The neglected role of religion in fisheries management

Religion and spirituality have long played important roles in fishery systems around the world, and yet are often neglected in modern fisheries management and research. We review current literature and analyse the major small‐scale fishery on Lake Tanganyika, Africa, to highlight how religion may mediate fishing behaviours. Our study surveyed 154 fishers across 11 landing sites in Tanzania, followed by 15 semi‐structured interviews with key informants including fishery officers and local religious leaders. We identified key connections between religious beliefs/practices and fisher perceptions, behaviour and compliance with harvest restrictions and regulations. We demonstrate that better understanding and accounting for religious dimensions is critical for engaging with fishery stakeholders more effectively and managing global fisheries more sustainably.     

Replacement of fishmeal by two types of fish protein hydrolysate in feed for postlarval shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

After filleting of tilapia, the material remaining is discarded and this waste represents about 700 g/kg of fish body volume, corresponding to carcass and viscera. These leftovers are important sources of proteins that can be used as feed in aquaculture industry by producing protein hydrolysates. In this study, two protein hydrolysates of tilapia were produced, with one (FPH1) and two (FPH2) hours of hydrolysis. The nutritional composition of the hydrolysates showed desirable levels of crude protein and essential amino acids. Electrophoresis revealed peptides ranging from 10 to 250 kDa. In addition, caseinolytic activity was recorded by zymogram. The hydrolysates were incorporated separately in experimental diets to replace fishmeal at distinct levels: 0, 40, 80 and 120 g/kg, totalizing seven diets named 0 (control), 40H₁, 80H₁, 120H₁, 40H₂, 80H₂ and 120H₂. A 45‐day feeding trial was carried out to evaluate the zootechnical performance of postlarvae fed these diets. In conclusion, the use of FPH2 as a substitute for fishmeal promotes better shrimp growth than FPH1 and allows higher levels of substitution. In addition, it is recommended a 60 g/kg fishmeal replacement by FPH2 to improve growth.     

Detection of feline coronavirus infection in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) by polymerase chain reaction.

Feline coronavirus genetic elements were detected by polymerase chain reaction from blood, fecal samples, and effusive fluid collected from 33 cheetahs in the U.S.A. Feline coronavirus-specific serum antibodies were also measured by indirect immunofluorescence. Ten cheetahs were positive for viral shedding by polymerase chain reaction, whereas 13 were seropositive by immunofluorescence. Results of serology did not consistently correlate with shedding of virus, and the capture antigen used for detection of feline coronavirus-specific antibodies had a significant impact on results. Testing of samples from one population over a 1-yr period indicated chronic infection in some animals. These relatively healthy carrier animals were a source of virus for contact animals. Screening programs in cheetah populations for feline coronavirus infection may be most reliable if a combination of serologic analysis and viral detection by polymerase chain reaction is used.     

Inclusion of camelina meal as a protein source in diets for farmed Atlantic cod Gadus morhua

Camelina meal Camelina sativa (CM) is a potential protein source in aquaculture feeds, because of its crude protein level (39%) and essential amino acids. Two feeding experiments were conducted with Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Cod in Experiment I (19.4 g fish^?1) were fed diets with 0%, 12% or 24% CM for 9.5 weeks at 10°C; and cod in Experiment II (14.4 g fish^?1) were fed diets with 0%, 15%, 30% or 40% CM for 13 weeks at 10°C. Growth, lipid and amino acid tissue composition were compared amongst cod fed varying levels of CM. In Experiment I, cod could tolerate the highest level of CM inclusion (24%) without affecting growth compared to cod fed the control diet. In Experiment II, growth performance was significantly affected at 30% CM inclusion compared to the control treatment, and cod fed 15% CM displayed some signs of depressed growth (reduced feed intake and weight gain). Both treatment and duration were interacting factors (P = 0.015) that determined growth performance when comparing both experiments. Muscle tissue composition was relatively unaltered with less than 30% CM inclusion; however, multivariate statistics revealed significant differences in muscle tissue fatty acid composition between cod fed 40% CM and the control diet. The tissue amino acid profile was generally unaltered because the dietary amino acid profile was consistent after CM inclusion. A few antinutritive compounds in CM may have affected palatability in diets with greater than 30% CM inclusion, which may have resulted in reduced growth performance.     

Theileria parva: the immune status of calves born of dams immunised against East Coast fever

Eight Friesian cross cows three months pregnant to a single Friesian bull were immunised against East Coast fever by infection with Theileria parva (Muguga) sporozoite stabilate and treatment with pyrrolidino-methyl tetracycline. They were challenged with the homologous stock four times before calving and a fifth time after calving, and resisted all five challenges which killed all of the five groups of five susceptible controls. Calves born to these hyperimmunised dams were fully susceptible on challenge with the same stabilate, as were susceptible cows from the same farm and their calves. In both instances the calves died three to seven days earlier than the cows which were approximately 10 times heavier. These results show that one- to two-month-old taurine calves from artificially immunised dams are not protected from experimental T parva sporozoite challenge and that there is no inherent calfhood resistance to East Coast fever.     

The oil content and fatty acid composition of various genotypes of cauliflower,turnip and radish

Seeds of thirteen genotypes of cauliflower, four of turnip and seven of radish were analysed for oil content and fatty acid composition. Turnip and radish had higher oil content as compared to cauliflower. Oleic, linoleic + eicosenoic and erucic acids were the major fatty acids in the oils of these seeds. Levels of erucic acid were in the order of radish < turnip < cauliflower. Compared to cauliflower and turnip seeds, radish seeds contained higher amounts of palmitic, oleic, and linolenic + eicosenoic acids and lower amounts of linoleic and erucic acids.     

Genetic diversity of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) genotypes revealed by RAPD markers and agronomic traits

Bitter gourd or bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) is considered as minor cucurbitaceous vegetable in spite of having considerable nutritional and medicinal properties. Although some reports on genetic diversity based on morphological characterization are available, no work has been conducted to estimate genetic diversity using molecular markers in this crop. In the present study, 38 genotypes of M. charantia including few commercially cultivars collected from different parts of India based on agro-ecological zones were analysed for diversity study both at morphological and molecular levels. Genomic DNA was extracted from young healthy leaves following the procedure of Doyle and Doyle [Doyle, J.J., Doyle, J.L., 1990. A rapid DNA isolation procedure from small quantity of fresh leaf material. Phytochem. Bull. 119, 11–15]. Pair-wise comparison of genotypes was calculated as per the procedure of Jaccard [Jaccard, P., 1908. Nouvelles recherches sur la distribution florale. Bull. Soc. Vaud. Sci. Nat. 44, 223–270]. Dendrogram was constructed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and the computation for multivariate analysis was done using the computer programme NTSYS-pc Version 2.0 [Rohlf, F.J., 1998. NTSYS-pc Numerical Taxonomy and Multivariate Analysis System, Version 2.01. Exeter Software, Setauket, NY, USA]. Diversity based on yield related traits and molecular analysis was not in consonance with ecological distribution. Among 116 random decamer primers screened 29 were polymorphic and informative enough to analyse these genotypes. A total of 208 markers generated of which 76 (36.50%) were polymorphic and the number of bands per primer was 7.17 out of them 2.62 were polymorphic. Pair-wise genetic distance (GD) based on molecular analysis ranged from 0.07 to 0.50 suggesting a wide genetic base for the genotypes. The clustering pattern based on yield related traits and molecular variation was different.     

Pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen in healthy horses and horses with acute synovitis

The pharmacokinetlc properties of a single intravenous dose of ketoprofen (2.2 mg/kg) in plasma and synovial fluid were compared in four healthy animals and four horses with experimentally induced acute synovitis. Synovitis was induced by the injection of a 1% solution of sterile carrageenan into the left intercarpal joint Ketoprofen was administered at the same time as carrageenan infection. The plasma disposition followed a biexponential equation or a two-compartment model in most horses. The plasma harmonic mean half-life in healthy horses (0.88 h) was longer than in horses with synovitis (0.5 5 h). Synovial fluid concentrations of ketoprofen in healthy horses approximated those in plasma by 3 h post-dose. In horses with synovitis, synovial fluid concentrations approximated plasma concentrations by 1 h. Synovial fluid concentrations of ketoprofen in horses with synovitis were 6.5 times higher than those in healthy horses at 1 h. The area under the synovial fluid concentration curve for horses with synovitis was greater than in healthy horses. These data suggest that the inflamed joint serves as a site of sequestration for ketoprofen. Furthermore, these results indicate that plasma pharmacokinetics may be altered by inflammation in a peripheral compartment such as the joint