Can a change in the spawning pattern of Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) affect its recruitment?

Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) inhabit waters of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean between 22° and 55°S, at depths ranging from 50 to 500 m (Cousseau and Perrota, 1998). This species has historically been among the more abundant fish resources in the Argentine Sea, where its biomass has ranged between one and two million metric tons annually since 1986 (Aubone et al., 2000). In this area, there are two identified fishing stocks, limited by the 41°S parallel. The southern group (Patagonian stock) is the more important with an abundance of about 85% of the total biomass estimated for this species in 1999 (Aubone et al., 2000). During the late 1990s, the spawning biomass of both stocks and their recruitment indices declined drastically, both of which were attributed to an increase in exploitation (Aubone et al., 2000).

Early life history of the Argentine sandperch Pseudopercis semifasciata (Pinguipedidae) off northern Patagonia

The Argentine sandperch Pseudopercis semifasciata (Pinguipedidae) sustains an important commercial and recreational fishery in the northern Patagonian gulfs of Argentina. We describe the morphological features of larvae and posttransition juveniles of P. semifasciata and analyze the abundance and distribution of early life-history stages obtained from 19 research cruises conducted on the Argentine shelf between 1978 and 2001. Pseudopercis semifasciata larvae were distinguished from other larvae by the modal number of myomeres (between 36 and 38), their elongated body, the size of their gut, and by osteological features of the neuro- and branchiocranium. Pseudopercis semifasciata and Pinguipes brasilianus (the other sympatric species of pinguipedid fishes) posttransition juveniles were distinguished by their head shape, pigmentation pattern, and by the number of spines of the dorsal fin (five in P. semifasciata and seven in P. brasilianus). The abundance and distribution of P. semifasciata at early stages indicate the existence of at least three offshore reproductive grounds between 42−43°S, 43−44°S, and 44−45°S, and a delayed spawning pulse in the southern stocks.

Forensic Fisheries Science: Literature Review and Research Suggestions

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in litigation against the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Litigation may affect personnel throughout the agency, including scientists, whose work is often directly or indirectly influenced by complex legal requirements, but who may not be in a position to comment or engage in public dialogue. It may be helpful for scientists and other agency personnel to join the ongoing discussion in the legal community regarding the interface of science and law. This paper provides a starting point with a selected introduction to relevant legal literature in this area. It uses the phrase “forensic fisheries science” to describe the application of science to legal requirements in the fishery management context. It concludes with suggestions for future research that could assist NMFS scientists as they grapple with the challenge of using science to help the agency meet its complex legal requirements. Forensic: belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate; argumentative, rhetorical; relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary )

Problems with Unofficial and Inaccurate Geographical Names in the Fisheries Literature

Over a century of fi shery and oceanographic research conducted along the Atlantic coast of the United States has resulted in many publications using unofficial, and therefore unclear, geographic names for certain study areas. Such improper usage, besides being unscholarly, has and can lead to identification problems for readers unfamiliar with the area. Even worse, the use of electronic data bases and search engines can provide incomplete or confusing references when improper wording is used. The two terms used improperly most often are “Middle Atlantic Bight” and “South Atlantic Bight.” In general, the term “Middle Atlantic Bight” usually refers to an imprecise coastal area off the middle Atlantic states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and the term “South Atlantic Bight” refers to the area off the southeastern states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida’s east coast.

The History and Literature of America's Oysters

Historically, America's use and enjoyment of the oyster extend far back into prehistoric times. The Native Americans often utilized oysters, more intensively in some areas than in others, and, at least in some areas of the Caribbean and Pacific coast, the invading Spanish sought oysters as eagerly as they did gold-but for the pearls. That was the pearl oyster, Pinctada sp., and signs of its local overexploitation were recorded early in the 16th century. During the 1800's, use of the eastern oyster grew phenomenally and, for a time, it outranked beef as a source of protein in some parts of the nation. Social events grew up around it, as it became an important aspect of culture and myth. Eventually, research on the oyster began to blossom, and scientific literature on the various species likewise bloomed-to the extent that when the late Paul Galtsoff wrote his classic treatise "The American oyster Crassostrea virginica Gmelin" in 1954, he reported compiling an extensive bibliography of over 6,000 subject and author cards on oysters and related subjects which he deposited in the library of the Woods Hole Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (now NMFS). That large report, volume 64 (480 pages) of the agency's Fishery Bulletin, was a bargain at $2.75, and it has been a standard reference ever since. But the research and the attendant literature have grown greatly since Galtsoff's work was published, and now that has been thoroughly updated.

Ciência e política: a aproximação Brasil-Argentina e a cooperação nuclear no subcontinente (1964-1985)

O objetivo geral da pesquisa é compreender por qual motivo e de que forma Brasil e Argentina optaram pela cooperação na área nuclear ainda durante seus governos militares. Segundo a literatura tradicional da área de Relações Internacionais, os ganhos relativos deveriam estar em evidência e, por conseguinte, impediriam a coordenação de posições em uma área tão importante para as estratégias de desenvolvimento e de inserção internacional dos dois países o que não se verificou na prática. Minha dissertação tem como meta entender o porquê. Da finalidade principal, decorrem objetivos específicos. São eles: lançar uma nova percepção acerca das relações Brasil-Argentina, ainda hoje encaradas primordialmente de acordo com padrões de inimizade e de desconfiança; compreender até que ponto as motivações dos países para o domínio da tecnologia nuclear estão relacionados a questões de segurança ou de desenvolvimento nacional; compreender quais foram as bases materiais e ideacionais que permitiram aos dois países integrar-se e, portanto, compartilhar soberania em um tema de high politics; demonstrar que a cooperação não é exclusividade de regimes democráticos; analisar a influência de grupos não políticos na formulação de políticas e do processo decisório; comprovar que não houve corrida armamentista na região ou a intenção de utilizar o aparato nuclear contra o vizinho. O recorte temporal deste trabalho partirá do final dos anos 1964, quando houve coincidência de regimes militares nos dois países, até o ano de 1985, quando a democracia é restaurada no Brasil. O marco temporal não é hermético, já que há referências anteriores a 1964, mormente no tocante à cooperação científica, e após 1985, quando a coordenação nuclear brasileiro-argentina é elevada a um nível superior, com o estabelecimento da ABACC. Na tentativa de responder às perguntas propostas, minha dissertação se baseia na análise de dois atores primordiais: o Estado e as comunidades epistêmicas.

Mersey Estuary baseline survey. Analysis of macroinfaunal samples, literature review and database production

This is the Mersey Estuary baseline survey: Analysis of macroinfaunal samples, literature review and database production report produced by the Environment Agency North West in 2002. This report presents an ecological review of the Mersey estuary along with an extensive bibliography of the available environmental literature for this system. The central objective of this programme has been to provide the information necessary to support the Environment Agency's review of existing and future consents (for discharges, abstractions etc) in the Mersey estuary. This review of consents was required because the Mersey had been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EC Birds Directive. Therefore under Regulation 50 of the Conservation, the Environment Agency was responsible for reviewing any extant consent, or future applications, which may directly or indirectly, affected this SPA.

The sublime and its different perspective in the gothic literature

O objetivo da presente dissertação consiste em analisar o sublime, um conceito estético que vem sendo estudado desde os primeiros séculos. Tomamos como base a definição do sublime como algo paradoxal que cria o prazer e o medo ao mesmo tempo. Porém, o sublime apresenta especificidades que variam de acordo com o filósofo analisado. Neste trabalho, três críticos foram estudados: Longinus, Edmund Burke e Immanuel Kant. Assim, o sublime pode ser representado através da imensidão da natureza, do poder de uma criatura sobrenatural ou, até mesmo, através da sexualidade feminina. E, com o intuito de exemplificar essas diferentes perspectivas do sublime, buscamos obras da Literatura Gótica. Sendo esta uma vertente literária que buscava a oposição ao racionalismo trazido pelo movimento iluminista, as características sublimes foram essenciais para enfatizar a emoção. Para tal exemplificação, utilizamos trechos de dois romances góticos dos séculos XVIII e XIX, respectivamente: The Monk escrito por Matthew Lewis e Dracula escrito por Bram Stoker