Beware of changes: Conservation of Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphins in disturbed habitats

1. Protecting critical habitats of the Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphin, Sousa chinensis, is a hot topic of discussion for marine biodiversity conservation in China and many Southeast Asian countries. In practice, sound habitat protection action (HPA) planning often suffers from information gaps in macroscopic habitat configurations and changes in the habitat conditions of humpback dolphins.
2. Recent publications in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (AQC) have served to advance humpback dolphin conservation in Chinese waters by resolving such habitat configurations and indicating significant changes in distribution patterns and habitat characteristics under intense coastal anthropogenic activity.
3. We highlight an integrative research framework to investigate habitat configuration and long‐term habitat changes when planning a holistic HPA programme for humpback dolphins. When constructing habitat configuration baselines, field surveys should be designed and conducted in a systematic manner to ensure survey efforts cover diverse environments equally, in either a spatially stratified or gridded pattern, to minimize potential spatial sampling biases. Long‐term habitat changes can be revealed by comparing satellite images from different decades. Changes in habitat preferences and habitat characteristics can be explored through questionnaire surveys on local ecological knowledge, associating historical occurrences with coastline features and projecting historical habitat configuration by species distribution modelling exercises.
4. A lack of good communication and sharing of information between research and management sectors can still be an obstacle to the implementation of sound conservation practices, however, even though there is robust scientific evidence to fill knowledge gaps in distribution and habitat baselines. We have addressed the need to establish a mechanism to improve and streamline information sharing between research teams, management sectors, and stakeholder groups.

     

连续形Fox产量模型在模拟和实际渔业评估中的应用

剩余产量模型因为具有形式简单和所需数据少的特点,在渔业资源评估中被广泛应用。文章应用连续形Fox产量模型对3种模拟渔业以及北大西洋剑鱼渔业进行了评估,并对模拟渔业的评估结果进行了比较,以发现连续Fox产量模型比较适宜的渔业条件。蒙特卡罗（Monte Carlo）分析表明,模型在产量和捕捞努力量随时间波动的波动性渔业中评估效果最好,可能是由于该类型渔业过程比较完整,数据中包含的信息比较丰富。比较不同的白色噪音水平,当白色噪音小于10%时评估结果偏差较小,小于3.3%;当白色噪音为50%时,评估结果偏差较大,最大偏差为36.7%。     

小型中上层海洋鱼类资源评估研究进展

小型中上层海洋鱼类是重要的渔业资源,目前其捕捞产量约占到全球海洋渔获量二分之一。小型中上层海洋鱼类具有生命周期短、生长速度快、分布不均匀、易受环境因素影响等生物学特点,近年来,一些小型中上层海洋鱼类渔获量出现下降趋势,为保证其资源的可持续利用,对其进行准确的资源评估研究和制定合理有效的管理策略显得尤为重要。以文献计量统计分析为基础,对20多年来应用于小型中上层海洋鱼类资源评估的模型方法以及所需数据类型进行归纳与回顾,同时对模型中重要的参数估计、不确定性来源进行总结。分析认为,由于缺乏完整、准确的生物学信息导致无法对小型中上层海洋鱼类使用传统的资源评估方法进行评估,因此,其资源评估研究仍处在发展阶段。建议今后研究中应开展以下工作:1)努力提高现有模型的评估精度,尽可能考虑更多影响因素; 2)要进行长期系统的渔业资源独立调查; 3)充分利用体长等易获得数据,开发体长结构模型和基于生态系统的评估模型,降低模型选择的局限性。     

Developing robust frequentist and Bayesian fish stock assessment methods

Errors in fitting models to data are usually assumed to follow a normal (or log normal) distribution in fisheries. This assumption is usually used in formulating likelihood functions often required in frequentist and Bayesian stock assessment modelling. Fisheries data are commonly subject to atypical errors, resulting in outliers in stock assessment modelling. Because most stock assessment models are nonlinear and contain multiple variables, it is difficult, if not impossible, to identify outliers by plotting fisheries data alone. Commonly used normal distribution‐based frequentist and Bayesian stock assessment methods are sensitive to outliers, resulting in biased estimates of model parameters that are vital in defining the dynamics of fish stocks and evaluating alternative strategies for fisheries management. Because of the high likelihood of having outliers in fisheries data, frequentist or Bayesian methods robust to outliers are more desirable in fisheries stock assessment. This study reviews three approaches that can be used to develop robust frequentist or Bayesian stock assessment methods. Using simulated fisheries as examples, we demonstrate how these approaches can be used to develop the frequentist and Bayesian stock assessment approaches that are robust to outliers in fisheries data and compare the robust approaches with the commonly used normal distribution‐based approach. The proposed robust approaches provide alternative ways to developing frequentist or Bayesian stock assessment methods.     

Estimating uncertainty in fish stock assessment and forecasting

A variety of tools are available to quantify uncertainty in age‐structured fish stock assessments and in management forecasts. These tools are based on particular choices for the underlying population dynamics model, the aspects of the assessment considered uncertain, and the approach for assessing uncertainty (Bayes, frequentist or likelihood). The current state of the art is advancing rapidly as a consequence of the availability of increased computational power, but there remains little consistency in the choices made for assessments and forecasts. This can be explained by several factors including the specifics of the species under consideration, the purpose for which the analysis is conducted and the institutional framework within which the methods are developed and used, including the availability and customary usage of software tools. Little testing of either the methods or their assumptions has yet been done. Thus, it is not possible to argue either that the methods perform well or perform poorly or that any particular conditioning choices are more appropriate in general terms than others. Despite much recent progress, fisheries science has yet to identify a means for identifying appropriate conditioning choices such that the probability distributions which are calculated for management purposes do adequately represent the probabilities of eventual real outcomes. Therefore, we conclude that increased focus should be placed on testing and carefully examining the choices made when conducting these analyses, and that more attention must be given to examining the sensitivity to alternative assumptions and model structures. Provision of advice concerning uncertainty in stock assessments should include consideration of such sensitivities, and should use model‐averaging methods, decision tables or management procedure simulations in cases where advice is strongly sensitive to model assumptions.     

The importance of bare marine sedimentary habitats for maintaining high polychaete diversity and the implications for the design of marine protected areas

• 1. Bare intertidal sedimentary habitats have received relatively little attention compared with their neighbouring vegetated habitats. An ecological comparison of benthic faunal assemblages inhabiting tropical intertidal seagrass beds and bare sediments has been made to assess the faunal similarity between the two habitats in south‐east Asia.
• 2. The poorly developed taxonomy of most invertebrate taxa in the region precluded the full identification of many faunal groups. Only the polychaetes — which accounted for 76% of all the macrofaunal organisms collected — were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level, yielding 177 nominal species belonging to 35 families. Ecological analyses suggested that although each habitat had a distinct polychaete assemblage, there were few differences between habitats based on a range of calculated assemblage diversity metrics.
• 3. Further analyses were applied to the data to test the performance of three strategies for optimizing the selection of sites for inclusion in potential marine protected areas. Strategies were based either on the total number of species, the number of rare or endemic species, or on the level of species richness (used as a surrogate for community structure).
• 4. All three strategies consistently captured above average numbers of species at most levels of conservation intensity. The merits of each strategy are considered in turn.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Response of different benthic habitats to off‐shore fish cages

Off‐shore fish farming can increase the organic load of nearby coastal marine ecosystems due to the deposition of fish food and faeces on seabeds. Seagrass meadows are particularly affected by aquaculture activities but there are few empirical data showing differential effects of the same farming activity on multiple habitat types. Here, we assessed over a 2‐year period whether macrofaunal assemblages inhabiting sandy bare seabeds and Cymodocea nodosa meadows varied in their macrofaunal community structure to the fish farming activities. We observed high spatial and temporal variability in macrofauna composition and dynamics among seabed habitats and a limited impact of fish cages in their area of influence as compared with control areas. Seagrass meadows showed a higher abundance in macrofauna communities than sandy bare bottoms. Local marine currents could partially explain some results because of their influence on grain size composition. Differences in grain size resulted in higher abundances of the tanaid Apseudes talpa beneath fish cages and the absence of the sensitive amphipod Ampelisca brevicornis. Differences of resilience of seabeds (seagrass meadows and sandy bare bottoms) should be taken into account for environmental monitoring studies of off‐shore fish cages. Our results suggest that hydrodynamics are a key factor to determine buffer areas between fish cages and seagrass meadows.     

Using object‐based image analysis with multi‐temporal aerial imagery and LiDAR to detect change in temperate intertidal habitats

1. Intertidal habitat maps are needed at both fine and coarse scales to monitor change and inform conservation and management, but current methods of field survey and expert interpretation of aerial imagery can be time‐consuming and subjective. Object‐based image analysis (OBIA) of remote sensing data is increasingly employed for producing habitat or land cover maps. Users create automated workflows to segment imagery, creating ecologically meaningful objects, which are then classified based on their spectral or geometric properties, relationships to other objects and contextual data.
2. This study evaluates the change‐detection capability of OBIA in the intertidal environment by developing and comparing two OBIA methods for quantifying change in extent and distribution of habitats from freely available multi‐temporal aerial imagery and LiDAR data. Despite considerable variability in the data, pre‐ and post‐classification change detection methods had sufficient accuracy (mean overall accuracy from 70.5 to 82.6%) to monitor deviation from a background level of natural environmental fluctuation.
3. This insight into spatial and temporal patterns of natural cyclical change and their detectability by OBIA could inform use of remote sensing for regular, rapid coastal assessment, providing an alert system to direct survey resources to areas of ecologically relevant change.

     

The status and distribution of a newly identified endemic galaxiid in the eastern Cape Fold Ecoregion,of South Africa

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南海北部海域重要经济鱼类资源声学评估

根据1997年12月至1999年6月利用“北斗”号调查船的SimradEK500回声探测-积分系统在南海北部海域获取的渔业资源调查资料,运用渔业资源声学评估方法对该海域的带鱼科(Trichiuridae)鱼类、蓝圆(Decapterusmaruadsi)、竹鱼(Trachurusjaponicus)、金线鱼科(Nemipterus)鱼类以及大眼鲷科(Priacanthidae)鱼类等5类23种经济鱼类进行了评估与分析。结果表明,在南海北部海域带鱼科、蓝圆、竹鱼、金线鱼科和大眼鲷科的资源量分别为50.4×104t、16.3×104t、10.4×104t、9.8×104t和9.2×104t,其中带鱼科的资源量密度以冬季和粤西海域最高,蓝圆和竹鱼的资源量密度都以秋季和粤东海域最高,但竹鱼的资源量密度秋季明显高于其他季节。金线鱼科秋季在112°30′～116°E珠江口近海海域自西南到东北出现高度密集分布带,大眼鲷科在南海北部海域的分布较广泛,没有出现明显的高度密集区。     

南海北部海域渔业生态环境健康状况诊断与质量评价

利用1997~2002年的调查数据和资料,从海水水质、海水营养结构与营养水平、初级生产力水平、现存生物量水平等4个方面诊断与评价了南海北部海域渔业生态环境现状。渔业生态环境健康诊断方法:海水水质为单因子污染指数法和有机污染指数法(A值);营养结构为氮、磷、硅的含量水平以及三者比值判别法,营养水平为营养指数法(E值);初级生产力和饵料生物为水平分级法。渔业生态环境质量评价方法为综合指数法。结果表明,海域pH值的均值范围为8.07~8.15,溶解氧的范围为5.67~6.03 mg.L-1,无机氮的范围为3.04~4.15μmol.dm-3,磷酸盐的范围为0.18~0.34μmol.dm-3,均符合中国渔业水质标准(GB11607-89)或二类海水水质标准(GB-3097-1997);有机污染指数(A值)范围为-0.411~0.237,营养水平指数(E值)范围为0.10~0.34,表明海水未受有机污染,海域处于贫营养状态。海域Si∶N∶P的比值为14.8∶13.2∶1.11,海水营养结构总体上表现为硅和氮的比例偏低;初级生产力水平范围为5~1级,年平均值为3级,属“较高”水平级。浮游植物、浮游动物和底栖生物的现存生物量分别为3级、5级和4级,总体上属于中等水平。本次渔业生态环境质量综合评价的9项单因子指数值均低于1.0,而综合指数为0.58,表明南海北部海域渔业生态环境总体处于良好水平。然而,珠江口、粤东和粤西近海有局部海域无机氮和磷酸盐浓度超标,存在有机污染和富营养化的趋势。     

Associations of fish with various types of littoral habitats in reservoirs

Fish associations with different types of littoral habitats were studied in four canyon‐shaped reservoirs in the Czech Republic in years 2010 and 2011 by gillnets. Two to three habitats per reservoir–beaches (former meadows), stump fields (former forest) and rubble slopes–were defined and sampled along the longitudinal axis of reservoirs. Effects of reservoir, habitat and locality (position along longitudinal axis) on fish biomass, abundance and species structure were tested for juvenile and adult fish separately. Hierarchical analysis of variance revealed that habitats differed significantly in fish biomass and abundance. Redundancy analysis showed that analysed environmental variables had significant influence on fish community structure. Most variability in community structure was explained by reservoir and then by combination of habitat and slope steepness. Locality position had the smallest influence on community structure. For both adult and juvenile fish total abundance and biomass, the most inhabited habitat was beaches; rubble slopes were the least inhabited. Habitat associations differed among species. Among adults, bream Abramis brama, white bream Blicca bjoerkna and roach Rutilus rutilus were associated with beaches and stump fields, whereas perch Perca fluviatilis, ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus, asp Aspius aspius and pike Esox lucius were associated with rubble slopes. Bream, white bream, bleak Alburnus alburnus, roach, ruffe and pikeperch Sander lucioperca were associated with beaches among juveniles, whereas the only juvenile associated with rubble slopes was perch. We showed that most common species are associated with distinct habitats and also that utilisation of various littoral habitats differs in general.     

Larval and early juvenile fish dynamics in main channel and backwater lake habitats of the Illinois River ecosystem

The spatial and temporal complexity of large river ecosystems likely promotes biological diversity within riverine larval fish assemblages. However, the focus of most previous riverine studies of larval fish distribution has tended to concentrate mainly on backwater habitats. There has been less focus on the value of the main channel for larval fishes. We sampled two habitats types (three main channel sites and three backwater lakes) along 20 km of the Illinois River ecosystem during 2 years to compare the larval fish distribution along both spatial and environmental gradients between these habitats. Across the 2 years of this study, we found similar trends in the spatial and temporal distribution of larval fish, although there were some differences in densities between years. The relative abundance and size of many of the different fish taxa varied among habitats. Centrarchids, clupeids, poeciliids, cyprinids (excluding common carp) and atherinids were more abundant within backwater lake habitat. In contrast, common carp (Cyprinus carpio), sciaenids, moronids and catostomids were more abundant in main channel habitats. Furthermore, sciaenid and clupeid larvae captured in the backwater lake habitat were larger as the season progressed than those captured in the main channel. Our study suggests that larval fish show habitat specialisation, similar to adults, indicating that both the backwater lakes and the main channel are both important for larval fish and preserving the diversity of the fish assemblages in large floodplain rivers.     

台湾海峡灯光围网渔业发展前景研究

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枸杞岛近岸3种生境鱼类群落组成及岩礁区底栖海藻对鱼类群落结构的影响

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The flood pulse and growth of floodplain fish in Bangladesh

The floodplain fisheries associated with the Compartmentalization Pilot Project, Tangail, Bangladesh, were monitored using a traditional length‐based fish stock assessment programme from 1992 to 1998. The growth of Colisa fasciatus (Bloch & Schneider) and Channa punctata (Bloch) was significantly higher in years of high floods. Further, the annual yields of Puntius sophore (Hamilton), C. punctata and C. fasciatus were significantly higher in years with high growth rates. The increased growth rate resulted in the presence of two cohorts in the catches during high floods instead of one cohort during years of low flooding. The species studied had relatively short life spans with longevity of 2.4–4.6 years. The majority of fishes did not survive the first year of their lives because of the low survival rate caused by high fishing mortality, which suggests that the fishes in the floodplains of Bangladesh exhibit an annual cycle. Annual fish yields in the flood plains of Bangladesh, appear to be maintained, despite the high fishing effort, by the annual flood pulse providing the nutrient‐rich environment needed for the remaining r‐strategists to survive.     

An assessment of carcass counting surveys with increasing time lapse following a simulated fish kill on a small upland stream

A simulated fish kill was conducted on a small upland stream in Northern Ireland by planting out hatchery‐produced brown trout Salmo trutta L. carcasses of various size categories. Standard, post‐fish kill, assessment walkover surveys were conducted over time intervals to determine the number of carcasses visible. The sample variance between individual surveyors was generally low, with good agreement between the observed counts for the three, discrete, size fractions of fish up to 72 hr after the simulated fish kill. Despite low discharge rates, shallow water and good accessibility to the experimental stream, only 52% of the small category fish (<8 cm L_F) were recorded 4 hr after the start of the simulated fish kill. Larger carcasses (>17 cm L_F) were more visible, and >90% were detected 48 hr after the start of the simulated fish kill. After 96 hr, all size fractions of carcasses had reduced significantly, and the variability between replicate surveys increased markedly.     

鱼类关键生境研究进展

鱼类关键生境(EFH)是指鱼类产卵、繁殖、摄食或育成所必须依赖的水域或底质环境。该文对EFH的产生和由来、研究和应用、评估内容和识别方法等现状进行了全面回顾和总结,重点在介绍相关概念和进展,并针对我国海洋渔业科研和管理中过于强调区域重要性和种类经济价值、而忽略具体生境保护的现实,提出了相应的建议,以期为我国渔业的科学管理和及其可持续发展提供参考。