Patterns and trends in seabird bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery off South Africa

Both foreign and domestic pelagic longline fishing vessels operate in South Africa’s Exclusive Economic Zone and adjacent international waters where they kill hundreds of seabirds each year as bycatch. To update assessments of the impact of the pelagic longline fishery on seabirds off South Africa, information on necropsied seabirds and national fisheries observer bycatch records were summarised for 2006–2013. Foreign-flagged (Asian) vessels had 100% observer coverage throughout the study period, whereas only 6% of the fishing effort by South African-flagged vessels was observed (with no coverage in 2011–2013). Vessels with observers caught seabirds at a rate of 0.132 birds per 1 000 hooks, resulting in an estimated mortality of 2 851 individuals (356 per year) comprising 14 species. Extrapolation of the observed fishing sets to the unobserved fishing sets by the South African domestic longline fleet suggested that approximately 750 additional birds were likely killed during the study period, therefore a combined 450 birds were killed per year. White-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis was the most frequently killed species (66%), followed by ‘shy-type’ albatrosses Thalassarche cauta/steadi (21%), black-browed albatross T. melanophris (7%), Indian yellow-nosed albatross T. carteri (3%), and Cape gannet Morus capensis (2%). The seabird bycatch rates were lower than in 1998–2005. Nationality of the vessel, time of line-setting, moon phase, year, season, fishing area, and seabird bycatch mitigation measures all influenced seabird mortality. Concurrent with 100% observer coverage, significant reductions in the seabird bycatch rate occurred in the Asian fleet in the latter years of the study, and these rates now approximate the national target (0.05 birds per 1 000 hooks). However, seabird bycatch rates remained high in the South African fleet, where no observers were deployed during 2011–2013, highlighting the need for independent observer programmes in fisheries—a matter of global interest. Suggestions are made as to how seabird bycatch by pelagic longline fisheries off South Africa may be further reduced.     

Black-legged kittiwakes as indicators of environmental change in the North Sea: Evidence from long-term studies

Top predators, particularly seabirds, have repeatedly been suggested as indicators of marine ecosystem status. One region currently under pressure from human fisheries and climate change is the North Sea. Standardized seabird monitoring data have been collected on the Isle of May, an important seabird colony in the northwestern North Sea, over the last 10-20 years. Over this period oceanographic conditions have varied markedly, and between 1990 and 1999 a major industrial fishery for sandlance (Ammodytes marinus), the main prey of most seabird species, was prosecuted nearby. Sandlance fishing grounds close to seabird colonies down the east coast of the UK were closed in 2000 in an attempt to improve foraging opportunities for breeding seabirds, particularly black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). Initially this closure seemed to be beneficial for kittiwakes with breeding success recovering to pre-fishery levels. However, despite the ban continuing, kittiwakes and many other seabird species in the North Sea suffered severe breeding failures in 2004. In this paper, we test the predictive power of four previously established correlations between kittiwake breeding success and climatic/trophic variables to explain the observed breeding success at the Isle of May in 2004. During the breeding season, kittiwakes at this colony switch from feeding on 1+ group to 0 group sandlance, and results up until 2003 indicated that availability of both age classes had a positive effect on kittiwake breeding success. The low breeding success of kittiwakes in 2004 was consistent with the late appearance and small body size of 0 group sandlance, but at odds with the two variables likely to operate via 1 group availability (lagged winter sea surface temperature and larval sandlance cohort strength in 2003). The reason for the discrepancy is currently unknown, but analysis of 1 group sandlance body composition indicated that lipid content in 2004 was extremely low, and thus fish eaten by kittiwakes during pre-breeding and early incubation were likely to be of poor quality. Monitoring of reproductive success of kittiwakes, although useful, was clearly not sufficient to tease apart the complex causation underlying the 2004 event. Monitoring programs such as this, therefore, need to be complemented by detailed research to identify the mechanisms involved, and to attribute and predict the effects of natural and human-induced environmental change.     

Luminex detection of fecal indicators in river samples, marine recreational water, and beach sand

Research to understand and remediate coastal pollution is moving toward a multitiered approach in which traditional enumeration of fecal indicators is accompanied by molecular analysis of a variety of targets. Technology that rapidly detects multiple microbial contaminants would benefit from such an approach. The Luminex 100 system is a suspension array that assays multiple analytes rapidly in a single well of a microtiter plate. The ability of the system to simultaneously detect multiple fecal indicating bacteria in environmental samples was tested. Primer/probe sets were designed to simultaneously detect the following fecal indicators: the Bacteroides fragilis group, Enterococcus spp., Escherichia coli and Shigella spp., Bacteroides distasonis, and Ent. faecalis. Specificity and sensitivity of the Luminex probes was tested against laboratory cultures. In addition, sequencing, culture plate testing, and specificity testing with environmental isolates were steps taken to validate the function of the assay with environmental samples. Luminex response to cultures and to environmental samples was consistent with sequencing results, suggesting that the technology has the potential to simultaneously detect multiple targets for coastal water quality applications, particularly as progress is made to efficiently extract DNA from water and sediment matrices.     

Variations in melting dynamics and mantle compositions along the Eastern Volcanic Zone of the Gakkel Ridge: insights from olivine-hosted melt inclusions

We present major element, trace element, and volatile concentrations from 66 naturally glassy, olivine-hosted melt inclusions erupted along the Eastern Volcanic Zone (EVZ) of the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel Ridge. Melt inclusion compositions suggest that there are systematic variations in the mantle source composition and melting dynamics from the eastern to the western end of the EVZ. This includes increasing water contents and highly incompatible trace element concentrations (e.g., Ba and Nb) and decreasing light and middle rare earth element concentrations. Ratios of light to heavy rare earth elements in the easternmost melt inclusions are relatively homogeneous, but become more variable to the west. To determine the source of the geochemical variability observed along the EVZ, we model trace elements associated with mantle melting in one- and two-component systems. We consider four possible mantle sources and a range of melting regime shapes, from a full melting triangle to a vertical melting column centered beneath the ridge axes. The observed geochemical variations can be explained by melting of a heterogeneous mantle source composed of depleted MORB mantle plus a metasomatized mantle, where the proportion of the metasomatized component and the extent of melting increases toward the west. Lower rare earth element concentrations and trace element ratios in the westernmost sites also suggest inefficient melt focusing from the outer edges of the melting region. Our results indicate that despite variations in the size of the melting zone and the composition of the mantle source along the ridge axis, the region over which the melts are pooled back to the ridge axis is relatively constant (~10–20 km), suggesting that there is a limit to the distance melts can be transported from off-axis in ultraslow-spreading environments.     

Melting and thermal expansion in the Fe–FeO system at high pressure

Melting in the Fe–FeO system was investigated at pressures up to 93 GPa using synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a laser heated diamond anvil cell (DAC). The criteria for melting were the disappearance of reflections associated with one of the end-member phases upon raising the temperature above the eutectic and the reappearance of those reflections on dropping the temperature below the eutectic. The Fe–FeO system is a simple eutectic at 50 GPa and remains eutectic to at least 93 GPa. The eutectic temperature was bound at several pressure points between 19 and 93 GPa, and in some cases the liquidus temperature was also determined. The eutectic temperature rises rapidly with pressure closely following the melting curve of pure Fe. A detailed phase diagram at 50 GPa is presented; the eutectic temperature is 2500 ± 150 K and the eutectic composition is bound between 7.6 ± 1.0 and 9.5 ± 1.0 wt.% O. The coefficient of thermal expansion of FeO is a strong function of volume and decreases with pressure according to a simple power law.