Towards an EU Action Plan on Cetacean Bycatch

For decades, cetacean bycatch has been a major conservation and welfare concern in Europe, with high numbers of harbour porpoises, dolphins and whales continuing to die each year. Despite binding legal requirements to reduce bycatch, there has been limited effective monitoring or mitigation. Bycatch is also an important welfare issue. At this critical juncture, with discussion of incorporating monitoring and mitigation of bycatch of protected species in Europe into the Data Collection Framework and Technical Measures Framework taking place to help deliver the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), a clear, effective strategy could identify the steps that are required by all EU Member States to reduce bycatch towards zero. Here, implementation of current monitoring and mitigation obligations are reviewed. Recommendations are made for the provision of clear EU guidance in order to improve and unify population surveillance and bycatch monitoring, with enhanced implementation and enforcement from Member States. A more regionalised evidence-based approach to monitoring and mitigation is in line with the move to more regionalised management under the CFP, with Member States robustly showing that bycatch levels are decreasing over a set period of time (e.g. 5 years) by a specified amount. To this end, an EU Action Plan on Cetacean Bycatch, comparable to the existing 2012 Action Plan for reducing incidental catches of seabirds in fishing gear, might be beneficial and could ultimately form a model for an international Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Cetacean Bycatch Reduction Action Plan.     

Made in Japan: The Japanese market and herring roe production and management in Canada's southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

The herring roe fishery in Canada's southern Gulf of St. Lawrence is a productive fishery that lies outside the confines of privatized arrangements. Yet, this fishery is compromised by its dependence on the Japanese seafood market. Consideration of the efficiency of this fishery needs to account for the role assumed by this market in setting fishing practices. A more ecologically and economically efficient use of the herring resource requires greater attention to supply chain integration by local harvesters, processors and buyers prior to engaging with distant markets. This is necessary regardless of the property rights regime that is in place.     

Application and comparison of two symptom-based eutrophication-assessment methods in Jiaozhou Bay,China

Increasing numbers of approaches to assess eutrophication, such as estuarine trophic status, the Oslo-Paris Commission Common Procedure, and the Water Framework Directive, focus on the symptoms of eutrophication. In China, however, nutrient index methods dominate the assessment of coastal waters. In this study, an integrated method that includes both water quality and ecological response was compared with the Northwest Pacifi c Action Plan (NOWPAP) Common Procedure. Observation data from Jiaozhou Bay, Shandong, China, were used in a comparison of the two methods in a trophic status study. Overall, both clearly revealed a high level of nutrient enrichment in the bay, indicated by high nutrient concentrations. Though the two methods diff ered in their methodological design in the assessment of the ecological eff ects of nutrient enrichment, they have acquired similar results: the integrated method suggested that the status was good, and the NOWPAP Common Procedure suggested that the status was low (indicating that the bay had no serious eutrophication problem). The introduction of fi lter feeders (shellfi sh aquaculture) into the bay on a reasonable scale may have been eff ective in mitigating eutrophic conditions, and perhaps explains the low ecological impacts there. Our results will be useful to ecosystem-based eutrophication management in the bay and in similar areas.     

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.     

A common garden experiment with larval Northeast Arctic and Norwegian coastal cod cohorts in replicated mesocosms

A replicated mesocosm experiment was carried out to evaluate differential effects of feeding conditions for larval Northeast Arctic (NA) cod and Norwegian coastal (NC) cod. The two populations were (1) reared together with a 6-day older NA cohort (mixed) in high (HC) and low prey concentration (LC; 2000 and 200 prey/L initially), and (2) reared separately in HC treatments (non-mixed) to be able to evaluate both the effect of feeding conditions and possible effects of size interaction within mesocosms. The larvae were fed natural zooplankton, and the two stocks were identified in the mixed mesocosms by otolith marking. NA larvae hatched at a larger size, had higher growth rates, and survived better than NC larvae in both mixed and non-mixed mesocosms in the HC treatment. The second cohort clearly survived better in the non-mixed than in the mixed mesocosms, indicating the presence of an interaction effect before cannibalism could occur. We found a significant higher weight-at-length between NC and NA larvae (<12 mm), which was bigger than the effect difference due to feeding conditions. Furthermore, a positive relation between survival and initial growth within mesocosms was found. We suggest that lower growth at early larval stages was accompanied by lower survival, and suggest that this was further enhanced when larvae interacted with older and larger larvae.     

Urban green commons: Insights on urban common property systems

The aim of this paper is to shed new light on urban common property systems. We deal with urban commons in relation to urban green-space management, referring to them as urban green commons. Applying a property-rights analytic perspective, we synthesize information on urban green commons from three case-study regions in Sweden, Germany, and South Africa, and elaborate on their role for biodiversity conservation in urban settings, with a focus on business sites. Cases cover both formally established types of urban green commons and bottom-up emerged community-managed habitats. As our review demonstrates, the right to actively manage urban green space is a key characteristic of urban green commons whether ownership to land is in the private, public, the club realm domain, or constitutes a hybrid of these. We discuss the important linkages among urban common property systems, social–ecological learning, and management of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Several benefits can be associated with urban green commons, such as a reduction of costs for ecosystem management and as designs for reconnecting city-inhabitants to the biosphere. The emergence of urban green commons appears closely linked to dealing with societal crises and for reorganizing cities; hence, they play a key role in transforming cities toward more socially and ecologically benign environments. While a range of political questions circumscribe the feasibility of urban green commons, we discuss their usefulness in management of different types of urban habitats, their political justification and limitation, their potential for improved biodiversity conservation, and conditions for their emergence. We conclude by postulating some general policy advice.     

Geochronology of the Xihuashan Tungsten Deposit in Southeastern China: Constraints from Re–Os and U–Pb Dating

Xihuashan tungsten deposit is one of the earliest explored tungsten deposits in southeastern China. It is a vein type deposit genetically associated with the Xihuashan granite pluton. Here we report new dating and zircon geochemistry results. Re–Os isotopic dating for molybdenite intergrowth with wolframite in the oldest generation of the Xihuashan pluton yielded an isochron age of 157.0 ± 2.5 Ma (2σ). Zircon U–Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) dating shows that the pluton crystallized at 155.7 ± 2.2 Ma (2σ). This age is similar to the molybdenite Re–Os age for the ore deposit within error. This, together with published data, suggests that the major W(Mo)‐Sn mineralization occurred between 160–150 Ma in southeastern China. These deposits constitute a major part of the magmatic‐metallogenic belt of eastern Nanlin. The lower Re content in molybdenite of the Xihuashan tungsten deposit shows crustal origin for the ore‐forming material. The limited direct contributions from the subducting slab for the tungsten mineralization in the Nanling region suggest a change of the style of the paleo‐Pacific plate beneath southeastern China.     

新疆香山铜镍硫化物矿床Re-Os同位素测定

通过对香山铜镍硫化物矿石中的镍黄铁矿进行Re-Os同位素测年,获得等时线年龄数据为(298±7．1)Ma。该数据表明产于东天山黄山—镜儿泉一带的这些铜镍硫化物矿床形成于晚石炭世—早二叠世,与该区广泛发育的造山型金矿、矽卡岩型银铜矿床和火山岩型铁铜矿床为同一时期的产物。其等时线~187Os/~188Os初始比值为0．682±0．32,γ_OS平均为444,表明在成矿过程及岩浆侵位期间有地壳物质加入成矿系统中。     

太平洋海山富钴结壳铂族元素（PGE）和Os同位素地球化学及其成因意义

本文分析了中西太平洋海山富钴结壳及其各主要层圈(外层、疏松层、亮煤层)和玄武岩基岩的铂族元素(PGE)和Au含量以及Os同位素组成,发现富钴结壳中PGE和Au含量均较高,且变化很大,∑PGE为(70.09～629.26)×10-9,平均289.48×10-9,Au为(0.60～26900)×10-9.具三层结构的富钴结壳中,疏松层(∑PGE=(339.37～545.82)×10-9)和亮煤层(∑PGE=(280.09～629.26)×10-9)的∑PGE明显高于外层((70.09～133.27)×10-9.单层结壳的∑PGE为(83.94～479.75)×10-9,Au含量普遍高于具三层结构者.结壳的∑PGE和Au含量远高于太平洋多金属结核(分别为(101.57～155.83)×10-9和(1～4)×10.沉积深度和海水氧逸度的不同是导致结壳和结核中PGE含量明显差异的主导因素.富钴结壳∑PGE和Pt与Mn(%)之间呈明显的正相关关系,而与Fe(%)具负相关性,与多金属结核正好相反,显示结壳中的PGE主要赋存在水羟锰矿(8-MnO2)等锰矿物相中,与针铁矿(FeOOH·nH2O)等铁矿物相关系不大,而结核中的PGE主要赋存在铁矿物相中.PGE球粒陨石标准化曲线和各项参数显示富钴结壳的PGE和Au主要来自海底玄武岩的蚀变释放,部分来自铁陨石微粒等地外物质,而与海底热水活动无关.计算显示西太平洋结壳距今42.5 Ma左右开始生长,生长过程中分别在8.OMa和21.8Ma处出现间断,相应形成外层、疏松层和亮煤层,其各自沉积速率为2.64 mm/Ma,1.45 mm/Ma和1.06 mm/Ma,相应海水的187Os/188Os分别为0.948～0.953,0.599～0.673和0.425～0.536,显示外层含有较多的大陆风化尘,而疏松层和亮煤层的沉积物主要来自海底洋壳蚀变和陨石碎屑或宇宙尘等地外物质.     

Variscan ore formation and metamorphism at the Felbertal scheelite deposit (Austria): constraining tungsten mineralisation from Re–Os dating of molybdenite

The Felbertal scheelite deposit in the Eastern Alps has been regarded as the type locality for stratabound scheelite deposits. It is hosted by a Cambro-Ordovician metavolcanic arc sequence with minor Variscan granitoids (∼ 340 Ma) in the central Tauern Window. Re–Os model ages for molybdenite from the Felbertal tungsten deposit range between ∼ 358 and ∼ 336 Ma and record several pulses of magmatic-hydrothermal-metamorphic molybdenite formation. Molybdenite ages from the K2 orebody, a scheelite-rich quartz mylonite in the Western ore field, indicate that both mineralisation and mylonite are Variscan in age and suggest that the shear zone was active for ∼ 20 million years. Early stage tungsten mineralisation (Scheelite 1) in quartzitic ores in the Eastern ore field, which is free of molybdenite, yielded very low to near blank levels of Re and Os and thus could not be dated. However, molybdenite from scheelite–quartz stringers, previously interpreted as a feeder stockwork to quartzitic scheelite ore of presumed Cambrian age, yielded Variscan Re–Os ages of ∼ 342 and ∼ 337 Ma. Dating of molybdenite contained in scheelite ores thus far provides no indication of a Cambrian component to the tungsten mineralisation. Our data are consistent with a model of either granite intrusion-related ore formation and coeval metamorphic overprint during the Early Carboniferous or, alternatively, molybdenite formation may be exclusively attributed to Variscan metamorphism (see Stein 2006).