Vietnam: Learning from experience

The fishing industry in south-central Vietnam relies on co-management and the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management (EAFM) to sustain the health of coastal marine areas. Vietnam’s 3,260-km coastline hosts a diversity of marine resources such as coral reefs and seagrass beds as well as more than 1,080 species of fish. The health of Vietnam’s coastal and marine ecosystems is fundamental to the food security, livelihoods and social stability of more than 4 mn Vietnamese people who directly or indirectly benefit from the exploitation of marine resources. Small-scale fisheries are abundant in Bind Dinh, located in the south-central coast of Vietnam, making up nearly 40 per cent of the country’s small-scale fishing fleet. Fishing is a common source of livelihood and income generation at the household level

Marcación y recaptura del gatuzo (Mustelus schmitti) en el Ecosistema Costero Bonaerense (Argentina)

El presente trabajo está referido a los primeros resultados obtenidos sobre marcado y recaptura en el gatuzo, Mustelus schmitti, como medio para reconocer sus desplazamientos y migraciones en el Ecosistema Costero Bonaerense (ECB). Este tiburón es relevante no sólo por su gran abundancia a lo largo del ECB sino también por su importancia comercial para la flota pesquera de arrastre argentina. Entre noviembre de 2010 y mayo 2011 se marcaron 2.483 ejemplares cerca de Monte Hermoso, dentro del sector marino conocido como “El Rincón”, utilizando como plataforma una embarcación de la flota artesanal. Se logró recuperar 43 individuos entre 2010 y 2013. A partir del análisis de los individuos recapturados se señalaron los patrones de movimientos, migración, distribución espacial y temporal en el ECB, y además se discutieron y relacionaron dichos patrones con el ciclo de vida. Los resultados pusieron en evidencia la utilización por parte del gatuzo de áreas extensas, mayoritariamente costeras, sin alta afinidad con áreas particulares. Este es el modelo tradicional propuesto para tiburones pequeños como el gatuzo. Sin embargo, la modalidad reproductiva indicaría un ajuste al modelo señalado para grandes tiburones. Por lo tanto, el gatuzo en su comportamiento parece contener aspectos correspondientes a ambas modalidades con fidelidad por los sitios de reproducción pero sin evidencias de filopatría

From the Editor, Yemaya, No.61, August 2020

According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 (SOFI 2020) released in July amidst the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people affected by hunger is steadily rising globally. People with higher risk of food insecurity include those with the lowest levels of income and education, the unemployed, those with health problem, those living in rural areas, and those separated or divorced. The report, which carries recent and authoritative estimates of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition around the world, also revealed disturbing gender specific aspects of hunger: moderate to severe food insecurity is more prevalent among women than men; there is a growing gender gap in accessing food; and the most disadvantaged and vulnerable are often adolescents, women and children living in the poorest households in rural areas but also urban areas. When viewed in the context of a pandemic induced global economic crisis, these findings have serious implications for the lives of women in the small-scale fisheries

Blue economy: splitting hairs

There is no reason to wait for consensus on what is justice before we do something about injustice in small-scale fisheries. With the Blue Economy/Blue Growth now spreading around the world, I believe the issue of social justice for small-scale fisheries is an important and increasingly urgent issue, also for social research. We now have the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), a landmark achievement when member-states of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) endorsed them in June 2014. I believe that if states do nothing to implement the guidelines, the Blue Economy will come at a loss to small-scale fisheries. Then the many injustices they have faced for so long will only exacerbate

India: the future is inland

If managed sensibly, inland water bodies can go a long way to provide India with a sustainable future and food security for its population. Fish production in India registered a remarkable 16-fold increase during the last six decades to reach 12.59 mn tonnes (MT) in 2017-18, propelling the country to the position of the second-largest fish-producing nation in the world. During this period, the share of inland fish production has increased from 30 per cent to 70 per cent, and the present inland fish production has reached 8.9 MT. More than 14 mn fishers and fish farmers depend on fishing and fish farming for their livelihoods; many times more than that number eke out their living through support and ancillary activities like fish processing, trade and making of fishing craft and gear

India: a twisted trajectory

The fish-processing industry’s path of using fishmeal to grow shrimp amounts to exporting the precious nutrition that India’s children badly need. In the early morning of 25 September 2019, on the shores of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, India, the humble sardine commenced its journey. The journey of its afterlife, that is. A group of women waited together, empty baskets in hand, chatting while waiting for the boats to arrive. Their expectations do not remain unanswered. Boats bulging with little shiny sardines return from calm seas. Boats carrying sardines, along with their histories of struggle. Big trawlers, small trawlers, ring seines, fibreglass boats: everyone has been scooping up schools of sardine today

Groundwater relationships to pumping, precipitation and geology in high-elevation basin, Sierra Valley, CA

Sierra Valley, located in the northern Sierra Nevada, California, serves as the Middle Fork Feather River headwaters and provides surface water to Oroville Dam of the California State Water Project (SWP). Under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the Sierra Valley sub-basin has been designated a medium-priority basin, due to chronic groundwater declines and the valley’s high ecological value as the largest freshwater marsh and meadow system in the Sierra Nevada. The Sierra Valley Groundwater Management District (SVGMD) serves as the Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) for the Sierra Valley sub-basin. As such, SVGMD is tasked through SMGA with achieving sustainable groundwater management over an approximate 20-y timeframe. The first step is the development of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) (to be completed by January 2022) that 1) hydrologically assesses the basin, 2) identifies methods and protocols to track groundwater trends, and 3) develops an initial suite of actions to move the basin towards groundwater sustainability. ... Our investigation builds on previous watershed studies and further establishes the Sierra Valley watershed as a highly complex hydrologic system. These complexities include: large variation in precipitation phase and quantity throughout the watershed; geologic features that restrict both vertical and lateral groundwater flow; many water inflow pathways, both surface and sub-surface, that are logistically impossible to quantify by conventional monitoring means. Prior attempts at developing accurate water budgets and numerical models of the watershed have been hindered by the uncertainty these factors present. Thus, though a hydrologic budget is required by SGMA for the development of the GSP, numerical models will be of limited utility as either tools to derive hydrologic budgets or to help determine the efficacy management actions to achieve sustainable groundwater conditions. In developing strategies to address undesirable groundwater conditions, we recommend an adaptive management approach paired with targeted and defensible data collection with standardized data collection, management and quality control procedures

Costa Rica: Critical routes

Women fishers, shrimp peelers and mollusk workers in Costa Rica identify priority areas for the recognition and formalisation of their work

Breeding and Larval Rearing of Asian Moon Scallop Amusium pleuronectes in Eastern Samar, Philippines

Asian moon scallop, Amusium pleuronectes, is among the most common commercially harvested scallop in the Philippines. This study investigated suitable conditioning methods, induced spawning, and documented scallop larval development at the Marine Fisheries Research and Development Center (MFRDC) Guiuan, Eastern Samar. Scallops held in tanks with flow-through water system without substrate yielded high survival rate of 48.06 ± 5.95%. Optimum water temperature was 28-29°C for maintaining scallops. Isochrysis galbana and Chaetoceros calcitrans were suitable microalgal feed for A. pleuronectes consumed at 7,388,888 cells min-1 per scallop. These significant results were applied in maintaining scallops at the hatchery. As a result, scallops with an average 19.8 mm shell length (SL) reached 37.5 mm SL within four months with a survival rate of 96.57 ± 2.04%, average daily growth rate (ADGR) of 0.13 ± 0.04 mm.day-1, and specific growth rate (SGR) of 3.92 ± 1.31%.d-1. Natural spawning was successful under controlled conditions while induced spawning trial through thermal stimulation, food shock, sexual stimulation, and serotonin injection resulted unsuccessful release of sperm and eggs. The estimated number of fertilized eggs per spawning ranged from 0.22-1.4 million. Fertilized eggs appeared spherical and dark in color with 54.2-62.57 µm in diameter. After nine hours, the larvae developed into trochophore stage with 59.08-84.4 µm in length. D-veliger with 120.37-157.07µm shell length developed after 24 hours. Development of the early umbone stage was reached on day 5; and on day 7, the umbo larvae become well-developed with shell length of 135.45-173.36 µm. On day 9, pedi-veligers were observed in the culture. Spat grew 312.41-509.48 µm on day 16 and survived until four months with final shell length of 4-10 mm. For the larval rearing, stocking density of A. pleuronectes larvae observed highest survival rate of 0.04 ± 0.03% at 200 larvae/L, while no larvae survived at 800 larvae/L due to contamination of protozoans in the culture medium

Growth, Development, and Survival of Portunus pelagicus Larvae and Juveniles in Different Feed Regimens, Rearing Media, and Stocking Densities

Various factors in P. pelagicus seed production and grow-out culture were investigated in this study. Experiments were conducted to 1) compare natural and artificial feeds for larval production, 2) evaluate indoor tank and outdoor net cages as rearing media, and 3) assess different stocking densities for grow-out culture. Growth, development, and survival were assessed for the performance of each variable. (I) In larval production, the development of megalopa larvae into crab instar was synchronous in both natural and artificial feed treatments in a 5-day rearing observation. Crab instars began to appear on Day 4 with 27% composition in both feeds. Although survival appeared to be relatively higher in natural feed (43.96 ± 6.04%), this was not significant from survival in artificial feed treatment (33.33 ± 13.34), (t = 0.726, p > 0.05). (II) In Phase I grow-out culture, a two-variable design experiment was conducted to assess growth performance and survival of crab juveniles reared in indoor tanks and outdoor net cages at different stocking densities. Specific growth rate (SGR) differed significantly (t = 2.937, p 0.05). Furthermore, two-factor ANOVA results have shown that growth performance of the juveniles was influenced by both the differences in rearing medium and stocking density, but not in terms of survival (F = 0.120, p = 0.888). (III) In Phase II grow-out culture, juveniles attained highest SGR (3.54 ± 0.56%.d-1) at 5 ind.m-2 stocking density. This was followed by 15 ind.m-2 (3.45 ± 2.39%.d-1) and by 10 ind.m-2 (2.33 ± 0.50%.d-1) (p > 0.05). However, survival rate was highest in 15 ind.m-2 (46.67 ± 0.00%), but the differences among other stocking densities were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Overall, results suggest that artificial feed can be an alternative for Artemia in rearing megalopae to crab instar stage. Stocking density in Phase I and II grow-out culture did not substantially affect growth performance and survival of juvenile P. pelagicus. However, higher stocking density increases incidence of cannibalism among reared crabs