The greening of the “barrios”: Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba

Urban agriculture in Cuba has rapidly become a significant source of fresh produce for the urban and suburban populations. A large number of urban gardens in Havana and other major cities have emerged as a grassroots movement in response to the crisis brought about by the loss of trade, with the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989. These gardens are helping to stabilize the supply of fresh produce to Cuba's urban centers. During 1996, Havana's urban farms provided the city's urban population with 8,500 tons of agricultural produce, 4 million dozens of flowers, 7.5 million eggs, and 3,650 tons of meat. This system of urban agriculture, composed of about 8,000 gardens nationwide has been developed and managed along agroecological principles, which eliminate the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, emphasizing diversification, recycling, and the use of local resources. This article explores the systems utilized by Cuba's urban farmers, and the impact that this movement has had on Cuban food security.     

Natural selection favors a newly derived timeless allele in Drosophila melanogaster

Circadian and other natural clock-like endogenous rhythms may have evolved to anticipate regular temporal changes in the environment. We report that a mutation in the circadian clock gene timeless in Drosophila melanogaster has arisen and spread by natural selection relatively recently in Europe. We found that, when introduced into different genetic backgrounds, natural and artificial alleles of the timeless gene affect the incidence of diapause in response to changes in light and temperature. The natural mutant allele alters an important life history trait that may enhance the fly's adaptation to seasonal conditions.     

Effect of larval stocking density on growth,survival and whole body cortisol of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) larvae reared under laboratory conditions

Interest of mussel hatchery development has increased during the last years as natural seed collection does not always satisfy the demand of producers. Success on larval bivalve culture depends on several factors such as diet, temperature or stocking density. In this study, the effect of larval density in mussel culture success has been assessed testing three larval densities: high (50 larvae mL^?1), medium (25 larvae mL^?1) and low (5 larvae mL^?1). Results showed higher growth and survival at low density but the amount of postlarvae was low. The highest number of settled larvae was observed at high density but mortality was also high and a delay on the larval development was detected producing a prolongation on the culture length. However, medium density resulted in a good survival and growth and also in a considerable amount of postlarvae, as this density could be adequate for massive mussel seed production. Cortisol content on the larvae and postlarvae was also analysed and significant differences were obtained among groups probably due to the stress associated to settlement and metamorphosis.     

A comparative review of fisheries management experiences in the European Union and in other countries worldwide: Iceland,Australia, and New Zealand

This study compares the details and performance of fisheries management between the EU and a selection of other countries worldwide: Iceland, New Zealand, and Australia, which are considered in many respects to be among the most advanced in the world in fisheries management. Fisheries management in the EU, Iceland, Australia, and New Zealand has developed following different paths, despite being based on similar instruments and principles. Iceland, Australia, and New Zealand have been at the forefront of developing management practices such as stakeholder involvement, legally binding management targets (Australia, New Zealand), individual transferable quotas, and discard bans (Iceland, New Zealand). The EU has since the beginning of the 21st century taken significant steps to better involve stakeholders and establish quantitative targets through management plans, and a landing obligation is gradually being implemented from 2015 onward. The management of domestic fisheries resources in Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland has, overall, performed better than in the EU, in terms of conservation and economic efficiency. It should, however, be stressed that, compared to Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland, (i) initial over‐capacity was more of an issue in the EU when management measures became legally binding and also that (ii) EU has been progressive in developing common enforcement standards, on stocks shared by sovereign nations. The situation of EU fisheries has substantially improved over the period 2004–2013 in the northeast Atlantic, with fishery status getting close to that in the other jurisdictions, but the lack of recovery for Mediterranean fish stocks remains a concern.     

High‐throughput identification and quantification of Vagococcus salmoninarum by SYBR Green I‐based real‐time PCR combined with melting curve analysis

This work describes a primer pair and a high‐throughput SYBR Green I‐based real‐time PCR protocol combined with melting curve analysis for identification and quantification of Vagococcus salmoninarum in bacterial cultures and infected fish tissues. The 16S rRNA gene was selected for the design of the primer pair (SalF and SalR). The sensitivity and specificity of this primer pair were compared with other previously designed for conventional PCR. Although both primer pairs showed 100% specificity using pure bacterial cultures or DNA extracted from bacteria or fish tissues, the primer pairs designed in this study showed the highest sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.034 × 10⁰ amplicon copies per assay (equivalent to 2 × 10^?11 ng/µl, C_q value of 30.49 ± 1.71). The developed qPCR protocol allowed the detection of V. salmoninarum in non‐lethal and lethal fish samples with detection levels of 0.17 × 10⁰ gene copies in tissues artificially infected and 0.02 × 10⁰ in tissues of fish experimentally infected with V. salmoninarum. The high sensitivity of the developed method suggests that it could be considered as a useful tool for diagnosis of vagococcosis and the detection of V. salmoninarum in asymptomatic or carrier fish.