Bio-economical and ethical impacts of alien finfish culture in European inland waters

Since 1989, and in comparison to the global trend, inland aquaculture production of European finfish has declined. To date, the yearly European freshwater aquaculture production is 371,727 tons, valued at over US$1 billion. Indigenous species accounted for less than one-third of the production, whereas alien species (a species that has been moved beyond its natural range of distribution) accounts for the remainder. However, in general, indigenous species command a higher market price. Currently, food quality and food safety are leading concerns of consumers, and European consumers are also becoming alert to environmentally detrimental practices. Therefore, to aim at economic sustainability, the sector needs to satisfy consumer expectations of environmentally friendly practices. It is believed that farming alien finfish species can threaten local biodiversity through escapes, and this represents a current environmental concern relative to aquaculture. In this context, an attempt is made in this paper to understand and quantify the impacts of alien finfish cultivation in European inland waters, and to suggest remedial measures.

Alien species in aquaculture and biodiversity : a paradox in food production

Aquaculture is seen as an alternative to meeting the widening gap in global rising demand and decreasing supply for aquatic food products. Asia, the epicenter of the global aquaculture industry, accounts for over 90% of the global aquaculture production quantity and about 80% of the value. Asian aquaculture, as with global aquaculture, is dependent to a significant extent on alien species, as is the case for all the major food crops and husbanded terrestrial animals. However, voluntary and or accidental introduction of exotic aquatic species (alien species) is known to negatively impact local biodiversity. In this relatively young food production industry, mitigating the dependence on alien species, and thereby minimizing potential negative impacts on biodiversity, is an imperative for a sustainable future. In this context an attempt is made in this synthesis to understand such phenomena, especially with reference to Asian inland finfish, the mainstay of global aquaculture production. It is pointed out that there is potential for aquaculture, which is becoming an increasingly important food production process, not to follow the past path of terrestrial food crops and husbanded animals in regard to their negative influences on biodiversity.

Identity as radical alterity : critiques of Eurocentrism, coloniality and subjectivity in contemporary Australian and Latin American poetry.

This article presents a comparative analysis of Australian and Latin American contemporary poetry which is informed by theories of Eurocentrism derived from contemporary Latin American critical thought.

Alien

Alien is an instrumental piece using warped synth sounds and evoking science fiction types of imagery. The idea behind this piece of audio was to create an unnerving presence with the use of spoken vocals passed through a filter to deepen and slow the voice.

Alien (excerpt 01)

Alien Excerpt 01 is an instrumental piece using synth sounds to create an eerie science fiction feel.

Alien alarm distortion SFX

A sound designed on a synth that evokes science fiction styles alarm or panic. A good sound for TV, Cinema styled projects.

Alien radio waves SFX

Alien Radio Waves SFX is a sound effect on a synthesizer that could be mistaken for alien radio waves.

Alien rise SFX

A sound effect designed on a synth and evoking an alien type of rise.

Alien TV channel changing SFX

A sound effect designed on a sound generator, which evokes the sound of TV channel changing on an alien TV.

Alien wailing cinematic score

A short composition featuring unusual soundscapes to create an eerie cinematic piece suitable for science fiction styled projects.

Where I'm calling from : alterity and the other I of the unconcious

As I assess my fractured novel manuscript: a narrative in multiple first-person voices, I engage with writing that I produce at a primal/generative moment of narrative composition; I encounter writing that is both familiar and strange, known and other.

The sense in which I produce writing that is ‘other’ to me is intriguing. I recognise that a dichotomy between ‘self’ and ‘self-as-other’ exists in my writing and, in this, I am drawn to Derrida’s concept of alterity: to the idea that language is ghosted by the trace of the other. I am intrigued by the haunting shadow of trace: by the ‘other’ that simulates presence and makes the otherwise empty sign ‘full’ of meaning. 

When I acknowledge that my writing is at once strange and other, as well as familiar and known, I realise that the writing that I produce at a primal/generative moment of narrative composition is produced under the delusion of self-presence; it is produced under the delusion that meaning is present to consciousness ‘at a given moment’; it is produced when I am both ‘I’ and ‘not I’. This leads me to ask: What is my attitude to the effects that I produce when I am not I? What is my reaction when the other takes the floor?

To engage with these questions in the context of my fractured novel manuscript, is to engage with the possibilities for meaning that narrative, as a language map, encompasses; it is to engage in an inquiry about the relationship between language and semantic intention; it is to ask how my attitude toward the voice of the other in my writing affects the ‘finished’ product of the narrative text.

As I tackle these questions, I plot the operation of alterity; I plot the work of the unconscious as it operates at a primal/generative moment of narrative composition; I ask: how does the language of my fractured narrative mean? I ask: what is the relationship between meaning and authorial intention?

The concept of alterity explicates the ghostly shadow that lurks behind the sign, simulating presence and making the otherwise empty sign full of meaning. The concept of alterity therefore explains how my writing might be strange to me, in the sense that I am estranged from it (because it is not consciously, logically determined) but, simultaneously, how my writing is familiar, strangely familiar (in the sense of a latent, ghostly shadow, a web of unconscious associations).

Alterity recognises that the present (surface narrative) is infected by a past (primal/generative moment of narrative composition) that I cannot access in a definitive way.

Conservation of genetic diversity in British populations of the diploid endemic Coincya monensis ssp monensis (Isle of Man Cabbage): the risk of hybridisation with the tetraploid alien, Coincya monensis ssp cheiranthos

Coincya monensis is represented in the British flora by two, cytologically distinct subspecies. Coincya monensis ssp monensis is an endemic diploid with a coastal sand dune distribution that includes a number of isolated populations. Coincya monensis ssp cheiranthos is a tetraploid alien, well established in South Wales in early successional habitats. Both subspecies share similar life form traits, flowering times and pollinators. Cluster analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction based on sequences of the mitochondrial nad4 gene confirmed the distinction between alien and endemic taxa. Tetraploid populations carry more polymorphic RAPDs loci and their genetic diversity is partitioned more within than among populations. In contrast, C. monensis ssp monensis has a distinct population genetic structure. Analysis of the multilocus genetic data confirmed a structure of genetically isolated, endemic population clusters in Scotland, Arran, the Isle of Man and South Wales. Experimental hybridisation showed the two subspecies are interfertile. Multivariate analysis of RAPDs data resolved hybrids between alien and endemic clusters and hybrids contained a proportion of alien-specific polymorphic loci. Hybrids of alien maternal parentage contained the mitochondrial nad4 sequence characteristic of the alien subspecies. Since the alien subspecies can invade mobile sand dune communities from urban sites and compete for pollinators, there is a risk that alien and endemic populations will mix and introgress. Conservation of endemic genetic diversity in Britain will require protection for all C. monensis ssp monensis populations. Currently, the most disjunct endemic population in South Wales is most at risk from introgression.

Comparison of genetic diversities in native and alien populations of hoary mustard (Hirschfeldia incana [L.] Lagreze-Fossat)

Increased selfing and inbreeding and, consequently, depauperate genetic diversities are commonly expected for alien colonies. We compared RAPDs data for native (southern Europe) and alien (British Isles) populations of hoary mustard (Hirschfeldia incana). This species is normally out-breeding, but it is capable of self- fertilization. Contrary to the common expectations, genetic diversities in native and alien populations were similar, without any strong evidence of decreased levels of genetic diversities in alien populations. A variety of factors may have contributed to this observation, including high variation in founding groups, founders originating from multiple H. incana source populations, and high rates of past and/or current gene flow. A review of other studies showed that this pattern of similar genetic diversities in native and alien populations was not unusual but has been regularly observed in other invasive plant species.

Nude dalliance with alien abductions turns into a close encounter of the dull kind

Review : Balletlab's  ' And All Things Return to Nature Tomorrow'