Aquaculture Asia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.1-60, April - June 2002

CONTENTS: Prawn farm energy audits and five star ratings by Eric Peterson. Development of freshwater fish farming and poverty alleviation: A case study from Bangladesh by Gertjan de Graaf and Abdul Latif. Conservation of endangered fish stocks through artificial propagation and larval rearing technique in West Bengal, India by M. Mijkherjee, Aloke Praharaj and Shamik Das. Genes and Fish: Supply of good quality fish seed for sustainable aquaculture by Graham Mair. Farmers as Scientists: Sewage-fed aquaculture systems of Kolkata: A century old innovation of farmers by M.C. Nandeesha. When policy makers begin hearing voices by Graham Haylor Fish farming in rice environments of north eastern India by D. N. Das. Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: Aquaculture for poverty alleviation and food security. Aquaculture Fundamentals: The use of lime, gypsum, alum and potassium permanganate in water quality management by Simon Wilkinson. The utilizations of heterosis in common carp in China by Dong Z.J. and Yuan X.H. Progress of fish gene technology research in China by Zhang Yue and Zhu Xinping. Seed production of Magur (Clarias batrachus) using a rural model portable hatchery in Assam, India – A farmer proven technology by S.K. Das. Domestication of tiger prawn gets the thumbs up. A regional approach to assessing organic waste production by low salinity shrimp farms by Dr. Brian Szuster and Dr Mark Flaherty. Advice on Aquatic Animal Health Care: Visit to intensive vannemei farms in Peru by Pornlerd Chanratchakool

Between World Views: Nascent Pacific Tourism Enterprise in New Zealand

This thesis considers the dynamics of entrepreneurship at the 'pre-tourism' stage of tourism development. It is written from the point of view of potential tourism hosts, diasporan Pacific peoples resident in New Zealand. The central question is 'that societal marginality can be a positive position from which to develop tourism enterprise and cultural product'. The author used a collaborative action approach (Lopez Potter, 2001) to respond to a community, rather than an academic agenda. The research question reflects the aspirations of the Waitakere Pacific Board (WPB), an organisation which advocates for and undertakes projects to move towards economic, social and cultural equality with the mainstream western population, on behalf of nine diasporan Pacific communities. It tacitly assumes that the nine 'Pacific' communities share common views and values and are all at a similar stage of integration or hegemony and that the WPB speaks on their behalf. It further assumes that Pacific ethnic communities in Waitakere are in fact marginalised and that they all wish to and are capable of initiating commercial enterprise and tourism product. Also, there is an expectation that non-Pacific peoples consume products and services that are based upon Pacific cultural knowledge and resources. But most importantly, assumes that tourism can be as viable in a diasporan New Zealand non-indigenous context as it is in the Islands today. The core thesis is underpinned by three other questions. Specifically, what are the diasporan Pacific community's aspirations for tourism and cultural enterprise to support tourism? What factors enable or inhibit interaction at the interface between diasporan Pacific communities and tourism product/cultural enterprise? What happens at the interface between diasporan communities and consumers? Contemporary non-instrument navigation is used as a metaphor for the research voyage, the structure of the thesis, and each community's journey in diasporan social worlds

Coastal Tourism in Dalian, China: Case Study of Yangjia Beach, Dachangshan Dao

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Aquaculture Asia, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp.1-60, July - September 2002

CONTENTS: Sustainable Aquaculture - Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: Aquaculture for Poverty Alleviation and Food Security - Part II. Shrimp pond waste management by U Win Latt. The role of rural extension in the sustainable development of Chinese aquaculture by Min Kuanhong. Farmers as Scientists: Diversity enhances profitability and sustainability by M.C. Nandeesha. Properties of Liming Materials by Claude E. Boyd, Mali Boonyaratpalin & Taworn Thunjai. Seed Production of Mud Crab Scylla spp. by Emilia T. Quinitio, Fe Delores Parado-Estepa and Eduard Rodriguez Genes and Fish: The dilemmas of strain selection by Graham Mair. Seed Production of the Crucifix Crab Charybdis feriatus by Fe Delores Parado-Estepa, Eduard Rodriguez and Emilia T. Quinitio. Aquaculture Fundamentals: A general approach to disease treatment & control by Simon Wilkinson. Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network meets in Vietnam. New APEC Project: Improving Coastal Livelihoods Through Sustainable Aquaculture Practices. Breeding and Seed Production of the Mangrove Red Snapper by Arnil C. Emata. APEC, FAO, NACA, and OIE enhance Capacity on Risk Analysis (IRA)in Aquatic Animal Movement in Asia-Pacific region by Melba Reantaso. Advice on Aquatic Animal Health: Questions & answers on drugs and chemicals by Pornlerd Chanratchakool. Responsible use of antibiotics in shrimp farming by Sara Graslund, Karin Karlsson and Janenuj Wongtavatchai. Molecular methods for rapid and specific detection of pathogens in seafood by Iddya Karunasagar, Indrani Karunasagar and H. Samath Kumar. Practical approaches to health management for cage cultured marine fishes by Leong Tak Seng

Predators and Principles: Think Tank Influence, Media Visibility, and Political Partisanship

By some measures, the major U.S. political parties have become more extreme in their political positions in recent decades, and scholars have raised concerns about whether the policy expertise provided by today’s think tanks has become similarly partisan and polarized. Furthermore, there is a perception that certain overtly partisan and highly visible think tanks wield considerable and growing influence over the policy platforms of the major U.S. parties, using their media presence to shape public and policymaker views of particular issues. Using publicly accessible tax, media, and congressional data, my proposed study assesses the extent to which media visibility and political partisanship explain the degree of influence that modern think tanks have on policy outcomes. First, I identify which think tanks are the most influential, as measured by interactions with policymakers—namely, requests to testify at congressional committees (Abelson, 2002; Rich & Weaver, 2000). I then use multiple regression analyses to assess to what extent these measures of influence are associated with think-tank media exposure (as measured by mentions in major news sources and social media metrics) and political partisanship, adapting the methodologies of Rich and Weaver (2000) to measure the former and Groseclose and Milyo (2005) to measure the latter

Appendix to the Report of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America

In reaching the conclusions reflected in its report, the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America had the benefit of numerous papers prepared by consultants, expert witnesses and its own staff. The Commission decided that publication of some of this material in the fo.rm of an appendix would provide useful background to the report. Due to space limitations it was not possible to publish more than a fraction of the documents the Commission made use of in more than five months of intensive deliberations. The selection offered here is by necessity arbitrary; inclusion or exclusion of a particular paper should not be taken as indicating any measure of relative significance. The Commission\u27s records are being delivered to the National Archives (except for administrative material that will be held by the Department of State) and will be available to the public, as provided by law. 836 pp

Communicating Air: Alternative Pathways to Environmental Knowing through Computational Ecomedia

This dissertation, Communicating Air: Alternative Pathways to Environmental Knowing through Computational Ecomedia, is the culmination of an art practice-led investigation into ways in which the production of ecomedia may open alternative pathways to environmental knowing in a time of urgent climate crisis. This thesis traces the author’s artistic, personal and political development across the period of study and presents an extended argument for greater public engagement with weather and climate science, greater public and private support for long-term collaborations between media art and climate science, and increased public open access to global weather and climate monitoring and computationally modelled data

Large-scale Agricultural Investments and Livelihood Dynamics on the Zambian 'Sugarbelt'

Current discourse on “agriculture for development” generally serves smallholders in developing countries poorly: their visibility in international development and policy processes is minimal and their exclusion from large-scale agricultural investments (LaSAIs) constructed as a “problem.” While LaSAIs have brought optimism around agriculture for development, identifying what more national actors can do in sub-Saharan Africa requires further investigation. The dominant narrative is that LaSAIs, value-chain expansion and ensuing coordination schemes for smallholders are development-oriented and inclusive but these claims remain contentious in the context of national politics, power dynamics and institutional processes, and how they shape rural livelihoods and welfare. Grounded in an interdisciplinary case study strategy that integrates the Global Value Chain (GVC) framework and the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA), this thesis explores the extent to which LaSAIs impact local development and rural livelihoods among smallholder sugarcane growers in Zambia. Drawing on multiple frameworks of analysis at national, industry and local level, it takes a mixed methods approach drawing on interviews at multiple levels, together with participatory approaches and a survey at the community level to develop case studies of two structurally different smallholder outgrower schemes linked to Zambia Sugar Plc, a subsidiary of a multinational corporation Illovo Plc.. Connections are particulalry made between how LaSAIs are framed in the context of national institutional and governance dynamics, inclusionary and exclusionary dynamics, local livelihoods and response pathways among smallholders, and industry practices as they relate to an agribusiness power and influence. This study reveals four key processes that affect LaSAIs and structural transformation in Zambia. First is that possibilities for LaSAIs are created by state institutions but their potential is limited through competing policy developments and governance processes that heighten tensions between and among different institutions. Second is that emerging inclusionary and exclusionary dynamics reflect agribusiness-state-donor relations and that implementation of projects remains problematic for industry and local participation. Third, the livelihood analysis reveals that sugarcane cultivation does enhance household incomes but this focus on financial capital neglects other forms of capital relevant in shaping livelihood response pathways. Schemes that enable access to natural capital such as land beside sugarcane provides greater livelihood impacts across finacial capital and other benefits, but these remain low quality, and fail to produce significant path-changing gains for households. Fourth is the way policy and governance dynamics at macro-level, patterns of inclusion and exclusion at meso-level, and livelihoods at micro-level play out reflect how an agribusiness’ power exploits national, regional and local domains to exert control over policy developments, industry governance and influence sustainable development – referred to as “power of presence.” Corporations limit smallholder participation through tight controls on production resources and structures which reflect the limits and importance of power dynamics, and domestic institutions in mediating corporate standards and practices. This thesis provides insight into the role of national institutional and governance dynamics in LaSAIs and agricultural expansion and how buyer-grower relations shape control over productive resources and influence at local level. In so doing, it makes visible the centrality of power, politics and institutional processes in LaSAIs and how they shape policy developments, rural social differentiation and agrarian change. The analysis links the implementation and coordination of investments to how mandates, overlaps and responsibilities among state agencies can be made clear and improve decisions around resources. It provides an understanding of how actors can participate in local spaces and closer to schemes to create suportive frameworks for local participants and poverty reduction. Recognition of macro-meso-micro interdependences should inform policies, institutions and investments to enhance rural livelihoods and development, specifically measures on resource availability, access and utilisation. Policy strategies should clarify the role of LaSAIs and their relationships with local participants and key politcal and economic instruments should be strengthened for this purpose. State institutions should advance a state-donor-agribusiness collaboration for policy development, industry structure, and organisation of smallholder outgrower schemes. In particular, strategies and regulatory mechanisms need to be strenghthened to encourage cross-sector cooperation and coordination of policy developments, social and political efforts around “agriculture for development” in Zambia and elsewhere across sub Saharan Africa

Organisational learning and food safety crises : a critical case study of the Sanlu and Fonterra crises : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, New Zealand

This study explores crisis-induced organisational learning in the Chinese and the New Zealand food safety authorities, or CFSA and NZFSA. While many crisis management scholars have sought to examine food safety crises, including the 2008 Sanlu melamine infant formula scandal and the 2013 Fonterra botulism scare, from the perspective of business organisations, food safety government agencies’ role in handling such crises, especially crisis-induced learning in the food safety authorities to prevent or better prepare for future crises, has been neglected. This thesis seeks to address this research gap by examining the two food safety crises under the lens of crisis-induced organisational learning to investigate changes in CFSA and NZFSA triggered by the biggest-ever food safety crises happened in China and New Zealand. Qualitative content analysis approach is employed to analyse the data corpus consisting of news articles and government documents recording the dairy food safety incidents and their socio-economic and political contexts and ensuing policy changes. A comparison between the two cases offers a deep understanding of the dairy food safety landscapes in the two countries and approaches employed by the government agencies in handling the dairy food safety crises. It also provides insights into dynamics of internal and external factors facilitating or inhibiting crisis-induced organisational learning in the two dairy food safety authorities. Though the two crises in this research have different socio-economic and political roots, they both caused unprecedented reputational damage not only to the dairy industries but to the whole food sectors in China and New Zealand. This research identifies multiple loopholes and underlying problems in the two dairy food safety regulatory systems leading to the incidents in question. It also finds systemic changes in the food safety authorities and the dairy food safety regulatory systems to address the loopholes. Political pressure and social emotion provoked by the dairy product crises are found to be the main factors facilitating learning in the public organisations. Conflict of interest incorporated into the dairy food safety system is seen as a key factor inhibiting deep learning in the two food safety authorities. This study therefore argues double-loop learning needs to happen in CFSA and NZFSA to uproot the underlying problem that led to lax regulation and other dairy food safety regulatory problems