Workshop on turtle bycatch mitigation for longline fisheries: experimental design and data analysis, 7-8 November 2007, San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica

Large numbers of fishing vessels operating from ports in Latin America participate in surface longline fisheries in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO), and several species of sea turtles inhabit the grounds where these fleets operate. The endangered status of several sea turtle species, and the success of circle hooks (‘treatment’ hooks) in reducing turtle hookings in other ocean areas, as compared to J-hooks and Japanese-style tuna hooks (‘control’ hooks), prompted the initiation of a hook exchange program on the west coast of Latin America, the Eastern Pacific Regional Sea Turtle Program (EPRSTP)1. One of the goals of the EPRSTP is to determine if circle hooks would be effective at reducing turtle bycatch in artisanal fisheries of the EPO without significantly reducing the catch of marketable fish species. Participating fishers were provided with circle hooks at no cost and asked to replace the J/Japanese-style tuna hooks on their longlines with circle hooks in an alternating manner. Data collected by the EPRSTP show differences in longline gear and operational characteristics within and among countries. These aspects of the data, in addition to difficulties encountered with implementation of the alternating-hook design, pose challenges for analysis of these data.

Campagne Chalci 80-01 (20/8/1980-10/9/1980): résultats des chalutages

One additional Chalci campaign that, in line with the previous Chalci campaigns 78-01, 78-02, and 79/01, has as its major objective the trawl exploration of the Ivoirian continental shelf at the depth of 10 to 120 metres.

Vorträge gehalten auf der Wissenschaftlichen Tagung des Ernährungswissenschaftlichen Beirats der deutschen Fischwirtschaft in Bad Oeynhausen am 7. u. 8. November 1959 - Beiheft 2

Inhalt. F. Bramstedt: Der Einfluß von Fangreise und Fischauktion auf die stickstoffhaltigen Nichteiweißfraktionen von Seefischen. G. Siebert: Die Bedeutung der fischeignen Enzyme für die Lagerungsfähigkeit. v.Meyer: Fragestellung und Problemlage der bakteriologischen Forschung auf dem Fischsektor. H.D. Cremer; G. Jellinek: Die Anwendung der sensorischen Analyse für die Qualitätsbeurteilung von frischen Seefischen. H. Mann: Der Fettgehalt bei Fischen.

Cruise report: regional assessment of ecosystem condition and stressor impacts along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico Shelf. NOAA Ship 'Nancy Foster' NF-11-07-RACOW (August 8-16, 2011)

This cruise report is a summary of a field survey conducted along a portion of the U.S. continental shelf in northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), at navigable depths along the coastline seaward to the shelf break (~100m) from about 89°30' W to 95°28' W longitude, August 8 – 16, 2011 on NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Cruise NF-11-07-RACOW. Synoptic sampling of multiple ecological indicators was conducted at each of 34 stations throughout these waters using a random probabilistic sampling design. The original study design consisted of 50 stations extending from the Mississippi delta all the way to the U.S./Mexican border, but vessel failures precluded sampling at 16 stations within the western-most portion of the study area. At each station samples were collected for the analysis of benthic community structure and composition; concentrations of chemical contaminants in sediments and target demersal biota; sediment toxicity; nutrient and chlorophyll levels in the water column; and other basic habitat characteristics such as salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, sediment grain size, and organic carbon content. Other indicators, from a human-dimension perspective, were also recorded, including presence of vessels, oil rigs, surface trash, visual oil sheens in sediments or water, marine mammals, or noxious/oily sediment odors. The overall purpose of the survey was to collect data to assess the status of ecosystem condition and potential stressor impacts throughout the region, based on these various indicators and corresponding management thresholds, and to provide this information as a baseline for determining how such conditions may be changing with time. While sample analysis is still ongoing, some preliminary results and observations are reported here. A final report will be completed once all data have been processed.