Prawn postlarvae fishing in coastal Bangladesh: Challenges for sustainable livelihoods

Fishing for prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) postlarvae is a major contributor to the livelihoods of the coastal poor in Bangladesh, including women. A study of coastal livelihoods along the lower Pasur River in southwest Bangladesh indicates that on average 40% of total annual income comes from postlarvae fishing during the few months involved. However, indiscriminate fishing of wild postlarvae, with high levels of by-catch, has an impact on biodiversity in coastal ecosystems. This has provoked imposition of restrictions on postlarvae collection. The ban has, however, not been firmly enforced because of the lack of alternative livelihoods for coastal poor. A conceptual framework, drawn from an approach to poverty reduction known as the sustainable livelihoods approach, is applied to understanding the role of prawn postlarvae fishing. Evidence from this study suggests that postlarvae fishers faced a number of livelihood constraints, including poor livelihood assets. This paper concludes that wider livelihood options need to be found for postlarvae fishers to support their livelihoods.     

Introducing a transferable fishing day management regime for Pacific Island countries

On 1 December 2007, eight ‘Small Island Developing States’ in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean implemented a management regime restricting the total number of days fished by tuna purse seine vessels within their waters, commonly referred to as the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS). The VDS is seen as one component of management arrangements to reduce fishing mortality on bigeye and yellowfin tuna, constrain fishing effort, and increase the rate of return from access fees by Distant Water Fishing Nations.     

Static bay beach concept for scientists and engineers: A review

Headland-bay beach (HBB) is one of the most prominent physiographic features on the oceanic margin of many countries in the world. Under the influence of a predominant swell, its curved periphery in natural environment may reach static equilibrium and remains stable without sediment supply from updrift and/or a riverain source within its own embayment. Coastal scientists and engineers have attempted to develop mathematical expressions to quantify this ideal bay shape since the 1940s. As the scenario with depleting sediment supply has become a common reality on many parts of the world coastline in more recent time, some coastal engineers have advocated a rational approach to mimicking the static bay shape found in nature in order to mitigate beach erosion as well as for coastal management. Nowadays, many useful applications have emerged since the publication of the parabolic bay shape equation (PBSE) developed for static equilibrium planform (SEP) in late 1980s. The advance in modern computer technologies and international collaboration has further facilitated the exchange of knowledge and applications of this static bay beach concept (SBBC).     

Stakeholder consultation during the planning phase of scientific programs

Stakeholder consultation is being adopted as standard practice in the planning and management of natural resource management programs. While the utility of stakeholder participation has been investigated for the evaluation and implementation phases of natural resource management programs, few studies have examined the utility of stakeholder consultation during the initial phases of developing such programs. This paper presents a case study from a project developing a marine and coastal monitoring program for the Pilbara and Kimberley region of northern Western Australia. Via a series of workshops held in the region, stakeholders were asked to prioritise future research needs using several voting procedures. During the analyses of the results from the different voting procedures, it became apparent that there were high levels of inconsistency, poor correlation, and contradiction, between participants’ responses. Despite the rigour of the selection process used to identify ‘suitable’ stakeholders for the workshops, these results show that stakeholders did not have the technical or broader contextual knowledge about marine ecosystems to effectively and objectively contribute to the research prioritisation and planning process. Based on the outcomes of this study, we argue that project designers need to be clear about why they are involving stakeholders in a project, particularly in light of the costs involved (financial, time, resources, costs to the stakeholder) in stakeholder consultation. Stakeholder involvement may be appropriate in later stages of developing natural resource management programs (implementation and management), however, stakeholder involvement is not appropriate in the initial phases of such programs, where scientific expertise is essential in formulating scientific concepts and frameworks.     

Some statistical characteristics of large deepwater waves around the Korean Peninsula

The relationship between significant wave height and period, the variability of significant wave period, the spectral peak enhancement factor, and the directional spreading parameter of large deepwater waves around the Korean Peninsula have been investigated using various sources of wave measurement and hindcasting data. For very large waves comparable to design waves, it is recommended to use the average value of the empirical formulas proposed by Shore Protection Manual in 1977 and by Goda in 2003 for the relationship between significant wave height and period. The standard deviation of significant wave periods non-dimensionalized with respect to the mean value for a certain significant wave height varies between 0.04 and 0.21 with a typical value of 0.1 depending upon different regions and different ranges of significant wave heights. The probability density function of the peak enhancement factor is expressed as a lognormal distribution, with its mean value of 2.14, which is somewhat smaller than the value in the North Sea. For relatively large waves, the probability density function of the directional spreading parameter at peak frequency is also expressed as a lognormal distribution.     

Reconstructing tsunami run-up from the characteristics of tsunami deposits on the Thai Andaman Coast

Tsunamis can leave deposits on the land surface they inundate. The characteristics of tsunami deposits can be used to calculate tsunami run-up height and velocity. This paper presents a reconstruction of tsunami run-up from tsunami deposit characteristics in a simple mathematical model. The model is modified and applied to reconstruct tsunami run-ups at Ao Kheuy beach and Khuk Khak beach, Phangnga province, Thailand. The input parameters are grain-size and maximum run-up distance of the sediment. The reconstructed run-up heights are 4.16–4.91 m at Ao Kheuy beach and 5.43–9.46 m at Khuk Khak beach. The estimated run-up velocities (maximum velocity) at the still water level are 12.78–19.21 m/s. In the area located 70–140 m inland to the end of run-up inundation, estimated mean run-up velocities decrease from approximately 1.93 m/s to 0 m/s. Reasonably good agreements are found between reconstructed and observed run-up heights. The tsunami run-up height and velocity can be used for risk assessment and coastal development programs in the tsunami affected area. The results show that the area from 0 to 140 m inland was flooded by high velocity run-ups and those run-up energies were dissipated mainly in this area. The area should be designated as either an area where settlement is not permitted or an area where effective protection is provided, for example with flood barriers or forest.     

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.     

基于形态法的西北太平洋柔鱼种群结构研究

西北太平洋柔鱼是我国鱿钓渔业重要捕捞对象,种群结构是渔业生物学研究的基础内容.文中根据2007年7~10月40°N~45°N,151°E~158°E海域连续采集的1 342尾柔鱼样本,测定其胴长(ML)、腕长等12项形态指标,利用正态线性转化、主成分分析和判别分析等方法研究雌雄个体的种群结构.结果表明,该海域雌、雄柔鱼均存在大小2个种群.均数差异显著性表明,雌性个体2个种群在MW/ML和FW/ML存在显著差异,雄性个体在MW/ML和AL_3/ML存在显著差异,但其形态差异仍属于种内差异.主成分分析和逐步判别分析的判别准确率(雌性60.3%,雄性60.1%),说明所划分的种群在部分形态比指标上差异明显.研究认为,形态学指标可初步区分西北太平洋柔鱼种群,但需结合其他生态学指标和耳石等硬组织进一步划分.     

基于印度洋海温信号的我国西北地区东部夏季降水组合降尺度预测方法研究

利用国家气候中心第二代气候模式预测业务系统(BCC-CPSv2)预测产品,引入印度洋海温信号,采用组合降尺度方法建立了西北地区东部汛期降水预测模型。该预测模型对1991—2017年西北地区东部夏季降水的回报技巧较BCC-CPSv2预测技巧显著提高,空间相关系数由0.42提高到0.75,均方根误差明显减小,最多下降达80%。预测模型对降水空间分布型的预测能力较好,很好地回报了典型年份（1987年和2010年）夏季的降水距平百分率分布。通过抓住气象变量的空间分布特征,组合降尺度方法可以修正动力模式产品的预测误差,为西北地区东部夏季降水预测提供科学依据和技术支持,具有较好的应用前景。     

5月南极涛动对青藏高原西部夏季气温影响的诊断分析

青藏高原是全球气候变暖最敏感的地区之一,是北半球夏季最大的热源,其气候响应受到广泛关注。然而,有关南极涛动与青藏高原夏季气温的关系和机理知之甚少。为了研究南极涛动与青藏高原夏季气温的关系,基于1979—2020年英国东安哥拉大学气候研究中心（CRU）的逐月气温、美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）的逐月海表面温度和大气环流再分析数据以及南极涛动指数等数据,采用相关、回归、合成分析等方法进行研究。结果表明,北半球夏季青藏高原西部气温与5月南极涛动存在显著负相关,即当5月南极涛动异常偏弱时,夏季青藏高原西部气温异常偏高。其影响过程为,南极涛动为正位相时,在南印度洋中高纬地区出现“负-正-负”的经向“三极子”海温模态,该模态可持续到夏季,在印度洋形成异常的纬向-垂直环流,相应在热带西印度洋和东印度洋-海洋性大陆之间的降水异常导致热带正“偶极子”降水模态,通过该降水模态在青藏高原西部引起异常反气旋环流和下沉运动,有利于高原西部气温偏高。研究结果显示,海洋的热惯性在“延长”南极涛动影响过程中起着重要的桥梁作用,可为青藏高原夏季气温预测提供科学依据。