Bag and size limit analyses for red drum in Northern and Southern Regions of the U.S. Atlantic

Assessments of the Atlantic red drum for the northern (North Carolina and north) and southern (South Carolina through east coast of Florida) regions along the U. S. Atlantic coast were recently completed. The joint Red Drum Technical Committee (SAFMC/ASMFC) selected the most appropriate catch matrix (incorporating an assumption on size of recreationally-released fish), selectivity of age 3 relative to age 2, and virtual population analysis (FADAPT). Given gear- and age-specific estimates of fishing mortality (F) for the 1992-1998 period, analyses were made of potential gains in escapement through age 4 and static spawning potential ratio (SPR) from further reductions in fishing mortality due to changes in slot and bag limits. Savings from bag limits were calculated given a particular slot size for the recreational fishery, with no savings for the commercial fisheries in the northern region due to their being managed primarily through a quota. Relative changes in catch-at-age estimates were used to adjust age-specific F and hence calculated escapement through age 4 and static SPR. Adjustment was made with the recreational savings to account for release mortality (10%, as in the stock assessment). Alternate runs for the northern region commercial fishery considered 25% release mortality for lengths outside the slot (instead of 0% for the base run), and 0% vs. 10% gain or loss across legal sizes in F. These results are summarized for ranges of bag limits with increasing minimum size limit (for fixed maximum size), and with decreasing maximum size limit (for fixed minimum size limit). For the southern region, a bag limit of one-fish per angler trip would be required to attain the stated target of 40% static SPR if the current slot limit were not changed. However, for the northern region, a bag limit of one-fish per angler trip appears to be insufficient to attain the stated target of 40% static SPR while maintaining the current slot limit. (PDF contains 41 pages)

Schindler's List: from fact to fiction, from fiction into film. (A case of consecutive translation)

Santamaría, José Miguel; Pajares, Eterio; Olsen, Vickie; Merino, Raquel; Eguíluz, Federico (eds.)

Hydroacoustic evaluation of spawning red hind (Epinephelus guttatus) aggregations along the coast of Puerto Rico in 2002 and 2003

Red hind (Epinephelus guttatus) have been overfished in the Caribbean and were included with seven other regional grouper species deemed vulnerable to risk of extinction. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources desired to map spawning red hind aggregations within commonwealth waters as part of their resource management program for the species. Mobile hydroacoustic surveys were conducted over 3-day periods in 2002 and 2003, indexed to the full moon phase in February or March when red hind were known to aggregate. Four vessels concurrently sampled the southwest, south, and southeast coasts of Puerto Rico in 2002. In 2003, three vessels conducted complementary surveys of the northwest, north, and northeast coasts of the island, completing a circuit of the coastal shelf-spawning habitat. These surveys indicated that red hind spawning aggregations were prevalent along the south and west coasts, and sparse along the north coast during the survey periods. Highest spawning red hind concentrations were observed in three areas offshore of the west coast of Puerto Rico, around Mona and Desecheo islands (20,443 and 10,559 fish/km2, respectively) and in the Bajo de Cico seasonal closed area (4,544 fish/km2). Following both 2002 and 2003 surveys, a series of controlled acoustic measurements of known local fish species in net pens were conducted to assess the mean target strength (acoustic backscatter) of each group. Ten species of fish were measured, including red hind (E. guttatus), coney (E. fulvus), white grunt (Haemulon plumieri), pluma (Calamus pennatula), blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus), squirrel fish (Holocentrus spp.), black durgeon (Melichtyhs niger), ocean file fish (Canthidermis sufflamen), ocean surgeon fish (Acanthurus bahianus), and butter grouper (Mycteroperca spp.). In general, the mean target strength results from the caged fish experiments were in agreement with published target strength length relationships, with the exception of white grunt and pluma.

List of institutions of managerial relevance to the fisheries of Lake Victoria

The list provides addresses of institutions in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda which are of managerial relevance to the fisheries of Lake Victoria, indicating the relevant area covered

Desarrollo de una aplicación para una red de sensores inalámbricos (WSN) mediante Contiki

Durante los últimos años hemos venido observando la tendencia a incorporar capacidad de proce- samiento y comunicación a dispositivos que hasta entonces se utilizaban de modo independiente. La evolución de los móviles a smartphones es un claro ejemplo de dicha tendencia, aunque también cabe mencionar otros ejemplos, como es el caso de los denominados hogares inteligentes, en los que elementos del hogar se encuentran interconectados y pueden actuar de modo conjunto. Esta ten- dencia no se limita a sistemas independientes, sino que propone interconectar todos los elementos disponibles para conformar la denominada Internet de los Objetos/Cosas o Internet of Things, IoT. Una de las mayores dificultades que se presenta en estos sistemas es que las características de es- tos nuevos dispositivos inteligentes, en general limitados en términos de cómputo, almacenamiento, autonomía o comunicación, queda a menudo lejos de los equipos informáticos tradicionales. Esta cuestión, junto con la ausencia de estándares para gestionar estos dispositivos, constituye un impor- tante problema a abordar. Considerando este marco, en este proyecto se ha desarrollado una aplicación orientada a este tipo de dispositivos. Más concretamente, la aplicación tiene como soporte una red de sensores inalámbricos, WSN, con el objetivo de realizar seguimiento de individuos. Cabe destacar que el desarrollo de la aplicación se ha realizado utilizando Contiki OS, sistema ope- rativo diseñado especialmente para dispositivos con características limitadas como los presentados anteriormente y firme candidato a convertirse en estándar.

Soporte a la explotación de datos y gestión de una red de sensores

El seguimiento de distintas especies de animales contribuye en gran medida a su estudio y, por tanto, a su conservación y control. Los avances tecnológicos de los últimos años han facilitado las posibilidades de seguimiento con la creación de distintos dispositivos que permiten conocer los movimientos de la especie que se desea estudiar. Uno de los sistemas más utilizados consiste en la utilización de dispositivos GPS incorporados al espécimen sobre el que se realiza el seguimiento y cuya señal es recogida por satélites que se encargan de almacenar y posteriormente reenviar la información para su almacenamiento y procesamiento en el laboratorio. El principal problema de este sistema es su elevado coste. Existen alternativas que no presentan un coste tal alto, tales como el uso de módulos basados en telefonía móvil. Sin embargo, tienen limitaciones de cobertura, por lo que no es aplicable en todos los ámbitos. Este proyecto forma parte de una propuesta que ofrece realizar seguimiento de ejemplares de una especie de ave, la gaviota Patiamarilla, en Gipuzkoa mediante la utilización de una red de sensores y que tiene varias ventajas frente a las opciones presentadas anteriormente. En este proyecto en concreto se ha diseñado e implementado el módulo que permite recoger la información obtenida por el conjunto de sensores (cada ejemplar lleva incorporado un sensor que permite registrar su posición) y enviarla a un servidor centralizado para su posterior consulta y análisis. Adicionalmente, también se permite consultar el último estado registrado de cada dispositivo de seguimiento, además de contemplar la posibilidad de actualizar su software.

Southeast White Oak River shellfish restoration project

The 42-mile-long White Oak River is one of the last relatively unblemished watery jewels of the N.C. coast. The predominantly black water river meanders through Jones, Carteret and Onslow counties along the central N.C. coast, gradually widening as it flows past Swansboro and into the Atlantic Ocean. It drains almost 12,000 acres of estuaries -- saltwater marshes lined with cordgrass, narrow and impenetrable hardwood swamps and rare stands of red cedar that are flooded with wind tides. The lower portion of the river was so renowned for fat oysters and clams that in times past competing watermen came to blows over its bounty at places that now bear names like Battleground Rock. The lower river is also a designated primary nursery area for such commercially important species as shrimp, spot, Atlantic croaker, blue crabs, weakfish and southern flounder. But the river has been discovered. The permanent population along the lower White Oak increased by almost a third since 1990, and the amount of developed land increased 82 percent during the same period. With the growth have come bacteria. Since the late 1990s, much of the lower White Oak has been added to North Carolina’s list of impaired waters because of bacterial pollution. Forty-two percent of the rivers’ oyster and clam beds are permanently closed to shellfishing because of high bacteria levels. Fully two-thirds of the river’s shellfish beds are now permanently off limits or close temporarily after a moderate rain. State monitoring indicates that increased runoff from urbanization is the probable cause of the bacterial pollution. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Red-shift conical emission by femtosecond pulses at low input power

Red-shift conical emission (CE) is observed by femtosecond laser pulse propagating in BK7 at a low input power (compared to those input powers for generation of blue-shift CE). With the increasing input power the blue-shift CE begins to appear whereas the red-shift CE ring (902 nm in our experiment) disappears accompanied by the augment of the central white spot size synchronously. The disappearing of red-shift CE in our experiment is explained such that the increase of axial intensity is much higher than that of ring emission and the augment of the central white spot size with the increasing input laser power.

Red shift and broadening of backward harmonic radiation from electron oscillations driven by femtosecond laser pulse

The characteristics of backward harmonic radiation due to electron oscillations driven by a linearly polarized fs laser pulse are analysed considering a single electron model. The spectral distributions of the electron's backward harmonic radiation are investigated in detail for different parameters of the driver laser pulse. Higher order harmonic radiations are possible for a sufficiently intense driving laser pulse. We have shown that for a realistic pulsed photon beam, the spectrum of the radiation is red shifted as well as broadened because of changes in the longitudinal velocity of the electrons during the laser pulse. These effects are more pronounced at higher laser intensities giving rise to higher order harmonics that eventually leads to a continuous spectrum. Numerical simulations have further shown that by increasing the laser pulse width the broadening of the high harmonic radiations can be controlled.

Study of the effect of alcohol on single human red blood cells using near-infrared laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy

The effect of alcohol solution on single human red blood Cells (RBCs) was investigated using near-infrared laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS). In our system, a low-power diode laser at 785 nm was applied for the trapping of a living cell and the excitation of its Raman spectrum. Such a design could simultaneously reduce the photo-damage to the cell and suppress the interference from the fluorescence on the Raman signal. The denaturation process of single RBCs in 20% alcohol solution was investigated by detecting the time evolution of the Raman spectra at the single-cell level. The vitality of RBCs was characterized by the Raman band at 752 cm(-1), which corresponds to the porphyrin breathing mode. We found that the intensity of this band decreased by 34.1% over a period of 25 min after the administration of alcohol. In a further study of the dependence of denaturation on alcohol concentration, we discovered that the decrease in the intensity of the 752 cm(-1) band became more rapid and more prominent as the alcohol concentration increased. The present LTRS technique may have several potential applications in cell biology and medicine, including probing dynamic cellular processes at the single cell level and diagnosing cell disorders in real time. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley T Sons, Ltd.