Is there any hope for fisheries management?

Fisheries is not the only discipline where models have been used in attempts to fine tune an aspect of the economy. Such fine-tuning can prove ineffective because of the uncertainties in the scientific underpinnings of the models and because of the omission of critical elements. In fisheries, the biological goal is to set allowable catches so that the harvest is not so large that it endangers the future health of the fish stock while it is not so low as to waste food, while the economic goal is to maximize the net economic rent generated by the fishery. It has long been recognized that the science underlying the setting of the total allowable catch is often too uncertain to justify such fine tuning, and that attempts to achieve that delicate balance has helped lead to crises in fisheries. One solution is to abandon such marginalism in favor of seriously reducing current catches.     

Variability of a cyprinid lake ecosystem with special emphasis on the native fish fauna under intensive fisheries management including common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)

The lake investigated (Lake Heiliger See near the town of Angermünde, North-East Germany) is small (10.2 ha) but deep (z_max = 12 m, ? = 6.5 m). During summer the thermocline is at a depth of 4-5 m, and the hypolimnion is filled with H₂S already by mid-June, making 60-75% of the bottom area inaccessible to fish. The native fish fauna is dominated by planktivorous roach (Rutilus rutilus). A test stocking of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) together with an unplanned and erroneous stocking of common carp (Cyprinus carpio), coupled with an incorrectly calculated strong stocking of eel (Anguilla anguilla), which assumed that the total lake area yielded fish food organisms, brought about a strong depression of the food biomass available to native fish. Both silver carp and common carp showed a pattern of behaviour which only partly agreed with results obtained in experimental ponds prior to lake stocking. At least for 10 years there was a very low zooplankton biomass (mostly below 1 mg/l fresh weight) caused by silver carp and a strongly reduced benthos biomass (frequently below 1 g/m² fresh weight) caused by common carp and eel on H₂S-free bottom areas. Despite this extreme situation, which lasted for 20 years and is rarely found in lakes elsewhere, it was not possible to demonstrate negative effects on the native fish fauna comprising 16 species. Also the dominance pattern seems uninfluenced in the long run. A strong decline of the catchable roach stock was observed for some years, but the stock reappeared soon in comparable quantity. During the time of roach stock depression the individual growth of roach (and common carp) was particularly low. Nevertheless, roach succeeded in reproduction during this time in spite of the reduced zooplankton and detritus concentrations. Fry numbers per year ranged from 500-15 000 individuals/ha. The pike perch (Stizostedion lucioperca) was perhaps the most endangered species of all those living at small population numbers in the lake, since its fry is confined to the limnion where competition from silver carp and adult roach and perhaps predation by roach is highest. However the pike perch stock remained unchanged at the low level of 1950, the time prior of carp and eel stocking. All other rare species of Lake Heiliger See spawn in the littoral zone where fry survival conditions were less impacted. In summary, we present more evidence that the fish fauna of cyprinid lakes is more robust than in salmonid lakes. The regulation capacity of fish communities of eutrophic lakes seems to be able to offset even severe direct and indirect influences of fisheries management.     

不同盐度和温度对熊本牡蛎(Crassostrea sikamea)稚贝生长与存活的影响

熊本牡蛎(Crassostrea sikamea)自然分布于中国长江以南沿海、日本有明海以及韩国沿海地区,具壳质坚硬、肉味清甜等特点,是巨蛎属牡蛎中重要经济种之一。为阐明熊本牡蛎稚贝生长发育的适宜盐度和温度范围,本研究分析了6个不同盐度(15、20、25、30、35和40)和5个不同温度(16、20、24、28和32°C)对熊本牡蛎稚贝生长与存活的影响。盐度实验结果显示,盐度15、20和25组中熊本牡蛎稚贝壳高和壳长显著高于盐度35和40组(P0.05),且随盐度增加,稚贝壳高、壳长表现为先升高后降低的趋势;盐度20组存活率最高,与盐度30和40组差异显著(P0.05);熊本牡蛎稚贝的适宜生长盐度为20—25,适宜存活盐度为15—25。温度实验结果显示,稚贝壳高和壳长在温度28°C组最大,随温度的降低,壳高、壳长也逐渐减小;温度20、24和28°C组存活率显著高于温度16和32°C组(P0.05);熊本牡蛎稚贝的适宜生长温度为24—28°C,适宜存活温度为20—28°C。熊本牡蛎稚贝对低盐高温有较强的适应能力。     

Characterisation of the dietary relationships of two sympatric hake species,Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus,in the northern Benguela region using fatty acid profiles

The two sympatric species of Cape hake, Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus, have been the main targets of bottom-trawl fisheries off Namibia for several decades. The feeding ecology of these hakes has been studied mainly using stomach content analyses and thus there remain some gaps in our knowledge about food assimilated over the longer term. In this study, we used fatty acid (FA) profiles to characterise the dietary relationships of M. capensis and M. paradoxus. Muscle samples from hake (n=110) and their known prey (n=68) were collected during trawl surveys off Namibia during 2011. Significant differences between the neutral FA profiles of the hake populations were detected in December 2011 but not in January 2011, an indication of temporal variations in diet and resource partitioning. Comparisons of the neutral FAs in hake and the total FAs of potential prey showed no clear trophic connections, with the exception of flying squid Todarodes sagittatus, which had FA profiles very similar to those of M. paradoxus in December 2011. Our results highlight the complex and temporally shifting relationships that exist between hake and the large pool of prey available to them, and between the two hake species that overlap in their feeding habits and distribution within the highly productive Benguela Current region.     

Towards sustainable fisheries subsidies: Entering a new round of reform under the Common Fisheries Policy

On 22 April 2009 the European Commission published its ‘Green Paper on the Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy’. The Green Paper points out a contradiction in policy, noting on one hand that public financial support to the Community's fisheries sector is substantial, but on the other hand such support is often incompatible with other Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) objectives, particularly the need to reduce overcapacities. Providing an analytical framework to better understand the effects of subsidies as well as an overview of existing funding schemes under the CFP, this article aims at answering some of the questions posed by the European Commission within its Green Paper. Answers are based on two ideas: the exploitation of marine capture resources ultimately depends on the level of available fish stocks and that a large share of subsidies fuels the race to fish by inducing investment incentives for the fisheries sector. Policies that have ignored this tend to encourage inefficient and unsustainable fishing as well as the misallocation of public funds. Although support schemes under the CFP have changed in recent years, some problematic support schemes persist. A future reform will have to continue the course taken towards sustainable and efficient approaches to supporting the fisheries industry.     

Recontextualising inshore fisheries: The changing face of British inshore fisheries management

Inshore fisheries are coming under increasing pressure to account for wider environmental impacts and relations with other users of marine space. However approaches to inshore fisheries management across Britain’s devolved governments are becoming even more strikingly divergent. While in England the century old local Sea Fisheries Committees are to be replaced with modernised structures, and in Scotland there are efforts to move to a locally driven management system, in Wales there has been a retreat from local co-management. Not only do the reforms pose ongoing challenges for good governance, not least in the handling of cross-scale interactions and user group participation, but they may also fall short in providing for systematic and full integration of fisheries and marine environmental management.     

THE NATURE‐CULTURE BOUNDARY AND OCEAN POLICY: GREAT BARRIER ISLAND,NEW ZEALAND*

ABSTRACT. This article analyzes New Zealand's rights‐based system of fisheries management from the perspective of local stakeholders on northern Great Barrier Island. The research identified differing perspectives through use of the concept of “boundary construction,” not only in terms of society and nature but also among societal institutions. Great Barrier Island participants exhibited significant differences, especially between staff of the local Department of Conservation and local Maori, both of whom were engaged in negotiating policy implementation at the local level. These differences expressed themselves in conceptions of both societal boundaries—the scale at which community was envisioned—and conceptions of the boundary between nature and culture. The findings confirm the need for the continued development of models of community‐based resource management as well as for the conceptual integration of society and nature in the realm of policy construction.     

A new identification method for five species of oysters in genus Crassostrea from China based on high-resolution melting analysis

The high phenotypic plasticity in the shell of oysters presents a challenge during taxonomic and phylogenetie studies of these economically important bivalves. However, because DNA can exhibit marked differences among morphologically similar species, DNA barcoding offers a potential means for oyster identification. We analyzed the complete sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I （COI） of five common Crassostrea species in China （including Hong Kong oyster C. hongkongensis, Jinjiang oyster C. ariakensis, Portuguese oyster C. angulata, Kumamoto oyster C. sikamea, and Pacific oyster C. gigas） and screened for distinct fragments. Using these distinct fragments on a high-resolution melting analysis platform, we developed an identification method that does not rely on species-specific PCR or fragment length polymorphism and is efficient, reliable, and easy to visualize. Using a single pair of primers （Oyster- COI-1）, we were able to successfully distinguish among the five oyster species. This new method provides a simple and powerful tool for the identification of oyster species.     

Monthly changes of glycogen, lipid and free amino acid of oyster

Monthly difference of the chemical composition of oyster cultured along the eastern coast of Shandong Province was analyzed. The components analyzed included glycogen, fatty acid and free amino acid （FAA）. The content of glycogen was high in January and March （2.89 and 2.82 g（100 g） ^-1 on average, respectively） and low in October （2.07g（100g）^- 1 on average）. The low content of neutral lipids in October reflected a relatively poor nutritional value of oyster （1.42 g（ 100 g）^- 1 on average）. The main fatty acids of oyster were palmitic acid （16：0）, oleic acid （18： 1）, eicosapentaenoic acid （EPA, 20： 5（0 3） and docosahexaenoic acid （DHA, 22：6（0 3）. The major FAAs of oyster were Taurine, Glutamicacid, Glycin, Alanine, Arginine and Proline. Taurine was the most abundant FAA with its content ranging from 603 mg（100 g） ^-1 to 1 139 mg（ 100 g） ^-1. The high contents of glycogen, polyunsaturated fatty acid and FAA showed that oyster cultured along the eastern coast of Shandong Province was nutritionally good in January and March.     

产量模型的比较及在小鳞鱼箴种群的应用(英文)

产量模型是渔业管理中预测最大持续产量（ＭＳＹ）的经典方法。ＭＳＹ仍然是渔业管理的重要目标之一。文章应用模拟数据比较了最常用的产量模型。蒙特卡罗研究表明ＷａｌｔｅｒｓａｎｄＨｉｌｂｏｒｎ的动态模型表现最好。这些方法被应用在小鳞鱼箴（ＨｅｍｉｒｈａｍｐｈｕｓｓａｊｏｒｉＴｅｍｍｉｎｃｋａｎｄＳｃｈｌｅｇｅｌ）种群。Ｗａｌ－ｔｅｒｓａｎｄＨｉｌｂｏｒｎ方法的Ｂｏｏｔｓｔｒａｐ结果是２２５０ｔ（吨）的ＭＳＹ和８０６艘船的最佳捕捞努力量。与目前２０００艘船的努力量水平比较,渔业处于过度捕捞状态,需要大力削减捕捞努力量