Restormel Fish Counter Annual Report 2008

This is the Restormel Fish Counter, Annual Report 2008 produced by the Environment Agency South West Region on April 2009. The report presents the upstream counts of migratory salmonids recorded on the River Fowey at Restormel Weir fish counting station (SX 107 613) over the period March 2008 to February 2009 inclusive. Data contained within this report covers the period of the commercial migratory salmonid net buy-back scheme and the National Spring Salmon Byelaws. The minimum upstream salmon estimate for 2008, over the period July 2008 to February 2009, was 938, which is the third highest recorded count over the past 14 years. The 2008 large sea trout count (482) shows a marked improvement in the number of returning fish when compared to 2007 (241). There was a significant decrease in the number of small sea trout returning in 2008 when compared to 2007 and the 10-year average. The fish counter suffered several faults equated to 12.5 days during this period.

Annual report 2007 - North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). Sixteenth meeting, Victoria, Canada, October 26-November 5, 2007

Report of Opening Session (p. 1). Report of Governing Council (p. 15). Report of the Finance and Administration Committee (p. 65). Reports of Science Board and Committees: Science Board Inter-Sessional Meeting (p. 83); Science Board (p. 93); Biological Oceanography Committee (p. 105); Fishery Science Committee (p. 117); Marine Environmental Quality Committee (p. 129); Physical Oceanography and Climate Committee (p. 139); Technical Committee on Data Exchange (p. 145); Technical Committee on Monitoring (p. 153). Reports of Sections, Working and Study Groups: Section on Carbon and Climate (p. 161); Section on Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms in the North Pacific (p. 167); Working Group 19 on Ecosystem-based Management Science and its Application to the North Pacific (p. 173); Working Group 20 on Evaluations of Climate Change Projections (p. 179); Working Group 21 on Non-indigenous Aquatic Species (p. 183); Study Group to Develop a Strategy for GOOS (p. 193); Study Group on Ecosystem Status Reporting (p. 203); Study Group on Marine Aquaculture and Ranching in the PICES Region (p. 213); Study Group on Scientific Cooperation between PICES and Non-member Countries (p. 225). Reports of the Climate Change and Carrying Capacity Program: Implementation Panel on the CCCC Program (p. 229); CFAME Task Team (p. 235); MODEL Task Team (p. 241). Reports of Advisory Panels: Advisory Panel for a CREAMS/PICES Program in East Asian Marginal Seas (p. 249); Advisory Panel on Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey in the North Pacific (p. 253); Advisory Panel on Iron Fertilization Experiment in the Subarctic Pacific Ocean (p. 255); Advisory Panel on Marine Birds and Mammals (p. 261); Advisory Panel on Micronekton Sampling Inter-calibration Experiment (p. 265). 2007 Review of PICES Publication Program (p. 269). Guidelines for PICES Temporary Expert Groups (p. 297). Summary of Scientific Sessions and Workshops (p. 313). Report of the ICES/PICES Conference for Early Career Scientists (p. 355). Membership (p. 367). Participants (p. 387). PICES Acronyms (p. 413). Acronyms (p. 415).

Small-scale spatial and temporal variability in growth and mortality of fish larvae in the subtropical northcentral Gulf of Mexico: implications for assessing recruitment success

Extensive plankton collections were taken during seven September cruises (1990–93) along the inner continental shelf of the northcentral Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Despite the high productivity and availability of food during these cruises, significant small-scale spatial variability was found in larval growth rates for both Atlantic bumper (Chloroscombrus chrysurus, Carangidae) and vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens, Lutjanidae). The observed variability in larval growth rates was not correlated with changes in water temperature or associated with conspicuous hydrographic features and suggested the existence of less-recognizable regions where conditions for growth vary. Cruise estimates of mortality coefficients (Z) for larval Atlantic bumper (n=32,241 larvae from six cruises) and vermilion snapper (n= 2581 larvae from four cruises) ranged from 0.20 to 0.37 and 0.19 to 0.29, respectively. Even in a subtropical climate like the GOM, where larval-stage durations may be as short as two weeks, observed variability in growth rates, particularly when combined with small changes in mortality rates, can cause order-of-magnitude differences in cumulative larval survival. To what extent the observed differences in growth rates at small spatial scales are fine-scale “noise” that ultimately is smoothed by larger-scale processes is not known. Future research is needed to further characterize the small-scale variability in growth rates of larvae, particularly with regard to microzooplankton patchiness and the temporal and spatial pattern of potential predators. Small-scale spatial variability in larval growth rates may in fact be the norm, and understanding the implications of this subtle mosaic may help us to better evaluate our ability to partition the causes of recruitment variability.

The QBO, El Niño, and tidal resonance model

I tentatively conclude ... that the QBO may be either modulated or amplified by atmospheric tidal resonances. The generally strong correlation between the QBO and tropical Southern Oscillation, in turn, suggests that one or probably both of these stratospheric and tropospheric oscillations are modulated or amplified by the same tidal-resonance system. ... The strikingly weaker correlation between the Southern Oscillation and El Niño events strongly suggests that some critical parameters are missing in the GCMs specifically designed to predict El Niño occurrence.

Pearl oyster survey, Gulf of Mannar, 1964

This note reports the results of the 1964 Pearl Bank Survey. These surveys are conducted annually by the Fisheries Department to assess the possibility of a fishery; for detailed accounts of past surveys see Sivalingam (1955, 1958) who has also provided (1962) a complete list of all literature on the Ceylon Pearl Banks. The 1964 survey was carried out with the Department's m. v. "North Star" (42') and m. v. "Seer" (45') and a 25' mechanised fishing boat as tender, between the 17th and 29th of April.

Coastal development and pollution impact on the distribution of macrobenthic communities along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez (Egypt)

The configuration for the eastern side of the Gulf of Suez was studied over 241 km from Ras Mohammed to Ras Sudr including 35 station. Litters, tar balls and aged oil patches aggregated in considerable amounts on the beach and shore line of the middle part due to the oil spills from off-shore oil wells. A large reef flat in the shallow intertidal waters exists at stations 1 and 2 (Ras Mohammed, Protected area) and spars coral patches are less frequent at the Stations from 7 to 13. Density and diversity of marine benthos were higher on hard and cobble bottoms compared to muddy sand and sandy substrates. The assemblages of the benthic fauna are dominated by the gastropod Courmya (Thericium) vulgata; the bivalve Brachiodontes variabilis, and the barnacles Chthamalus stellatus, Balanus amphitrite and Tetraclita rubescens. The distribution of the algal cover in the intertidal region shows high abundance of the brown algae, Sargassum latifolium; padina pavonica and Cystoseira trinodis rather than the green and red algae. These species are found in both polluted and unpolluted areas. The changes in benthic structures in the study area depend not only on the state of pollution but also on the type of substrates.