities and sustainable resource use in Pacific Island countries and territories requires a hierarchical and integral approach. Major drivers identified at the regional, cultural and local levels should be used to identify priorities, to assess overall advantages and limitations at the different levels as well as the vulnerability of communities targeted, and to develop strategies accordingly.     

Changes in Venice Lagoon dynamics due to construction of mobile barriers

The MoSE project (construction of mobile barrier to safeguard the Lagoon of Venice) entails changes to the structure of the lagoon's inlets. This could have consequences for the areas near the inlets and for the dynamics of the lagoon ecosystem as a whole. In order to predict the effects of the proposed alterations on the hydrodynamics of the lagoon, a well-tested hydrodynamic-dispersion model was applied. Simulations were carried out considering both idealised and realistic tide and wind scenarios.     

基于KPCA-RBF模型的风暴潮灾害经济损失预测

作为破坏性最强的海洋灾害,风暴潮灾害每年都给我国沿海地区造成了巨大的经济损失,运用科学的方法模型合理预测风暴潮灾害经济损失对指导沿海地区的防灾减灾工作意义深远。本文基于风暴潮灾害的成灾特点建立了风暴潮灾害直接经济损失预评估指标体系,由于评估指标数据高度非线性,采用核主成分分析（KPCA）对高维非线性数据进行降维优化,并利用径向基函数（RBF）神经网络对降维后的数据进行训练,从而实现对风暴潮灾害直接经济损失的预测。选取广东省1996—2018年的32个风暴潮灾害损失样本对模型进行仿真测试,结果表明,KPCA-RBF预测模型集成了核主成分分析和径向基函数神经网络的优势,预测结果精度高,学习收敛速度快,对风暴潮灾害数据序列有较好的非线性拟合能力。     

A collective approach to Pacific islands fisheries management: Moving beyond regional agreements

The sustainable management and profitable development of the Pacific island tuna fisheries is the key ocean governance challenge for the Pacific islands region in the short and medium term. Resolving these challenges is fundamental to the long term future of the region and its ability to implement oceans governance across all resource and conservation concerns.     

Community involvement in fisheries management: Experiences in the Gulf of Thailand countries

This paper examines the involvement of coastal communities in fisheries management among the countries of the Gulf of Thailand—Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Initiatives to decentralize management to local governing bodies, to utilize traditional management methods and to engage in community agreements to protect local resources are explored. An examination of recent experiences indicates some movement toward more local involvement in management. However, the study also leads to several suggestions for the future: in Vietnam and Cambodia, there is a need for significant legislation to control fisheries operations and greater clarity of the role of communities in management; in Malaysia, there is an overall need for more support to local fisheries management; and in Thailand, the need is for greater support of local-level enforcement and monitoring activities.     

Dysfunctions in common fishing regulations

One of the main concerns of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) lies in guaranteeing consistency among the different implemented actions. The main concern is establishing a relationship between the levels of compliance with the Multi-annual Guidance Programme (MAGP), the adoption of total allowable catches (TACs), and the levels of compliance with rules by producers.     

Understanding marine ecosystem based management: A literature review

Ecosystem based management takes into account the interconnectedness and interdependent nature of ecosystem components and emphasizes the importance of ecosystem structures and functions which provide a range of services. The concept has now been adopted by many international agreements and national governments and is in the process of being implemented. This paper seeks to review the literature and to analyze the understanding of the subject. The term is defined and its implementation in fisheries and for all marine uses is analyzed. It has been concluded that to understand marine ecosystem based management one must consider ecosystems as complex adaptive systems which can show changes at higher levels from actions and processes occurring at lower levels. Recognizing that humans are part of these complex adaptive systems is vital in that their actions along with other processes can lead to transformations in ecosystem functioning. This recognition is also important to show how society can sustainably exploit these resources and that the inclusion of all stakeholders in the management process is necessary to legitimize the process. The uses of the precautionary principle along with adaptive management are seen to be useful tools in implementing these insights into the management of natural resources. Finally, the need for reducing consumption of fish is considered.     

我国无居民海岛管理现状、问题及建议

无居民海岛是我国自然资源的重要组成部分。为加快推进生态文明建设,党和国家对我国自然资源的管理提出了新的要求。文章采用问题和目标导向的研究方法,通过对我国无居民海岛管理的历史遗留问题、管理能力、管理体系和信息化建设等方面进行分析,提出了分类处置历史遗留用岛,优化精细化分类管理体系、完善海岛管理制度体系、完善海岛数据更新体系等建议,对提升我国无居民海岛管理水平,实施海洋强国战略具有重要的意义。     

A voluntary reduction in the commercial catch of rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) in a New Zealand fishery

We describe the development and application of a management procedure (decision rule) that resulted in a voluntary reduction in the commercial catch of spiny rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) in the lower east coast of North Island of New Zealand. The management procedure was developed from an accepted assessment of the CRA 4 (Wellington‐Hawke's Bay) fishery, which used an integrated length‐based assessment model fitted to commercial fishery catch‐per‐unit‐effort (CPUE) biomass indices, commercial length‐frequency data, and tag‐recapture data. The assessment model had been Bayesian, and used the joint posterior distribution of parameters to predict the effect of 384 alternative harvest control rules on the future size of the CRA 4 stock. The harvest control rules all used CPUE as their input, and generated annual changes in catch, which were then simulated by the population dynamics of the operating model. Uncertainty was added to evaluations through observation error, added to the simulated CPUE observations, and stochastic serial auto‐correlation variation in recruitment. We describe how this management procedure was used to effect a voluntary reduction in catch to address the problem of a rapidly declining population.