Escape of hake (Merluccius merluccius), horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) in codends with shortened lastridge ropes

Diamond meshes in trawl codends have limited openness, which reduces escape opportunities for roundfish. Shortening the lastridge ropes (LR) attached to codend selvedges can increase the availability of open meshes resulting in higher chances of escape. However, this availability does not imply optimal mesh openness, nor does it guarantee use. We estimate the escape probability of hake, horse mackerel and blue whiting through a 20% shortened LR codend and a standard codend, and quantify the contribution of different mesh opening angles (OAs) to their size selectivity. The results confirm that high OAs increase escape opportunities for all species. However, shortened LR only improved size selectivity significantly for horse mackerel and blue whiting. This difference between species may be related to behavioural differences. The mesh openness achieved with 20% shortened LR was below that necessary to obtain optimal escape opportunities for these species. The study highlights the relevance of considering fish morphology and behaviour to optimally exploit size selectivity when designing shortened LR codends.publishedVersio

Stimulating release of undersized fish through a square mesh panel in the Basque otter trawl fishery

Discards of regulated species in the Basque mixed trawl fishery are a challenge. In 2006, a square mesh panel (SMP) was introduced in the fishery to increase the release efficiency of undersized fish. However, studies have shown that the selectivity in this fishery is based on codend selectivity and the release through the SMP is inefficient due to low contact between fish and the SMP. In order to improve contact, we tested four different gear configurations that use different stimulators to lead fish to the panel: without stimulation, with stimulation based on ropes, with stimulation based on ropes and floats, and with stimulation based on LED lights. The experiment was carried out on three of the potential choke species for the fishery: hake (Merluccius merluccius), horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou). The results showed that stimulators did not significantly improve the release efficiency of hake and horse mackerel through the panel. For blue whiting, stimulation with floats had a significant positive effect on release efficiency, whereas LED light-based stimulation had the opposite effect. In general, the contribution of the SMP to the overall release efficiency of the selective system (SMP + codend) was low. Underwater recordings confirmed that the stimulators generally were not able to lead fish towards the SMP.Stimulating release of undersized fish through a square mesh panel in the Basque otter trawl fisherysubmittedVersio

Release efficiency and selectivity of four different square mesh panel configurations in the Basque mixed bottom trawl fishery

Reduction of discards from the Basque mixed bottom trawl fishery is a challenge. To improve the selective properties of the gear used by the fleet and supplement codend size selection, a square mesh panel (SMP) installed in the upper panel of the trawl was introduced in 2006. However, recent studies have shown that the release efficiency of this SMP is low due to lack of contact between the fish and the SMP. In this study, we tested the release efficiency of the SMP for four different gear configurations. We tested the effect of adding LED lights at two different positions and altering panel size and panel position in the trawl. The analyses were focused on two species: hake (Merluccius merluccius) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou). The results showed that the position of LED lights did not significantly affect the SMP’s release efficiency for any species. However, increasing panel size had a significant positive effect on the release efficiency of blue whiting, and placing the SMP in the lower panel improved the release efficiency of hake. These results highlight the challenge of simultaneously improving the selective properties of gear for species with different behaviour, especially in mixed demersal fisheries.acceptedVersio

Evaluación bioeconómica del cambio en la selectividad de un arte de pesca: el caso de una flota mono-específica afectada por la obligación de desembarque

The European Union Common Fisheries Policy has established a discard ban, which states that fish below a reference size cannot be sold directly for human consumption. In a fishing effort-regulated fishery, the discard ban can result in extra handling, storing and landing costs. In an output-regulated fishery, this policy might also limit the effort levels as all the catches count against the quota. In both cases, this regulation can reduce the economic performance of the companies, even in single-species fisheries. A possible solution is to increase the mesh size, thus retaining fewer small individuals. To study this option, a bioeconomic simulation of a change in the gear selectivity from 100- to 120-mm minimum mesh size (MMS) was performed. The results show that the private perspective (profits) does not change. Furthermore, due to the lower retention of 120 mm MMS, the efficiency of a fishing day was reduced by 5% and 2.5%, from the point of view of capital and labour productivity, respectively. In contrast, gross revenues increased by 1.5% and crew compensation by 2%. Given a societal benefit of this change in the mesh size, this gain could be re-distributed to provide an incentive for selectivity improvements.La Política Pesquera Común de la Unión Europa ha introducido la prohibición de descartar, estableciendo que todo pescado por debajo de una talla de referencia no puede ser vendido para consumo humano directo. En una pesquería regulada a través de limitaciones del esfuerzo de pesca, la prohibición de descartar puede generar sobrecostes de manipulación, almacenamiento y desembarque adicionales. En una pesquería regulada a través de límites en las capturas, esta política podría incluso limitar los niveles de esfuerzo ya que todas las capturas deben ser deducidas de la cuota. En ambos casos, esta regulación puede reducir el resultado económico de las empresas, incluso en el caso de una pesquería mono-específica. Una posible solución sería aumentar el tamaño mínimo de la malla, y así reducir la retención de los individuos más pequeños. Con el fin de estudiar esta opción, se ha realizado una simulación bioeconómica de un cambio en el tamaño mínimo de la malla de 100 a 120-mm. Los resultados muestran cómo la perspectiva económica privada (beneficios) no varía. Más aun, debido a la menor retención de la malla de 120 mm, la eficiencia de un día de pesca se ve reducida en un 5% y en un 2.5%, desde el punto de vista de la productividad del capital y del trabajo, respectivamente. Por el contrario, los beneficios brutos aumentan un 1.5% y la remuneración al trabajo en un 2%. Debido a la existencia de un beneficio social, la ganancia podría ser redistribuida para así ofrecer un incentivo a esta mejora de la selectividad

Data driven process for the energy assessment of building envelope retrofits

In the last decades, a growing industry has been created in relation to building envelope retrofits. Linked to the lack of financial capacity of many building owners, innovative instruments such as energy performance contracts have been promoted by public bodies. This kind of instruments require of detailed energy assessment processes in order to define the expected heat load reduction and the associated economic flows between building owners and Energy Services Companies. When dealing with building envelopes, existing methods for building envelope heat loss characterization require of substantial efforts in terms of equipment and time, which makes them difficult to apply in real practice. In this paper, a novel method is proposed based on whole-building heat load assessment by means of heat meters, and analytical calculations of building envelope transmission heat load coefficients. This method, which requires minimal or no additional equipment, can be used over historical data from District Heating systems. It assigns a specific load fraction to building envelope heat transfer and allows to assess the expected reduction due to the building envelope retrofit. Numerical and experimental data is presented based on an educational building in the city of Burgos, Spain.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 768567

Betizu behi arrazaren karakterizazio genealogiko eta genomikoa

The ultimate goal of this research work is to contribute to the knowledge of the native, very rustic and endangered cattle breed in the Basque Country called Betizu. A genetic analysis has been carried out on a representative sample of individuals that was genotyped with the chip Axiom™ Bovine Genotyping v3. The aim of this analysis was to detect possible subpopulations within the herd, as well as to study the degree of consanguinity present in the population. Considering that it is an endangered breed, inbreeding was not excessively high, obtaining an average of 13.4%. Three different subpopulations were detected that coincided with the main Betizus populations that have repopulated the current cattle population. The kinship was determined by calculating the matrix of genomic relations and the capacity of the molecular information to reveal kinships that were genealogically unknown was verified. The results of this analysis provided relevant information for decision making in the conservation program of the breed, since it allows to design a mating strategy to avoid inbreeding depression.; Ikerketa lan honen bidez, Euskal Herrikoa, hemengoa den eta galtzeko zorian dagoen betizu behi-arraza erdi basatiaren ezaguera handitu nahi izan da. AxiomTM Bovine Genotyping v3 genotipazio-txiparekin abereen lagin adierazgarri baten azterketa genetikoa egin da. Azterketa horren helburua behi-taldearen barruan egon zitezkeen azpipopulazioak atzematea eta taldean dagoen odolkidetasun-maila aztertzea izan da. Galtzeko zorian dagoen arraza den arren, odolkidetasuna ez da espero zen bezain handia izan: batez beste % 13,4. Gaur egungo betizuen abere-azienda birpopulatu duten animalia talde nagusiekin bat egiten duten hiru azpipopulazio aurkitu dira. Ahaidetasuna zehazteko, erlazio genomikoen matrizea kalkulatu da, eta informazio molekularrak genealogikoki ezezagunak diren ahaideak argitzeko duen gaitasuna egiaztatu da. Azterketa horren emaitzek informazio garrantzitsua eman dute arraza kontserbatzeko programan erabakiak hartzeko; izan ere, depresio endogamikoa agertzea saihesten duten gurutzamenduak diseinatzeko aukera eman dezake, informazio genealogikoa ez dagoen egoera batean

Hizkuntzaren lanketa irratiaren bidez D-ereduko ikastetxeetan. 'Trabajar la lengua por medio de la radio en los institutos de modelo D'

Seminario realizado por dos profesores del colegio público de Zestoa (Guipuzcoa). Los objetivos son: plantear el uso de la radio como recurso motivador para la producción de textos oralesy aportar material para desarrollar las destrezas comunicativas. Después de leer el DCB y bibliografía sobre el te-ma, se estudia la programación del curso y se recoge material teórico y práctico que se experimenta y contrasta con otros profesores. Se evalúa y modifica el material elaborado para el profesorado y para el alumnado.Gobierno Vasco. Departamento de Educación, Universidades e InvestigaciónPaís VascoES

Optimizing size selectivity and catch patterns for hake (Merluccius merluccius) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) by combining square mesh panel and codend designs

Gear modifications in fisheries are usually implemented to obtain catch patterns that meet management objectives. In the Basque bottom trawl fishery, gear regulations include the use of a square mesh panel (SMP) placed at the top panel of the extension piece of the trawl to supplement diamond mesh codend selectivity. However, the catch patterns obtained with this combination have raised concern among scientists and authorities. This study combines new data on different SMP and codend designs with existing data from the literature to produce new results that are applied to predict the size selectivity and catch patterns of different gear combinations for a variety of fishing scenarios. A systematic approach based on the concept of treatment trees was outlined and applied to depict the effect of individual and combined gear design changes on size selectivity and catch patterns for hake (Merluccius merluccius) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou). This approach led to identification of the gear combination with the most appropriate exploitation pattern for these two species and improved the readability and interpretation of selectivity results. The results demonstrated that changes both in SMP and, especially, codend designs have a significant effect on hake and blue whiting size selectivity and catch patterns. Therefore, we believe that further research should prioritize codend size selectivity, and additional selection devices may be added once codend designs with good selective properties are achieved.publishedVersio

Optimizing size selectivity and catch patterns for hake (Merluccius merluccius) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) by combining square mesh panel and codend designs

Gear modifications in fisheries are usually implemented to obtain catch patterns that meet management objectives. In the Basque bottom trawl fishery, gear regulations include the use of a square mesh panel (SMP) placed at the top panel of the extension piece of the trawl to supplement diamond mesh codend selectivity. However, the catch patterns obtained with this combination have raised concern among scientists and authorities. This study combines new data on different SMP and codend designs with existing data from the literature to produce new results that are applied to predict the size selectivity and catch patterns of different gear combinations for a variety of fishing scenarios. A systematic approach based on the concept of treatment trees was outlined and applied to depict the effect of individual and combined gear design changes on size selectivity and catch patterns for hake (Merluccius merluccius) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou). This approach led to identification of the gear combination with the most appropriate exploitation pattern for these two species and improved the readability and interpretation of selectivity results. The results demonstrated that changes both in SMP and, especially, codend designs have a significant effect on hake and blue whiting size selectivity and catch patterns. Therefore, we believe that further research should prioritize codend size selectivity, and additional selection devices may be added once codend designs with good selective properties are achieved