Changes in Vegetation Cover and Socio-Economic Transitions in a Coastal Lagoon (Kalametiya, Sri Lanka), As Observed by Teledetection and Ground Truthing, Can be Attributed to an Upstream Irrigation Scheme

According to some non-scholarly reports, Kalametiya lagoon (dry zone of southern Sri Lanka, formerly 8.9 km², now 7.5 km²) had been a moderately or high salinity water body and a very important centre of prawn fishery until the late 1960s. Most of the lagoon area had remained open water until then. An upstream irrigation project, the Udawalawa irrigation scheme, came into operation in 1967, increasing the freshwater inflow to the lagoon. The flora, fauna and water quality of the lagoon was reported to have changed since then.The lagoon now is a shallow coastal water body with low salinity water. More than 75% of the lagoon is covered by freshwater species or mangrove species characteristic for water with a low salinity: Eichhornia crassipes, Typha latifolia resp. Sonneratia caseolaris. There is actually no commercially important fishery in the lagoon.The present study was carried out to assess scientifically the said changes in the vegetation within a GIS, using aerial photographs taken in 1956 and 1994 and IRS IC, PAN+LISS III satellite images of 1997 in combination with ground surveys and information from a questionnaire-based survey.It appeared from this work that the aerial cover by Sonneratia caseolaris has increased by more than 30 times over the period from 1956 to the recent dates. Also, the lagoon area with open water has been drastically reduced during the same period as a result of spreading of freshwater and low salinity plant species. The results strongly suggest that the locally reported changes (fisheries decline, water salinity decrease) can be corroborated by the observed profound changes in plant cover and that upstream water works may have had strong impacts on this ecosystem, thus causing these changes.This study couples data obtained from retrospective aerial photograph series, from spaceborne imaging, from actual ground surveys and from questionnaires amongst elderly people to reconstruct decadal environmental change, thus attempting to fill the gap of lacking historical environmental data.     

几种植物对水产养殖废水的修复效果

文章研究了凤眼莲、轮叶黑藻、香根草和水蕹菜四种水生植物在亚热带气候条件下净化水产养殖废水的效果,跟踪比较了一个月之内它们处理污水时,水体氮、磷、化学需氧量、pH值和溶解氧的变化,并对实验前后植物鲜重做了比较。结果表明:(1)4种植物均能强化水产养殖废水污染物的去除,但各有特点;(2)理论上凤眼莲和轮叶黑藻可在处理废水时相互搭配弥补不足,维持水体中性和较高的DO;(3)植物对废水经过2~3周的处理后,水质明显变好,而植物生长开始减退,应及时收割补种;(4)夏季用水生蕹菜处理废水,不仅改善了水质还能收菜创经济效益。研究结果为探索广东地区在构建人工湿地处理水产养殖废水时植物的选择提供了新的科学依据。     

鄱阳湖南矶山自然保护区渔业特点及资源现状

通过鄱阳湖对南矶山自然保护区鱼类的采样和调查,记录鱼类58种,分别隶属于6目14科43属。其中鲤科鱼类37种,占总数的63.79%,其余各科共21种,占总数的36.21%。与以往记录相比,保护区鱼类群落结构以及鱼类个体均小型化。此外,统计了主要鱼类的平均体重、生物量和K值,并探讨了鱼类资源衰竭和个体小型化的原因和保护对策。 较准确地反映了现阶段鄱阳湖西南水域渔业资源的特点和现状。     

Lessons from seabird conservation in Alaskan longline fisheries

Although bycatch of seabirds and other long-lived species is a critical conservation issue in world fisheries, case studies documenting significant reductions in the mortality of these low-productivity species in a fishery are rare. We studied progress toward seabird conservation in the Alaskan longline fisheries, one of the largest and most diverse demersal fisheries. We generated annual seabird bycatch rates in 4 target fisheries and all fisheries combined from 23 years of fisheries observer data. We used 0-inflated negative binomial models to evaluate variables influencing seabird bycatch per unit effort (BPUE) in 2 target fisheries. Following adoption of streamer lines, at first voluntarily and then mandatorily, seabird BPUE was reduced by 77–90%, preventing mortality of thousands of birds per year. Despite this, BPUE increased significantly in 2 of 4 target fisheries since streamer lines were adopted. Although night setting yielded significant reductions (74–97%) in seabird BPUE and significant increases (7–11%) in fish catch per unit effort over daytime setting, nighttime setting increased the BPUE of Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) by 40% and nontarget fish species by 5–17%. Thus, best practices to prevent seabird mortalities in longline fisheries varied by species assemblage and fishery. Our results inform global efforts toward fisheries bycatch reduction by illustrating that successful conservation requires fishery-specific solutions, strong industry support, constant vigilance in analysis and reporting observer data, and ongoing outreach to fleets, especially to vessels with anomalously high BPUE.     

渔业资源动态的综合时序模型

渔业资源的变动是一个随机过程,它既有确定性趋势,又有随机波动的特性。论文把灰色系统方法和时序分析相结合,用灰色GM(1,1)模型提取渔业资源变动中的确定性趋势,用时序模型描写它的随机波动,从而建立渔业资源动态的灰色时序模型。考虑到渔业资源的变化受到捕捞强度的影响,同时建立渔获量和单位捕捞努力量的渔获量(CPUE)关于捕捞努力量的二元时序模型。利用灰色时序模型和多元时序模型,对舟山渔场渔业资源的动态变化进行分析和预测,结果表明灰色时序模型和多元时序模型能很好地拟合渔业资源的变动过程,精确地预测渔业资源未来的状况。     

Closing the Incentive Gap: The Role of Public and Private Actors in Governing Indonesia's Tuna Fisheries

Indonesia is one of the world's largest tuna producing countries, yet regulatory oversight remains weak and management is poor. Incentive-based approaches are a way to improve state-based resource management, but they often require strong government regulation. In this paper, we use principal–agent theory and the notion of the ‘incentive gap’ to explore how incentives could be brought to bear in Indonesia through a combination of private and public actors. With a shared fish stock like tuna, we argue that a double principal–agent problem emerges, where information, asymmetries between various players complicate management. We focus on the problems of adverse selection and moral hazard in three different tuna fisheries in Indonesia to identify the nature of the incentive gap, and comment on the mix of public and private actors currently engaged in tuna fishery governance towards reducing the gap. The double principal–agent problem is a useful yet underutilized framework to understand the dynamics of shared stocks management. In this first application to a developing country fishery, we conclude that information asymmetries cannot be overcome without the involvement of private actors, who are increasingly becoming important in aligning regional and global objectives with those of fishers themselves.     

Studying common-pool resources over time: A longitudinal case study of the Buen Hombre fishery in the Dominican Republic

Like many small-scale fishing communities around the world, the community of Buen Hombre in the Dominican Republic is dealing with a set of challenges to reconcile its fishing activities with the ecology on which it depends. Also like many such communities, this case has been examined at a particular period in time by a group of social scientists, but not over substantial lengths of time in order to examine the longitudinal validity of the conclusions made during this period. In this paper we combine data from previous anthropological work with our own primary social and ecological data to conduct a longitudinal case study of the Buen Hombre fishery. Our over-time comparison focuses on a suite of mostly social and institutional variables to explain what we find to be a continued degradation of the fishery, and we conclude the analysis by presenting a causal-loop diagram, summarizing our inferences regarding the complex interactions among these variables. We find that a mix of factors, notably changes in gear and fishing sites used, the number of fishermen and their livelihood diversity, as well as an increased connectivity between Buen Hombre and its external environment, have contributed to the decline of the condition of Buen Hombre coral reef fishery. We conclude with a discussion of what may lie ahead for this particular case and others like it.     

Household susceptibility to hydrological change in the Lower Mekong Basin

The hydrological conditions of the Lower Mekong Basin support a multitude of ecosystem services. Processes that influence water flow in the Mekong River will thus have implications for the tens of millions of people whose livelihoods depend on these services. This study presents an assessment of livelihood susceptibility to hydrological change in the Lower Mekong Basin. Using an index‐based approach, susceptibility scores were calculated for 2,703 households. Using those scores, we compared average household susceptibility across the basin, among countries and among eco‐zones. Due to their greater livelihood dependency on water‐related activities, mean household susceptibility was higher in Vietnam than in Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand. Households in Northern Laos also had high susceptibility, which was attributed to their low adaptive capacity. The findings suggest that policies aimed at reducing vulnerability to hydrological change in the Lower Mekong Basin should account for geographic context. Further, they highlight how policies may be able to strategically target the most susceptible households, but that poorly designed policies have the potential to exacerbate vulnerability. In the face of high uncertainty surrounding hydrological change in the Lower Mekong Basin, our assessment of susceptibility should help inform precautionary water management policies and provide baseline information needed for more comprehensive vulnerability assessments.     

Labour challenges and mercury management at gold mills in Zimbabwe: Examining production processes and proposals for change

The use of mercury in small-scale gold mining has been a growing concern in many parts of Africa. However, although the negative effects of mercury pollution are increasingly reported, little has been written about how labour relationships and gold production challenges in mining communities affect mercury management practices. This article provides an integrative analysis of small-scale gold extraction processes, labour challenges, and mercury use at gold mills in Zimbabwe, focusing on a gold rush area in Mashonaland West Province. It examines practices employed by miners who have limited economic capacities to upgrade technologies, and how the complex relationships between miners, mill owners and government regulators affect environmental performance. The study draws attention to how poor environmental management practices relate to labour inequities, low gold recovery as well as the informal gold trade dynamics amid the country's economic crisis. Results of a United Nations-supported stakeholder consultation process are discussed, with proposals for improving labour conditions and reducing environmental risk. The article highlights why the government should develop and support local programs to assist miners, as well as the decisive roles mill owners could take in ensuring improved standards on their sites.