The mining boom and Western Australia's changing landscape : towards sustainability or business as usual?

The practices and public reputation of mining have been changing over time. In the past, mining operations frequently stood accused of being socially and environmentally disruptive, whereas mining today invests heavily in ‘socially responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ business practices. Changes such as these can be witnessed internationally as well as in places like Western Australia (WA), where the mining sector has matured into an economic pillar of the state, and indeed the nation in the context of the recent resources boom. This paper explores the role of mining in WA, presenting a multi-disciplinary perspective on the sector's contribution to sustainable development in the state. The perspectives offered here are drawn from community-based research and the associated academic literature as well as data derived from government sources and the not-for-profit sector. Findings suggest that despite noteworthy attitudinal and operational improvements in the industry, social, economic and environmental problem areas remain. As mining in WA is expected to grow in the years to come, these problem areas require the attention of business and government alike to ensure the long-term sustainability of development as well as people and place.

Baseline responses of Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to spinosad, and susceptibility of broiler populations in eastern and southern Australia

Spinosad was proposed as a potential chemical for control of lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), in Australian broiler houses after the detection of strong cyfluthrin resistance in many beetle populations. In 2004-2006, spinosad susceptibility of 13 beetle populations from eastern and southern Australian broiler houses and a cyfluthrin/fenitrothion-resistant reference population was determined using topical application, and was compared with the susceptibility of an insecticide-susceptible reference population. Comparisons of dose-response curves and baseline data showed that all populations, including the insecticide-susceptible population, were roughly equivalent in their response to spinosad, indicating no preexisting spinosad resistance. Two field populations, including the resistant reference population, which had confirmed cyfluthrin/fenitrothion- resistance, showed no cross-resistance to spinosad. There was no significant correlation between beetle weight and LC99.9. A discriminating concentration of 3% spinosad was set to separate resistant and susceptible individuals. Considering the levels of spinosad resistance that have been recorded in other insect pests, the sustained future usefulness of spinosad as a broiler house treatment will rely on effective integrated beetle management programs combined with carefully planned chemical use strategies.

Characterization of maize growing environments in eastern and southern Africa using the APSIM model

Maize grown in eastern and southern Africa experiences random occurrences of drought. This uncertainty creates difficulty in developing superior varieties and their agronomy. Characterisation of drought types and their frequencies could help in better defining selection environments for improving resistance to drought. We used the well tested APSIM maize model to characterise major drought stress patterns and their frequencies across six countries of the region including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The database thus generated covered 35 sites, 17 to 86 years of daily climate records, 3 varieties and 3 planting densities from a total of 11,174 simulations. The analysis identified four major drought environment types including those characterised by low-stress which occurred in 42% of the years, mid-season drought occurring in 15% of the years, late-terminal stress which occurred in 22% of the years and early-terminal drought occurring in 21% of the years. These frequencies varied in relation to sites, genotypes and management. The simulations showed that early terminal stress could result in a yield reduction of 70% compared with low-stress environmental types. The study presents the importance of environmental characterization in contributing to maize improvement in eastern and southern Africa.

Crustal Deformation and Seismic History Associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake: A Perspective from the Andaman–Nicobar Islands

The Indian Ocean earthquake of 26 December 2004 led to significant ground deformation in the Andaman and Nicobar region, accounting for ~800 km of the rupture. Part of this article deals with coseismic changes along these islands, observable from coastal morphology, biological indicators, and Global Positioning System (GPS) data. Our studies indicate that the islands south of 10° N latitude coseismically subsided by 1–1.5 m, both on their eastern and western margins, whereas those to the north showed a mixed response. The western margin of the Middle Andaman emerged by >1 m, and the eastern margin submerged by the same amount. In the North Andaman, both western and eastern margins emerged by >1 m. We also assess the pattern of long-term deformation (uplift/subsidence) and attempt to reconstruct earthquake/tsunami history, with the available data. Geological evidence for past submergence includes dead mangrove vegetation dating to 740 ± 100 yr B.P., near Port Blair and peat layers at 2–4 m and 10–15 m depths observed in core samples from nearby locations. Preliminary paleoseismological/tsunami evidence from the Andaman and Nicobar region and from the east coast of India, suggest at least one predecessor for the 2004 earthquake 900–1000 years ago. The history of earthquakes, although incomplete at this stage, seems to imply that the 2004-type earthquakes are infrequent and follow variable intervals

The Zanzibar Workshop Proceedings: Asserting Rights, Defining Responsibilities:Perspectives from Small-scale Fishing Communities on Coastal and Fisheries Management in Eastern and Southern Africa

The Zanzibar Workshop Proceedings consists of the report and the Statement of the Workshop and provides a rich understanding of the dynamics of traditional, indigenous, small-scale and artisanal fisheries and fishing communities in the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) context. The issues covered include: the saga of rights denied to coastal lands, fishing, and threats to livelihood arising from lack of recognition of traditional rights and the livelihood needs of people in the region; the aspirations of coastal and inland communities to maintain or improve their livelihoods; and a bottom-up perspective on access rights to fishing, post-harvest rights and economic and social rights. This report will be a valuable source of information for community organizers, trade union leaders, government officials and the donor community, including multilateral organizations, researchers and for all those who are interested in the well-being of ESA fishing communities.

Growth, movement, and attrition of northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, in the Pacific Ocean, as determined by tagging

ENGLISH: The growth of northern bluefin tuna is described by a two-stanza model. For fish between 191 and 564 mm in length the Gompertz curve, with values of 581 mm and 4.32 for Loo and K (annual), respectively, is used. The fish between 564 and 1530 mm grow linearly, at the rate of 0.709 mm per day. Age-O fish tagged and released in the western Pacific Ocean have been recaptured in the western, central, and eastern Pacific. The minimum time between release in the western Pacific and recapture in the eastern Pacific is 215 days. Older fish, mostly Land 2-year olds, tagged and released in the eastern Pacific have been recaptured in the eastern and western Pacific. The minimum time between release in eastern Pacific and recapture in the western Pacific is 674 days. The coefficient of natural mortality is estimated from data on growth and ambient temperature to be 0.276 on an annual basis, with 90-percent confidence limits of 0.161 and 0.47L Spawning of northern bluefin takes place only in the western Pacific. Some of the juveniles migrate to the eastern Pacific, where they reside for several months to several years before returning to the western Pacific. The portion of fish which migrate to the eastern Pacific varies among years, and this appears to be an important cause of the annual variation in the catches in the eastern Pacific Ocean. SPANISH: El crecimiento del atún aleta azul del norte es descrito por un modelo de dos estadios. Para los peces de entre 191 y 564 mm de talla se usa la curva de Gompertz, con valores de 581 mm y 4.32 para Loo y K (anual), respectivamente. Los peces de entre 564 y 1530 mm crecen de forma lineal, a 0.709 mm por día. Peces de edad Omarcados y liberados en el Pacífico occidental han sido recapturados en el Pacífico occidental, central, y oriental. La demora mínima entre la liberación en el Pacífico occidental y la recaptura en el Pacífico oriental es de 215 días. Peces mayores, principalmente de 1 ó 2 años de edad, marcados y liberados en el Pacífico oriental han sido re capturados en el Pacífico occidental y oriental. La demora mínima entre la liberación en el Pacífico oriental y la recaptura en el Pacífico occidental es de 674 días. Se estima el coeficiente de mortalidad natural a partir de los datos de crecimiento y temperatura ambiental en un 0.276 anual, con límites de confianza al 90% de 0.161 y 0.471. El aleta azul del norte desova únicamente en el Pacífico occidental. Algunos de los juveniles migran al Pacífico oriental, donde permanecen entre varios meses y varios años antes de regresar al Pacífico occidental. La porción de los peces que migran al Pacífico oriental varía entre años, y ésto parece ser una causa importante de la variación anual en las capturas en el Océano Pacífico oriental. (PDF contains 94 pages.)

Proceedings of the international workshop on the ecology and fisheries for tunas associated with floating objects

It has long been known that tunas frequently associate with floating objects, such as trees washed out to sea during periods of heavy rainfall, and fishermen have taken advantage of this behavior to facilitate the capture of fish. In some coastal areas, such as the Philippines, artisanal fishermen construct anchored fish-aggregating devices (FADs) to attract fish. More recently, large numbers of free-floating FADs have been constructed for deployment by large purse seiners on the high seas. The FADs often can be interrogated by the seiner and located at great distances using radio telemetry and/or GPS (Global Positioning System) technologies. In some cases a fleet of fishing vessels has a tender vessel which deploys and maintains the FADs, and notifies the fishing vessels when fish are seen around them. This workshop was convened by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and sponsored by Bumble Bee Seafoods, Inc., for the purpose of bringing together scientists and fishermen who have studied the association of tunas with floating objects. Special efforts were made to get participants from all the areas in which tunas associated with floating objects are the targets of fisheries. Thus the "regional review papers" include contributions for the eastern Atlantic, the southern Caribbean Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the eastern and western Pacific Oceans. Many of these reviews and other contributed papers are published in this proceedings volume. Other papers discussed in the workshop were published elsewhere; these papers are cited in the list of background documents in the Report of the Workshop.

Descriptions of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Bottom Longline and Vertical Line Fisheries Based on Observer Data

In July 2006, a mandatory observer program was implemented to characterize the commercial reef fish fishery operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The primary gear types assessed included bottom longline and vertical line (bandit and handline). A total of 73,205 fish (183 taxa) were observed in the longline fishery. Most (66%) were red grouper, Epinephelus morio, and yellowedge grouper, E. flavolimbatus. In the vertical line fishery, 89,015 fish (178 taxa) were observed of which most (60%) were red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, and vermilion snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens. Based on surface observations of discarded under-sized target and unwanted species, the majority of fish were released alive; minimum assumed mortality was 23% for the vertical line and 24% for the bottom longline fishery. Of the individuals released alive in the longline fishery, 42% had visual signs of barotrauma stress (air bladder expansion/and or eyes protruding). In the vertical line fishery, 35% of the fish were released in a stressed state. Red grouper and red snapper size composition by depth and gear type were determined. Catch-per-unit-effort for dominant species in both fisheries, illustrated spatial differences in distribution between the eastern and western Gulf. Hot Spot Analyses for red grouper and red snapper identified areas with significant clustering of high or low CPUE values.

Nineteenth-century Ship-based Catches of Gray Whales, Eschrichtius robustus, in the Eastern North Pacific

The 19th century commercial ship-based fishery for gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus, in the eastern North Pacific began in 1846 and continued until the mid 1870’s in southern areas and the 1880’s in the north. Henderson identified three periods in the southern part of the fishery: Initial, 1846–1854; Bonanza, 1855–1865; and Declining, 1866–1874. The largest catches were made by “lagoon whaling” in or immediately outside the whale population’s main wintering areas in Mexico—Magdalena Bay, Scammon’s Lagoon, and San Ignacio Lagoon. Large catches were also made by “coastal” or “alongshore” whaling where the whalers attacked animals as they migrated along the coast. Gray whales were also hunted to a limited extent on their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas in summer. Using all available sources, we identified 657 visits by whaling vessels to the Mexican whaling grounds during the gray whale breeding and calving seasons between 1846 and 1874. We then estimated the total number of such visits in which the whalers engaged in gray whaling. We also read logbooks from a sample of known visits to estimate catch per visit and the rate at which struck animals were lost. This resulted in an overall estimate of 5,269 gray whales (SE = 223.4) landed by the ship-based fleet (including both American and foreign vessels) in the Mexican whaling grounds from 1846 to 1874. Our “best” estimate of the number of gray whales removed from the eastern North Pacific (i.e. catch plus hunting loss) lies somewhere between 6,124 and 8,021, depending on assumptions about survival of struck-but-lost whales. Our estimates can be compared to those by Henderson (1984), who estimated that 5,542–5,507 gray whales were secured and processed by ship-based whalers between 1846 and 1874; Scammon (1874), who believed the total kill over the same period (of eastern gray whales by all whalers in all areas) did not exceed 10,800; and Best (1987), who estimated the total landed catch of gray whales (eastern and western) by American ship-based whalers at 2,665 or 3,013 (method-dependent) from 1850 to 1879. Our new estimates are not high enough to resolve apparent inconsistencies between the catch history and estimates of historical abundance based on genetic variability. We suggest several lines of further research that may help resolve these inconsistencies.

Catches of Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, by the Soviet Union and Other Nations in the Southern Ocean, 1947–1973

From 1947 to 1973, the U.S.S.R. conducted a huge campaign of illegal whaling worldwide. We review Soviet catches of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, in the Southern Ocean during this period, with an emphasis on the International Whaling Commission’s Antarctic Management Areas IV, V, and VI (the principal regions of illegal Soviet whaling on this species, south of Australia and western Oceania). Where possible, we summarize legal and illegal Soviet catches by year, Management Area, and factory fleet, and also include information on takes by other nations. Soviet humpback catches between 1947 and 1973 totaled 48,702 and break down as follows: 649 (Area I), 1,412 (Area II), 921 (Area III), 8,779 (Area IV), 22,569 (Area V), and 7,195 (Area VI), with 7,177 catches not currently assignable to area. In all, at least 72,542 humpback whales were killed by all operations (Soviet plus other nations) after World War II in Areas IV (27,201), V (38,146), and VI (7,195). More than one-third of these (25,474 whales, of which 25,192 came from Areas V and VI) were taken in just two seasons, 1959–60 and 1960–61. The impact of these takes, and of those from Area IV in the late 1950’s, is evident in the sometimes dramatic declines in catches at shore stations in Australia, New Zealand, and at Norfolk Island. When compared to recent estimates of abundance and initial population size, the large removals from Areas IV and V indicate that the populations in these regions remain well below pre-exploitation levels despite reported strong growth rates off eastern and western Australia. Populations in many areas of Oceania continue to be small, indicating that the catches from Area VI and eastern Area V had long-term impacts on recovery.