Climate change, freshwater ecosystems and inland fisheries: implications for the developing nations

Freshwater ecosystems are vital for ensuring drinking water supplies, bio-resources that support livelihood, and a wide array of ecosystem services. Further, they are among the key components in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) set for the year 2030, including poverty reduction, food security, clean water and sanitation, conservation of biodiversity, and climate action. The aquatic ecosystems globally are susceptible to the impacts of climate change much more than terrestrial and marine ecosystems, impacting the livelihood of fishers and farmers who depend on it. Climate change is expected to adversely affect the sustainable development capabilities of many Asian and African nations by putting more pressure on natural resources and the environment. This article reviews the impact of climate change on freshwater ecosystems and fisheries and addresses the key adaptation, mitigation and management strategies to address the issue of climate change

Isachne veldkampii var. malabarica (Poaceae) - a new wetland variety from Northern Kerala, India

Isachne veldkampii var. malabarica, a new variety is described from the wetlands of Kasaragod, Kerala. It can be distinguished from Isachne veldkampii Bhat & Nagendran by the presence of two types of leaves - ligulate and non-ligulate,1–4 spikelets in each panicle branch and 2 florets which are either both pistillate, both bisexual or upper pistillate and lower bisexual. Description along with figures, illustrations and distribution map are provided

Harnessing ornamental fisheries resources for sustainable growth and development: A trade perspective from Kerala, India

Ornamental fish trade has gained paramount importance with more than 125 countries involved in the freshwater and marine fishes. The global trade is estimated to be around US $ 450 million registering a growth rate of ten percent since 2001. Asia caters up to 60 per cent of the global trade while India stands with a dismal 0.9 per cent with a portfolio of 30-35 fresh water species. The ornamental fish resources of Kerala has huge potential with untapped and unexploited resources. However the performance of the sector is not worthy and production is much below the demand. The SWOL analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Limitations analysis - is done to analyse the status of ornamental fish industry in Kerala. The results indicated that good export market, high demand, availability of under-utilized marine resources, potential for rural development, low cost effort, efficiency of ornamental fish marketers, institutional support for development and promotions were the major strengths. Dependence on wild caught species, inadequate data on resources, wastage of resources, unwillingness towards marine fishes, lack of trained/ skilled manpower and organized trade, lack of adept technologies, poor marketing facilities, backwardness in international market, weak market image and lack of fishing regulations were the major inherent weaknesses. The major opportunities were enhancement of species portfolio, increasing market value, less capital intensive, high popularity and demand, breeding and culture of indigenous fishes, faster market growth, entry to new market destinations, increased awareness of international buyers and support of government. Technological backwardness, technology transfer, insufficient awareness programmes, adverse government policies, competitions from neighboring countries, sustainability of resources and drastic drop in fish prices were the major limitations. The study suggests concerted efforts by the different stakeholders to enhance the production of the sector

Screening small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton) field gene bank accessions for phenotypic characters, yield potential and disease resistance

Evaluation of 117 field gene bank accessions of small cardamom for phenotypic characters along with yield potential and disease resistance (rhizome rot and leaf blight) at ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research Regional Station, Appangala revealed significant variation with respect to phenotypic characters. The highest plant height (350 cm) and number of bearing tillers (36.4) were recorded in the accessions, field gene bank (FGB) 65 and FGB 16, respectively. The highest fresh weight of capsules (399.61 g) and maximum number of capsules (244.20) plant-1 were recorded in the accession, FGB 13. Further, based on screening for disease resistance, 35 and 15 accessions of cardamom were identified as resistant to leaf blight and highly resistant to rhizome rot, respectively. Based on the multivariate cluster analysis, 117 FGB accessions were classified into 5 clusters viz., clusters 1 and 2 encompassing equal number of accessions (44), cluster 3 with one accession (FGB 10), clusters 4 and 5 with 8 and 20 accessions, respectively

`Zwicky's Nonet': a compact merging ensemble of nine galaxies and 4C 35.06, a peculiar radio galaxy with dancing radio jets

We report the results of our radio, optical and infra-red studies of a peculiar radio source 4C~35.06, an extended radio-loud AGN at the center of galaxy cluster Abell 407 ($z=0.047$). The central region of this cluster hosts a remarkably tight ensemble of nine galaxies, the spectra of which resemble those of passive red ellipticals, embedded within a diffuse stellar halo of $\sim$1~arcmin size. This system (named the `Zwicky's Nonet') provides unique and compelling evidence for a multiple-nucleus cD galaxy precursor. Multifrequency radio observations of 4C~35.06 with the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 610, 235 and 150 MHz reveal a system of 400~kpc scale helically twisted and kinked radio jets and outer diffuse lobes. The outer extremities of jets contain extremely steep spectrum (spectral index -1.7 to -2.5) relic/fossil radio plasma with a spectral age of a few$\,\times (10^7 - 10^8)$ yr. Such ultra-steep spectrum relic radio lobes without definitive hot-spots are rare, and they provide an opportunity to understand the life-cycle of relativistic jets and physics of black hole mergers in dense environments. We interpret our observations of this radio source in the context of the growth of its central black hole, triggering of its AGN activity and jet precession, all possibly caused by galaxy mergers in this dense galactic system. A slow conical precession of the jet axis due to gravitational perturbation between interacting black holes is invoked to explain the unusual jet morphology.Comment: Published in MNRAS | No. of pages 12, 10 figures and 4 tables. Comments are welcom

Problems and Prospects of Marine Ornamental Fish Trade in Kerala, India

The scientific advancements in fish husbandry and aquarium technology coupled with its potential in earning foreign exchange have facilitated the growth of marine aquarium fishery sector across the globe. Nearly 2 million people worldwide are engaged in marine aquarium keeping, either for recreation or as a means of livelihood. However, with richmrnamental fish reserves especially in the south-east and south-west coastal areas, India's share is insignificant to the global export in ornamental fishery sector. In Kerala, there are very few studies reported on the marine ornamental fish trade and hence this study throws light on the status of ornamental fishery trade in Kerala, including availability of resources, demand for this sector, problems and constraints in keeping marine aquarium and suggestions for improving this sector. The present study was conducted in three districts of Kerala viz. Kozhikode, Emakulum and Thiruvananthapuram and two different sets of interview schedules were employed to draw information on the status of ornamental fishing industry in Kerala and were administered among 60 traders and 90 hobbyists. Results show that the scope and demand for marine aquarium trade in Kerala is very high. Furthermore, the study portrays the demand for sustainable approach in promoting marine ornamental fishery sector in order to provide livelihood options to the fisher folk and to earn foreign exchange for the State

Challenges in Food security: The Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy Perspectives in India

Food, shelter and clothing are the basic necessities of the life and among them, food plays a pivotal role in the social and economic development of the country. Demographic pressures abating the arable lands as well as the declining factor productivity in major agriculture based cropping system leaves no options with the primary stakeholders than to f ind an alternative to traditional agricultural activity. Indian fisheries sector contributes to nutritional security, provides gainful employment and earns forex earnings. The sector produces 9.3 million tonnes of f ish to the food basket generating an economic value of 81,400 crores (0.82 percent) of the total GDP as per the current market prices of 2011. The forex earnings during 2011 in terms of quantity and value are 8.70 lakh tonnes and around 3.5 billion US$ crores respectively. Eventhough capture sector is on the rise with around 3.94 million tonnes, the sector is grappled with numerous policy bottlenecks in the value chain. Thus it becomes important to harvest alternative and non-traditional sources of f isheries. Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector in the world and there is immense scope of improving it in terms of horizontal integrations by harnessing more and more area into aquaculture in addition to the numerous policy constraints and elements required for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector to feed the ever growing population

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy