Control system for aquatic biological resources in the northern fisheries basin of Russia

The study of the Russian fishery management system aims to determine the degree of readiness of the fishing industry to implement economic processes of access to aquatic biological resources in the country’s Northern fishery basin. A comparative analysis of fishery management systems in a market economy (fishery complex of Russia) and a planned economy of the USSR has been presented. It has been determined that the allocation of aquatic biological resources for industrial fishing is managed on the basis of Russian regulatory legal acts, and the implementation of the tasks of developing the fishery sector and ensuring the country’s food security is consistent with the implementation of the Basic State Policy of Russia. Key performance indicators of the fishing industry, the system of allocation of fishing (catch) quotas for aquatic biological resources based on the “historical principle” and the “auction system” have been presented. The aim of the study is to assess the being implemented plans for the total allowable catch development, and the desire of the fishery management system and business to increase the economic potential of the Russian fishery sector.

Commercial fishing, Inuit rights, and internal colonialism in Nunavut

This paper considers the degree to which the concept of ‘internal colonialism’ accurately describes the political economy of Nunavut’s commercial fisheries. Offshore fisheries adjacent to Nunavut were initially dominated by institutions based in southern Canada, and most economic benefits were captured by southern jurisdictions. Decades of political struggle have resulted in Nunavut establishing a role for itself in both the management of offshore resources and the operation of the offshore fishing industry. However, key decisions about fishery management are made by the federal government, and many benefits from Nunavut’s offshore fisheries continue to accrue to southern jurisdictions. The concept of internal colonialism is therefore a useful concept for understanding the historical development and contemporary conflicts over offshore fisheries. By contrast, Nunavut’s inshore fisheries were established as community development initiatives intended to promote economic well-being and stability. While inshore fisheries primarily benefit Inuit community economies, the growth of inshore fisheries has been hampered by small profit margins, inadequate marine infrastructure, and a dearth of baseline data. The federal government’s failure to support the expansion of inshore fisheries is a manifestation of internal colonialism, insofar as it reflects an unequal distribution of public infrastructure and research.

Bioeconomic Approach for Assessing Status of Trawl Fishery in the Straits of Malacca

The Straits of Malacca provides half of Malaysia’s total marine fish and seafood supply. Due to depleted fish stock, the Malaysian Government has established a comprehensive legal framework to reduce overfishing in the Straits over the last five decades. However, there are limited scientific studies on the current status of stock recovery. This paper aims to use bioeconomic approach to determine the current trawl fishery status in the Straits. Various statistical tests showed that the Clarke-Yoshimoto-Pooley model was better than the Schnute model in predicting and thus used to estimate the crucial bioeconomic parameters. The current yield and standardised effort of 239,692 tonnes and 931,692 standard fishing days were very close to the estimated biological maximum sustainable yield (239,915 tonnes) and above 18 % of the standardised effort (763,649 standard fishing days) to achieve it. The maximum economic yield was estimated at 201,542 tonnes while the corresponding standardised effort was 396,799 standard fishing days indicating serious economic overfishing in the Straits. If the current effort can be reduced by 57 %, fish biomass and economic rent will increase by 97 % and 835 %, respectively. A price sensitivity analysis predicted that demand-pull fish price inflation could exacerbate the overfishing problem, particularly under unrestrained environment. A 50 % increase in price could lead to a 132 % increase in fishing effort from the base case. The findings of this paper provide valuable insights for fishery managers to refine their existing fishery management program to achieve sustainable fishery for the future.

Morphometric and Meristic Analysis of Sillaginopsis panijus Along with Seasonal Variation from Rupnarayan River, West Bengal, India

Present study is a first-time report of flathead Sillago, Sillaginopsis panijus (Hamilton, 1822), from Rupnarayan River of West Bengal. Seasonal sampling performed from January 2019- February 2020 by collection of water sample and fish sample in the morning time 5.00 A.M. – 8.00 A.M. A total of 116 specimens of Sillaginopsis panijus (Hamilton, 1822) were collected from four different sampling stations of Rupnarayan river (22.23°N 88.03°E to 22.40°N 87.36°E), West Bengal, India. Present work is a morphometric and meristic data analysis has been provided in detail. Total 23 morphometric characters and 13 meristic characters were analyzed. Morphological characteristics of the species were present to confirm the occurrence and distribution of Sillaginopsis panijus (Hamilton, 1822) along the riverine water of Rupnarayan. The physico-chemical parameters of water have been measured such as temperature of water, dissolved oxygen, pH and salinity. The statistical analysis of multivariate test with post-Hoc analysis and correlation were established with the abundance of S. panijus (Hamilton, 1822) in relation to water parameters. The result shows the dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and salinity played a most important role in the distribution of S. panijus (Hamilton, 1822). The result shows a statistically significant difference in distribution of fish species, F (12, 8) =18.86, p<0.0005; Wilk’s Λ=0.001, partial η2=0.966. Present study certainly provides the baseline information of Sillaginopsis panijus (Hamilton, 1822) from the Rupnarayan river of West Bengal, India. This record of Sillaginopsis panijus (Hamilton, 1822) may assist the fishery scientist, researchers, policy planners and conservationists to develop sustainable fishery management. Therefore, this study was considered as a first step on morphometric characters for its development and documenting the extension of the distribution and ecological changes in its natural habitat which helps to conserve this species abundance in this area and prevent overexploitation.

Seasonal movement patterns and habitat use of sub-adult Striped Bass Morone saxatilis in a highly managed and tidally influenced Pacific Coast Watershed

Purposely introduced in 1879, Pacific coast Striped Bass Morone saxatilis once supported a commercial fishery and currently supports a recreational fishery in the San Francisco Estuary Watershed, CA, USA; however, the population has been in decline for decades. Since little is known about sub-adult behavior on the Pacific coast, we used acoustic telemetry to investigate seasonal movement patterns and habitat use across three regions (bay, delta, and river) and the effects of temperature and salinity on habitat use over a 2-year period. Sub-adult movement and habitat use differed by year and age. In spring, age-I and age-II sub-adults moved within the delta (60%), river (20%), and bay (20%) regions, and by summer, some individuals moved to the bay (36%), while others remained in the delta (42%) and river (22%). Fall and winter showed equal movement between the bay and delta regions. During year 2, age-II and age-III fish inhabited the bay region across all seasons with the exception of spring when a few individuals migrated up river. Generally, sub-adults did not inhabit the river region in fall or winter. Sub-adults were not detected in water temperatures < 10 °C and occurred most often in 20–25 °C. Younger sub-adults inhabited limnetic habitat where older fish inhabited mesohaline and polyhaline habitats. Our findings suggest that sub-adult seasonal movement patterns and habitat use hotspots have important fishery management implications and can be useful to address concerns over how this non-native fish’s predation impacts native and endangered fishes.

New historical data for long-term swordfish ecological studies in the Mediterranean Sea

Management of marine fisheries and ecosystems is constrained by knowledge based on datasets with limited temporal coverage. Many populations and ecosystems were perturbed long before scientific investigations began. This situation is particularly acute for the largest and commercially most valuable species. We hypothesized that historical trap fishery records for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus Linnaeus, 1758) could contain catch data and information for other, bycatch species, such as swordfish (Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758). This species has a long history of exploitation and is presently overexploited, yet indicators of its status (biomass) used in fishery management only start in 1950. Here we examine historical fishery records and logbooks from some of these traps and recovered ca. 110 years of bycatch data (1896–2010). These previously neglected, but now recovered, data include catch dates and amounts in numbers and/or weights (including individual weights) for the time period before and after major expansion of swordfish fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. New historical datasets such as these could help understand how human activities and natural variability interact to affect the long-term dynamics of this species. The datasets are online and available with open access via three DOIs, as described in the “Data availability” section of the article.