Assessing Sustainability at Multiple Scales in a Rotational Bushmeat Hunting System

Abstract: Results of many studies show unsustainable levels of bushmeat hunting across West/Central Africa. Nevertheless, these results are usually derived from snapshot sustainability indices in which critical parameters are often taken from the literature. Simple, more informative tools for assessing sustainability are needed. We evaluated the impact of bushmeat hunting across a range of temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales in a comparison of different measures of sustainability. Over 15 months in 2002–2004 in and around a village close to Equatorial Guinea's Monte Alén National Park, we collected data via a village offtake survey, hunter‐camp bushmeat‐consumption diaries, hunter interviews, and following hunters during hunts. We compared 2003 data with a previous offtake survey (1998–1999) and interview reports back to 1990. In the past 14 years, average distance from the village at which hunters operated remained constant, with hunters switching back and forth between long‐established camps, although trapping effort increased. In the past 5 years, overall offtake and number of active hunters did not change substantially, although catch per unit effort (CPUE) decreased slightly. Although the proportion of the two most commonly trapped species (Cephalophus monticola and Atherurus africanus) and gun‐hunted primates increased in the offtake, species presumably less robust to trapping decreased slightly. Apparent sustainability in economic terms may be masking gradual local extirpation of more vulnerable species before and during this study. Our results suggest that changes in prey profiles and CPUE may be the most accurate indicators of actual sustainability; these indices can be monitored with simple village‐based offtake surveys and hunter interviews to improve community management of bushmeat hunting.     

Social and Ecological Change over a Decade in a Village Hunting System,Central Gabon

Despite widespread recognition of the major threat to tropical forest biological diversity and local food security posed by unsustainable bushmeat hunting, virtually no long‐term studies tracking the socioecological dynamics of hunting systems have been conducted. We interviewed local hunters and collected detailed hunting data to investigate changes in offtake and hunter characteristics over 10 years (2001–2010) in Dibouka and Kouagna villages, central Gabon, in the context of hunter recollections of longer term trends since the 1950s. To control for changes in hunter behavior, such as trap location and characteristics, we report hunting offtake data per trap. Our results suggest the hunting area was already highly depleted by 2001; local hunters reported that 16 large‐bodied prey species had become rare or locally extirpated over the last 60 years. Overall, we observed no significant declines in hunting offtake or changes in species composition from 2001 to 2010, and offtakes per trap increased slightly between 2004 and 2010. However, trapping distance from the villages increased, and there was a switch in hunting techniques; a larger proportion of the catch was hunted with guns in 2010. The number of hunters declined by 20% from 2004 to 2010, and male livelihood activities shifted away from hunting. Hunters with the lowest hunting incomes in 2004 were more likely than successful hunters to have moved away from the village by 2010 (often in response to alternative employment opportunities). Therefore, changes in trap success (potentially related to biological factors) were interacting with system‐level changes in hunter number and composition (related to external socioeconomic factors) to produce a relatively static overall offtake. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the small‐scale context of hunting to correctly interpret changes or apparent stasis in hunting effort and offtake over time. Cambio Social y Ecológico a lo Largo de Una Década en un Sistema de Cacería Aldeana, Gabón Central     

Trends in Fish Community Structure,Biomass, and Production in Three Algoma,Ontario, Lakes

Long-term (i.e. >10 years) whole community fish dataincluding catch-per-unit-effort, abundance, biomass, andproduction from three lakes were used: 1) to examine variabilityin fish population and community measures among years using wholelake assessments of fish populations derived from mark recaptureexperiments, 2) to assess implications arising from monitoringindividual species vs. the whole fish community, and 3) toascertain whether, in fisheries assessments (science) a commonlyused surrogate measure, [catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE)] reflectedannual changes in the fish assemblage, and thus may be a goodestimator of abundance. High, long-term variability was evident in the abundance andbiomass of a fish species in our lakes, yet the communityremained relatively stable in terms of its biomass andproduction. Changes in total fish community biomass appear drivenby large species, which, relative to small fish species, remainstable among years. Among years, species richness remainedstable; however, fish species changed in the community. AnnualCPUE was found to be a suitable surrogate for abundance (N) ofsmall fishes; CPUE x mean weight of the catch (bCPUE) was asuitable surrogate for biomass (B) of large fishes. Prior toconcluding that a change in a fish population has occurred as aresult of a stressor, care must be taken to critically examinethe level of population assessment in order to avoid acceptingpotentially invalid conclusions.     

桑美台风风暴潮及其对张网作业影响的探讨

以2000年"桑美"台风风暴潮及此阶段张网作业的有关资料为依据,对风暴潮增水的形成机制、浙沪沿海风暴潮各阶段特征以及对张网作业的影响进行了探讨;对风暴潮增水在张网作业的积极作用与负面影响以及2000年八月半水张网作业丰收原因进行讨论.分析表明,在杭州湾滩浒岛附近海域,因风暴潮增水导致张网作业CPUE平均增幅为9.3%,最大增幅达23.5%.本文是一则风暴潮有利方面的报道,中国迄今尚属首次.