Is there the will to manage fisheries at a local level in the European Union? A case study from Shetland

The failure of the command and control approach to fisheries management has encouraged governments to look for new ways of balancing the requirement to conserve fish stocks and yet maintain a flow of benefits that will meet economic and social targets. In the quest to establish a system for sustaining production in the Common Pond, the European Union (EU) has begun to investigate alternatives to the current management system. This research paper examines the problems associated with the current management regime operating in the EU in the light of alternatives for managing the fisheries. The research seeks to establish whether, given the serious problems confronting the EU's fishing industries, fishermen would be prepared to accept change and offer their ideas and support to develop an alternative management system. The research draws on the opinions of fishermen from Shetland and discusses the findings gained from interviewing key informants in conjunction with the results of an opinion survey of skippers and boat owners.     

A requiem for the IFQ in US fisheries?

Despite their apparent economic benefits to harvesters, individual fishing quotas (IFQs) have only been adopted in three US fisheries: Mid-Atlantic surf clam and ocean quahog; South Atlantic wreckfish; and, North Pacific halibut and sablefish. During the 1996 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Congress temporarily blocked implementation of additional IFQ programs in US fisheries. In this paper, we argue that because of the emergence of an alternative, the cooperative, it is unlikely that new IFQs will be adopted in federally managed US fisheries. From an economic perspective, cooperatives offer the advantage of eliminating production externalities that may remain under an IFQ program with relatively large owner classes. More significantly, development of IFQ programs appears to be increasingly overwhelmed by the proliferation of both equity concerns and seemingly interminable rent-seeking behavior — both issues that can effectively block adoption of IFQs. Ironically (and paradoxically?), by reducing the scope of the equity issues acknowledged, the cooperative alternative narrows the pool of claimants and modifies the behavior of the remainder, making implementation more likely. A further irony exists in that IFQs are widely thought to be best designed at the local/regional level while part of the appeal of the cooperative model is that it appears to shortcut the often protracted nature of the local/regional political process by relying on direct intervention from Washington, DC, in the form of actions by Congress or the Justice Department.     

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。     

光暗周期下底拖萤光网作业对鱼类的捕捞效应

萤光网对中上层鱼、近低层鱼的增产效应大多为全昼夜性的、对底层鱼的增产效应多数为非全昼夜性的;对于有全昼夜性增产效应的种,萤光网的增幅、比增与其渔获量显著相关,对于非全昼夜性增产效应的种则否;萤光网作业最具特生征的是,随自然光照条件变化,其作业效率依渔获种的视觉性能及视觉功能转换状况而发生变化。     

舟山渔场及其邻近海域水团的季节特征

根据2001年夏季和2002年冬季两次现场调查所收集的CTD和营养盐资料,利用模糊聚类分析法,对舟山渔场及其邻近海域水团的季节特征进行了分析.结果表明,舟山渔场及其邻近海域水团的配置、分布范围、温盐特性和营养盐含量都有明显的季节特征.其中,冬季在全海域共有3个水团(江浙沿岸水、台湾暖流表层水和黄海混合水),而夏季则存在4个水团(江浙沿岸水、台湾暖流表层水、台湾暖流深层水和黄海混合水);冬季,江浙沿岸水的分布范围较小,温度偏低,盐度略高,营养盐偏高,而夏季,其分布范围较大,温度偏高,盐度偏低,营养盐偏低;冬季,台湾暖流表层水北伸最强,厚度最厚,温度最低,盐度最高,硅酸盐和硝酸盐偏高,而夏季,则北伸最弱,厚度最薄,温度最高,盐度最低,硅酸盐和硝酸盐偏低;台湾暖流深层水是一个季节性水团,它含有较丰富的营养盐;黄海混合水的分布范围和营养盐含量也都呈现出明显的季节特征.     

FDS-P型绳索取心钻具研制及试验研究

针对复杂地层绳索取心钻进时易出现的内管总成打捞失败问题,开展了FDS-P型绳索取心钻具研制。基于内管总成打捞失败原因分析,完成了FDS-P型绳索取心钻具设计,通过室内试验,初步验证了钻具结构设计的合理性。为进一步验证钻具性能,在贵州页岩气井开展了野外生产试验,先后完成16个回次取心钻进,累计进尺39.03 m,岩心采取率达到98%以上,其中有6个回次发生堵心,内管打捞全部成功,内管到位及堵心均得到了及时提示。实际应用结果表明,FDS-P型绳索取心钻具结构设计合理,具有良好的到位及堵心报信提示作用,内管总成打捞可靠性得到显著提升,有效提高了易堵心地层钻进效率及岩心采取质量。     

Destructive gear use in a tropical fishery: Institutional factors influencing the willingness-and capacity to change

The aim of this study was to empirically assess institutional aspects shaping fishers’ behavior leading to unsustainable resource use, by using the example of destructive drag-net fishing in Zanzibar, Tanzania. A broad institutional approach was used to specifically assess institutional factors influencing the fishers’ reasons for the current use of destructive drag-nets as well as their willingness- and economic capacity to change to less destructive gears. Different regulative, normative, cultural-cognitive and economic factors (tradition, group-belonging, social acceptance, common practice, identity of drag-net users and weak economic capacity) were identified as critical elements influencing the current use of destructive gears, as well as obstructing changes to other gears. Hence, the importance of addressing all of these factors, matching to the different contexts, rather than focusing on fast-moving regulative measures, is emphasized to increase chances of management success. More promising approaches would be resource allocations to more sustainable fishing gears, well-managed gear exchange programs, as well as alterations of slow-moving normative and cultural factors, e.g. awareness raising on the advantages of more sustainable fishing gears, their traditional and cultural values, information on the actual income they generate, as well as education and an exchange of traditional knowledge on how to use them.     

Structure and dynamics of demersal fish assemblages over three decades (1985–2012) of increasing fishing pressure in Guinea

In a context of growing fishing pressures and recommendations for an ecosystem approach to fisheries, there is a need to monitor changes in fish communities over time. In this study, we analysed data from scientific trawl surveys carried out on the continental shelf off Guinea between 1985 and 2012. We performed factorial analyses and calculated biodiversity indices to characterise the changes in the structure and composition of fish communities that occurred over the 28-year period in this area, particularly given intensive fishing activities. We show that, over the study period, fish communities on the Guinean shelf were structured primarily according to spatial factors, with temporal changes being less pronounced than expected. However, a temporal analysis of biodiversity indices and species dominance showed that the intensification of fishing had significant effects on the general ecological features of the fish assemblages under study. There was a decrease in fish density and in mean trophic level. In addition, there were changes in species dominance, whereby large, slow-growing species with high commercial value were gradually replaced by smaller, fast-growing species of lesser commercial interest. These results from field observations are in line with some conclusions from previous modelling studies in the same geographical area, and provide further support for the hypothesis of a progressive ‘ecosystem effect of fishing’ occurring in Guinean waters.