Strategy on International Fisheries Research: an update

The Strategy on International Fisheries Research's activities on information and aquaculture in Asia, SubSaharan Africa, Latin and North America are presented.

Investing in Africa: the WorldFish Center's African strategy in summary

Across much of Africa, freshwater and coastal fisheries provide an important source of food and livelihood for many millions of people. In addition, the aquaculture potential of the continent has only recently begun to be developed. To help sustain these capture fisheries, support the emergence of aquaculture and foster the contribution of both to sustainable livelihoods and improved food security, the WorldFish Center is increasing its investment in Africa. The framework for this investment is provided by a new Strategy for Africa and West Asia 2002-2006 that identifies priorities for the Center’s work in rivers and floodplains, lakes and reservoirs, coastal fisheries, aquaculture, policy research and capacity building. The present article summarizes the issues being addressed by the Center and describes initial research priorities.

Transgene expressions in seabass (Lates calcarifer) following muscular injection of plasmid DNA: a strategy for vaccine development?

Muscular injection has become one of the direct methods for transferring foreign DNA into organisms. The technique has been recently introduced in the development of vaccines and gene therapy. Vaccine development, in particular, would be desirable in managing viral diseases in farmed fish. In this study, the technique was performed on seabass (Lates calcarifer) and was found that the foreign gene could be transferred successfully through injection into the muscles.

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s National Bycatch Strategy

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) launched its National Bycatch Strategy (NBS) in March 2003 in response to the continued fisheries management challenge posed by fisheries bycatch. NMFS has several strong mandates for fish and protected species bycatch reduction, including the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Despite efforts to address bycatch during the 1990’s, NMFS was petitioned in 2002 to count, cap, and control bycatch. The NBS initiated as part of NMFS’s response to the petition for rulemaking contained six components: 1) assess bycatch progress, 2) develop an approach to standardized bycatch reporting methodology, 3) develop bycatch implementation plans, 4) undertake education and outreach, 5) develop new international approaches to bycatch, and 6) identify new funding requirements. The definition of bycatch for the purposes of the NBS proved to be a contentious issue for NMFS, but steady progress is being made by the agency and its partners to minimize bycatch to the extent practicable.

Singapore's biomedical science sector development strategy: is it sustainable?

This paper outlines the strategic efforts undertaken by Singapore to establish its national capability in the biomedical science sector, reviews the commercial base as a result of these efforts and compares Singapore's approach to the UK and the US development models, discusses the challenges that Singapore faces and raises some questions on the long term sustainability of the sector.

Background Concepts for a Rotating Harvesting Strategy with Particular Reference to the Mediterranean Red Coral, Corallium rubrum

A simple cohort model was used as the basis for selecting the appropriate periodicity and number of separate unit areas in a rotating harvest scheme for a sedentary species, the red coral, Corallium rubrum, in the General Fisheries Management Council for the Mediterranean area. The rotation period in years, and hence the minimum number of unit areas involved, was determined on the basis of the time to maximum biomass by a simple calculation of the yield-per-recruit type, requiring a knowledge of natural mortality and growth rates. Other criteria may be more important, however, and in general for a long-lived species, will result in shorter rotation periods. These criteria may include economic factors, criteria based on the preferred size or quality of product, or criteria that take into account the cumulative risk of illegal fishing of closed areas with time, hence the growing cost of enforcement as harvestable product accumulates. For red coral, although maximum biomass is predicted to be reached after some 15-44 years, the above considerations suggest that a rotation period ofsome 9-15 years would be close to optimal, taking into account a range ofthe above considerations. This article discusses the relative merits of rotating harvest schemes in contrast to quota management for sedentary and semi-sedentary resources or geographically isolated substocks ofa mobile resource, and concludes that this approach may have considerable potential as an alternative approach to resource management.