State of Urban Nurseries in Bangladesh: A Case Study from the North-Eastern Region

The state of urban seedling nurseries in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh is examined with a focus on production and profitability of the enterprises. Twenty-eight sample nurseries out of the 97 nursery enterprises in Sylhet town were selected at random, and operators personally interviewed. It was found that the entrepreneurs are not highly educated though they believed that a basic level of education is required to understand the management of young nursery stock. Labourers of various employment categories work in the enterprises and their wage is determined by their skill, gender and efficiency. Capital and operating costs vary among the enterprises according to land value, production capacity, infrastructure type and workforce size. Production capacity ranges from 10,000 to 5 M seedlings/year with an average 836,000, though actual average production is only 341,000 seedlings/year. The production cost per seedling ranges from Tk. 4 to 50 while sale value ranges from Tk. 10 to 60. The most frequently sold species are Acacia mangium, Swietenia macrophylla, Tectona grandis, Mangifera indica, Litchi chinensis and Cocos nucifera. Nursery techniques and cultural practices adopted by nursery operators depend on the type of species and its silvicultural requirement. Despite some problems, including lack of suitable land for nursery establishment and inadequate level of technical knowledge for high quality seedling management, it seems that production of tree seedlings is a promising profitable small-scale business in the study area.     

棕榈在孟加拉乡村传统利用——一种可持续的生物多样性管理手段(英文)

采用多级采样的方法研究了孟加拉国农村耕作区内棕榈树的传统利用模式和当地的管理经验。农民管理棕榈主要为获取树液产品,生产以糖为主的次生品。树液可直接用作饮料,也可加工成糖蜜或酒精饮料。7块不同地块为棕榈提供生长环境,20.40%的棕榈种植在果园内。尽管中等级的农民拥有多数棕榈(33%),但是主要管理棕榈的是没有土地的农民,他们靠棕榈维持生计。这些农民将自己的智慧应用到棕榈管理当中,从种植到开孔取树液再到产品加工。如果能更科学地管理棕榈,加上农民的智慧,棕榈业将会对当地经济发展起到重要作用,也会丰富当地生物多样性。     

Consumption of shark products: The interface of sustainability,trade (mis)labelling,human health and human rights

Sharks and rays evolved 450 million years ago, during the Late Ordovician Period. However, during the modern Anthropocene, shark populations have declined at considerable rates, and recent global assessments indicate about one in three species is threatened with extinction. A notable reason for this elevated extinction risk is overfishing linked to increased demand for shark fins and other products. Here, we review multiple dimensions of consuming shark products, ranging from stock sustainability, product (mis)labelling and trade, the human health implications of consuming shark products, and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and slavery and labour abuses in the fishing industry. We conclude that traceability and increased transparency in seafood supply chains is essential to overcome obstacles to consumption of sustainable, ethical and healthy shark products. We also provide a decision tree outlining steps in consumer choice that would foster such consumption. Our aim is to provide a holistic view on issues concerning the consumption of shark products that will help policymakers, the public, management and law enforcement agencies to advocate for ecologically- and ethically sustainable consumption of shark products and thereby empower the general public to make informed decisions on which shark products they consume.     

Optimizing nursery diets for post-metamorphic stage black sea bass: Growth performance,body composition,and feed utilization on open-formulated and commercial starter diets

The objective of this study was to optimize nursery diets for post-metamorphic stage black sea bass by evaluating growth performance, whole-body proximate and fatty acid composition, and utilization of University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)-formulated and commercial diets under laboratory conditions. A feeding trial was conducted to compare two UNCW-formulated diets (D1 and D2) for black sea bass (54% crude protein = CP and 14% crude lipid = CL) and two premium, commercial marine finfish fry diets, Otohime (Reed Mariculture Inc., Campbell, CA, CP = 48% and CL = 14%, CD3) and Gemma Diamond (Skretting, Nutreco, Canada, CP = 57%, CL = 15%, CD4). The UNCW-formulated diet 1 (D1) contained high fish meal (FM, 40% of diet), whereas UNCW-formulated diet 2 (D2) replaced 50% FM protein by high-quality poultry by-product meal (PBM) protein. Post-metamorphic stage black sea bass (~0.60 g, d40ph) were stocked in each of sixteen 75-L tanks at a density of 1 fish per L (75 per tank), with four replicate aquaria per treatment. Fish were fed four times per day (0800, 1100, 1400, and 1600 h) to apparent satiation for 30 days. Final body weight (5.70–5.74), specific growth rate (7.40–7.45%/d), and percent body weight gain (834–848%) of fish fed the UNCW-formulated D1 (FM-based) and D2 (FM + PBM-based) were higher (p < .05) than in fish fed the commercial diets CD3 and CD4 (4.66–5.21 g, 6.80–7.15%/d, and 668–756%, respectively). Feed intake (% body weight/d was significantly lower for fish fed commercial diet (CD4) (3.94) compared with fish fed CD3 (4.20), but feed intake for CD3 was not significantly different compared with the UNCW-formulated diets D1 and D2 (4.10–4.12). Feed conversion ratios (0.76–0.82) were significantly higher for fish fed CD3 (0.82) than for fish fed D1 and CD4 (0.76). Survival was high (99–100%) in all diet treatments. Final whole-body crude protein content (15.2 to 15.9% wet basis), moisture (68.9–69.6%), and ash (4.31–4.77%) showed no significant differences; however, whole-body crude lipid was lower in fish fed CD3 (9.67%) than in fish fed the other diets (9.96–10.22%). Final whole-body fatty acid composition reflected the diet composition. Higher feed consumption and growth of fish fed the UNCW-formulated diets were attributed to a more optimal combination of marine (fish, squid, and krill meals), terrestrial plant (soybean meal) protein sources, and the addition of chemo-attractants, which provided both higher nutritional quality and palatability. The study suggests that the species-specific starter diets may improve growth performance and fingerling quality and may therefore lower production costs under intensive nursery conditions.     

孟加拉吉大港地区乡村家庭竹手工业

对孟加拉吉大港地区家庭竹子手工业非农就业的潜力以及对其产生的社会经济效益进行了调查。本地区有40个竹企业,涉及到Hathazcori upazila的4个村庄。80%手工业者的年龄在30~50岁。他们的大多数是未受教育和土地贫瘠的家庭成员。50%的企业是由夫妻或3~5个工人组成的。竹产品主要是满足当地市场的需求。产品是根据季节的变化而决定的。5个产品中,竹书架提供了企业月净收入的41%,平均月净利润约2373.48塔卡,这为促进乡村经济发展起到重要的作用。作者对竹产业发展的状况进行了验证,并提出了建议。     

Growth,nutrient utilization,oxidative condition,and element composition of juvenile red sea bream <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pagrus major</Emphasis> fed with fermented soybean meal and scallop by-product blend as fishmeal replacement

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of fermented soybean meal and scallop by-product blend (3:2) (FP) on the performance of juvenile red sea bream. Five isocaloric diets were prepared by replacing 0% (FP0), 15% (FP15), 30% (FP30), 45% (FP45), and 60% (FP60) fishmeal (FM) protein with FP, respectively. Triplicate groups of fish (initial mean weight 2.83 g) were fed the test diets for 45 days in a flowthrough seawater system. The results demonstrated that growth rates of fish fed FP0, FP15, and FP30 were similar, and significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of FP45 and FP60. Nutrient utilization was significantly lower in FP60, with no differences found among the other groups. Dietary heavy-metal contents were affected by inclusion of FP, impacting on whole-body heavy-metal contents. In terms of oxidative stress, fish fed the FP30 diet were in the best condition, since this fish group showed the least oxidative-stressed condition as well as the highest tolerance against oxidation. In conclusion, the approach of utilizing this fermented mixture is promising and it could replace at least 30% FM protein in red sea bream diet without negative effects on performance, body composition or health of fish.     

Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal no genetic difference between two pufferfish species torafugu <Emphasis Type="Italic">Takifugu rubripes</Emphasis> and karasu <Emphasis Type="Italic">T. chinensis</Emphasis>

It has been reported that the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial and nuclear genes of Takifugu pufferfish torafugu T. rubripes and karasu T. chinensis show 99–100% sequence identity, indicating a very close relationship between the two species. To further investigate this genetic relationship, we compared genetic variation at four microsatellite loci and at the mitochondrial control region (CR) (561 bp) between groups of T. rubripes caught at two locations [TrG, caught in the Genkai Sea off Tsushima Island in 2003 (n = 50); TrS, caught in the Suwo Sea off Kita-Kyushu in 2008 (n = 50)] and T. chinensis caught at one location (TcK, caught off the east coast of Korea in 2004; n = 50). Analyses using microsatellite loci showed that genetic diversity index values of the TrG, TrS and TcK groups were 0.9505, 0.9350 and 0.9335, respectively, while values of genetic distance and genetic differentiation between TrG and TcK (0.0543 and 0.0189, respectively) were smaller than those between TrG and TrS (0.0857 and 0.0194, respectively). Analyses using CR for the same specimens showed that genetic distances were consistent with those obtained using microsatellite loci. These results, together with our previous observations, suggest that T. rubripes and T. chinensis are very closely related and possibly can be regarded as the same species.     

Effects of supplementary feeds with different protein levels on growth and economic performances of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cultured in a rain-fed rice–fish ecosystem

This study investigated the effects of supplementary feeds with different crude protein (CP) levels on the growth and economic performances of sex-reversed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) reared in a rain-fed rice–fish ecosystem for a period of 120 days. There were four treatments—namely, traditional feed (21% CP), formulated feed (26% CP), commercial feed (30% CP), and control (no feed was used)—with three replicates per treatment. Fish (30.04 g) were stocked in ditches at a rate of 0.5 fish m^?2 considering the total area and fed one of the tested feeds twice daily at the rate of 2%–5% of body weight. Water-quality parameters of the ditches were monitored fortnightly, and these parameters were found suitable for fish farming. Organic matter, total nitrogen, and available phosphorous in soil were increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the feed treatments after fish cultivation. Highly significant weight gain and SGR were observed with fish fed the commercial feed as compared with other treatments. The highest benefit-cost ratio (2.15) was found in the control, followed by formulated feed (1.90), but in the case of numerical net return, it was the opposite. However, commercial feed showed the lowest benefit-cost ratio (1.67) due to higher feed cost than other supplementary feeds. Therefore, this study suggests that fish fed with a formulated feed (26% CP) produced significantly higher net economic return in the rice–fish farming system.