Corporate-cooperative management of fisheries: A potential alternative governance structure for low value small fisheries?

While the economic and environmental benefits of fisheries management are well accepted, the costs of effective management in low value fisheries, including the research necessary to underpin such management, may be considerable relative to the total economic benefits they may generate. Co-management is often seen as a panacea in low value fisheries. Increasing fisher participation increases legitimacy of management decision in the absence of detailed scientific input. However, where only a small number of operators exist, the potential benefits of co-management are negated by the high transaction cost to the individual fishers engaging in the management process. From an economic perspective, sole ownership has been identified as the management structure which can best achieve biological and economic sustainability. Moving low value fisheries with a small number of participants to a corporate-cooperative management model may come close to achieving these sole ownership benefits, with lower transaction costs. In this paper we look at the applicability of different management models with industry involvement to low value fisheries with a small number of participants. We provide an illustration as to how a fishery could be transitioned to a corporate-cooperative management model that captures the key benefits of sole management at a low cost and is consistent with societal objectives.     

Decomposing productivity and efficiency changes in the Alaska head and gut factory trawl fleet

Fishing fleets are subject to numerous factors that affect economic performance, making identification and attribution of such impacts difficult. This paper separately identifies the effects of changing input and output prices, fishery management, and quota allocations on total factor productivity using a Lowe Index. Indices account for technical change and decompose productivity estimates into its technical, environmental, and scale-mix components. This results in measures that reflect shifts in the production frontier, and movements by vessels toward and around the frontier, to capture economies of scale and mix after a policy shift to a catch share program that includes fishing cooperatives and a limited access fishery. The difference between cooperative and limited access vessels is exploited to compare the changes in economic performance between the groups after the introduction of the shift to catch shares and cooperative management, which allowed the vessels to improve the timing and coordination across multi-species fisheries and to decrease incidental catch of quota-limited bycatch species that had closed the target fisheries prematurely in the past. Results indicate that total factor productivity increased significantly after the move to a catch share program, largely due to increases in technical change that shifted out the production frontier of the fishery.     

Performance investigation of a two-raft-type wave energy converter with hydraulic power take-off unit

Raft-type wave energy converter (WEC) is a multi-mode wave energy conversion device, using the relative pitch motion to drive its hydraulic power take-off (PTO) units for capturing energy from the ocean waves. The hydraulic PTO unit as its energy conversion module plays a significant role in storing large qualities of energy and making the output power smooth. However, most of the previous investigations on the raft-type WECs treat the hydraulic PTO unit as a linear PTO unit and do not consider the dynamics of the hydraulic circuit and components in their investigations. This paper is related to a two-raft-type WEC consisting of two hinged rafts and a hydraulic PTO unit. The aim of this paper is to make an understanding of the dynamics of the hydraulic PTO unit and how these affect the performance of the two-raft-type WEC. Therefore, a combined hydrodynamic and hydraulic PTO unit model is proposed to investigate and optimize the performance of the two-raft-type WEC; and based on the simulation of the combined model, the relationships between the optimal power capture ability, the optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force and the wave states are numerically revealed. Results show that an approximately square wave type hydraulic PTO force is produced by the hydraulic PTO unit, which causes the performance of the two-raft-type WEC not to be sinusoidal and the energy capturing manner different from that of the device using a linear PTO unit; moreover, there is an optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force for obtaining an optimal power capture ability, which can be achieved by adjusting the parameters of the hydraulic PTO unit; in regular waves, the optimal power capture ability as well as the optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force normalized by the wave height presents little relationship with the wave height, mainly depends on the wave period; in irregular waves, the trends of the optimal power capture ability and the normalized optimal magnitude of the hydraulic PTO force against the peak wave periods at different significant wave heights are generally identical and show a good correlation. All means that the hydraulic PTO unit of the two-raft-type WEC can be tuned to the wave states, and these would provide a valuable guidance for the optimal design of its hydraulic PTO unit.     

Geochemical types of pacific polymetallic nodules: An application of multivariate analysis

A total of 843 samples of Pacific Ocean polymetallic nodules (PNs) from five survey areas have been studied (metals analyzed: Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Co, Zn, Pb). The statistical analysis included the following techniques: factor R analysis, quick cluster Q analysis into 50 preclasses, various hierarchical cluster Q analyses (HCAs) using the preclasses (application of different HCAs to an identical set of data and of an identical HCA to two different subsets of the data), comparison of the HCA. The PNs of the survey areas can be grouped into five geochemical types (I‐V). The genesis of the PNs was interpreted as early diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and mixed (early diagenetic/hydrogenetic and hydrogenetic/hydrothermal. In addition, some further conclusions regarding the applicability of various HCA techniques depending on the structure of the data set have been drawn.     

河南赵岭构造蚀变岩型金矿床微量元素地球化学特征

赵岭金矿床是典型的受构造控制的构造蚀变岩型金矿床,位于外方山断隆与旧县-大章断陷盆地结合部位的东部.构造活动的多期性形成了构造岩的复杂性.脉动式、幔涌式的成矿作用导致金矿体在走向上、倾向上都具侧列再现、相互叠加等组合特征.每一次的脉动和幔涌形成的金矿体都表现了各自的地球化学特征和元素组合特征,成矿微量元素在垂向上具有各自的规律性.为本区的地质找矿提供了一个明显的找矿标志.     

蛤蜊岗滩涂贝类分布及其与环境因子的关系

为探明辽东湾蛤蜊岗潮间带滩涂贝类的物种组成、分布密度和生物量的变化状况,于2011年5月对蛤蜊岗滩涂贝类资源进行了现场调查,采集共获得滩涂贝类16种,其中文蛤、泥螺、四角蛤蜊、托氏琩螺为蛤蜊岗滩涂贝类优势种,青蛤和光滑河蓝蛤为常见种。托氏琩螺的分布密度最高,为83个/m2,四角蛤蜊的平均生物量最大,为178.51 g/m2。蛤蜊岗滩涂贝类的分布呈现从滩涂北部向南部逐渐减少的趋势,滩涂四周的分布密度大于滩涂中间区域。对滩涂贝类分布密度和生物量与底质粒度、有机物含量等环境因子进行相关分析的结果显示:文蛤分布与底质中值粒径呈极显著的负相关性;托氏琩螺分布与底质中有机质含量呈显著的正相关性,而泥螺、四角蛤蜊则与环境因子的关系不显著。调查结果表明,蛤蜊岗滩涂贝类资源丰富,但应加强文蛤自然资源的保护和恢复,同时应加强对托氏琩螺资源的合理开发利用。     

Seismic Stability of Gravity Retaining Structures by Pseudo-Dynamic Method

An analytical expression of a gravity retaining wall's seismic stability against sliding and overturning is proposed in this article. The derivation, aiming at the cohesionless soil with inclined backfill surface and nonvertical wall back, is based on limit equilibrium analysis and the pseudo-dynamic method. The variations of the sliding and overturning stability safe factors with the horizontal seismic acceleration are investigated for different seismic amplification factors, soil friction angles, wall friction angles, vertical seismic acceleration coefficients, wall back inclination angles, and backfill surface inclination angles. The results indicate that the soil friction and horizontal seismic action significantly impact the seismic stability. The increase of vertical earthquake action changes the curvature of stability factor curves. The wall friction and back inclination strengthen the gravity retaining wall's resistance to sliding and overturning failure while the backfill surface inclination plays a negative role in the seismic stability. We also found that the seismic stability safe factors calculated by the proposed method are larger but more reasonable than those by the Mononobe-Okabe method.     

深层砂泥岩储层继承性裂缝发育特征

西部挤压盆地内低渗性含油气砂泥岩储层构造运动期次多、埋藏深度大、泥质夹层多、高角度网状缝继承性发育,裂缝不仅是油气的有效运移通道,也是储层压裂开发效果的主要影响因素。选择西部天山山前某区块深层砂泥岩裂缝性气藏为研究区,以裂缝形成机制的探讨和研究为突破点,在岩心观察、CT层析成像扫描、成像测井解释的基础上,精细统计裂缝产状、开度、充填度,结合流体包裹体及古应力场划分裂缝发育期次,最后总结继承性裂缝的发育模式。研究结果表明,砂泥岩储层裂缝继承性缝的有利发育条件为多期次构造运动、低应力差、低逼近角度、适当泥质含量或低摩擦因数,岩性是内因,构造应力是外因。     

华清4#泉水溶气体百分含量合计的强震远场前兆特征

华清4#泉水溶气体百分含量合计(QB)的取值范围为100±5.按4舍5入法取整数值,将其分为11个区段.以年为单位,统计QB落在每个区段内的频次.频率分布直方图显示,在QB取值区间内,分区段频率呈近似正态分布.将落入QB频率最高的区段称为轴,将轴在不同区段上位置的变化称为轴漂.研究表明,QB在不同区段上轴的漂移,反映了区域应力场的不同状态.轴落入99区段上,反映的是区域应力场的增强,与远场M≥7.0地震及伴生中强地震、鄂尔多斯块体周边后继中强地震有很好的相关性;轴落入98区段上,反映的是区域应力场的相对稳定;轴落入97区段上,反映的是巨大地震后,区域应力场的调整及中强地震活动格局的变化.文中还阐述了99区段轴值与地震对应关系的几个特征.     

有限元与改进单纯形法联合编程技术在位移反分析中的应用

根据弹性地基梁法基本思想,考虑基坑分步开挖和逐级加撑的动态施工因素,通过有限元计算模拟基坑实际开挖过程。结合现场监测数据,采用位移反分析方法反演各土层m 值,并准确预测后续工况支护体的变形。采用有限元通用软件ANSYS内嵌的APDL语言编程建立支护体有限元计算模型,并应用数学软件MATLAB编制“改进单纯形法”优化程序,编写了接口程序,实现了MATLAB对ANSYS模型的实时循环调用和逐步寻优。武汉长江隧道武昌明挖段基坑工程算例证明,基于单纯形法的联合编程技术能方便、高效地被应用于支护体位移反分析预测中。建立了基于本工况预测下一工况或相邻断面的扩展型位移反分析预测模型,预测结果与实测结果拟合程度较高。