Aquaculture and food security, poverty alleviation and nutrition in Ghana: Case study prepared for the Aquaculture for Food Security, Poverty Alleviation and Nutrition project

This study provides an overview of the aquaculture sector in Ghana. It assesses the actual and potential contribution of aquaculture to poverty reduction and food security, and identifies enabling conditions for and drivers of the development of Ghana’s aquaculture sector. The study uses data collected from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including key informant interviews with actors within the aquaculture sector and relevant secondary literature.

Engineering design and mechatronics: The schemebuilder project

The paper describes the development of a software design aid for use at the conceptual stage of engineering design. It is intended for use in the design of mechatronic products but has wider potential uses. Early approaches were based on function structures and tables of options and the system that evolved allows the assembly of schemes linked by matching their input and output ports. A database of components is provided which can be accessed via different indexes and the designer can easily create and compare alternative schemes at the concept stage. A bond graph approach is used to define the interconnections between components. This allows correct port matching but also provides for future development such as constraint propagation through the design and links to simulation tools. © 1993 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Investigation of the losses in the stator duct spacers of large A.C. motors using the A -ip 3-D eddy current formulation

This paper describes how the A -if) formulation may be applied to determine the losses in the stator duct spacers of large a.c. motors. The model is described in terms of its geometry and boundary conditions. The novel aspects of the application of the formulation to this problem are explained. These include the modelling of fixed currents sources (the stator windings), the location of the necessary cut surfaces and the determination of their magnetic scalar potential differences, and the implementation of periodic boundary conditions for vector variables. Results are presented showing how the duct spacer losses vary with load, and with the relative permeability of the spacer material. The effects of modelling iron nonlinearity, of both the spacer and the steel laminations, are also illustrated. © 1996 IEEE.

Environmental and social impact monitoring of the Bujagali Hydropower Project (BHPP), Uganda Fisheries Component: monthly patterns in physico-chemical conditions and fish catch in the immediate vicinity of the Bujagali Hydropower construction site, 29th September - 28th October 2007

Following the commencement of construction works of a 250 MW hydropower plant at Dumbbell Island in the Upper Victoria Nile in September 2007, BEL requested NaFIRRI to conduct continuous monitoring of fish catches at two transects i.e. the immediate upstream transect of the project site (Kalange-Makwanzi) and the immediate downstream .transect (Buyala-Kikubamutwe). The routine monitoring surveys were designed to be conducted twice a week at each of the tWo transects. It was anticipated that major immediate impacts were to occur during construction, and these needed to be known by BEL as part of a mitigation strategy. For example, the construction of it cofferdam could be accompanied by rapid changes in water quality and quantity downstream of the construction. These changes in turn could affect the fish catch and would probably be missed by the quarterly monitoring already in place. Therefore, a major cbjective of the more regular and rapid monitoring was to discern immediate impacts of construction activities by focusing on selected water quality parameters (total suspended solids, water conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH) and fish catch characteristics (total catch, catch rates and value of the catch)

Economics of operation of 38' G.R.P. fishing vessels issued by the A.D.B. Fisheries Project: a case study

The author gives a financial and economic valuation of the operation of vessels in the 38 foot GRP class. He discusses particularly the materials and methods of fishing they use, species composition of their catches, their rate of return, break-even analysis, financial and social analysis.

A report of the fisheries catch assessment surveys in the Ugandan waters of Lake Victoria for November 2005

The fisheries of Lake Victoria have undergone many changes in the recent past which have been characterized by shifts in abundance of different fish Species and changes in fishing effort. Monitoring of the population dynamics as well as the magnitude, distribution and trends of fishing effort and fish Catches is probably more necessary now than ever before for sound management of the fisheries of the lake. This will enable the formulation of appropriate fisheries policies and legislation to ensure that the fisheries are sustainable. One of the avenues to collect information to support the above process is through conducting regular Catch Assessment Surveys (CASs). The EU funded Implementation of a Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) project for Lake Victoria through the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) is supporting the implementation of regionally harmonized CASs in Lake Victoria. The CASs under IFMP are following a statistically design laid down in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) agreed around the whole lake. In the Ugandan part of the lake, the CASs are carried out at 54 fish landing sites selected in the eleven districts sharing the lake. They are jointly conducted by the Fisheries Resources Research Institute (FIRRI), Jinja; the Department of Fisheries Resources (DFR), Entebbe; and the Districts of Busia, Bugiri, Mayuge, Jinja, Mukono, Wakiso, Kampala, Mpigi, Masaka, Kalangala and Rakai. The CAS enumerators are recruited from the fishing communities and work under direct supervision of sub county Fisheries Officers. It is planned to involve the recently formed Beach Management Units (BMUs) in fisheries data collection when modalities for their roles have been streamlined.

Impact of Bashundhara Baridhara Housing Project on the status, abundance and species diversity of fish in Bashundhara Housing lake in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A study on the status of fisheries and environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted on Bashundhara Baridhara Housing Project (BBHP), Dhaka, Bangladesh for prediction and measure the effects of housing project related development activities that have already been implemented and planned for future implementation. The project is still under development phase and so far allotted 10,000 plots of different sizes. The study shows that the original water bodies and natural fish production there from have greatly declined due to earth filling carried out for development of land for the housing. The physico-chemical parameters of the existing water body within the project area were found to be suitable for fish farming in the estate. A number of economically important fish species are found available in the existing lake. However, the natural fisheries resources of the existing lake is under great stress due to the changes made in the ecosystem, siltation, construction of building and dumping of house building and household waste materials. This has caused some important fish species of the lake to become critically endangered and vulnerable which have been documented in this paper. Appropriate regulatory and mitigating measures with respect to water management, disposal of construction garbage and other biomedical toxic substances far away from the water bodies are required to be taken to keep the water safe and suitable for fish production as well as for multipurpose use of the lake water.

Project neptune: Improved operation of water distribution networks

Water service providers (WSPs) in the UK have statutory obligations to supply drinking water to all customers that complies with increasingly stringent water quality regulations and minimum flow and pressure criteria. At the same time, the industry is required by regulators and investors to demonstrate increasing operational efficiency and to meet a wide range of performance criteria that are expected to improve year-on-year. Most WSPs have an ideal for improving the operation of their water supply systems based on increased knowledge and understanding of their assets and a shift to proactive management followed by steadily increasing degrees of system monitoring, automation and optimisation. The fundamental mission is, however, to ensure security of supply, with no interruptions and water quality of the highest standard at the tap. Unfortunately, advanced technologies required to fully understand, manage and automate water supply system operation either do not yet exist, are only partially evolved, or have not yet been reliably proven for live water distribution systems. It is this deficiency that the project NEPTUNE seeks to address by carrying out research into 3 main areas; these are: data and knowledge management; pressure management (including energy management); and the associated complex decision support systems on which to base interventions. The 3-year project started in April of 2007 and has already resulted in a number of research findings under the three main research priority areas (RPA). The paper summarises in greater detail the overall project objectives, the RPA activities and the areas of research innovation that are being undertaken in this major, UK collaborative study. Copyright 2009 ASCE.