Fractional integration analysis and its implications on profitability The case of the mackerel market in the Basque Country

This paper analyzes weekly prices for mackerel landed by the inshore fleet at the ports of the Basque Country in 1995-2008 using recently proposed econometric techniques applied to the fishing market The idea is to learn to what extent fishermen can pass on the effects of negative shocks (e g fuel price increases) to their ex-vessel prices This will give an idea of the profitability of the fishery in question To that end a cyclical ARFIMA model is fitted to the series analyzed then the impulse-response function is constructed Among other things the behaviour of this function shows that possible increases in production costs are not being passed on to prices which lowers the profitability of fishing In view of these results it is suggested that fishermen need to be able to pass the shocks that they suffer on to prices if the profitability of this fleet is to be assured (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserve

The English Channel (La Manche): evolution, oceanography and sediment dynamics - a synthesis

The English Channel is a shallow epicontinental sea, linking the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea It is an excellent example of a tidally dominated shallow marine system, with limited sediment sources and extensive reworking of a relatively thin sediment cover It is bordered and floored by a range of rock types, ranging from Palaeozoic to Tertiary in age It has a variety of coastlines. including. cliffs. rills, estuaries and coastal sediment accumulations, ranging from gravel and sand beaches with aeolian dunes to broad intertidal flats The sediment is supplied by (i) rivets, with the French side of the system dominating the fluviatile sediment supply. (ii) erosion of cliffs and wave-cut platforms. which again is more important along the French coast. (iii) reworking of the sea floor, (iv) the breakdown of benthonic skeletal-debris, which is particularly important in the WSW towards the open ocean. and (v) sonic input (mainly of biogenic planktonic origin) from the At Ocean The system loses fine-grained sediment to the Atlantic Ocean in the WSW and the North Sea to the ENE and as a result of estuarine infilling Anthropoaenic changes are caused mainly by large-scale dredging of coarser-grained material for the construction industry. and within some of the estuaries (e g in the west of England) are the dumping sites of mining waste The area is dominated by strong tidal currents and by waves that originate mainly from the WSW and which only affect the shallow water areas during storms The central area of the Channel is covered by coarse-grained material since the finer fractions have been scoured away by the tidal action. this has been identified as a `bedload parting zone' Wide areas are covered by sand-sized sediments. fashioned into a variety of bed forms ripples. sandwaves, longitudinal bed-forms and sandbanks. Fine-grained sediments are confined to coastal embayments. rias, estuaries and open-coast intertidal flats A thin superficial blanket of Holocene sediment covers an important unconformity whose final development occurred during and succeeding the Flandrian Transgression If this is preserved. It will form an interesting sequence of deposits where the facies distribution is dominated by oceanographic processes and not merely by water depth and proximity to the coastlin

Recommendations for the sustainable exploitation of tidal sandbanks

A basic requirement for allowing marine aggregate (sand) extraction on the Belgian Continental Shelf (which takes place on sandbanks) is that it should not result in major environmental changes However a tidal sandbank (Kwinte Bank Flemish Banks) exploited intensively since the 1970 9 has shown evidence of significant morphological changes with the development of a 5 m deep depression in its middle section thus since February 2003 sand extraction has ceased in this area in order to study the environmental impacts and the regeneration potential of the seabed The present contribution synthesises the results of the multidisciplinary research which has taken place in the area and on the basis of these findings considers the need for an efficient management framework in both the planning and monitoring stages of the extraction The investigation has shown that extraction has had significant impacts on the seabed sedimentary character and ecology and the local hydro and sediment dynamic regime Under these conditions regeneration of the seabed is not likely in the short term and although modelling exercises have indicated possible recovery in the medium and long term this is likely to be inhibited by the lack of appropriate sediments in the area The results have provided the basis of the identification of a suite of cruel la which can assist in the strategic planning/design of marine aggregate concession zones the efficient management of marine aggregate extraction and the planning of effective environmental monitoring these criteria are related to considerations on resource location the nature/thickness of the targeted deposits morphodynamics and sediment dynamics biology and ecology and extraction practices The Kwinte Bank investigation has demonstrated also the need for intensive monitoring schemes in order to identify the morphological sedimentary and ecological impacts related to the dredging activities A critical part of these schemes should be the evaluation of the (hedging related effects against the background of the natural dynamics of the seabed thus baseline information is crucial as in its absence impact assessments are likely to remain inconclusiv

Use of life cycle assessment (LCA) to ecodesign a food product

Abstract: The methodology, key factors and main strategies of ecodesign are described, as well as current efforts to progress beyond state of the art. The majority of the costs and environmental impacts attributable to the sale of food products are accumulated throughout the length of the food chain, from the raw materials to the end use of the consumer. Therefore, life cycle assessment methodology is one of the most useful methodologies to ecodesign new food products. The ecodesign process is used to optimise all stages of the food chain to reduce material, water and energy consumption as well as to minimise the pollutants and waste generated. A brief case study is presented of a successful food product ecodesign

Effects of different doses of resveratrol on body fat and serum parameters in rats fed a hypercaloric diet

M.T. MACARULLA, C. ALBERDI, S. GOMEZ, I. TUEROS, C. BALD, V.M. RODRIGUEZ, J.A. MARTINEZ and M.P. PORTILLO. Effects of different doses of resveratrol on body fat and serum parameters in rats fed a hypercaloric diet. J Physiol Biochem, 65 (4), 369-376, 2009. Recently resveratrol, a compound naturally occurring in various plants, has been proposed as a potential anti-obesity compound. The aim of the present work was to analyse the effects of different doses of resveratrol on body fat and serum parameters in rats. Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups and fed on a hypercaloric diet for 6 weeks. The doses of trans-resveratrol used were 6, 30 and 60 mg/kg body weight/d in RSV1, RSV2 and RSV3 groups respectively. The stability of resveratrol when added to the diet was evaluated. Blood samples were collected, and white adipose tissue from different anatomical locations, interscapular brown adipose tissue, gastrocnemious muscles and liver were weighed. Commercial kits were used to measure scrum cholesterol, glucose, triacylglycerols and non-esterified fatty acids. While the lowest dose did not have a body fat reducing effect, the intermediate dose reduced all the white adipose depots. The highest dose significantly reduced mesenteric and subcutaneous depots but not epididymal and perirenal tissues. Although the reduction in all the anatomical locations analysed was 19\% in the RSV3 group, in the RSV2 group it was 24\%. No significant differences among the experimental groups were found in brown adipose tissue, gastrocnemious muscle or liver weights. Scrum parameters were not affected by resveratrol intake because no differences among the experimental groups were observed. These results suggest that resveratrol is a molecule with potential anti-obesity effect. The most effective of the three experimental doses was 30 mg/kg body weight/d

Life cycle assessment to eco-design food products: industrial cooked dish case study

An industrial cooked dish is one of the food products with the most complex agri-food chain. In this study, an eco-design pilot experiment has been performed as a way to develop more efficient and sustainable agri-food products throughout its whole life cycle. To achieve this, a life cycle assessment (LCA) has been carried out to identify and quantify the environmental performance of the production and distribution of a cooked tuna with tomato dish. The most important stages of the life cycle have been established taking into consideration the full environmental impact as well as the potential reductions achievable by the application of various improvements