Strategy of recreational anglers and estimated eel (Anguilla anguilla) catches in a large European catchment basin, the Loire (France)

The European Council Regulation (18 September 2007) for the recovery of eel stocks required European states to report on eel stocks and anthropic mortalities. The data sources for France reveal gaps in our knowledge about angling in the public domain, and catches from privately-owned rivers. We tested a simple method, using a survey, for estimating the strategy employed and the catches landed by the 350 000 anglers fishing in the Loire catchment area. The first findings show that the answers of the fishermen varied between 1 and 2% in the departments with the most eels, and between 0.1 and 0.2% in the departments located further upstream. The interest in eel fishing, the average weight of the eels caught by the fishermen, and the total catch all decreased from downstream to upstream. Finally, we estimated the annual average weight of eel caught by anglers, which ranged from 0.8 to 5.3 kg per year depending on the department and the local interest in eel fishing. This preliminary study shows that it is possible to estimate the different fishing strategies used and the quantities caught by means of a survey

Un outil d’aide à la gestion de l’anguille : le tableau de bord anguille du bassin Loire

L’anguille européenne (Anguilla anguilla, L.) est longtemps apparue comme une espèce commune, représentant une composante majeure des milieux littoraux et des eaux continentales. La prise de conscience de la diminution de son abondance est réelle et engendre l’émergence de processus de gestion. Ce constat situe l’enjeu du Tableau de Bord Anguille du Bassin Loire mis en place en avril 2002 sous l’égide du COmité de GEstion des POissons MIgrateurs du Bassin de la Loire, des Côtiers Vendéens et de la Sèvre Niortaise. Son objectif in fine est de contribuer à une gestion et à un développement durable de l’espèce et de ses habitats. Il vise à surveiller les caractéristiques des stocks locaux présents et des habitats disponibles au moyen d’une collecte régulière et objective de données synthétisées sous forme d’indicateurs de population et de milieu. Le concept, le fonctionnement actuel et les applications de ce tableau de bord sont ici présentés

Role of fish communities in particulate organic matter fluxes between salt marshes and coastal marine waters in the Mont Saint-Michel bay.

Among the 90 fishspecies censused in the Mont Saint-Michel Bay (France), 23 colonise and forage in the salt marshes during flood. Therefore, this environmentmay play an important trophic and nursery role for these species. This community is largely dominated by mullets (81% of the biomass), Liza ramada and secondarily L. aurata. But gobies (mainly Pomatoschistus minutus and P. lozanoï) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) are also present; they represent respectively 11% and 4% of the biomass. During the tide cycles, mullets export from salt marshes about 7% of their body weight (FW) containing a mixture of sediment (43%), organic matter (24%) and water (33%). Gobies and sea bass mainly feed on dwelling macro-invertebrates, and they export respectively 4.5% and 10% of their body weight during a tide cycle. Thus, we estimated that 50 tonnes year−1 of particulate organic matter (dry weight POM) are exported from the 4000 ha of salt marshes to the marine coastal waters. These fish communities appear to be POM transporters and could play a significant role in the global energy budgets of coastal environments such as Mont Saint-Michel Bay. According to the seasons and the years, the energy exported by fish communities is assumed to range between 0 and 10% of the total POM output

La Palestine des sionistes allemands à l’époque wilhelmienne est-elle l’espace d’une expérience coloniale allemande ?

Cet article est consacré aux modèles historiques de colonisation mobilisés à l’époque wilhelmienne par les sionistes allemands pour soutenir leur projet de peuplement juif au Levant. S’ils prennent en considération les expériences de colonisation en général, il apparaît toutefois qu’ils recherchent de préférence la convergence entre les objectifs de l’Organisation sioniste mondiale et les intérêts de l’Empire allemand en Orient (Bagdadbahn). Ils mettent eux-mêmes en perspective la « judaïsation » de la Palestine et la « germanisation » des provinces orientales de la Prusse. Les colons allemands en Palestine (« Templiers ») mais aussi certaines parties plus lointaines de l’Empire allemand (Kiautschou) sont observés avec attention. Pour la production et la diffusion de connaissances sur la Palestine, ils prennent exemple sur les méthodes allemandes et s’adjoignent ponctuellement des savants allemands extérieurs au sionisme.Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit den historischen Kolonisationsvorbildern, die in der Wilhelminischen Zeit von deutschen Zionisten zur Unterstützung ihres Vorhabens einer jüdischen Besiedlung Palästinas berücksichtigt wurden. Sie nahmen grundsätzlich alle kolonisatorischen Erfahrungen in Betracht, bemühten sich allerdings dabei um eine möglichst große Konvergenz der Ziele der Zionistischen Weltorganisation mit den Interessen des Deutschen Kaiserreichs im Orient (Bagdadbahn). Überdies stellten sie die „Judaisierung“ Palästinas mit der „Germanisierung“ der ostpreußischen Provinzen in Parallele. Die deutschen Kolonisten in Palästina („Templer“) aber auch viel entferntere Teile des deutschen Kolonialreiches (Kiautschou) wurden mit großer Aufmerksamkeit beobachtet. Bei der Produktion und Verbreitung von „Palästinakunde“ nahmen sie sich an deutschen Methoden ein Beispiel und zogen gelegentlich deutsche nichtzionistische Wissenschaftler hinzu.This article deals with the historical examples of colonisation adopted by German Zionists in the Wilhelmine period in order to support their project of Jewish settlement in Palestine. Even though they took into account every experience of colonisation around the world, they preferably sought a convergence between the World Zionist Organisation’s goals and the German Empire’s geopolitical interests in the Orient (Bagdadbahn). They compared the “Judaisation” of Palestine with the “Germanisation” of the Eastern provinces of Prussia. German colonists in Palestine (“Templars”) as well as some remote parts of the German Empire (Kiautschou) were very carefully observed. When trying to produce and disseminate knowledge about Palestine, they took the German methods as an example, and occasionally called in German scientists from outside the Zionist movement

Le discours de la méthode : la conception par les sionistes allemands de la colonisation juive en Palestine (1896-1919)

Cette étude entend se démarquer des approches traditionnelles du sionisme pour l’étudier en tant que fait de civilisation allemande, dans le cadre des études germaniques et judéo-allemandes. Elle se conçoit comme une contribution triple à l’histoire intellectuelle du sionisme, à celle de la colonisation et à celle de l’Allemagne wilhelmienne. Croiser ainsi les perspectives sur l’objet de l’étude permet d’en reconfigurer la perception. Les conceptions des sionistes allemands sont en effet resi..

Patterns of silver eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) sex ratio in a catchment

Changes in the numbers and size-class structure of European silver eels, Anguilla anguilla, in the River Fre´mur (France) were examined over a 9-year period after installation of downstream eel passes. The number of silver eels migrating downstream peaked in 1999, then decreased strongly and steadily after 2000, reaching relatively low levels. At the same time, a gradual shift in the silver eel sex ratio from a dominance of males (size from 270 to 442 mm, age from 3 to 6 years) to females (size from 366 to 1112 mm, age from 4 to 9 years) was recorded. Possible explanations for the escapement patterns observed are environmental sex determination and the installation of eel passes on the main hydraulic engineering structures in 1992 and 1996

Migration pattern of silver eel (Anguilla anguilla, L.) in an obstructed river system.

The downstream migration of European silver eels in the River Frémur was examined to determine the potential effects of the numerous migration barriers that exist on waterways in western France. The Frémur has a 14 m high dam which creates a 3 · 106 m3 water supply reservoir, 6 km from tidal limit. Based on 8-year records (1996–2004) of migrant silver eels captured in a Wolf trap located about 1 km below the dam, the influence of this dam on the migration was examined. These records indicate that 91% of silver eels were captured when the dam was overtopped (i.e. when the water reservoir was full). The timings of the overflow periods varied greatly between years mainly because they are function of the duration of the filling period which in turn is dependent on the level of summer water abstraction and annual hydrological conditions. Consequently, migration periods occurred at variable dates (between November and April) which is late in comparison with nonobstructed European river systems (generally between August and December). During overflow periods the migration of silver eels increased markedly during rain events (increasing river flow). This indicates that flow flushes, are essential so that settled silver eels can orientate themselves and pass over the dam. The hypothesis of a ‘dam effect’ that could stop temporarily or permanently some of silver eels in the reservoir is discussed. Finally, the influence of the migration delays on the condition of silver eels is considered

Prioritization of fish communities with a view to conservation and restoration on a large scale European basin, the Loire (France)

The hierarchical organization of important sites for the conservation or the restoration of fish communities is a great challenge for managers, especially because of financial or time constraints. In this perspective, we developed a methodology, which is easy to implement in different locations. Based on the fish assemblage characteristics of the Loire basin (France), we created a synthetic conservation value index including the rarity, the conservation status and the species origin. The relationship between this new synthetic index and the Fish-Based Index allowed us to establish a classification protocol of the sites along the Loire including fish assemblages to be restored or conserved. Sites presenting disturbed fish assemblages, a low rarity index, few threatened species, and a high proportion of non-native species were considered as important for the restoration of fish biodiversity. These sites were found mainly in areas where the assemblages are typical of the bream zone, e.g. with a higher number of eurytopic and limnophilic species. On the contrary, important sites for conservation were defined as having an important conservation potential (high RI, a lot of threatened species, and few nonnatives fish species) and an undisturbed fish assemblage similar to the expected community if habitats are undisturbed. Important sites for conservation were found in the Loire basin’s medium reaches which host assemblages typical for the grayling and the barbell zones, e.g. with a higher number of rheophilic species. The synthetic conservation value index could be adapted and completed with other criteria according to management priorities and capacities

Réforme foncière, réforme de la vie : Franz Oppenheimer dans le mouvement sioniste allemand et au-delà

Albert le Grand, Élisabeth de Thuringe, Johannes Gutenberg, Albrecht Dürer, Martin Luther, Johann Sebastian Bach, Balthasar Neumann, Immanuel Kant, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Ludwig van Beethoven, Heinrich von Kleist, Franz Oppenheimer, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Gerhart Hauptmann. Ces seize noms appartiennent pour la plupart à des célébrités mondiales, choisies entre 1961 et 1964 par la Deutsche Bundespost pour être les visages d’une série de ..