Marine Pollution in Kuwait and Its Impacts on Fish-Stock Decline in Kuwaiti Waters: Reviewing the Kuwaiti Government's Policies and Practices

Kuwait's “Blue Economy” project aims to help replace the country's oil and gas income by the sustainable development of its marine resources. The fishing industry has a prime place in the “Blue Economy” project, but nine of the main fish species in Kuwait have recently declined Rubian (Shrimp), Zobaidi (Silver Pomfret), Suboor (Hilsa Shad), Naqroor (Javelin Grunter), Hamoor (Orange-Spotted Grouper), Hamra (Malabar Blood Snapper), Halwayuh (Black Pomfret), Frush (Trout Sweetlips), and Kasur (Lizard Fish). This paper investigates the nature of pollution in Kuwaiti waters, examining its extent and causes, questioning whether or not it is a primary reason for fish decline, and discussing what measures could be taken to reduce or remove it. The data for this study were gathered from peer-reviewed articles, official Kuwaiti statistics and reports, and semi-structured interviews conducted in Kuwait with stakeholders in the fisheries including staff in the Kuwaiti Scientific Institute, the Fishery Protection Authority, the Environmental Protection Authority and governmental departments; fishers; and fishery business owners. The main finding of this study is that because of the weak government policies and practices to counter pollution, pollution does exist in Kuwaiti waters, but there is no solid evidence that it has a direct link to the decline in fish stocks. Overfishing, especially by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) vessels, seems to be a more substantial cause of the decline in fish stocks.

MARITIME SURVEILLANCE USING SAR OCEANIC IMAGES

Marine things to do play a necessary position in the improvement of a nation. There is, however, a possible threat to the protection of a country via marine routes. This paper provides the most effective and easy-to-use method that enables the defense and marine protection authority staff to track the middle sections of the ocean for unusual marine activities by collecting an oceanic image from a SAR satellite. It helps the user by extracting information such as number of ships at particular region, distance between each, length and breadth of ships and the velocity at which the ship is moving. It includes various modules such as initial tiling and pre-processing, vessel or ship detection and wake detection for estimating velocity of ship. The interface of this framework is very user-friendly and fully implemented with a MATLAB.

A Review of Personal Data Protection Law in Indonesia

The importance of protecting personal data issue starts strengthened along with the increasing number of telephone user mobile and internet in Indonesia. Several cases were sticking out, especially those that have a connection with the leak of personal data and leads to fraud or crime, strengthen the discourse on the importance of making legal rules to protect personal data. In Indonesia, the protection of personal data is related to the concept of privacy, which is the idea of safeguarding the integrity and personal dignity. Privacy rights are also an individual ability to determine who is holding their information and how the information is used. Currently, Indonesia’s long-awaited comprehensive draft Law on the Protection of Personal Data has been submitted by President Joko Widodo to the Chairperson of the Indonesian House of Representatives on January 24th, 2020. When passed, it will be the first framework legislation on personal data protection in Indonesia. This paper discusses and summarizes the progress of personal data protection based on the law and the regulatory authority in Indonesia. The result shows that there is a lack of explanation of the term data protection authority (DPA) in the final Bill submitted.

The Legal Status of the National Data Protection Authority in light of the Regulatory State Theory

Purpose ”“ The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adequacy of the legal nature of the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD), proposed by Law no. 13.853/19, to the reality of Brazilian Law, starting from the theoretical bases developed by the Regulatory State Theory regarding the valorization of the technical decision immune to political influences. Methodology ”“ This study adopts the doctrine revision of the Regulatory State Theory, aiming to point the theoretical bases on the autonomy of the regulatory entities, in order to make the comparison of adequacy between the legal nature of the ANPD placed in Law no. 13.709/18 and the material concept of administrative decentralization. Findings ”“ The study demonstrates that the Brazilian legal-political tradition will make it difficult for the National Data Protection Supervisor to act in view of its legal nature as a public body that is part of the structure of the Presidency of the Republic, which greatly relativizes its autonomy. Practical Implications ”“ The probable revision of the legal nature of the ANPD, as provided for in art. 55-A, §1, of Law no. 13.709/18, and the effectiveness of the performance of this National Authority. Originality ”“ A very current issue in the Brazilian legal environment is the suitability of the companies that will be affected by the entry into force of the General Data Protection Act (Law no. 13.709/18) in August 2020, due to the comprehensive potential of this law. This paper studies the legal nature of the National Data Protection Authority, a regulatory body that will have a relevant regulatory role in the data economy society, highlighting the relevance of the study to the sector.

Before and after enforcement of GDPR

Introduction The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was put in force on 25th May 2018. It is not known how many personal data protection requests the national authority in Croatia had received before and after GDPR, and how many of those were related to research. Materials and methods We obtained data from the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency (CPDPA) about requests/complaints related to personal data protection that were received specifically from academic/research institutions, specifically the number and type of all cases/requests between the years 2015-2019. Results In 2018, CPDPA had a dramatic increase in the number of requests in the post-GDPR period, compared to the pre-GDPR period of the same year. In 2019, CPDPA received 2718 requests/complaints; less than in the year 2018. From 2015 to 2019, CPDPA received only 37 requests related to research. Conclusions Very few requests about personal data protection from academic and research institutions in Croatia were submitted to the national Croatian data protection authority. Future studies could explore whether researchers have sufficient awareness and knowledge about personal data protection related to research, to adequately implement the GDPR regulations.

Preparedness and response in Portuguese emergency plans - Interaction with public health

Background Articulation between Civil Protection and Public Health authorities is of paramount importance to control, reduce and prevent threats to the health of the population in situations of crisis or catastrophes. National Civil Protection Authority produces Emergency Plans which describe the role of every stakeholder in emergency situations. Role and importance of Public Health and Public Health Authorities is not always present or well described and known amongst stakeholders. Methods Data was collected from all Districtal Emergency Plans (n = 18). Each document was analysed considering time frame, refences to Public Health and Health Authorities, definition of roles, communication channels, coordination and inclusion of intersectoral communication flow. Quantitative analysis included absolute and relative frequencies and qualitative analysis to all parts related to the terms “Public Health” and “Health Authority”. Each document was reviewed by 2 independent researchers. Results From 18 Districtal Emergency Plans (DEP) analysed, 94,4% (n = 17) had references to Public Health, but none referred the role of Public Health Officers. Only 16,7% referred to Health Authorities, although 94,4% mentioned the law 135/2013, defining the role and attributes of Health Authority. In 72,2%, coordination of Public Health Measures was attributed to the National Medical Emergency Institute. Epidemiological surveillance and Public Health Emergencies were referred in 55,6%, and attributed to the Regional Administration of Health. Conclusions Public Health Authorities and Public Health Medical Officers role in articulation with National Civil Protection Authority in emergency situations lacks severely, with this role being replaced by other entities. This is of great concern regarding management and control of diseases, particularly communicable diseases. Key messages Public Health Authorities lack the necessary involvement in Emergency Plans and emergency situations. Public health measures are coordinated by other entities rather than Public Health Authorities.

MITIGATING FLASH FLOODS WITH THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES: A ΜULTI-CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS TO MAP FLOOD SUSCEPTIBILITY FOR ZAKYNTHOS ISLAND, GREECE

Floods can be extremely harmful for the welfare of societies regardless if they are natural or caused by humans. The Mediterranean region has experienced an increase in flash floods frequency and severity. The suddenness and episodic nature of these type of floods makes it more difficult to predict them compared to river floods. In this study, a map was developed in regard to the flood susceptibility of Zakynthos Island with the use a multi-criteria decision analysis. This analysis utilized six factors: a) flow accumulation, b) land use, c) slope, d) rainfall intensity, e) geology and f) elevation. Each factor had a different weight based on their importance in regard to flash floods. The analysis was run in GIS. To validate the developed susceptibility map, the locations of the recorded past floods on the island were utilized. The end product was a validated flood susceptibility map. This map can help the Civil Protection Authority of Zakynthos Island to mitigate communities’ susceptibility to flash floods.

Leachate Analysis of Heavy Metals in Cigarette Butts and Bricks Incorporated with Cigarette Butts

Billions of cigarette butts (CBs) are discarded as litter in the environment every year worldwide. As CBs have poor biodegradability, it can take several years for them to break down while leaching toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Mohajerani et al. (2016), based on long-term research, developed a method for the recycling of CBs in fired clay bricks with promising results. This paper presents and discusses the leaching behavior of potentially hazardous metals from used, unused, and shredded used CBs, and unfired and fired clay bricks incorporating CBs. The leachate analysis was conducted according to the Australian Bottle Leaching Procedure (ABLP) for pH values 2.9, 5.0, and 9.2. The aim was to quantify the amount of heavy metals leached, determine the relationship between the metal concentration leachate, pH of the solution and condition of the sample, and examine the effect of firing on the leaching capability of bricks. The leachate results were then compared to the concentration limits for heavy metals set by the United States Environmental Protection Authority (USEPA) national primary drinking water and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) solid industrial waste hazard categorization thresholds to assess the suitability of fired clay bricks incorporating CBs. Metals Cu, Zn, Mn, Al, Fe, Ti, and Ba demonstrated the highest leachate concentrations for pH 2.9 and pH 5.0 for used CBs. This suggests that used CBs are more prone to leaching heavy metals in areas with highly acidic rain compared to the natural range of precipitation. The leaching behavior of fired bricks incorporating CBs was considerably lower than that for the unfired bricks due to the immobilization of heavy metals during the firing process. However, the leaching of Cr and Ni was almost completely impeded after the firing of the bricks, and more than 50% of all the tested heavy metals were hindered.

Indoor Radon Measurements in Finnish Daycare Centers and Schools—Enforcement of the Radiation Act

Background: Indoor radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Finnish radiation legislation obligates employers to measure indoor radon concentrations in workplaces, including schools and daycare centers, if they are in radon prone areas. Surveillance campaigns were conducted to ensure that the required radon measurements were performed and to gain knowledge on current indoor radon levels in daycare centers and schools. Methods: Daycare centers located in the high-radon risk municipalities were identified. Schools where indoor radon level measurements were obligatory but not performed, were identified. Results: Indoor radon measurements were performed in 633 daycare centers where the mean radon concentration was 86 Bq/m3 and the median 40 Bq/m3. The radon level was greater than 300 Bq/m3 in 8% (n = 49) of daycare centers. The radon measurements were performed in 1176 schools, which is 95% of the schools to be measured. The mean radon concentration was 82 Bq/m3 and the median 41 Bq/m3. The radon levels were greater than 300 Bq/m3 in 14% (n = 169) of the schools. Conclusions: The systematic surveillance campaigns by the radiation protection authority were very efficient in order to ensure that the measurements are performed in schools and daycare centers. The campaigns also reduced the radon exposure of employees, children, and adolescents, where necessary.