Prediction of mesophotic coral distributions in the Au‘au Channel, Hawaii

The primary objective of this study was to predict the distribution of mesophotic hard corals in the Au‘au Channel in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). Mesophotic hard corals are light-dependent corals adapted to the low light conditions at approximately 30 to 150 m in depth. Several physical factors potentially influence their spatial distribution, including aragonite saturation, alkalinity, pH, currents, water temperature, hard substrate availability and the availability of light at depth. Mesophotic corals and mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) have increasingly been the subject of scientific study because they are being threatened by a growing number of anthropogenic stressors. They are the focus of this spatial modeling effort because the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS) is exploring the expansion of its scope—beyond the protection of the North Pacific Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)—to include the conservation and management of these ecosystem components. The present study helps to address this need by examining the distribution of mesophotic corals in the Au‘au Channel region. This area is located between the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe, and includes parts of the Kealaikahiki, Alalākeiki and Kalohi Channels. It is unique, not only in terms of its geology, but also in terms of its physical oceanography and local weather patterns. Several physical conditions make it an ideal place for mesophotic hard corals, including consistently good water quality and clarity because it is flushed by tidal currents semi-diurnally; it has low amounts of rainfall and sediment run-off from the nearby land; and it is largely protected from seasonally strong wind and wave energy. Combined, these oceanographic and weather conditions create patches of comparatively warm, calm, clear waters that remain relatively stable through time. Freely available Maximum Entropy modeling software (MaxEnt 3.3.3e) was used to create four separate maps of predicted habitat suitability for: (1) all mesophotic hard corals combined, (2) Leptoseris, (3) Montipora and (4) Porites genera. MaxEnt works by analyzing the distribution of environmental variables where species are present, so it can find other areas that meet all of the same environmental constraints. Several steps (Figure 0.1) were required to produce and validate four ensemble predictive models (i.e., models with 10 replicates each). Approximately 2,000 georeferenced records containing information about mesophotic coral occurrence and 34 environmental predictors describing the seafloor’s depth, vertical structure, available light, surface temperature, currents and distance from shoreline at three spatial scales were used to train MaxEnt. Fifty percent of the 1,989 records were randomly chosen and set aside to assess each model replicate’s performance using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC), Area Under the Curve (AUC) values. An additional 1,646 records were also randomly chosen and set aside to independently assess the predictive accuracy of the four ensemble models. Suitability thresholds for these models (denoting where corals were predicted to be present/absent) were chosen by finding where the maximum number of correctly predicted presence and absence records intersected on each ROC curve. Permutation importance and jackknife analysis were used to quantify the contribution of each environmental variable to the four ensemble models.

The study of the sedimentation mechanism in channels under the impact of tidal currents

The purpose of this research is to study sedimentation mechanism by mathematical modeling in access channels which are affected by tidal currents. The most important factor for recognizing sedimentation process in every water environment is the flow pattern of that environment. It is noteworthy that the flow pattern is affected by the geometry and the shape of the environment as well as the type of existing affects in area. The area under the study in this thesis is located in Bushehr Gulf and the access channels (inner and outer). The study utilizes the hydrodynamic modeling with unstructured triangular and non-overlapping grids, using the finite volume, From method analysis in two scale sizes: large scale (200 m to 7.5km) and small scale (50m to 7.5km) in two different time durations of 15 days and 3.5 days to obtain the flow patterns. The 2D governing equations used in the model are the Depth-Averaged Shallow Water Equations. Turbulence Modeling is required to calculate the Eddy Viscosity Coefficient using the Smagorinsky Model with coefficient of 0.3. In addition to the flow modeling in two different scales and the use of the data of 3.5 day tidal current modeling have been considered to study the effects of the sediments equilibrium in the area and the channels. This model is capable of covering the area which is being settled and eroded and to identify the effects of tidal current of these processes. The required data of the above mentioned models such as current and sediments data have been obtained by the measurements in Bushehr Gulf and the access channels which was one of the PSO's (Port and Shipping Organization) project-titled, "The Sedimentation Modeling in Bushehr Port" in 1379. Hydrographic data have been obtained from Admiralty maps (2003) and Cartography Organization (1378, 1379). The results of the modeling includes: cross shore currents in northern and north western coasts of Bushehr Gulf during the neap tide and also the same current in northern and north eastern coasts of the Gulf during the spring tide. These currents wash and carry fine particles (silt, clay, and mud) from the coastal bed of which are generally made of mud and clay with some silts. In this regard, the role of sediments in the islands of this area and the islands made of depot of dredged sediments should not be ignored. The result of using 3.5 day modeling is that the cross channels currents leads to settlement places in inner and outer channels in tidal period. In neap tide the current enters the channel from upside bend of the two channels and outer channel. Then it crosses the channel oblique in some places of the outer channel. Also the oblique currents or even almost perpendicular current from up slope of inner channel between No. 15 and No. 18 buoys interact between the parallel currents in the channel and made secondary oblique currents which exit as a down-slope current in the channel and causes deposit of sediments as well as settling the suspended sediments carried by these currents. In addition in outer channel the speed of parallel currents in the bend of the channel which is naturally deeper increases. Therefore, it leads to erosion and suspension of sediments in this area. The speed of suspended sediments carried by this current which is parallel to the channel axis decreases when they pass through the shallower part of the channel where it is in the buoys No.7 and 8 to 5 and 6 are located. Therefore, the suspended sediment settles and because of this process these places will be even shallower. Furthermore, the passing of oblique upstream leads to settlement of the sediments in the up-slope and has an additional effect on the process of decreasing the depth of these locations. On the contrary, in the down-slope channel, as the results of sediments and current modeling indicates the speed of current increases and the currents make the particles of down-slope channel suspended and be carried away. Thus, in a vast area of downstream of both channels, the sediments have settled. At the end of the neap tide, the process along with circulations in this area produces eddies which causes sedimentation in the area. During spring some parts of this active location for sedimentation will enter both channels in a reverse process. The above mentioned processes and the places of sedimentation and erosion in inner and outer channels are validated by the sediments equilibrium modeling. This model will be able to estimate the suspended, bed load and the boundary layer thickness in each point of both channels and in the modeled area.

Government-Industry Cooperative Fisheries Research in the North Pacific under the MSFCMA

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has a long and successful history of conducting research in cooperation with the fishing industry. Many of the AFSC’s annual resource assessment surveys are carried out aboard chartered commercial vessels and the skill and experience of captains and crew are integral to the success of this work. Fishing companies have been contracted to provide vessels and expertise for many different types of research, including testing and evaluation of survey and commercial fishing gear and development of improved methods for estimating commercial catch quantity and composition. AFSC scientists have also participated in a number of industry-initiated research projects including development of selective fishing gears for bycatch reduction and evaluating and improving observer catch composition sampling. In this paper, we describe the legal and regulatory provisions for these types of cooperative work and present examples to illustrate the process and identify the requirements for successful cooperative research.

An assessment of the implementation of alternative income sources for fishermen's wives as a strategy for poverty alleviation under the Kainji Lake Fisheries Promotion Project

Kainji Lake Basin is the first man-made Lake in Nigeria with a surface area of 1270km super(2). Since its creation in 1968 research activities were carried out on biological, socio-economic, hydrological and limnological characteristics of the water body. Extension activities concentrated on the dissemination of proven technologies developed by the Research scientists. Most of the socio-economic and extension activities focused on fishermen as women were regarded as homemakers and their activities concentrated in the home. The situation is even compounded by the Islamic injunction of seclusion. The intervention of NGKLFPP in 1993 has introduced many changes into the research and extension activities directed at the beneficiaries of the project because women were considered as a major stakeholder around the Lake area. The intervention of the project in Kainji Lake in the introduction of alternative income generating activities to women is enumerated in this paper. The intervention has improved the living standard of women and to a certain level reduced poverty among women in the area

Food security and poverty alleviation under the National Special Programme for Food Security: a preliminary socio-economic assessment of Yamama Lake, Kebbi state, Nigeria

The World Food Summit in its meeting in Rome in 1999 estimated that 790 million people in the developing world do not have enough food to eat. This is more than the total populations of North America and Europe combined. Nigeria is one of the developing countries affected by hunger, deprivation and abject poverty by its citizenry inspite of its enormous natural and human resources. To reduce poverty and increase food supplies to the masses the Federal Government of Nigeria embarked on a programmed-tagged National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) in the year 2002. The programme's broad objectives are to attain food security in the broadest sense and alleviate rural poverty in Nigeria. One of the areas of the programme's intervention is in the aquaculture and inland fisheries development because Nigeria imported 681mt of fish in 2003 with a total cost of about N50 million. The paper assesses the socio-economic conditions of one of the selected water bodies (Yamama Lake) with a view to introducing community-based fisheries management plan for the rational exploitation and management of the fishery and other aquatic resources of the water body thereby increasing fish supply and improving the living standard of the fisherfolk in the area. Data were collected using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools and questionnaire administration

Technical report on the environmental monitoring of the cage area at the Source of the Nile (SON) Fish Farm for quarter 2: April-June 2011

Source of the Nile Fish farm (SON) is located at Bugungu area in Napoleon Gulf, northern Lake Victoria. The proprietors of the farm requested for technical assistance of NaFIRRI to undertake regular environment monitoring of the cage site as is mandatory under the NEMA conditions. Thus, NAFIRRI undertakes quarterly environment surveys in the cage area covering selected physical-chemical factors i.e. water column depth, water transparency, water column temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity; nutrient status, algal and invertebrate communities (zooplankton and macro-benthos) as well as fish community. The first environmental survey was undertaken in February 2011. Results/observations made during the second quarter (April-June 2011) field survey are presented in this technical report along with a scientific interpretation and discussion of the results with reference to possible impacts of the cage facilities on the water environment and the different aquatic biota in and around the cages including natural fish communities.

Technical report on the environmental monitoring of the cage area at the Source of the Nile (SON) Fish Farm for quarter 3: July-September 2011

Source of the Nile Fish farm (SON) is located at Bugungu area in Napoleon Gulf, northern Lake Victoria. The proprietors of the farm requested for technical assistance of NaFIRRI to undertake regular environment monitoring of the cage site as is mandatory under the NEMA conditions. NAFIRRI agreed to undertake quarterly environment surveys in the cage area covering selected physical-chemical factors Like water column depth, water transparency, water column temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity; nutrient status, algal and invertebrate communities (microinvertebrates/zooplankton and macro-invertebrates/macro-benthos) as well as fish community. The first quarter survey was undertaken in February 2011; the second in May 2011 and the third quarter survey, which is the subject of this report, in September 2011. Results/observations made are presented in this technical report along with a scientific interpretation and discussion of the results with reference to possible impacts of the cage facilities to the water environment and aq-uatic biota, including the natural fish community at and around the cage site.

Technical report on the environmental monitoring of the cage area at the Source of the Nile (SON) Fish Farm for quarter 4: October-December 2011

Source of the Nile Fish farm (SON) is located at Bugungu area in Napoleon Gulf, northern Lake Victoria. The proprietors of the farm requested for technical assistance of NaFIRRI to undertake regular environment monitoring of the cage site as is mandatory under the NEMA conditions. As the SON is a key collaborator/client of the institute, NAFIRRI agreed to undertake the assignment subject to facilitation by the client. The institute agreed to conduct quarterly surveys of key environmental parameters at the site including selected physical-chemical and biological factors, nutrient status, column depth, water transparency and sedimentation. Samples and field measurements were to be taken at 3 sites: within and/or close to the fish cages (WIC), upstream (USC) and downstream (DSC) of the cages. The first environmental monitoring survey was undertaken in February 2011; the second in May 2011 and the third in September 2011. The surveys cover physical-chemical parameters, nutrient status, invertebrate and fish communities. The present report presents field observations made for the fourth quarter survey undertaken in November 2011 and provides a scientific interpretation and discussion of the results with reference to possible impacts of the cage facilities to the water environment and the different aquatic biota at and around the cage site including natural fish communities.

Technical report on the environmental monitoring of the cage area at the Source of the Nile (SON) Fish Farm for quarter 2: April-June 2015

Source of the Nile Fish farm (SON) is located at Bugungu area in Napoleon Gulf, northern Lake Victoria. The proprietors of the farm have a collaborative arrangement with NaFIRRI to undertake quarterly environment monitoring of the cage site as is mandatory under the NEMA conditions. The monitoring surveys cover selected physical-chemical factors i.e. water column depth, water transparency, water column temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity; nutrient status, algal and invertebrate communities (micro-invertebrates/zooplankton and macroinvertebrates/ macro-benthos) as well as fish community. The second quarter survey for the calendar year 2015, which is the subject of this report, was undertaken in June 2015. Results/observations made are presented in this technical report along with a scientific interpretation and discussion of the results with reference to possible impacts of the cage facilities to the water environment and aquatic biota.

Science-based restoration monitoring of coastal habitats, Volume One: A framework for monitoring plans under the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000 (Public Law 160-457)

Executive Summary: The Estuary Restoration Act of 2000 (ERA), Title I of the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000, was created to promote the restoration of habitats along the coast of the United States (including the US protectorates and the Great Lakes). The NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science was charged with the development of a guidance manual for monitoring plans under this Act. This guidance manual, titled Science-Based Restoration Monitoring of Coastal Habitats, is written in two volumes. It provides technical assistance, outlines necessary steps, and provides useful tools for the development and implementation of sound scientific monitoring of coastal restoration efforts. In addition, this manual offers a means to detect early warnings that the restoration is on track or not, to gauge how well a restoration site is functioning, to coordinate projects and efforts for consistent and successful restoration, and to evaluate the ecological health of specific coastal habitats both before and after project completion (Galatowitsch et al. 1998). The following habitats have been selected for discussion in this manual: water column, rock bottom, coral reefs, oyster reefs, soft bottom, kelp and other macroalgae, rocky shoreline, soft shoreline, submerged aquatic vegetation, marshes, mangrove swamps, deepwater swamps, and riverine forests. The classification of habitats used in this document is generally based on that of Cowardin et al. (1979) in their Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States, as called for in the ERA Estuary Habitat Restoration Strategy. This manual is not intended to be a restoration monitoring “cookbook” that provides templates of monitoring plans for specific habitats. The interdependence of a large number of site-specific factors causes habitat types to vary in physical and biological structure within and between regions and geographic locations (Kusler and Kentula 1990). Monitoring approaches used should be tailored to these differences. However, even with the diversity of habitats that may need to be restored and the extreme geographic range across which these habitats occur, there are consistent principles and approaches that form a common basis for effective monitoring. Volume One, titled A Framework for Monitoring Plans under the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000, begins with definitions and background information. Topics such as restoration, restoration monitoring, estuaries, and the role of socioeconomics in restoration are discussed. In addition, the habitats selected for discussion in this manual are briefly described. (PDF contains 116 pages)

Stream Initiative: achievements under the work plan for 2003-2004

(PDF contains 3 pages)

The traditional fishery of Ibu project area on the northern portion of the Imo River, Nigeria

A survey carried out on the fishery of the northern portion of Imo basin (known as Ibu project area for the purpose of this study) provided some information on the number and type of fishermen cropping this portion of the Imo River, Nigeria. The population was found to be very mobile with many itinerant or seasonal fishermen. The type of gear in use was studied and a high number of traditional dug-out canoes recorded which shows the ability of the people to make their own canoes. The presence of freshwater shrimps crayfish and clupeids at this upper region of the Imo River was observed

An economic overview of the fish and shrimp production of the Nigeria fish trawling industry under the structural adjustment programme

Over the years, Nigeria have witnessed different government with different policy measures. Against the negative consequences of the past policies, the structural adjustment was initiated in 1986. Its aims is to effectively altar and restructure the consumption patterns of the economy as well as to eliminate price distortions and heavy dependence on the oil and the imports of consumer goods and services. Within the period of implementation, there has been a decreasing trend in yearly fish catch landings and sizes but the reverse in shrimping. There is also a gradual shift from fishing to shrimping, from the vessels purchased with 83.3% increase of shrimpers from 1985 to 1989. Decreasing fish catch sizes and quantity aggravated by the present high cost of fishing coupled with the favourable export market for Nigeria shrimp tend to influence the sift. This economic situation is the result of the supply measures of SAP through the devaluation of the Naira. There is also overconcentration of vessels on the inshore waters as majority of the vessels are old and low powers hence incapable of fishing on the deep sea. Rotterdam price being paid for automotive gas oil (AGO) by fishing industries is observed to be discriminating and unhealthy to the growth of the industry as it is exceedingly high and unstable thus affecting planning for fishing operation. Fuel alone takes 43% of the total cost of operation. The overall consequences is that fishing days are loss and therefore higher overhead cost. It was concluded that for a healthy growth and sustainable resources of our marine fishery under the structural adjustment programme licensing of new fishing vessels should be stopped immediately and the demand side of SAP should be employed by subsidizing high powered fishing vessels which can operate effectively on the deep sea

An assessment of water quality in integrated poultry-cum-fish reservoir, NIFFR New-Bussa in reference to maximizing the water resources potentials of Nigeria for sustainable aquaculture under the sub-theme "Fish production and the environment"

In this reservoir, the parameters being assessed are very important in the aspect of fish culture. These parameters are: physical parameters which includes temperature (O), Transparency (M).Chemical parameters include: Dissolve oxygen (mg/l) pH concentration and the Biological Parameters which include phytoplankton and zooplankton. The phytoplankton and zooplankton identification and estimation were carried out in the NIFFR Limnology Laboratory, (Green House), New Bussa. Each identified zooplankton and phytoplankton species was placed according to its major group e.g. zooplankton was grouped into three families, Roifera, Cladocera and Copepods. During this study period it was observed that copepods have the highest total number of zooplankton both beside the poultry and monk (station 'A'&'B'). Water temperature of station 'A' (beside the poultry house) ranges from 27 C-29, 5 c also same station 'B' (near the monk). Dissolve oxygen station 'A' range from 6.30mg/l-7.40mg/l while that of station 'B' ranges from 6.20mg/7.50mg/l, turbidity reading of station A'ranges from 0.19m-0.3m while station 'B' ranges from 0.22m-0.37m. The last parameter, which is pH concentration, in both stations 8.2 was observed this is an indication that the pH was constant. According to some literature review all the water parameter figures obtained were good for fish culture