A global perspective of aquaculture in the new millennium

In modern times, not many primary industries have consistently recorded high yearly growth over a period of two decades. Aquaculture has sustained a global growth, continues to grow, and is expected to increasingly fill the shortfall in aquatic food products resulting from static or declining capture fisheries and population increase well into the year 2025. Its further growth and development will have to occur under a different socio-economic milieu in the new millennium. The basic paradigm changes will be from an increased production at almost any cost, to a sustainable increase in production with minimal environmental perturbations. Despite such paradigm changes, aquaculture will increasingly contribute to food security, poverty alleviation and social equity. The contribution of aquaculture to world food supply of aquatic products has been increasing over the past 10 years, in comparison to capture fisheries, growing from 15 to 28 percent of total production between 1988 and 1997. As the bulk of aquaculture is rural and subsistence, it plays a major role as a provider of direct and indirect employment to the rural poor and, thereby, to poverty alleviation. In many developing countries, aquaculture provides opportunities for diversification on agriculture farms and productive use to otherwise idle land during certain seasons. The main cause for the upsurge in the sector has been the transformation of aquaculture from an “art” form to a “science”. This brought many advantages, ranging from less dependence on wild stock to the development of techniques that optimized yields, such as polyculture, or enabled the achievement of high yields with low inputs. Two major developments also enabled the sector to maintain growth momentum, appropriate institutional frameworks and concerted research and development. Regions or continents have many commonalities. These include the predominance of finfish among the cultivated species, and the predominance of species that feed lower in the food chain, although shrimp, which does not naturally feed high in the trophic level but is mostly reared on artificial feed, has become a significant culture commodity. Notable differences, however, include the fact that all regions, except Africa and the countries of the former USSR, have recorded a significant increase in per capita production between 1984 and 1997. While Asia continues to dominate world aquaculture in overall tonnage, as well as in every major commodity, South America has registered a very high (72.8 percent) average annual growth between 1984 and 1997. The global and regional trends over the last 20 years in the sector from a number of perspectives, such as production trends, contribution of aquaculture to aquatic food consumption etc., are evaluated. Based on these different trends and in the light of changing socio-economic conditions globally, and in particular, in developing nations, the potential changes in the sector in the new millennium are highlighted. Finally, projections are made for the next 20 years, where opportunities, constraints and strategies for achieving the targets are presented and discussed.

Improving comfort levels in a traditional high altitude Nepali house

Humla Province is a remote mountainous region of northwest Nepal. The climate is harsh and the local people are extremely poor. Most people endure a subsistence culture, living in traditional housing. Energy for cooking and heating comes from fuelwood, supplies of which are diminishing. In order to improve the indoor environment and reduce fuelwood use, smokeless stoves are being introduced to replace the open fire in Humli homes. There is some concern, however, that comfort levels may not be as acceptable with these stoves. The aim of this research was therefore to investigate ways in which the comfort levels in traditional Humli housing might be improved using simple and low cost strategies. Temperature data was recorded in four rooms of a traditional Humli home over a 12-day period and used with fuelwood data to validate a TRNSYS simulation model of the house. This model was then used to evaluate the impact on comfort levels in the house of various energy conservation strategies using PMV and PPD indicators. As a single strategy, it was found that reducing infiltration of outside air was likely to be more effective than increasing the insulation level in the ceilings. The most successful strategy, however, was the creation of sunspaces at the entrances to the living rooms. This strategy increased average internal temperatures by 1.7 and 2.3 °C. In combination with increased insulation levels, the sunspaces reduced comfort dissatisfaction levels by over 50%.

History of contact and change in the Goroka Valley, Central Highlands of New Guinea, 1934-1949

The thesis traces the interaction of the Goroka Valley people with European and coastal New Guinean intruders during the pacification stage of contact and change. In this 15 year period the people moved from a traditional subsistence culture to the threshold of a modern, European-influenced technological society. The contact experiences of the inhabitants of the Valley and the outsiders who influenced them are examined, using both oral and documentary sources. A central theme of this study is the attempts by Europeans and their coastal New Guinean collaborators to achieve the pacification of a people for whom warfare has been described as 'the dominant orientation'. The newcomers saw pacification as being inextricably linked with social, economic and religious transformation, and consequently it was pursued by patrol officers, missionaries and soldiers alike. Following an introductory chapter outlining the pre-contact and early-contact history of the Goroka Valley people, there is a discussion of the causes of tribal fighting in Highlands communities and two case studies of violent events which, although occurring beyond the Goroka Valley, had important consequences for those who lived within its bounds. The focus then shifts to the first permanent settlement of the agents of change -initially these were coastal New Guinean evangelists and policemen - and their impact on the local people. A period of consolidation is then described, as both government and missions established a permanent 'European presence in the Valley'. This period was characterised by vigorous pacification coupled with the introduction of innovations in health and education, agriculture, technology, law and religion. The gradual transformation of Goroka Valley society as a result of the people's interaction with the newcomers was abruptly accelerated in 1943, when many hundreds of Allied soldiers occupied the Valley in anticipation of a threatened Japanese invasion. Village life was disrupted as men were conscripted as carriers and labourers and whole communities were obliged to grow food to assist the Allied war effort. Those living close to military airfields-and camps were subject to Japanese aerial attacks and the entire population was exposed to an epidemic of bacillary dysentery introduced by the combatants. However the War also brought some positive effects, including paradoxically, the almost total cessation of tribal fighting, the construction of an ail-weather airstrip at Goroka which ensured its future as a town and administrative and commercial centre, and the compulsory growing of vegetables, coffee, etc, which laid the foundations for a cash economy and material prosperity. The final chapter examines the aftermath of military occupation, the return of civil administration and the implementation of social and economic policies which brought the Goroka Valley people into the rapid-development phase of contact. By 1949 Gorokans were ready to channel their aggressive energies into commercial competitiveness and adopt a cash-crop economy, to accept the European rule of law, to take advantage of Western innovations in medicine, education, transport and communications, to seek employment opportunities at home and in other parts of the country and to modify their primal world view with European religious and secular values. A Stone Age people was in process of being transformed into a modern society.

Three arguments against ‘soft innovation’: towards a richer understanding of cultural innovation

This paper critiques recent research on innovation in the cultural and creative industries. In particular, this paper examines Paul Stoneman’s idea of ‘soft innovation’ as a jumping off point for discussing theories of cultural innovation more broadly. Three critiques are advanced. Firstly, soft innovation is a theoretical perspective that has developed from neoclassical economics, and is therefore vulnerable to criticisms levelled at neoclassical explanations of economic behaviour. Secondly, the theory of soft innovation can be criticised for being contin- gently inaccurate: the observed reality of cultural industries and marketplaces may not reflect the theory’s premises. Thirdly, because soft innovation defines the significance of an innovation in terms of marketplace success, it implies that only high-selling cultural products are significant, a difficult claim to substantiate. This paper concludes by arguing that our understanding of innovation in the cultural sphere can benefit from a multi-disciplinary approach grounded in the full gamut of human creativity.

Representative actions, proof of fact and author identification in copyright law: a history and a concern

Recent judgments in Australia have called for author identification in order that copyright subsistence may be established. There is a risk that such calls will be taken too literally, to the detriment of author privacy. This article considers the legal mechanisms by which author identity has historically been shielded from disclosure, without the operation of the copyright system being impaired. It expresses the hope that those who are responsible for developing copyright law will be mindful of the concern for author privacy which has long been part of copyright discourse.

Embedded in the land: customary social relations and practices of resilience in an East Timorese community

Drawing on a case study of Cacavei, a rural subsistence community in Timor-Leste, this article explores the mutually constitutive relationship between people and land within customary forms of society. Patterns of land use and connection to land are not simply reflective of genealogical modes of social organisation, but are also enabling of them. Particularly, the embedding of ancestors within the land offers a means of accessing kinship relationships beyond the genealogical present. Embeddedness provides a quality of embodiment that makes ancestors active participants in social life. Constituted in the relational nexus of people and land, forms of social organisation in Cacavei have a mutability which goes some way to explaining the community’s resilience in spite of forced displacement and cultural disruption during the period of Indonesian occupation. This mutability might be considered more broadly as a source of resilience for customary communities grappling with modernising processes of change.

Nation-building across the urban and rural in Timor-Leste : conference report

‘Nation-building across Urban and Rural Timor-Leste’ provided an opportunity for East Timorese and people from around the world to reflect, discuss and debate the nation-building process in Timor-Leste since 1999. In this context, nation-building in Timor-Leste is taken to mean the many different attempts since 1999 to ensure the political, economic and cultural integration of the population to fulfil the ambition of self rule.

Ten years after the 1999 vote for independence, this conference considered how nation-building is being experienced and responded to across urban and rural communities in Timor-Leste. Broadening the discussion beyond that of ‘state-building’, at the core of the conference was a consideration of the myriad ways the new republic has been ‘built’. Here ‘nation-building’ considers not only in terms of policy and programmatic initiatives but also grass roots experiences and perceptions of how Timor-Leste as a nation is seen and understood. For this reason, the majority of participants were East Timorese representatives from across the districts, allowing them top share their stories of nation-building.

Darumbal voyaging: intensifying use of central Queensland's Shoalwater Bay islands over the past 5000 years

Island archipelagos of the tropical coast of central Queensland include the most distant offshore islands used by Aboriginal Australians. Excavations on Collins, Otterbourne and High Peak Islands, located up to 40 km from the mainland, reveal evidence of offshore voyaging and marine specialisation in the Shoalwater Bay region for at least 5200 years. A time lag of up to 3000 years between island formation and systematic island use may reflect delayed development of key marine resources. Expansion of island use commencing around 3000–3500 years ago is linked to population increases sustained by synchronous increases in marine resources. Occupational hiatuses variously between 1000 and 3000 years ago are associated with increased ENSO activity. Intensified island use within the past 1000 years is primarily a social phenomenon associated with continuing demographic pressures and the development of more coastally and marine-focused mainland groups, with settlement patterns increasingly encompassing adjacent islands. The viability of risky offshore canoe voyaging was underwritten by two key high-return subsistence pursuits – hunting green turtles and collecting turtle eggs. In addition to subsistence and quartz quarrying, a key motivation for island visitation may have been socially restricted (e.g. ceremonial) practices.

Nonmarket valuation in developing countries: Incorporating labour contributions in environmental benefits estimates

There are limitations associated with the application of nonmarket valuation techniques, including choice experiments, in subsistence economies. In part, this is due to the concern that using money as a mode of contribution may not capture the potential contribution of low-income households. To address this limitation, respondents in this study were provided with the option of contributing towards the management of invasive plants in labour terms if they were unwilling to contribute in monetary terms. The results show that the existing practice of using dollar values to estimate willingness to contribute may disproportionately exclude the concerns of some groups within the community. The analysis also indicates that allowing respondents to express their willingness to contribute in labour increases their participation in environmental decision-making processes and hence increases the estimated value of forest ecosystem services. This study contributes to the limited empirical literature on the development of nonmarket valuation surveys, particularly choice experiments, in low-income countries in general and rural areas in particular. © 2014 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc.

Cloud omnibus system for evaluating cloud market services

Rapid expansion in numbers of cloud service providers (CSPs) has resulted in the introduction of various brokering services and cloud marketplaces designed to help customers to assess and choose CSPs. The problem of evaluating marketplaces and also separate sub-offerings supplied by cloud service providers (CSPs) has become vitally important because cloud marketplaces can now incorporate sub-offerings from different CSPs into a combined package tailored for each customer. In this paper, we introduce a new concept which we refer to as a cloud omnibus system (COS) and which we define as a cloud marketing system evaluating whole cloud marketplaces, CSPs, brokers and separate service sub-offerings from CSPs (sometimes combined into packages tailored for customers). COS is based on trust and management of trust and is beyond the state-of-the-art in providing a formal trust measuring mechanism for customers by introducing three types of trust which we refer to as ‘direct’, ‘relative’ and ‘transparent’.

In the circle of white stones: moving through seasons with nomads of Eastern Tibet

This narrative of subsistence on the Tibetan plateau describes the life-worlds of people in a region traditionally known as Kham who move with their yaks from pasture to pasture, depending on the milk production of their herd for sustenance. Gillian Tan's story, based on her own experience of living through seasonal cycles with the people of Dora Karmo between 2006 and 2013, examines the community's powerful relationship with a Buddhist lama and their interactions with external agents of change. In showing how they perceive their environment and dwell in their world, Tan conveys a spare beauty that honors the stillness and rhythms of nomadic life.

Community and hyperlocal journalism: a 'sustainable' model?

In the journalistic ‘field,’ very local news is like a wild pasture—metaphorically speaking. It grows organically, but can be cultivated in certain conditions and harvested for profit. Its diversity and social importance make it a key part of the wider ecology of news (Phillips, 2015). However, across the globe, traditional media companies with interests in this patch are slashing and burning—cutting costs, centralizing production, or even closing down operations. Small start-up news providers are popping up like field mushrooms in their place, wherever conditions seem fertile. And there are also ‘hyperlocal’ and ‘community’ publications more interested in local news subsistence than in making money. This chapter outlines the broad set of economic approaches that have been applied to support community, hyperlocal, and local news and their benefits given the technical, industrial, and cultural changes taking place in the field. We argue the keys to a sustainable future are embracing their diversity and cultivating their ‘niche’: localness.

Kafkaesque institutions at the base of the pyramid

Impelled by neo-liberal ideology, base-of-the-pyramid (BOP) and subsistence market discourses have put emphases on markets, profits and entrepreneurialism. Because of this ideological mooring, there is a marginal understanding of the role of the State and its impact on the poor in these discourses. Franz Kafka’s work provides a critical perspective on the role of the State in BOP or subsistence settings. This ethnographic study in India examines transactions related to land and highlights the Kafkaesque nature of the State. The institutional setting is fraught with Kafkaesque elements such as inaccessible and indecipherable legality, abusive power relations and alienation of subaltern subjects. It further shows that the illicit character of the State is an important reason for illegal practices in subaltern settings.