Does lunisolar gravitational tide affect the activity of animals?

Multiyear time series obtained by the continuous instrumental monitoring of the electrical activity (EA) of weakly electric fish Gnathonemus leopoldianus and the motor activity (MA) of the freshwater catfish Hoplosternum thoracatum and the cockroach Blaberus craniifer are compared to the parameters of the lunisolar gravitational tide. These curves are observed to be very similar for a large number of time intervals. However, a more detailed analysis shows this to be only a superficial resemblance caused by the closeness of the periods of diurnal and semidiurnal rhythms of bioindicator activity (the dominant rhythms in EA and MA patterns) and the periods of main gravitational tidal waves. It is concluded that the lunisolar gravitational tide has no significant effect on animal behavior in our experiment.     

Does the zooplankton prey availability limit the larval habitats of pike in the Baltic Sea?

The objectives of this study were to (1) investigate whether the availability of suitable zooplankton prey limits the distribution of the coastal larval areas of pike (Esox lucius) in two archipelago areas of the northern Baltic Sea and (2) compare the availability of zooplankton prey in spring between different types of coastal littoral habitat. According to the results, reed belt habitats formed by Phragmites australis constitute hot spots for zooplankton prey in the coastal ecosystem. During the spring, reed-covered shores of the inner archipelago maintained more than 10 times higher densities of copepods and cladocerans, the preferred prey for larval pike, compared to the other studied shores. Temperature conditions were also most favourable in the reed belt habitat. Thus, the reed belts of the inner and middle archipelago were shown to form the best habitat for larval pike in the coastal area of the northern Baltic Sea, and this was also the only habitat where pike larvae were found. Our results suggest that the poor survival and recruitment of pike in the outer archipelago, however, cannot exclusively be explained by sub-optimal feeding conditions of the larvae. There are also other important factors, presumably connected to the exposure to the open sea, that affect the distribution of the pike larvae. Our results, however, highlight the importance of sheltered coastal reed belt shores as reproduction habitat for spring-spawning fish in the northern Baltic Sea. Further, this study disproves the assumption that the seaweed bladder wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) forms a reproduction habitat for pike in the coastal area.     

Eco-labeling of seafood: Does it affect the harvesting patterns of Norwegian fishermen?

The aim of this paper is to compare the criteria for eco-labeling of wild-caught fish in the Norwegian eco-certified fisheries, and to study if these eco-labels affect the harvesting patterns of Norwegian fishermen. The eco-labels Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), KRAV and Friend of the Sea (FOS) as applied in 2009 were studied. In this study, the harvesting patterns are defined by using the following parameters: season, catch area, size of fishing vessel, gear type, bycatch, location of landing site and distance to the fishing ground. KRAV had more specific criteria than did MSC and FOS in specific fisheries regarding time of the fishing effort, catch area, size of fishing vessels, gear type (e.g. hook size, and the use of beam trawlers was not permitted) and distance to the fishing ground. The findings show that few of the eco-label requirements influenced these aspects in Norwegian fisheries.     

Transport and distribution of nutrients in anchovy spawning ground to the southern waters of Shandong Peninsula

INTRODUCTIONNutrients (N ,PandSi)areessentialforphytoplanktongrowthinmarineecosystem .Thetransportandcycling ,distributionandvariationofnutrientsaffectnotonlyonthestructureandfunctionofecosystem ,butalsoonthevariationofthebiologicalresourcesinthesea .ThesouthofShondongPeninsulaisoneofthecentralzonesofurbanandagriculturalactivities.Al thoughthereisnodirectlargeriverinput,seasonalvariationofchemicalenvironmentisobviousintheHaizhouBay .Inspringandsummer,thedistributionsofnutrientsareinflu…     

Does threat of mutually assured destruction produce quasi-cooperation in the mackerel fishery?

This paper uses a quarterly, game-theoretic model of the Northeast Atlantic mackerel to study the fishing strategies of five players: the EU, Norway, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and the international fishery on the high seas. Data on the spatial distribution of fish catches (1977–2011) are used to model changes in the distribution of the mackerel stock. The Nash equilibrium solutions predict a severe decimation of the stock through overfishing, either by parties (Iceland, the Faeroe Islands) that refuse to cooperate or by a general absence of cooperation. There is a wide discrepancy between this prediction and reality, as the stock seems, at most, only moderately overexploited, despite non-cooperation by Iceland and the Faeroe Islands. It is conjectured that these parties, and others, may engage in a degree of quasi-cooperation that falls somewhat short of full cooperation but avoids the extreme destruction of the Nash equilibrium. This tacit cooperation can be seen as being maintained by a mutually assured destruction of the fisheries of all parties in case they go to the logical extremes of non-cooperation.     

Does thermal history influence the tolerance of temperate gorgonians to future warming?

To date, several studies have provided evidence that thermal stress affects the growth, survival and physiology of tropical and temperate macroinvertebrate species. However, few studies have focused on subtidal temperate species and the potential differential thermal tolerances of populations dwelling under contrasting temperature conditions. To assess the role that environmental history has on the response of the temperate gorgonian Eunicella singularis to thermal stress, we compared populations dwelling in the coldest and warmest areas of the NW Mediterranean Sea. Our results show that E. singularis populations from both areas exhibited a high resistance to thermal stress; however, populations from warmer areas had an increased tolerance to thermal stress. Specifically, the upper thermal limits found for cold and warm populations were 28 and 29 °C, respectively. The higher resistance of E. singularis colonies to thermal stress found in this study compared to the field temperature conditions during recent mass mortality events highlights that performing further thermotolerance experiments under contrasting levels of feeding is necessary to fully assess the tolerance thresholds displayed by both study populations. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence for the role of thermal history in shaping the thermotolerance responses of Mediterranean marine invertebrates dwelling under contrasting temperature environments.     

Study on fishery biology features of spawning group of Pseudopleuronectes yokamae(Gunther) in the Sheath Bay

Pseudopleuronectes yokamae (Günther) is one of the most important economic fish species in the genus living specially in the northwest Pacific, and is distributed in the southern area of the far east sea of Russia, Japan, Korea, the Huanghai Sea, the Bohai Sea and the northern area of the East China Sea. Usually they live in nearshore waters of these areas as geographic subpopulations. P. yokamae in the Sheath Bay belongs to a local group of the Huanghai-Bohai Sea subpopulation and is distributed in the mouth and adjacent waters of the bay all the year round, and the catch of its spawning group has     

One million dollars per mile? The opportunity costs of Hurricane evacuation

Emergency managers should balance the benefits and costs of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders when issuing orders prior to a hurricane. The only estimate of hurricane evacuation costs is the often-quoted “one million dollars per mile” of evacuated coastline. The purpose of this paper is to pursue better measures of the opportunity costs of hurricane evacuations that depend on storm intensity, behavior, and population. We model the hurricane evacuation decision of households using revealed and stated preference methods with data from a survey of North Carolina residents who experienced 1998s Hurricane Bonnie. We use the evacuation predictions and estimates of household evacuation costs to estimate the aggregate opportunity costs of hurricane evacuations. We find that hurricane evacuation costs for ocean counties in North Carolina range from about $1 million to $50 million depending on storm intensity and emergency management policy. These costs are much less than “one million dollars per mile” of evacuated coastline.     

Does bivalve mucus favour the growth of their main food source,microalgae?

Bivalves, by releasing inorganic nutrients, can stimulate the growth of the primary producers on which they feed. Dissolved excretion and mineralization of biodeposits (pseudofaeces and faeces), two indirect processes related to their feeding activity, have already been identified. This study investigated whether microalgal growth is also dependent on the mucus secreted by bivalves and rejected with their biodeposits. An experimental study based on algal growth tests was conducted to determine whether the mucus coating the pseudofaeces and faeces of the oyster Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg) could stimulate the growth of nine marine microalgae: a Prasinophyceae [Tetraselmis suecica (Butcher)] and eight Diatomophyceae [Amphora sp. (Ehrenberg), Chaetoceros sp. (Ehrenberg), Entomoneis alata (Ehrenberg), Haslea ostrearia (Simonsen), Nitzschia acicularis (Wm Smith), N. closterium (Wm Smith), N. gandersheimiensis (Krasske) and Skeletonema costatum (Cleve)]. Oysters were fed only inorganic particles at a concentration well above the threshold of pseudofaeces production. A fraction of pseudofaeces and faeces was then inoculated into glass tubes containing a single algal species. Algal growth tests showed that mucus stimulated the growth of four of the nine species studied: Chaetoceros sp., H. ostrearia, N. gandersheimiensis and T. suecica. The strongest responses were observed with H. ostrearia and Chaetoceros sp., for which mean algal biomass was significantly higher with mucus originating from pseudofaeces than faeces. Monitoring of the release of dissolved components from mucus showed significant enrichment in inorganic phosporus. The use of an antibiotic treatment suggested that this dissolved component is released by simple solubilization rather than by bacterial breakdown.     

Does PCB accumulation affect the lipid metabolism of the reproductively active oyster Crassostrea virginica?

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pose a severe ecological risk. They are hydrophobic and are efficiently sequestered in lipid-rich tissues. Lipids function as energy reserves and as membrane components, and are essential for growth and reproductive processes in bivalves. Accumulation of PCBs may affect the mobilization of lipid reserves and membrane lipid composition; thus they may also impair reproductive and developmental processes. To test whether there are any changes in lipid metabolism, the lipid class and fatty acid composition in structural and reserve lipids of visceral mass, gills and mantle, and eggs of reproductively active oysters were examined. Oysters were fed daily with 0.2 g algal paste containing 0, 0.1, or 1.0 μg PCBs for 15 and 30 days. PCBs in the oyster tissues and eggs were also quantified. After 30 days of exposure PCBs were highly accumulated, up to 2635 ng/g in the visceral mass, 1880 ng/g in gill+mantle, and 671 ng/g (dry wt. bases). No significant changes were noted in either lipid class composition or fatty acid composition of structural or reserve lipids from PCB-exposed oyster tissues and eggs.     

Does historical exposure to hydrocarbon contamination alter the response of benthic communities to diesel contamination?

A microcosm experiment was used to compare the influence of diesel contamination on two benthic salt-marsh communities, one chronically exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for decades (Louisiana [LA]) and the other relatively uncontaminated (Mississippi [MS]). Initial meiofaunal community composition of the two sites was similar. Higher organic content of MS sediments should have reduced bioavailability, and thus the toxicity of hydrocarbons relative to the LA site. Nevertheless, although responses to diesel contamination at the two sites were generally qualitatively similar, a species-specific and several community-response variables were influenced to a much greater degree in the MS community. In particular, the abundance of total nauplii, ostracods, and copepods were negatively impacted to a greater extent in MS than in LA, as was grazing by ostracods on benthic microalgae. Nematode:copepod ratios in contaminated sediments were much higher in MS than in LA sediments. Pseudostenhelia wellsi (a benthic copepod) nauplii suffered greater adverse effects of diesel in MS than in LA. We conclude that the MS community was more sensitive to diesel contamination than was the LA community. The differential sensitivity is presumably a manifestation of different tolerances to hydrocarbon contaminants, mediated by a higher proportion of more tolerant species and/or increased tolerance among individual species in LA. Although the MS site was more sensitive to diesel contamination, qualitative response of the LA and MS communities were similar, and comparable to previous studies of diesel contamination. The spatial and temporal consistency of diesel impacts on salt-marsh communities suggests that hydrocarbon contamination results in predictable community responses. Specifically, crustacean (e.g. copepods, ostracods, and nauplii) benthos are most sensitive to hydrocarbons. Reductions in abundance and grazing activity of crustaceans leads to enhanced algal biomass, reduced copepod diversity, and alters competitive interactions among meiofauna.     

Does the water retained in a filter paper affect the chlorophylla measurement?

The present study investigated the effects of water seeped in a filter paper on the variations of chlorophylla measurement. As little as 184 l water retained in a 25 mm diameter GF/F filter paper after filtration resulted in the settlement of 60% chlorophylla at the bottom 20% of the extractant (90% acetone) in the extraction tube. More than one order difference in concentration of chlorophylla was found between the uppermost 20% and the bottom 20% of the extractant. Chlorophylla is trapped at the bottom by a pycnocline created by the water seeped into the filter paper and by chlorophylla itself, which is heavier than the extractant. Once the extractant was well mixed, good reproducibility of measurement was obtained. White precipitation occurred during the mixing of seawater sample and the extractant and was not found to affect the measurement of chlorophylla. The dilution of the extractant by the seawater seeped in the filter paper during extraction probably did not affect the extraction efficiency.     

Does the relationship between fishermen and enforcers impact regulatory compliance?

The focus of US fisheries regulations has changed from expanding fishing effort to protecting resources for current and future use. Regulations, enforcement, and compliance have changed and grown over the last forty years. Members of both the enforcement and commercial trawl fishing communities speculate and complain about regulatory compliance, often from opposite perspectives. A small research project in Oregon studied the relationship between these communities and regulation compliance. Although a difference was noted in the relationships between the varied levels of enforcement and trawl fishermen, this did not constitute a shift in compliance; compliance remained high with participants from both communities reporting that the fishermen have “little choice but to follow the rules.” What varied was communication within and between these communities, and the amount of control participants’ felt they had in regulation development. A small glimpse into the relationships within and between these communities offers insights into the factors that may impact fisheries, regulation development and enforcement, and communication within and between these interdependent, occupational communities.     

Small‐scale spatial variation in growth,size at maturity,and yield‐ and egg‐per‐recruit relations in the New Zealand abalone Haliotis iris

Tag‐recapture studies revealed differences in the growth rate of Haliotis iris between headlands and bays separated by as little as 200 m. Individuals off headlands had a significantly higher incremental growth and reached a higher maximum size than those in bays. These results were consistent with observations of the size composition of H. iris which showed that few individuals of harvestable size (> 125 mm shell length) were found in bays. Differences in the growth rate of H. iris may account for the apparent differences in the size at onset of maturity: individuals off headlands, and from a fast‐growing population off Wellington, reached reproductive maturity at a smaller size compared with those in bays. Yield‐per‐recruit modelling showed greater yields from headlands than bays, but egg‐per‐recruit modelling revealed more egg production was conserved in bays than off headlands. Yields could be increased from bays by decreasing the minimum size to 110 mm. Egg‐ and yield‐per‐recruit models were sensitive to the natural mortality rate (M = 0.03, 0.05 and 0.10 compared). The results show that parameters important in the management of commercial fisheries for abalone can vary over small distances: such variation should be incorporated in management strategies for abalone fisheries.     

Does the Canary Current penetrate into Guinea's shallow shelf area?

Relying onin situ observations, the paper shows that, in contrast to the suppositions made in some works that during the dry season, the Canary Current penetrates into Guinea's shallow shelf are as far as 5–6°N, the current flows there in the opposite, north-western direction. As regards the long-shore tongue-like distribution of the hydrological characteristics in the south-eastward direction assumed to be the result of the Canary Current's invasion, it may be accounted for by the joint effect of other physical phenomena. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Does cannibalism of larvae by adults affect settlement and connectivity of mussel populations?

Intertidal population dynamics are driven by a complex series of processes, including larval supply and the possibility of larval predation by benthic animals such as filter-feeders. We hypothesised that cannibalism by adults could play a major role in the population connectivity of mussel populations by removing larvae as they attempt to settle in the adult habitat. Specifically, we tested hypotheses that consumption of mussel larvae by adults removes a significant proportion of potential settlers and is influenced by both settlement intensity and tidal state (flooding or ebbing). Predation of mussel larvae by adult mussels was investigated on incoming and ebbing tides during four spring tides by analysing the gut contents of adult Perna perna and Mytilus galloprovincialis collected from the low intertidal mussel zone between October 2005 and January 2006. Consumption rates were then compared with estimates of successful settler densities on natural beds. The results showed that mortality of competent mussel larvae through adult ingestion removes up to 77% a of potential settlers. Rates of larval consumption were highest during months of intense settlement, suggesting that mussels feed opportunistically, filtering a relatively fixed volume of water and removing particles, including larvae, in proportion to their densities in the water. Rates of larviphagy were also higher during receding than incoming tides. We suggest that this is due to changes in larval density or, more probably, in adult filtration efficiency that are related to the state of the tide. Despite significant effects of both tidal state and settlement intensity on rates of larval ingestion, neither had a significant effect on the proportion of potential settlers removed. During settlement more than half of all potential settlers are lost through cannibalism, with potentially serious consequences for population maintenance. The results highlight the paradoxical nature of the evolution of settlement mechanisms in mussels, which must balance the advantages of settlement in habitats favourable to adults against the consumption of larvae by adults.     

Study on fishery biology features of spawning group of Pseudopleuronectes yokamae(Günther) in the Sheath Bay

Pseudopleuronectes yokamae (Günther) is one of the most important economic fish species in the genus living specially in the northwest Pacific, and is distributed in the southern area of the far east sea of Russia, Japan, Korea, the Huanghai Sea, the Bohai Sea and the northern area of the East China Sea. Usually they live in nearshore waters of these areas as geographic subpopulations. P. yokamae in the Sheath Bay belongs to a local group of the Huanghai-Bohai Sea subpopulation and is distributed in the mouth and adjacent waters of the bay all the year round, and the catch of its spawning group has important economic value in the area. In this paper the fishery biology features of spawning group of P. yokamae in the Sheath Bay is systematically studied to give biology evidence for proper utilization and the multiplification of its resources.     

Impact of minimum legal size increases on egg‐per‐recruit production,size structure,and ovigerous females in the American lobster (Homarus americanus) population off the Magdalen Islands (Quebec,Canada): A case study

In the mid 1990s, American lobster (Homarus americanus) from Canadian waters was considered overfished based on estimated levels of egg‐per‐recruit production (EPR). In 1997, the Department of Fisheries Oceans responded by adopting a goal of doubling the level of EPR from its 1996 level. In the Magdalen Islands (Quebec), results from a simulation model indicated that doubling EPR could be reached by increasing the minimum legal size (MLS) from 76 mm to 83 mm carapace length. This was done at a pace of 1 mm per year from 1997 to 2003. Following the increase of MLS, the size structure, mean size, and the abundance of ovigerous females improved significantly in the catches. However, levels of fishing effort are still very high. This could cause undesirable effects such as altering sex ratios and size structure of males, which could lead to sperm limitation, and reducing the contribution of multiple spawners to egg production, which could become an issue if egg quality is important. Consideration of these issues leads to the recommendation of a multidimensional approach to lobster conservation.     

Does compaction-induced subsidence control accommodation space at the top of prograding carbonate platforms? Constraints from the numerical modelling of the Triassic Esino Limestone (Southern Alps,Italy)

The demise of the high-relief, steep-slope, prograding Ladinian-Early Carnian carbonate platforms of the Esino Limestone (Central Southern Alps of Italy) is marked by subaerial exposure of the platform top associated with different erosional (mainly karst-related), depositional and diagenetic processes (Calcare Rosso). The exposure-related deposits consist of three major facies associations: 1) residual soils with thin lenses of conglomerates with black pebbles, and, locally, weathered vulcanites; 2) chaotic breccia lenses irregularly distributed in the uppermost part of the Esino Limestone carbonate platform, interpreted as collapse breccias in karstic setting: 3) inter-supratidal carbonate cycles with dissolution and development of paleosols and tepee structures.Facies distribution follows the sub-environments of the underlying Esino Limestone. Facies 1 and 2 typically characterize the core of the platform, covering the underlying inner platform facies. Facies 3 instead develops toward the edge of the platform, above reef-upper slope facies of the prograding facies of the Esino Limestone. The thickness of facies 3 decreases toward the core of the platform. Facies distribution reflects differences in the accommodation space and sedimentary processes from the rim (highest accommodation, favouring the deposition of peritidal-supratidal carbonates) to the core (reduced accommodation, causing pedogenesis and karstification) of the carbonate system.The observed thickness changes may be controlled by different factors: 1) syndepositional tectonics, 2) subsidence induced by magmatic activity or 3) differential subsidence controlled by the stratigraphic architecture of the Esino Limestone platform and adjoining basins. As evidence of tectonics was not observed and the presence of volcanic bodies is only documented tens of km away from the study area, the scenario involving the creation of accommodation space by compaction of the basinal sediments (resedimented, fine-grained calciturbidites) during the progradation of the carbonate platform is here investigated. Numerical modelling was performed to verify the compatibility of compaction-induced subsidence with the observed depositional architecture. The models were built to simulate the architectural evolution of the platform by progressively adding layers from deepest to shallowest, while compacting the underlying sediments, in order to evaluate compaction-induced subsidence (and accommodation space for the Calcare Rosso) after the deposition of the youngest platform strata. Modelling results allow us to conclude that the wedge geometry of the Calcare Rosso, deposited on top of the extinct Esino carbonate platform, can be explained by subsidence controlled by compaction of the basinal sediments present below the early-cemented, fast prograding platform slope deposits.     

Does freshening of surface water enhance heterotrophic prokaryote production in the western Arctic? Empirical evidence from the Canada Basin during September 2009

This study examined possible environmental factors that affect prokaryote variables in surface waters (upper 100 m of water column) in the Canada Basin, western Arctic Ocean. We collected data on prokaryote abundance and heterotrophic production ([³H]leucine incorporation) at eight stations deployed along a slope-to-offshore transect during September 2009. Prokaryote production and growth tended to increase with increasing chlorophyll a (Chl. a) and temperature and with decreasing salinity. The combination of Chl. a, temperature, and salinity accounted for a large fraction (74%) of the variability in prokaryote production, with the highest contribution made by Chl. a (r ² = 0.56), followed by salinity (r ² = 0.14) and temperature (r ² = 0.03). Similarly, the variability in prokaryote growth rate was largely accounted for by the combination of the three environmental variables (overall r ² of 0.64), with Chl. a making the largest contribution to variability (r ² = 0.33), followed by salinity (r ² = 0.27) and temperature (r ² = 0.05). These data are consistent with the notion that organic matter supply associated with freshwater inputs to surface layers can result in enhanced prokaryote production and growth in the Canada Basin. Our results provide insights into the regulation of the microbial loop in the Canada Basin where freshening has been proceeding rapidly due to increasing river discharge and sea-ice melting.