Lobster trap impact on coral reefs: Effects of wind‐driven trap movement

Commercial fishers report finding their lobster traps often great distances from their original location following major hurricanes. But traps also move during lesser wind events, such as during winter cold fronts. To assess trap impact on coral communities following winter storms, lobster traps were placed in hardbottom and reef habitats commonly used by commercial fishers in the Florida Keys, United States. Trap movement, percentage benthic faunal cover, and benthic faunal damage were assessed after 26 wind events occuring over three winters. Traps moved when storms with sustained winds greater than 15 knots (27.8 km/h) persisted for more than 2 days. Winter storms above this threshold moved buoyed traps a mean (±SE) distance of 3.63 ± 0.62 m, 3.21 ± 0.36 m, and 0.73 ± 0.15 m per trap and affected a mean area of 4.66 ± 0.76 m², 2.88 ± 0.29 m², and 1.06 ± 0.17 m², per trap at 4‐m, 8‐m, and 12‐m depths, respectively. Unbuoyed traps, simulating derelict traps, moved a mean distance of 0.43 ± 0.08 m and 0.44 ± 0.02 m, and affected a mean area of 0.77 ± 0.06 m² and 0.90 ± 0.08 m² per trap at 4‐m and 8‐m depths, respectively. Injuries caused by trap movement included scraped, fragmented, and dislodged sessile fauna, resulting in significant damage to stony coral, octocoral, and sponges. Overall, sessile fauna cover along the trap movement path was reduced from 45% to 31%, 51% to 41%, and 41% to 35% at the 4‐m, 8‐m, and 12‐m sites, respectively. Because of the large numbers of traps deployed and reported lost each season, damage to sessile fauna and loss of benthic faunal cover caused by traps needs to be considered to effectively protect coral reefs and manage essential fishery habitat in the future.     

Applicability of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) in Japanese fisheries: A comparison of rights-based fisheries management in Iceland, Japan, and United States

ITQs have not yet been introduced by the Government of Japan. In coastal areas, fishery cooperative associations have traditionally played an important role in managing fisheries through self-imposed rules and peer-monitoring systems. Recently, however, the economic competitiveness of Japanese fisheries in the international market is being questioned. In this paper, a detailed examination of the pros and cons of the current system in Japan is compared to the current fishery management measures of Iceland and the United States, where attaining economically or biologically efficient outcomes may be prioritized in making fisheries management decisions. For many coastal fisheries in Japan, maintaining a management scheme in which stakeholders play an active role in determining fisheries measures seems more relevant if their priority is to maintain the stability of coastal communities and equity of stakeholders. Intensive dialog among stakeholders would be necessary to identify shared objectives of their fishery operations and to make decisions to establish specific steps toward the goal of increasing economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, or stability of communities and equity of stakeholders.     

Fishers' perceptions as indicators of the performance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

How users perceive the performance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is fundamental for the social acceptance of these zones. Moreover, their perceptions may be relevant for monitoring the effects of MPAs on extractive activities. This study analyzes artisanal fishers' perceptions of the performance of a north-western Mediterranean coastal MPA, which encompasses two no-take zones (NTZs). Three viewpoints have been considered: the effect on the personal activity of fishers, the effect on the local fishery and the effect on the ecosystem. In order to test the hypothesis that biomass export (spillover) - which had previously been evidenced from the two NTZs - may influence fishers' perceptions of NTZ effects, fishers' perceptions were compared with both declared and observed fishing activity over an one-year period.The results show that negative perceptions of NTZs are either nil or are negligible. Most fishers are aware of the beneficial effects of NTZs on ecosystems and fisheries. However, they remain to be convinced of the beneficial effects of the NTZs on their own activity. For instance, the proximity of a NTZ appears never to be involved in the choice of a fishing spot. This partial lack of correspondence between scientific expectation and fishers' perceptions is discussed in the light of fishing habits in the zone adjacent to NTZs, and takes into account fishing grounds, targeted species and seniority (defined as the number of years the fisher has been fishing within the MPA). All three factors appear to influence fishers' perceptions. For example, having a positive perception about a NTZ and spending more time fishing in the adjacent zone are habits that can be associated with fishers with less seniority. Fishers' perceptions obviously indicate the social acceptance of the MPA and are an essential monitoring tool for MPA managers. However, perceptions cannot be seen as a substitute for scientific monitoring, as both approaches are clearly complementary.     

Species composition and gear characteristics of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrobrachium</Emphasis> fishery of the Cross River Estuary,Nigeria

The Cross River Estuary, Nigeria, is an important shrimping area for artisanal fishermen of the coastal communities. The multi-species Macrobrachium fishery is exploited with three main gears, namely beach seine, push net and trap. Studies on species composition of this fishery recorded thirteen shrimp species, one swimming crab (Callinectes amnicola) and two fish species (Eleotris sp. and Pellonula leonensis). The shrimp species identified included Macrobrachium macrobrachion (83.39% and 55.69% by number and weight, respectively), M. vollenhovenii (9.66% and 37.18%), M. equidens (3.8% and 2.87%), juveniles-sub-adults of Penaeus notialis (1.11% and 1.3%), M. dux, M. felicinum, Palaemonetes africanus, Palaemon maculatus, Palaemon elegans, Desmocaris sp., Leander sp., Nematopalaemon hastatus and Alpheus pontederiae. While the selectivity index for trap was 0.25, beach seine and push net had a lower index of 0.063. The results present the first comprehensive and representative report for the Estuary shrimp fishery and will assist in the management of the biodiversity of this ecosystem.     

远洋渔船动态监控系统研究

针对远洋渔业生产中的渔船监控问题,以卫星通讯、GIS、GPS、数据库等技术手段为支撑,进行了远洋渔船GPS动态监控系统的研究和开发工作。本文在介绍了系统总体框架的基础上,系统阐述了通讯文件的解包和数据质量的控制过程,并对渔船的动态监视和轨迹分析功能进行了论述。     

Defining dynamic pelagic habitats in oceanic waters off eastern Australia

Although many species in the pelagic ocean are widespread, they are not randomly distributed. These species may have associations with particular water masses or habitats, but to best understand patterns in the ocean, these habitats must be identified. Previous efforts have produced static or seasonal climatologies, which still represent smearing over habitats. The Eastern Tuna and Billfish Longline Fishery (ETBF) targets a range of high trophic level species in oceanic waters off eastern Australia. In this study, dynamic ocean habitats in the region were identified for each month based on cluster analysis of five oceanographic variables averaged at a monthly time scale and a spatial scale of 0.5° for the period 1995-2006. A total of seven persistent habitats were identified off eastern Australia with intra and interannual variation in size and location, indicating the importance of spatial and temporal variation in the dynamics of the region. The degree to which these dynamic habitats were distinguished was tested using (i) stable isotope analysis of top fish predators caught in the region and (ii) estimates of variation in estimated abundance generated from catch data from the fishery. More precise estimates (measured as lower total CV) of isotopic values from swordfish (Xiphias gladius), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and albacore (Thunnus alalunga) were obtained for 4 of 6 isotope comparisons using the dynamic habitat groupings, which indicate that stratifying by pelagic habitat improved precision. Dynamic habitats produced more precise abundance estimates for 7 of 8 large pelagic species examined, with an average reduction in total CV of 19% compared to when abundance was estimated based on static habitat stratification. These findings could be used to guide development of effective monitoring strategies that can distinguish patterns due to environmental variation, and in the longer term, climate change.     

山东半岛南部近岸海域渔业资源群落结构的季节变化

根据2006年夏、冬季和2007年春、秋季在山东半岛南部近岸海域进行的渔业资源底拖网调查资料,初步分析了该海域渔业资源群落结构特征。结果表明,该海域4个航次的调查共捕获渔业资源种类72种。2006年夏、冬,2007年春、秋4个航次的单位网次渔获量分别为18.1、6.9、1.3、10.3 kg/h。生物量的季节变化,依次呈夏季>冬季>秋季>春季。优势种类主要为赤鼻棱鳀(Thryssakammalensis)、长蛇鲻(Sauridaelongate)、方氏云鳚(Enedrias fangi)及口虾蛄(Oratosquillaorato-ria)、剑尖枪乌贼(Loligoedulis)、鹰爪虾(Rachypenaeus curvirostris)等。根据4个航次的调查数据,分别计算了渔业生物群落的种类丰度指数R、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数H′、Pielou均匀度指数J′。通过聚类分析、单因子相似性分析(ANOSI M)、相似性百分比分析(SI MPER),以及对该海域游泳动物资源结构现状与历史调查数据对比分析表明,该海域渔业资源群落结构存在衰退现象。本研究为山东半岛南部海域渔业生物多样性保护和资源管理提供了参考依据。     

基于模糊集重心理论的岩体分类

将模糊综合评判方法应用于岩体分类可造成评判信息丢失,影响评判结果的准确性和可信度。针对该缺陷,引入模糊集重心理论,克服了综合评判方法中某些因素由于权值较小而被“淹没”的现象。在此基础上,选取了岩石质量指标、单轴抗压强度、岩体完整性系数、岩石软化系数、最大地震烈度和地下水渗水量这6个对岩体质量及其稳定性影响比较大的因素,以正态分布作为其隶属函数,采用加权平均值法确定各因素权重值,建立了基于模糊集重心理论的岩体模糊分类方法。结合具体的工程实例,阐明了上述各因素模糊集重心的计算方法。利用基于模糊集重心的岩体模糊分类方法,研究了某一地下工程围岩的稳定性级别,并与模糊综合评判方法计算的结果和围岩的实际稳定情况进行了对比,验证了方法的准确性和适用性。     

厦门海域渔业资源评估

以初级生产力和渔业统计资料为材 ,分别应用Tait沿岸海域生态系能流分析法、营养动态法和Cushing等 3种模式 ,估算厦门沿岸海域的渔业资源自然生产量。同时 ,分别应用Schaefer和Fox两种剩余产量模式估算最大持续产量和最大持续捕捞力量。前 3种模式估算该海域的资源生产量分别为 2 0 1 0 5t,1 8463t和 1 7489t,平均 1 8686t。后两种模式估算最大持续产量平均值分别为 9639t和 91 0 4t。估算的最大持续捕捞力量 :5种作业综合总功率为 1 5976kW ;以厦门机定置渔船单位功率渔捞效率为标准估算的总功率为 2 7351kW ;以厦门机刺网渔船单位功率渔捞效率为标准估算的总功率为 432 1 3kW。 1 997年实际渔获量和捕捞力量均超过了估算的最大持续产量和最大持续捕捞力量。文中还讨论了捕捞力量的调整问题。     

关于日本渔业调整委员会的性质的探讨

日本的渔业管理有一个显著的特色,就是除了政府相关部门对渔业进行行政管理以外,还有一个特殊的机构－渔业调整委员会参与管理日本沿海各海域的渔业。它既不同于专门的政府机构,又不角我国民间的渔业管理委员会。该机构的建立,使得日本的渔业管理逐步走上了法制化、民主化的轨道。本文通过分析日本渔业法规中对该委员职能的规定,探讨其所具有的性质,期望能为我国今后加强渔业管理提供一定的帮助。