Management of the commons for biodiversity: lessons from the North Pacific

The North Pacific has the world's largest groundfish fisheries, with a value in excess of $1 billion annually. The North Pacific also is home to the largest population of Steller sea lions (SSL), an ancient species that is now endangered. Decline of the western stock of SSL in the 1970–1990s coincided with the US nationalization and exponential growth in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands groundfish fishery.The article treats five aspects of the competition between the fishery and protection of the endangered species. First, we analyze competition of interests in the use, management, and preservation of the North Pacific commons, including offshore and near-shore fisheries, environmental organizations, governments (federal, state, and local), and the scientific community. Second, the article compares and contrasts provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Magnuson–Stevens Act (as amended in 1996 by the Sustainable Fisheries Act).Third, we examine the regulatory environment with a focus on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its relationship to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. We illustrate how NMFS establishes fishery management plans and the methods, such as crafting biological opinions and environmental-impact-statements, it uses to resolve conflicts. Fourth, we investigate how the dual pressures on the agency—to increase fisheries production for the benefit of the industry and to preserve endangered marine species—have affected its culture (behavioral norms and operational codes). Then, the article explains agency changes in terms of crises, competition among affected interests, and development of new scientific knowledge.The article concludes by drawing lessons from the SSL controversy in the North Pacific which may pertain to national and global biodiversity conflicts. These concern the role of law in biodiversity protection, the role of science, and agency capacity for change.     

广东雷州珍稀海洋生物国家级自然保护区水体和沉积物中石油类含量与分布特征

为了探讨广东雷州珍稀海洋生物国家级自然保护区海域水体和沉积物中石油类的含量及其分布特征,文章于2017年和2018年分别对保护区海域的石油类进行了调查。结果表明,保护区表层水体石油类含量为0.003~0.066mg/L,平均含量为0.015mg/L,平均污染指数为0.30,保护区水体中的石油类基本符合一类海水水质标准。保护区表层沉积物中石油类含量为3.0~54.8mg/kg,平均值为11.109mg/kg,符合海洋沉积物第一类质量标准。保护区水体和沉积物中石油类含量的变化规律基本相似,但是沉积物中石油类含量的变化更大。根据调查数据分析,保护区水体中石油类的主要来源是保护区社区小型渔船航行排放的石油类,以及保护区周边渔船在航行过程排放的石油类扩散到保护区海域。     

茂名建设现代化海洋经济体系的现状、问题及路径

在广东实现“四个走在全国前列”的时代需求下,茂名应着力建设现代化海洋经济体系。近年来,茂名海洋经济总量快速增长、海洋经济体系基本形成、海洋创新成果初具规模、海洋生态建设成效显著、海洋管理能力不断增强,奠定了建设现代化海洋经济体系的基础,但也面临着海洋经济规模偏小且结构不够合理、现代化海洋产业进程缓慢、现代化海洋经济发展动力不足且受到制约和缺乏保障等问题。未来应从加快供给侧改革、实施创新驱动、推进开放合作、优化海洋生态系统和完善体制机制等方面寻求茂名建设现代化海洋经济体系的路径策略。     

环境规制对海洋经济绿色全要素生产率的影响

文章基于2006—2018年中国11个沿海省(自治区、直辖市)的数据,综合政府主导与市场激励型环境规制,利用熵权法得到海洋环境规制强度;结合SBM模型和Malmquist-Luenberger指数,测度了沿海省(自治区、直辖市)海洋经济绿色全要素生产率;在此基础上实证分析环境规制对海洋经济绿色全要素生产率的影响,并对技术创新的中介效应进行检验。结果表明：环境规制能够促进海洋经济绿色全要素生产率的增长,但在长江流域以南、长江流域以北沿海地区之间存在异质性;环境规制通过影响海洋科技创新投入和产出,可以影响海洋经济绿色全要素生产率。并从深化环境规制改革和强化技术创新两方面提出促进海洋经济绿色发展的政策建议。     

闽中、闽东渔场扁舵鲣的资源生物学

本文以1981～1984年4～9月累计18个月在闵中、闵东渔场开展中上层鱼类资源开发性探捕调查的材料,报道了扁舵鲣的生态分布、群体结构和生活史主要特征。鱼群先后于4～7月由南而北进入本渔场,数量分布以5月为多;栖息的最适温、盐度分别为23.5～25.5℃和33～34;渔获群体由0～V龄组成;性成熟的最小年龄为Ⅰ龄,最小叉长271～280mm;生长参数L_∞=484.44mm,W_∞=2050.76g,K=0.5109,t_0=0.3598;瞬时自然死亡率为0.8937,开发比率为0.2138,属于轻度利用的鱼类资源,尚有较大的开发潜力。     

Effect of Pollutants on the Physical and Engineering Behavior of Lime-Treated Marine Clay

Rapid industrial growth and increasing population has resulted in the discharge of wastes into the ocean, wastes which ultimately reach the seabed and contaminate the marine sediments. The soil-contaminants interaction, and their associated physico chemical properties with sediments control the behavior of marine clays. Marine clay deposits of low strength and high compressibility are located in many coastal and offshore areas. There are several foundation problems encountered in these weak marine clays. In this study, experimental work was carried out in the laboratory to stabilize soft marine clays using the lime column technique. Also the lime-induced effects on the physical and engineering behavior of marine clays in sulfate-contaminated marine environment was investigated. Consolidation tests indicate that compressibility of the lime-treated samples was reduced to 1/2-1/3 of the virgin soil after 45 days treatment. The test results also suggest that the lime column technique can be conveniently used to improve the behavior of contaminated marine clay deposits.     

Evaluation of mine tailings effects on a benthic marine infaunal community over 29 years

Benthic infaunal and sediment data collected over 29 years were used to examine the extent and geographic range of effects and recovery from submarine tailings deposition. Empirical data were used to determine extreme and moderate effects, and identify near-, mid- and far-field zones. A simple probability test using overlap in frequency distributions was then used to determine less obvious effects, identify "normal" or "reference" conditions, and verify the geographic range of effect zones. Tailings thickness and sediment particulate copper were elevated from the outfall to 16-20 km distant, particularly below discharge depth (50 m). Changes in tailings thickness and copper levels before, during and after mining showed three distinct impact zones below discharge depth: near-field (<5 km from outfall); mid-field (5-16 km); and far-field (20 + km). Consistent faunal declines during mining were noted at sediment particulate copper levels >300 microg g(-1), and sediment tailings thickness > 15-20 cm. Extreme impoverishment at these sediment levels were; < 100 animals/m2, <2.5 g/m2 biomass and <7 taxa per station. No stations with >300 microg g(-1) copper and 20 cm tailings had more than 40 taxa. Amphipods were particularly affected by tailings, with distributions reflecting the instability in sediments from heavy deposition and/or shifting of tailings due to resuspension. The probability testing method assumed that reference conditions existed in far-field stations. There was no difference in abundance distributions between near-, mid- and far-field zones. Total taxa per station during mining was significantly reduced (<45) in both near- and mid-field stations compared with far-field (less than 10% overlap in distributions). One midfield station in Quatsino Sound (23) was in reference condition throughout the study period. Post-closure stations in the near- and mid-field had total taxa numbers approaching far-field conditions (overlap of 62% in distributions). Within 3 years following closure, total taxa values were within the far-field range for all stations sampled. Biomass showed a distinct decline in the near-field during mining, but with more overlap in near-field and far-field distributions (27%) than for total taxa per station, and was returning to far-field conditions in the post-closure years. A multivariate (Bray-Curtis) measure of dissimilarity indicated that the near- and mid-field infaunal compositions were distinct from the far-field during mining (< 10% overlap in distributions). The mid-field composition overlapped more with the far-field in the post-closure years, but the near-field composition did not, suggesting that the mine tailings are still affecting the fauna. The most abundant taxon in each of the reference and near-field station groups both showed significantly distinct relative abundance distributions between near- and far-field stations. In summary, the probability method showed that species richness, biomass, species composition and indicator taxa were useful for differentiating affected and non-affected stations. Polychaetes recolonize stable tailings most quickly, and have dominated the tailings stations in the post-closure years. Amphipods have recolonized sporadically, but seem to be highly sensitive to tailings stability. There was no evidence of recovery in dominant bivalves or echinoderms within three years after mine closure.     

海洋资源信息化工程中的数据库构建模式

数据库系统承担所有的空间数据和非空间数据的存储和管理任务,是海洋管理信息化系统的基础．它的数据质量直接影响整个系统管理、分析的准确性,其数据结构是否合理影响到整个运行系统维护和更新工作的成效和费用。提出了构建海洋资源基础数据库的基本结构和基本内容,并简要讨论了建库时所涉及的问题和建库后的管理维护机制等问题。     

Marine tether dynamics: retrieval and deployment from a heaving platform

A tether management system of a winch module in a marine environment is proposed. For the purpose of this study the subsea body is considered as a mass attached at the free end of a long tether which is wrapped around a circular drum controlled by an external torque. The winch is considered mounted on a heaving platform. The effect of the heaving platform on the motions of the drum, tether and attached mass are studied with respect to the longitudinal vibrations of the tether in one dimension. The hydrodynamic effects are considered on the deployed portion of the tether and the tethered mass, both of which are assumed submerged in otherwise still water. The resulting nonlinear system of equations of motion is developed and solved numerically for an example of a marine tether system. The effect of the tether extensibility on the operation threshold of the system is identified. Comparison with an inextensible tether case is provided. The numerical results and their analysis for the retrieval/deployment of the system are presented.     

A finite differences formulation for the linear and nonlinear dynamics of 2D catenary risers

A finite differences (FD) solution method is proposed for the numerical treatment of the dynamic equilibrium problem of 2D catenary risers. The method is based on the so-called Box approximation, which in the scope of the present contribution is applied to the complete nonlinear model as well as to the reduced linearized formulation. The application of the Box method transforms the original governing systems into convenient sets of algebraic equations, which in turn are solved efficiently by the relaxation method. Extensive numerical calculations are presented that describe the dynamic behaviour of the structure and evaluate the amplification in loading due to the dynamic components. The effect of the geometric nonlinearities is assessed through comparative calculations that concern both mathematical formulations examined in the present, i.e. the complete nonlinear, and the reduced linearized model. Special attention is paid to the heave excitations as they amplify significantly the magnitudes of the loading components.