Influence of nitrogen salts on growth and physiological responses of Rhizophora apiculata Blume in non-aerated water culture

Influence of two different forms of nitrogen on growth and physiological aspects of water-cultured seedlings of Rhizophora apiculata was studied. Of the two forms of nitrogen supplied to the growth medium, ammonium nitrogen was better than nitrate nitrogen by exhibiting increased dry matter production, shoot length, leaf area and also enhanced the contents of carotenoids, chlorophylls and their presence in photosystems and light harvesting protein complex.

Consumption pattern and consumer preference for value-added fish and fish products in north zone of India

Present paper attempts to analyze consumption pattern and consumer preferences towards value-added fish and fish products in north zone of India. Results reveal that socio economic variables affect consumption of value-added fish and fish products. A total of 49 percent respondents were of middle age group (35 to 50 years). All were literates except 7% from the rural area. All were purchasing fish at least once in 15 days. A total of 90% respondents in rural, 11% in semi urban and 50% in urban area were unaware of value-added fish and fish products. About 10% of respondents had consumed it, out of which most were from urban area. Demand analysis by Cobb Douglas (CD) Demand function revealed that when price of fish, price of the substitutes, income of family and family size were used as independent variables, variation in demand of fish explained by CD Demand function was about 39% in urban area, 24% in semi urban area and 22% in rural area. From Garette ranking technique major problems in fish consumption found were irregular supply, lack of fresh fish, high price and presence of bones in fish. While lack of awareness, unavailability, no preference and unacceptable taste were major problems for consumption of value-added fish and fish products.

Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) in Sunamganj district of Bangladesh: the nature of cooperation and conflicts

There are altogether 411 haors comprising an area of about 8000 square kilometer, covering 25% of entire region dispersed in the districts of Sunamgonj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Hobigonj, Netrokona and Kishoreganj. Sunamganj district is particularly known as a district of haors and baors where a large number of people depend on fishing for their livelihood. Some people are basically fishermen and fish all the year round. Community Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) project has been initiated in this area to develop fishery sector as well as for the development of the inland fishermen of haor area. Healthy cooperation among the beneficiaries of the project is very much present and some NGOs are found working actively there to help the fishermen for the sound implementation of the project. But the influentials of different villages around create troubles and conflicts intentionally in the project area because of which fishermen cannot fish smoothly and the implementation of the project is getting hampered. Therefore, a kind of consensus needs to be reached among the inhabitants of the haor area and a powerful association of the fishermen should be established so that fishing may be undertaken in the beel without having any troubles and conflicts. In this article the conflicts and cooperation that are in existence in the implementation process of CBFM project in the haor areas of Sunamgonj district have been discussed. Some suggestions have been offered in the paper to overcome the existing conflicts impeding the smooth implementation of CBFM project in the fishery sector of haor area under Sunamganj district.

Study of density, distribution and yield on benthic fauna and brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) feeding in Laar reservoirs

Lar lake, with the international UTM specification of 39S 579680 3976567 & 39S 589930 3976184 is Situated in Lar national Park with an aerial distance of 55 Km of Tehran along Haraz road. The present research is carried out as part of a comprehensives Plan for assessment of bioresearches of Lar lake & the rivers flowing into it. This research includes examination of there benthic Samplings performed in Lar lake and each of the related rivers including Delichaee, Ab-e-sefid , Alarm & Lar (Kamardasht).Tubifex and Chironomus genus were found to have the highest frequencies of occurrence in the lake with %77.117 & %21.823 respectively followed by Chironomidae and Simulidae from the Diptera order which accounted for %72.328 and %13.812 occurrences in four rivers examined in the Study. The benthic biomass at various examined Sites and the average wet weight of the benthic biomass in station No one in the lake Was 17.397g and the figure for the examined site in Alarm was 20.242 g which were the highest level among Other examination stations the index for the abundance of species in Alarm river was greater than the rest of the examined rivers with 12.57. A sum of 354 Pieces of brown trouts was caught in the course of sampling which were closely investigated in terms of their digestive tract Content. It was identified that Daphniidae and Chironomus constituted the bulk of eaten items from the lake with %17.985 and %63.973 respectively. Meanwhile, Chironomidae and Simuladae were the most frequently eanten benthos by the fish with %81.47 and %7.93 respectively.The index for the relative length of gut was recorded at 0.49± 0.08 which is well indicative of the carnivorous diet of the fish.The index for the feeding intensity amounted to 138  83 showing that the one year old fish were of more feeding intensity.The coefficient of condition (K) was estimated at 1.02  0.142 for all the caught fish. The average wet weight of the benthos was 10.348 g per square meter which if extended to 700ha surface area of the lake, the total macrobenthic production in the lake would amount to 72730Kg of wet weight or 6510 Kg of dry weight. Since the Secondary Production of macrobenthos have always been double that of their biomass, it is reasonable to assume that the Secondary Production of macrobenthos amount to 145640 Kg by their wet weight and Since the energy transfer in the food chain of the lake from benthos to fish is 10 percent, the fish production Capacity Coming from benthic resources of the lake (Lar) would be 14.5 MT, half of which (7000-8000MT) could annually be harvested. Further more, the actual fish Production Capacity might exceed the projected level Since Daphnia, Rotifers and Ostracoda which belong to Zooplanktons, play a part in the natural diet of trout. Meanwhile, rivers Play a major role in fish nutrition and the annual fish production in Delichaee river is about 4481.8Kg while the figures for Ab-e-sefid, Alerm and Lar rivers are 2370.7 4848.7 and 2586.2 Kg respectively, that further increase fish Production in the area and every year half of these resources can be exploitable from the river & the lake.Nevertheless, due to ecological & biological importance of rivers and the probability of environmental Pollution, devastation of natural fish habitats & their nursery grounds, Sport fishing is not recommended at all.

Offshore geology of Pakistan and non-living resource prospects

Offshore geology of Pakistan is characterized by active and passive continental margins. These continental margins show very unique features such as an active Makran subduction zone in the west and the Indus delta and a submarine fan in the east. The geology of these features of Pakistan EEZ is inadequately known. This is a major obstacle in exploring mineral resources. Detailed study of coastal and shelf geology is needed for better understanding of the geology of the area and comprehensive evolution of its non-living resource potential. An understanding of the geological events including tectonic movements, sedimentation processes and geochemical history that comprise the geological history is very important to help in identification and estimation of resources. In Pakistan EEZ applying the current technology and undertaking research work to understand the seafloor features and mineral deposits associated with it will be very fruitful.

Distribution and growth biology of rock oyster Saccostrea cucullata in the Oman Sea

Distribution and growth biology of rock oyster (Saccostrea cucullata) in the northern shores of Oman sea have been struied. During this one-year study, samples have been taken monthly from ten different stations. quantity of vertical distribution of this species was obseredl in the mid - intertidal zone. After determining the spread pattern, the following subjects were studied: - Growth parameters - Distionction of the "cohorts" - Determination of "spawning Season" - Condition of the "Gonado Somatic Index" - Sex ratio - Length of the species during the first year of maturation. - Identification and determination of percentage of "Biofouler Organisms." Results obtained from the above - mentioned studies show that considering a growth factor (k) of 0.52, the value of "Loo " for this species is equal to 114 (mm).Five to six different age groups were observed among the samples taken. In the areas where this study was conducted, this species grows 24 to 30 (mm) in the first year of its life this growth rate is lower in the higher - aged grpups relative to the lewer - aged groups, so that the longest size classes grow between 4 to 6 (mm) per year. • The maxinum Value of the "Condition Index" is in the pozm area and the minimum value of it belongs to Darak and Tang areas. Along with the increase in the growth of gonads the above mentioned condition index increases gradually simultaneous with the onset of spawning. Also, study of the influence of environmental factors on the maturation process suggests that the most important factors affecting maturation and spawing are temperature and salinity. The study of GSI shows that this species has a coordinated bimodal spawing trend, with its spring peak in june and its autumn peak, being still higher than the spring peak, in september. The recruitment curve confirms the above spawning peaks with its peaks occuring after a delay of one month or maximum two months in comparison to the spawning peaks. The results of calcuation of "Sex Ratio" of this species in each area show that sex ratio is 1:1. Among the first size classes that reach maturity, nearly 67% of the samples are male and the remaining 33% are female. with the increase in the shell size, the percentage of males decreases and the percentage of females increases. , The above facts prove the protandrous nature of this species the diagram showing the sizes of the first samples which reach maturity suggests that more than 50% of the samples mature after their length exceeds 36 (mm). The shortest mature sample was found to have a length of 22(mm). After studying "Biofouler Organism" nine different invertebrate groups were indentified. Barnacles and Tunicates have the highest and lowest percentages respectively. According to zonal observations, Barnacles and polychacta do the greatest damage to this species.