Impact of the introduction of apple snails and their control in Japan

The apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, was imported into Japan and cultured extensively for food in the early 1980s. Not long after, escaped or discarded snails became feral and started feeding on rice seedlings and other aquatic plants. This was especially noted in Kyushu in southern Japan. Snails are still proliferating, but the area of damaged rice is not increasing as fast, mainly because of the success of snail control. Currently, the most effective methods of avoiding damage to rice are keeping water shallow, transplanting older seedlings and, in some cases, using molluscicides or repellents. However, these methods have almost no effect on damage by snail feeding when rice fields are flooded. The apple snail is believed to be the most important obstacle to the spread of direct-sowing culture of rice in Kyushu. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has launched a national project for the integrated management of the snail under direct sowing culture of rice in Kyushu. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has launched a national project for the integrated management of the snail under direct-sowing rice culture. Some recent results from this project are briefly reviewed in this paper.

A Demographic Profile of Participants in Two Gulf of Mexico Inshore Shrimp Fisheries and Their Response to the Texas Closure

A social study of the shrimp fisheries of Galveston Bay, Tex., and Calcasieu Lake, La., was made during the summer of 1987 to examine the impacts of the seasonal closure of the Federal waters off Texas and to understand the infrastructure and demographic processes of these two diverse fisheries. Survey instruments were administered to 159 shrimp boat captains: 89 from Galveston Bay and 70 from Calcasieu Lake. Shrimp-house owners were interviewed in each region as well. The results suggest that the inshore fisheries (i.e., shrimpers and shrimp houses) are distinct from the offshore fisheries. The infrastructure of the two inshore fisheries examined differ in that the market distribution of shrimp from Galveston Bay was more diffuse than from Calcasieu Lake. Much more of the shrimp harvested from Galveston Bay was channelled into the surrounding community than from Calcasieu Lake. The distribution of age,years as a commercial fisherman, and family involvement in fishing suggest that participation in Calcasieu Lake's and Galveston Bay's inshore fisheries have expanded concurrent with declining economies. While overall the Texas closure had little impact on either of the inshore fisheries, the Galveston Bay shrimpers experienced more of a direct impact on their livelihood than Calcasieu Lake shrimpers.

Species management in aquatic Habitats overview of sub projects and their management

This is the Species management in aquatic Habitats overview of sub projects and their management produced by the Environment Agency in 1998. This report was under the R&D Project, which it was initiated in 1995 to provide information on species of conservation value of particular relevance to the Environment Agency (then the National Rivers Authority, NRA), in relation to its activities affecting aquatic environments. Outputs comprise Species Action Plans (SAPs), practical management guidelines for Agency staff and third parties, and various research and survey outputs to improve the knowledge base on the status and ecological requirements of priority species. This R&D Technical Report provides an overview of the work undertaken, additionally identifying lessons to be learnt in the management of species-related research within the framework of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The process of species selection was initially based upon a wide ranging review of priority species of relevance to the then NRA, encompassing both highly threatened species and species that are relatively common but are at particular risk from Agency activities.