A viability analysis of sustainable by-catch fisheries under direct conservation measures

<p>Sustainability in fisheries is a complex concept and one that has attracted a rich history of research over time. The basic concerns of sustainability are how to reconcile ecological, economic and social requirements within the perspectives of intra- and inter-generational equity. Therefore, maintaining these requirements simultaneously is critical to achieving a perennial system and avoiding so-called “crisis” situations. It is contended that viability theory, which is a relatively new area of mathematics, rigorously captures the essence of sustainability. Using viability theory, this thesis develops two viability models based on different direct conservation measures (i.e. input and output controls) to examine the feasibility conditions under which a regulator can achieve sustainability in a fishery characterised by a “by-catch process”, whereby one species is targeted and another species is incidentally caught as by-catch. The first model considers a by-catch fishery where fishing input is controlled by a regulator. The second model considers two interrelated fisheries managed using a dual quantity-price system, which is based on New Zealand’s Quota Management System (QMS). For each model, the set of constraints representing the “good health” of the system are characterised using managerial priorities identified in the literature. Then, the viability kernel, which is the largest set of initial states for which there are controls that result in inter-temporal trajectories satisfying all the constraints, is approximated numerically. This is achieved by employing VIKAASA, which is a computer application capable of generating kernel approximations. The viability kernel provides the regulator with meaningful reference values and indicators for desirable or undesirable states of the fishery, which serve as important inputs into policy decisions. This study also shows the potential for viability theory to provide policy makers with a better insight of how to integrate ecosystem considerations into the QMS.</p>

A viability analysis of sustainable by-catch fisheries under direct conservation measures

<p>Sustainability in fisheries is a complex concept and one that has attracted a rich history of research over time. The basic concerns of sustainability are how to reconcile ecological, economic and social requirements within the perspectives of intra- and inter-generational equity. Therefore, maintaining these requirements simultaneously is critical to achieving a perennial system and avoiding so-called “crisis” situations. It is contended that viability theory, which is a relatively new area of mathematics, rigorously captures the essence of sustainability. Using viability theory, this thesis develops two viability models based on different direct conservation measures (i.e. input and output controls) to examine the feasibility conditions under which a regulator can achieve sustainability in a fishery characterised by a “by-catch process”, whereby one species is targeted and another species is incidentally caught as by-catch. The first model considers a by-catch fishery where fishing input is controlled by a regulator. The second model considers two interrelated fisheries managed using a dual quantity-price system, which is based on New Zealand’s Quota Management System (QMS). For each model, the set of constraints representing the “good health” of the system are characterised using managerial priorities identified in the literature. Then, the viability kernel, which is the largest set of initial states for which there are controls that result in inter-temporal trajectories satisfying all the constraints, is approximated numerically. This is achieved by employing VIKAASA, which is a computer application capable of generating kernel approximations. The viability kernel provides the regulator with meaningful reference values and indicators for desirable or undesirable states of the fishery, which serve as important inputs into policy decisions. This study also shows the potential for viability theory to provide policy makers with a better insight of how to integrate ecosystem considerations into the QMS.</p>

Policy Options of Over-Pumping Control in the NCP

Starting in the 1990s, China has been issuing regulations and policy rules related to groundwater management and pumping control on both national and provincial levels. These policies include the requirement of permits for well drilling, a well spacing policy, pumping quota management, water resources fee collection, setting of irrigation water prices, a water rights system, water markets, and more.

Fisheries in the Ngāti Kahungunu Rohe, New Zealand

<p>To ensure sustainability of fisheries resources, commercial fisheries in New Zealand are monitored by direct control of harvest levels using the Quota Management System. However, there is currently no overall harvest amount for any fishery in New Zealand, which includes harvest amounts across all sectors of fishing: commercial, recreational, customary and other sources of fishing mortality. Having reliable information and data is important when setting and varying harvest levels for each species in each geographical area to ensure the sustainable use of that fishery. This research focuses on the fisheries harvest within Ngāti Kahungnu rohe, between the 2007-2010 fishing years, of 10 key species in New Zealand waters. A variety of different data sources from all sectors, including; commercial, recreational, customary and illegal fishing were used in this research to estimate overall harvest amounts. These estimates are also displayed geographically using heat maps. In order for more reliable estimates of overall harvest to be made there is a need for more consistent data collection between the different fishing sectors, as well as a higher quality of data collection relating to the harvest of fisheries in New Zealand for all sectors of fishing. This research highlights the difficulty of making such estimates and provides an initial template for similar research in other areas around New Zealand. This research also highlights the difficulties faced by Iwi/Māori when attempting to participate in fisheries management. This is not only due to the complexity of fisheries management in New Zealand, with current management and traditional Māori concepts not always aligning, but also the lack of high quality data across all fishing sectors available.</p>

Fisheries in the Ngāti Kahungunu Rohe, New Zealand

<p>To ensure sustainability of fisheries resources, commercial fisheries in New Zealand are monitored by direct control of harvest levels using the Quota Management System. However, there is currently no overall harvest amount for any fishery in New Zealand, which includes harvest amounts across all sectors of fishing: commercial, recreational, customary and other sources of fishing mortality. Having reliable information and data is important when setting and varying harvest levels for each species in each geographical area to ensure the sustainable use of that fishery. This research focuses on the fisheries harvest within Ngāti Kahungnu rohe, between the 2007-2010 fishing years, of 10 key species in New Zealand waters. A variety of different data sources from all sectors, including; commercial, recreational, customary and illegal fishing were used in this research to estimate overall harvest amounts. These estimates are also displayed geographically using heat maps. In order for more reliable estimates of overall harvest to be made there is a need for more consistent data collection between the different fishing sectors, as well as a higher quality of data collection relating to the harvest of fisheries in New Zealand for all sectors of fishing. This research highlights the difficulty of making such estimates and provides an initial template for similar research in other areas around New Zealand. This research also highlights the difficulties faced by Iwi/Māori when attempting to participate in fisheries management. This is not only due to the complexity of fisheries management in New Zealand, with current management and traditional Māori concepts not always aligning, but also the lack of high quality data across all fishing sectors available.</p>

Evaluating CephFS Performance vs. Cost on High-Density Commodity Disk Servers

CephFS is a network filesystem built upon the Reliable Autonomic Distributed Object Store (RADOS). At CERN we have demonstrated its reliability and elasticity while operating several 100-to-1000TB clusters which provide NFS-like storage to infrastructure applications and services. At the same time, our lab developed EOS to offer high performance 100PB-scale storage for the LHC at extremely low costs while also supporting the complete set of security and functional APIs required by the particle-physics user community. This work seeks to evaluate the performance of CephFS on this cost-optimized hardware when it is combined with EOS to support the missing functionalities. To this end, we have setup a proof-of-concept Ceph Octopus cluster on high-density JBOD servers (840 TB each) with 100Gig-E networking. The system uses EOS to provide an overlayed namespace and protocol gateways for HTTP(S) and XROOTD, and uses CephFS as an erasure-coded object storage backend. The solution also enables operators to aggregate several CephFS instances and adds features, such as third-party-copy, SciTokens, and high-level user and quota management. Using simple benchmarks we measure the cost/performance tradeoffs of different erasure-coding layouts, as well as the network overheads of these coding schemes. We demonstrate some relevant limitations of the CephFS metadata server and offer improved tunings which can be generally applicable. To conclude, we reflect on the advantages and drawbacks related to this architecture, such as RADOS-level free space requirements and double-network penalties, and offer ideas for improvements in the future.

Variations of Soil Salinity and Cotton Growth under Six-Years Mulched Drip Irrigation

The lowering of salt content in the field, especially in arid areas, after consecutive application of mulched drip irrigation (MDI) is of vital importance for sustainable cotton plantation. To elucidate the effects of long-term MDI on soil properties and cotton growth, this paper systematically monitored the soil salinity, ion concentrations and the yield of cotton in the field using MDI consecutively for six years in a typical oasis in Xinjiang, China. The results showed that MDI could significantly change salt distribution in the cotton field. During the six years tested, the soil salt content using MDI declined fast at first, and then the decline rate gradually decreased. In the 1st and 2nd year, the average salt content within 0–100 cm soil layer was larger than 20 g kg−1, which belonging to the saline soil. Then the salt content decreased to 10–20 g kg−1 in the 3rd and 4th year, and the cotton field declined to heavily saline soil. After 5 years of MDI, the soil turned to non-salinized. The Cl− and SO42− equivalence ratio (CSER) also decreased with the increase of application years of MDI. Saline-alkaline land developed from chloride-sulphate solonchak (0.2 < CSER < 1) into sulphate solonchak (CSER < 0.2) after 6 years of MDI. The survival rate of the cotton increased from 1.48% (1 year of MDI) to 76.3% (6 years of MDI), and the yield increased from 72.43 kg ha−1 to 4515.48 kg ha−1. When the average CSER, SAR and the soil salinity in 0–140 cm soil layer decreased to 0.60, 0.98 (mol kg−1)0.5 and 6.25 g kg−1, farmers can achieve a balance between income and expenditure. Moreover, when CSER, SAR, and the soil salinity continuously decreased to 0.44, 0.69 (mol kg−1)0.5 and 0.77 g kg−1, the cotton yield will exceed the average production level of cotton in Xinjiang. Under the current irrigation schedule in the oasis irrigation area, the soil salinity and groundwater level after applying MDI could be conducive to cotton growth. However, this situation had also caused a waste of nearly 200 mm of water resources. Therefore, authors suggested that further research on water-saving irrigation systems suitable for different soil conditions should be carried out, and also the differential quota management in production practice should be adopted.

Study of an Improvement Plan for the Efficient Operation of Korean CAIND

This study explored an improvement plan for the overall preventive activity of Korean Citizen Corps Active in Disaster (CAIND). To this end, it utilized the statistical yearbooks of the Korea Ministry of Public Administration, Security, and Fire Service, and the National Statistical Office, for a period of four years from 2015 to 2018, and drew out the practical problems through statistical analysis. Through the results, the study provided four major suggestions for improvement. First, the education and training system of Korean CAIND should be established to satisfy regional conditions. Second, the quota management system of Korean CAIND that considers the characteristics of rural areas should be supplemented. Third, the reward system for Korean CAIND activities should be improved. Fourth, management members' readership competency of operating organizations, including that of the Korean CAIND captain in charge, should be strengthened. The results of this study are expected to be utilized as basic data to develop Korean CAIND in the future.