Report of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the year 1952

ENGLISH: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, established by a Convention between the United States and Costa Rica, has as its purpose the collection and interpretation of information which will facilitate maintaining, at levels of maximum sustained yield, the populations of tropical tunas in the Eastern Pacific and of the bait species used in their capture. To this end, the Commission is directed by the Convention to undertake investigations of the tunas and bait species, and to make recommendations for joint action by the member governments designed to attain the objectives of the Convention. The year 1952 is the second since the initiation of the investigations of the Commission. The Commission was organized in 1950. Its program of investigations ~as outlined and work commenced during 1951. The work during 1952 has been a continuation and logical development of the research commenced the previous year. SPANISH: La Comisión Interamericana del Atún Tropical, establecida por una Convención entra Costa Rica y los Estados Unidos de América, tiene como deberes recolectar e interpretar la información que facilite el mantenimiento, a niveles de una contínua producción máxima, de las poblaciones de las especies tropicales de atún en el Pacífico Oriental y de los peces de carnada que se emplean para su pesca. Con este propósito la Comisión se encarga, en conformidad con los términos de la antes expresada Convención de efectuar investigaciones sobre los atunes y mencionadas especies de carnada, y de hacer recomendaciones a los Gobiernos Miembros a fin de que pueden tomar una acción conjunta que les permita obtener los resultados que el citado Convenio persigue. El año 1952 es el segundo desde la iniciación de las investigaciones de la Comisión. Esta fué organizada en 1950. Durante 1951 se preparó el programa de estudios y se comenzaron los trabajos. La tarea realizada en el año 1952 ha sido una continuación y lógico desarrollo de las investigaciones empezadas en el año anterior. (PDF contains 61 pages.)

Report of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the year 1953

ENGLISH: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission was established in 1950 by a Convention between Costa Rica and the United States. The Convention provides for the subsequent adherence of other nations interested in the tuna fishery of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. Panama adhered to the Convention in September 1953. The Commission has the duties of collecting and interpreting all necessary factual information respecting the tunas and tuna-bait fishes in order to facilitate maintaining the populations thereof at levels permitting maximum sustained yields, and of making recommendations to the member governments for joint action toward this objective. The Commission commenced its investigations in 1951. The year 1953 is the third year of scientific study. During the year investigations along several lines were continued and further developed. SPANISH: La Comisión Interamericano del Atún Tropical fué establecida en 1950 en virtud de una Convención entre Costa Rica y los Estados Unidos. La Convención abre la puerta para que otras naciones interesadas en las pesquerías de atún en aguas tropicales del Pacífico Oriental, puedan adherirse posteriormente. Panamá se adhirió al Tratado en Septiembre de 1953. La Comisión tiene como deberes recolectar e interpretar todos los informes necesarios respecto de las especies de atún y de los peces de carnada que sirven para pescarlas¡ a fin de facilitar el mantenimiento de las respectivas poblaciones a niveles que permitan un rendimiento máximo permanente; y hacer recomendaciones a los gobiernos miembros para que actúen conjuntamente en pro de los indicados objetivos. Nuestro organismo comenzó sus investigaciones en 1951. El año 1953 es el tercero de estudios científicos. Durante dicho año se continuaron investigaciones en diversas líneas y se prosiguió su desarrollo. (PDF contains 87 pages.)

Report of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the year 1962

ENGLISH: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, pursuant to the provisions of the Convention, has the duty of collecting and interpreting factual information to facilitate maintaining the populations of tunas, and of tuna baitfishes, supporting the fisheries pursued by nationals of its Member Governments in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, at levels which will permit maximum sustainable average harvests year after year. This requires a wide variety of research into the biology, life history, ecology and population dynamics of the several species, and investigations into the effects of both natural factors and fishing activity on their abundance and on the harvests they can sustain. The research is conducted by a permanent, internationally recruited scientific staff, employed directly by the Commission, selected on the basis of professional competence by the Director of Investigations. SPANISH: La Comisión Interan1ericana del Atún Tropical, de informidad con las disposiciones de la Convención, tiene el deber de recolectar e interpretar la información que facilite el mantenimiento de las poblaciones del atún y de los peces de carnada que sirven para la pesca de este, sosteniendo las pesquerías a que se dedican los habitantes de sus Gobiernos Miembros en el Océano Pacifico Oriental, a niveles ,de abundancia que permitan un promedio máximo sostenible de cosechas ano tras ano. Esto requiere una amplia variedad de investigaciones dentro de la biología, historia natural, ecología y dinámica de las poblaciones de diversas especies, y sabre los efectos, tanto de los factores naturales como de la actividad pesquera, en la abundancia de las mismas y en el rendimiento que puedan dar. La investigación es conducida por un grupo científico permanente, cuyos miembros son reclutados internacionalmente empleados directamente por la Comisión, una vez que han sido seleccionados sobre la base de su competencia profesional, por el Director de Investigaciones. (PDF contains 149 pages.)

Report of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the year 1965

ENGLISH: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission has been assigned the task, under the Convention which created it, of gathering and interpreting factual information to facilitate the maintenance of tunas and tuna-baitfishes of the eastern Pacific Ocean at levels of abundance which will permit maximum sustained catches. SPANISH: Se le ha asignado a la Comisión Interamericana del Atún Tropical bajo la Convención que la formó, la tarea de recoger e interpretar la información científica para facilitar el mantenimiento de los atunes y de los peces de carnada en el Océano Pacífico oriental, a niveles de abundancia que permitan un sostenimiento máximo de capturas. (PDF contains 106 pages.)

Saline-saturated DMSO-EDTA as a storage medium for microbial DNA analysis from coral mucus swab samples

The mucus surface layer of corals plays a number of integral roles in their overall health and fitness. This mucopolysaccharide coating serves as vehicle to capture food, a protective barrier against physical invasions and trauma, and serves as a medium to host a community of microorganisms distinct from the surrounding seawater. In healthy corals the associated microbial communities are known to provide antibiotics that contribute to the coral’s innate immunity and function metabolic activities such as biogeochemical cycling. Culture-dependent (Ducklow and Mitchell, 1979; Ritchie, 2006) and culture-independent methods (Rohwer, et al., 2001; Rohwer et al., 2002; Sekar et al., 2006; Hansson et al., 2009; Kellogg et al., 2009) have shown that coral mucus-associated microbial communities can change with changes in the environment and health condition of the coral. These changes may suggest that changes in the microbial associates not only reflect health status but also may assist corals in acclimating to changing environmental conditions. With the increasing availability of molecular biology tools, culture-independent methods are being used more frequently for evaluating the health of the animal host. Although culture-independent methods are able to provide more in-depth insights into the constituents of the coral surface mucus layer’s microbial community, their reliability and reproducibility rely on the initial sample collection maintaining sample integrity. In general, a sample of mucus is collected from a coral colony, either by sterile syringe or swab method (Woodley, et al., 2008), and immediately placed in a cryovial. In the case of a syringe sample, the mucus is decanted into the cryovial and the sealed tube is immediately flash-frozen in a liquid nitrogen vapor shipper (a.k.a., dry shipper). Swabs with mucus are placed in a cryovial, and the end of the swab is broken off before sealing and placing the vial in the dry shipper. The samples are then sent to a laboratory for analysis. After the initial collection and preservation of the sample, the duration of the sample voyage to a recipient laboratory is often another critical part of the sampling process, as unanticipated delays may exceed the length of time a dry shipper can remain cold, or mishandling of the shipper can cause it to exhaust prematurely. In remote areas, service by international shipping companies may be non-existent, which requires the use of an alternative preservation medium. Other methods for preserving environmental samples for microbial DNA analysis include drying on various matrices (DNA cards, swabs), or placing samples in liquid preservatives (e.g., chloroform/phenol/isoamyl alcohol, TRIzol reagent, ethanol). These methodologies eliminate the need for cold storage, however, they add expense and permitting requirements for hazardous liquid components, and the retrieval of intact microbial DNA often can be inconsistent (Dawson, et al., 1998; Rissanen et al., 2010). A method to preserve coral mucus samples without cold storage or use of hazardous solvents, while maintaining microbial DNA integrity, would be an invaluable tool for coral biologists, especially those in remote areas. Saline-saturated dimethylsulfoxide-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (20% DMSO-0.25M EDTA, pH 8.0), or SSDE, is a solution that has been reported to be a means of storing tissue of marine invertebrates at ambient temperatures without significant loss of nucleic acid integrity (Dawson et al., 1998, Concepcion et al., 2007). While this methodology would be a facile and inexpensive way to transport coral tissue samples, it is unclear whether the coral microbiota DNA would be adversely affected by this storage medium either by degradation of the DNA, or a bias in the DNA recovered during the extraction process created by variations in extraction efficiencies among the various community members. Tests to determine the efficacy of SSDE as an ambient temperature storage medium for coral mucus samples are presented here.