Sustainable fishing gear: the case of modified circle hooks in a Costa Rican longline fishery

Our research aims to identify longline fishing gear modifications that can improve fishing selectivity and reduce incidental capture of non-target species. Catch rates and anatomical hook locations (AHL) were compared when using a 14/0 standard ??control?? circle hook with a 0° offset and an experimental ??appendage?? hook in a Costa Rican longline fishery. With the appendage, the maximum dimension of the appendage hook was increased by 10% and the minimum dimension of the hook by 19%. A total of 1,811 marine animals were captured during five fishing trips. By taxonomic groups, sea turtles represented the largest total catch (27%), followed by sharks (26%), rays (25%), mahimahi (Coryphaena hippurus) (12%), and tunas and billfish (10%). Non-target and discard species, such as rays and sea turtles, accounted for over half of the total catch. Catch per unit effort (CPUE; number of individuals per 1,000 hooks) was higher with control hooks compared to appendage hooks for all species?? categories except rays; appendage hooks caught 52% fewer sea turtles and 23% fewer tunas and billfish than standard hooks, which represents a significant reduction in bycatch of endangered and other species. No differences were found in the AHL for sea turtles, suggesting use of the appendage may not incur additional advantages regarding turtles?? post-release survivorship. Despite lower catch rates for marketable species, such as sharks and mahimahi, use of the appendage resulted in dramatic reductions in catch rates of sea turtles. The results suggest that large scale adoption of hooks with a significantly wider hook dimension could be an effective conservation measure to maintain marine biodiversity while allowing for continued fishing.     

The potential of spatial information in human biomonitoring by example of two German environmental epidemiology studies

This study aimed at statistically investigating the association between the internal exposure of children and young adults to uranium (U) and epidemiologically relevant external determinants of exposure. The investigation was performed with data from two studies within the framework of the German health-related environmental monitoring program: The German Environmental Survey for Children (GerES IV) conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) with data on 1,780 children 3–14 years of age and their home environment and the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB, section: human specimens) with data on 2,253 students 20–29 years of age. Both studies provided data on the U levels in human urine for all probands. GerES IV furthermore provided an extensive environmental and demographic database on, e.g., U levels in drinking water. The data from GerES IV and ESB were linked by GIS to spatially relevant exposure information, including background values of U in stream sediments and in upper and lower soils, U levels in mosses and particulate matter in the lower atmosphere, precipitation and elevation as well as forest density. Bivariate correlation analysis and two decision tree models showed moderate but significant associations between U in human urine and U levels in drinking water, stream sediments and upper and lower soils. Future investigations considering additional epidemiologically relevant data sets may differentiate the results. Furthermore, the sample design of future environmental epidemiology studies should take the spatial evaluation of the data into greater account.     

An examination of the toxic properties of water extracts in the vicinity of an oil sand extraction site

The industrial extraction of oil sands (OS) in northern Alberta, Canada, has raised concerns about the quality of the Athabasca River. The purpose of this study was to examine the toxic properties of various water extracts on Oncorhynchus mykiss trout hepatocytes. The water samples were fractionated on a reverse-phase C(18) cartridge and the levels of light-, medium- and heavy-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined by fluorescence spectroscopy. Primary cultures of trout hepatocytes were exposed for 48 h at 15 °C to increasing concentrations of the C(18) extract corresponding to 0.02, 0.1, 0.5 and 2.5X concentrations from upstream/downstream sites in the Athabasca River, lake and groundwater samples, OS tailings and interceptor well-water samples. Changes in cell viability, phase I and phase II biotransformation enzymes (cytochrome P4501A and glutathione S-transferase activities), oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation LPO) and genotoxicity (single and double DNA strand breaks) were monitored in post-exposure cells. The water samples decreased cell viability and increased all the above endpoints at thresholds of between 0.02 and 0.1X the water concentration. The most responsive biomarker was DNA damage but it also offered the least discrimination among sites. LPO was higher at sites downstream of the industrial operations compared to upstream sites. A decision tree analysis was performed to formulate a set of rules by which to identify the distinctive properties of each type of water samples. The analysis revealed that OS tailings and interceptor waters were characterized by an increased concentration in light PAHs (>42 μg L(-1)) and this fraction represented more than 85% of the total PAHs. These samples also inhibited GST activity, which could compromise the elimination of genotoxic PAHs present in the system. An analysis of groundwater samples revealed a contamination pattern similar to that for OS tailings. There is a need for more research into specific biomarkers of toxicity from OS tailings compounds such as naphthenic acids, light PAHs among others, which are a characteristic fingerprint of OS extraction activities.     

Analysis of energy security and sustainability in future low carbon scenarios for Brazil

This study estimated a series of indicators to assess the energy security of supply and global and local environmental impacts under different mitigation scenarios through 2050 in Brazil, designed with the integrated optimization energy system model MESSAGE‐BRAZIL. The assessment of interactions between environmental impacts and energy security dimensions was complemented through the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Overall results imply energy security establishes more synergies than trade‐offs in increasingly stringent mitigation scenarios, especially patent within the sustainability dimension, which increases energy security and provides additional benefits regarding climate change mitigation and air pollution emissions. It is still necessary to extend analysis to other energy sectors in addition to the power supply sector and to promote a better understanding of repercussions of energy scenario expansion in energy security.     

Neoliberalism and the making of food politics in Eastern Ontario

Despite their opposition to the dominant agri-food system, alternative agri-food initiatives may unwittingly reproduce central features of neoliberalism. Julie Guthman has been a particularly strong proponent of this view, arguing that food activism and neoliberalism have shaped one another dialectically in California in recent decades. This paper responds to her argument, with a view to distinguishing between what it reveals and what it may conceal about the transformative potential of alternative agri-food initiatives in North America. Drawing on primary research on a variety of community-based food initiatives in Eastern Ontario, Canada, we show how a neoliberal lens does help to illuminate some problematic characteristics of these initiatives, including assumptions about market-based solutions and focus on self-improvement at the expense of state involvement. However, this lens underestimates those aspects of community-based food initiatives that may appear commensurate with neoliberal rationalities but which also push in more progressive directions.     

Economic use value of the Belize marine ecosystem: Potential risks and benefits from offshore oil exploration

The announcement of plans for exploratory oil drilling at a number of offshore sites in Belize raised concerns about the risks associated with drilling, particularly given the socio‐economic importance of the marine ecosystem. The current economic value of fisheries and marine ecotourism is estimated, along with the potential revenue from offshore oil and potential economic losses stemming from oil pollution, under various assumptions on risk and uncertainty. Marine fisheries and ecotourism are estimated to generate around US$ 183 million per year. Single‐year estimated maximum revenue is higher for oil extraction initially but quickly declines; during a 50 year (two generation) period, total discounted benefits from marine fisheries and ecotourism are estimated at US$ 5.1 billion, compared to US$ 3.2 billion from offshore oil revenue. Following a hypothetical oil spill, discounted losses in marine fisheries and ecotourism due to perception and ecological impacts are estimated at US$ 912 million, with clean‐up costs and capital losses of US$ 6.1‐10.4 billion. Considering the short extraction life of oil resources compared to fisheries and ecotourism, the difference in benefits increases substantially in favour of the latter with a longer time horizon. A recent public referendum resulted in a 98% vote against oil exploration and a subsequent annulment of oil concessions pending environmental impact assessments.     

Building blocks of economic resilience to climate change: a south east Australian fisheries example

Climate change will impact on ecological, social, and economic elements of fisheries; however, the three are seldom considered in an integrated fashion. We develop a fishery-level assessment of economic resilience to climate change for the Tasmanian rock lobster fishery, a linked social–ecological system. We outline the main climate change forcing influences that link climate change to the fishery via changes in lobster abundance, distribution, and phenology. Using a bottom-up approach, we identify twelve economic attributes strongly related to the fisheries’ economic resilience to climate change. Resilience attributes are grouped according to the level of the economic domain (business, sectoral, and governance). Attributes are then evaluated to determine the overall economic resilience of the rock lobster fishery in the context of the specific nature of predicted climate change effects. We identify areas of low resilience in the economic sub-system for this fishery. Evaluating the economic resilience of regional fisheries using this integrated, interdisciplinary framework provides a practical, parsimonious, and conceptually sound basis for undertaking comprehensive and contextually tailored assessments of climate change impacts and economic vulnerability. The framework can be extended to include a broader range of climate change impacts and the social domain of the human sub-system.     

Essential and non-essential trace metals in scalp hair of men chronically exposed to volcanogenic metals in the Azores, Portugal

Volcanoes produce and release large amounts of toxicants, and the concentration of metals in hair can be used as a biomarker of exposure to trace metals. In order to investigate whether humans exposed to volcanic emissions demonstrate higher concentrations of essential and non-essential trace metals, scalp hair of men (3-89 years) living in two areas of the Azores, one exposed to volcanic emissions and the other not, was sampled, and their content in Cd, Cu, Pb, Rb, Se, and Zn was quantified by using High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. In average, men exposed to volcanic emissions presented higher concentrations of Cd (96.9 ppb), Cu (16.2 ppm), Pb (3417.6 ppb), Rb (216.3 ppb), and Zn (242.8 ppm), but not Se (469.6 ppb). Also, strong and significant correlations were found between Cd-Rb and Pb-Rb in the exposed men. In conclusion, humans living chronically exposed to volcanic emissions show high concentrations of essential and non-essential trace metals in scalp hair, and is suggested that this type of exposure may be as harmful as living close to industrial facilities.