Sea cucumber conservation in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, India "An evaluation of the current conservation measures on sea cucumber stocks in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar of India"

Sea cucumber fishery and trade were one of the top non-finfish income streams for the coastal people of Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar in the South East coast of India. As there was no regulation to control the fishery, there was a concern on decline in sea cucumber populations. In order to conserve the over-exploited stocks, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, Government of India banned the fishery and trade of sea cucumbers by including them under Wild Life Protection Act 1972 since 2001. The enforcement of a blanket ban of sea cucumber fishing over the last 14 years might have helped in reviving their populations; at the same time, the ban would possibly had a social and economic impact on scores of people, who were dependent on the sea cucumber fishery. To understand the situation, the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project approved a short term project to Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (India). The project was intended to understand the sea cucumber stocks and implications of the ban on the livelihood of fishers in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar. The purpose of the project was also to suggest management options for conservation and sustainable use of sea cucumber resources

Status of sea cucumber resources and impact of fishing ban on the livelihood of fishers in Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay

The sea cucumbers constitute an important part of non-fish income source for thousands of fishers along Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay of south east coast of India. The fishery which is more than thousand years old was introduced by the Chinese stationed at Ramanathapuram, for preparing a dried sea cucumber product Beche-de-mer. The sea cucumber fishery in Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay was artisanal in nature and consisted of fishermen who were good divers, the processors who acted as middlemen and the exporters. The sea cucumbers were chiefly collected by skin diving to a depth of 1.5 to 6.0 m in the shallow seas using nonmechanised country crafts. They were also caught as by-catch in trawlers locally known as Thallu madi (an indigenous modified trawler operating on wind power in shallow waters), besides the Chanku madi and Attai madi which were operated in deeper coastal waters

Socio-economic Impact of Sea cucumber Conservation in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar Region of Tamil Nadu

Sea cucumber is one of the important marine resources and its fishery is a source of income to coastal communities. It contributes to poverty alleviation for more than three million fishers globally. The indiscriminate exploitation for this lucrative trade would have resulted in overexploitation leading to endangering of the species in the wild. The blanket ban on collection and trade on sea cucumber in India was imposed during 2002 by listing this organism in Schedule I category of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The present study aimed to analyze and understand the impacts of listing on the conservation of sea cucumber resources in the wild and on the livelihood of the fishers. The enforcement of ban has affected the livelihood of thousands of fishermen families involved in sea cucumber fishing. There was a loss in their regular income as they were not able to do other fishing activities due to lack of capacity for investment. The fishers opined that they want the ban to be lifted at least for a few commercially important species. They are agreeable to follow regulatory measures like size restriction on fishing of undersized sea cucumbers, exclusion of breeding stock from fishing, restraining from use of destructive gears, exclusive fishing ban period for stock replenishment, sea ranching and stock enhancement programmes for conservation of the resource through participatory co-management principles

Spatial variations in the population characteristics of sea cucumber resources in Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, south-east coast of India

The lack of data on population abundance, biomass and basic biological parameters of most of the sea cucumber species from Indian waters is a fundamental barrier to impose suitable management measures on these resources. A study was conducted to ascertain the sea cucumber population characteristics in two geographically distinct ecosystems (Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay) along the south-east coast of India. The stock status of sea cucumber population was assessed both by trawl and dive surveys following standard methods on a random basis. Comparatively, a higher average density of total sea cucumbers was estimated in the Gulf of Mannar (3853±152.3 nos. ha-1) than in Palk Bay (2428.5±504.6 nos. ha-1). The species diversity, average length and weight of individual species were also higher in the Gulf of Mannar. The present study indicated significant variation in status and structure of sea cucumber resources in these two ecosystems. Hence the study warrants the emphasis of ecosystem-based management in formulating conservation measures of these resources in Indian waters

An overview of anti-diabetic plants used in Gabon: Pharmacology and Toxicology

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Ethnopharmacological relevance: The management of diabetes mellitus management in African communities, especially in Gabon, is not well established as more than 60% of population rely on traditional treatments as primary healthcare. The aim of this review was to collect and present the scientific evidence for the use of medicinal plants that are in currect by Gabonese traditional healers to manage diabetes or hyperglycaemia based here on the pharmacological and toxicological profiles of plants with anti-diabetic activity. There are presented in order to promote their therapeutic value, ensure a safer use by population and provide some bases for further study on high potential plants reviewed. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical studies were sourced using databases such as Online Wiley library, Pubmed, Google Scholar, PROTA, books and unpublished data including Ph.D. and Master thesis, African and Asian journals. Keywords including ‘Diabetes’ ‘Gabon’ ‘Toxicity’ ‘Constituents’ ‘hyperglycaemia’ were used. Results: A total of 69 plants currently used in Gabon with potential anti-diabetic activity have been identified in the literature, all of which have been used in in vivo or in vitro studies. Most of the plants have been studied in human or animal models for their ability to reduce blood glucose, stimulate insulin secretion or inhibit carbohydrates enzymes. Active substances have been identified in 12 out of 69 plants outlined in this review, these include Allium cepa and Tabernanthe iboga. Only eight plants have their active substances tested for anti-diabetic activity and are suitables for further investigation. Toxicological data is scarce and is dose-related to the functional parameters of major organs such as kidney and liver. Conclusion: An in-depth understanding on the pharmacology and toxicology of Gabonese anti-diabetic plants is lacking yet there is a great scope for new treatments. With further research, the use of Gabonese anti-diabetic plants is important to ensure the safety of the diabetic patients in Gabon.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity

Defining the causes of sporadic Parkinson's disease in the global Parkinson's genetics program (GP2)

The Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2) will genotype over 150,000 participants from around the world, and integrate genetic and clinical data for use in large-scale analyses to dramatically expand our understanding of the genetic architecture of PD. This report details the workflow for cohort integration into the complex arm of GP2, and together with our outline of the monogenic hub in a companion paper, provides a generalizable blueprint for establishing large scale collaborative research consortia

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of Parkinson?s disease

Although over 90 independent risk variants have been identified for Parkinson’s disease using genome-wide association studies, most studies have been performed in just one population at a time. Here we performed a large-scale multi-ancestry meta-analysis of Parkinson’s disease with 49,049 cases, 18,785 proxy cases and 2,458,063 controls including individuals of European, East Asian, Latin American and African ancestry. In a meta-analysis, we identified 78 independent genome-wide significant loci, including 12 potentially novel loci (MTF2, PIK3CA, ADD1, SYBU, IRS2, USP8, PIGL, FASN, MYLK2, USP25, EP300 and PPP6R2) and fine-mapped 6 putative causal variants at 6 known PD loci. By combining our results with publicly available eQTL data, we identified 25 putative risk genes in these novel loci whose expression is associated with PD risk. This work lays the groundwork for future efforts aimed at identifying PD loci in non-European populations

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Not AvailableThe lack of data on population abundance, biomass and basic biological parameters of most of the sea cucumber species from Indian waters is a fundamental barrier to impose suitable management measures on these resources. A study was conducted to ascertain the sea cucumber population characteristics in two geographically distinct ecosystems (Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay) along the south-east coast of India. The stock status of sea cucumber population was assessed both by trawl and dive surveys following standard methods on a random basis. Comparatively, a higher average density of total sea cucumbers was estimated in the Gulf of Mannar (3853±152.3 nos. ha-1) than in Palk Bay (2428.5±504.6 nos. ha-1). The species diversity, average length and weight of individual species were also higher in the Gulf of Mannar. The present study indicated significant variation in status and structure of sea cucumber resources in these two ecosystems. Hence the study warrants the emphasis of ecosystem-based management in formulating conservation measures of these resources in Indian waters.Not Availabl