Statistical analyses to support guidelines for marine avian sampling: Final report. [Digital Supplements A-G attached]

Interest in development of offshore renewable energy facilities has led to a need for high-quality, statistically robust information on marine wildlife distributions. A practical approach is described to estimate the amount of sampling effort required to have sufficient statistical power to identify species specific “hotspots” and “coldspots” of marine bird abundance and occurrence in an offshore environment divided into discrete spatial units (e.g., lease blocks), where “hotspots” and “coldspots” are defined relative to a reference (e.g., regional) mean abundance and/or occurrence probability for each species of interest. For example, a location with average abundance or occurrence that is three times larger the mean (3x effect size) could be defined as a “hotspot,” and a location that is three times smaller than the mean (1/3x effect size) as a “coldspot.” The choice of the effect size used to define hot and coldspots will generally depend on a combination of ecological and regulatory considerations. A method is also developed for testing the statistical significance of possible hotspots and coldspots. Both methods are illustrated with historical seabird survey data from the USGS Avian Compendium Database.

Voluntary guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication: summary

The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) were adopted by member countries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and were officially approved as an international instrument in June 2014. What is very special about the SSF Guidelines is that it was created as a result of a very long history of the struggles of small-scale fishworkers around the world appealing for greater recognition of their status and their role in the fisheries sector of their countries. These Guidelines have 100 paragraphs which are distributed across 13 sections. This document is only a summation of the contents of the Guidelines. It was produced for ICSF by John Kurien, founder Member of ICSF, who has worked for the last four decades with small-scale fishing communities in many areas around the world, particularly in Kerala, India.

Towards socially just and sustainable fisheries: ICSF workshop on implementing the FAO voluntary guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication (SSF guidelines) report, 21 to 24 July 2014 , Puducherry, India

This publication is a report of the proceedings of the ICSF Pondy Workshop, which focused on the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). The workshop brought together 71 participants from 20 countries representing civil society organizations, governments, FAO, academia and fishworker organizations from both the marine and inland fisheries sectors. This report will be found useful for fishworker organizations, researchers, policymakers, members of civil society and anyone interested in small-scale fisheries, food security and poverty eradication.

Technical guidelines for management of fisheries resources, biodiversity and environment of Victoria basin lakes

Lake victoria is the second largest lake in the world.the lake is shatred between three East African countries (Kenya,Uganda and Tanzania) the lake basin is estimatedto have about 30 million people who depend on it as a source of fish for food,employment,income and recreation.the lake is transport locally and regionally is used for recreation and is recongnised internationally for its high fish species diversity of ecological and scientific value. This document in the first in a series to be produced on different fish production systems in Uganda and should stimulate discussions and comments to guide application of scientific findings into the policy environment.

Report of the ICSF-BOBLME India (East Coast) workshop: implementing the FAO voluntary guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries in the context of food security and poverty eradication (SSF guidelines), 6-7 March 2015, Chennai, India

The workshop titled, ICSF-BOBLME India (East Coast) Workshop on Implementing the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) was organized by ICSFin collaboration with BOBLME project.The workshop was the third in a series of consultations held in 2015 across the globe to promote the ownership of the SSF Guidelines among different stakeholders. In the run –up to the workshop, ICSF, with support from BOBLME conducted six consultation meetings with fishworkers and fishworker organizations along the east coast of India in January and February 2015. One hundred participants from India’s eastern coastal states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, including women fishworkers, representatives of fishworker organizations, representatives from Department of Fisheries and other concerned departments at state and central level, Multilateral agencies, Inter-governmental organizations, Research Institutions met at Chennai, 6-7 March, 2015. The workshop was structured to facilitate active interaction and discussion among participants, taking into account linguistic diversity and the contextual differences of the marine and inland sectors. This publication—the proceedings of the Chennai workshop—will be useful for fishworker organizations, researchers, policymakers, members of civil society and anyone interested in fisheries and livelihoods.

Adoption of recommended quality control practices by fish processing factories

Responses to mailed questionnaires from 31 fish processing factories revealed that for 55 recommended practices in quality control, the percentage of adopters varied from 21.43 to 100.The adoption index was not correlated to any of five variables studied. The mean adoption index did not differ significantly between five other criteria related to fish processing. Rate of rejection or reprocessing at the factory itself was highly correlated with the amount of water used per tonne of processed material.

Mangroves to aquaculture

The paper discusses the recommended strategies regarding the further conversion of mangrove forests to fishponds and the management of existing fishponds for the culture of various aquatic species based on economic feasibility analysis. Strategy for the management of Philippine mangrove and the guidelines for the selection of mangrove areas for preservation, conservation and fishpond development are also presented.

Guidelines for the development of environmentally acceptable coastal aquaculture

The paper presents some recommendations for the development of the environmentally acceptable coastal aquaculture such as: 1) Formulate coastal aquaculture development and management plans, 2) Formulate integrated coastal zone management plans, 3) Apply the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to all major aquaculture proposals, 4) Select suitable sites for coastal aquaculture, 5) Improve the management of aquaculture operations, 6) Assess the capacity of the ecosystem to sustain aquaculture development with minimal ecological change, 7) Establish guidelines governing the use of mangrove wetland for coastal aquaculture, 8) Establish guidelines for the use of bioactive compounds in aquaculture, 9) Assess and evaluate the true consequences of transfers and introductions of exotic organisms, 10) Regulate discharges from land-based aquaculture through the enforcement of effluent standards, 11) Establish control measures for aquaculture products, 12) Increase public awareness of the safety aspects of consuming seafood, 13) Apply incentives and deterrents to reduce environmental degradation from aquaculture activities, and 14) Monitor for ecological change.

Guidelines for environmentally acceptable coastal aquaculture

The article discusses the guidelines for environmentally acceptable aquaculture to ensure that financial gain is not at the expense of the ecosystem or the rest of society. The general principles, strategies and objectives, and action plans for the implementation of environment-friendly aquaculture is also discussed.

SSF Guidelines: the beauty of the small

An examination of the role of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication in the context of the small-sale fishery of Kerala, India.