Otolith chemoscape analysis in whiting links fishing grounds to nursery areas

Understanding life stage connectivity is essential to define appropriate spatial scales for fisheries management and develop effective strategies to reduce undersized bycatch. Despite many studies of population structure and connectivity in marine fish, most management units do not reflect biological populations and protection is rarely given to juvenile sources of the fished stock. Direct, quantitative estimates which link specific fishing grounds to the nursery areas which produced the caught fish are essential to meet these objectives. Here we develop a continuous-surface otolith microchemistry approach to geolocate whiting (Merlangius merlangus) and infer life stage connectivity across the west coast of the UK. We show substantial connectivity across existing stock boundaries and identify the importance of the Firth of Clyde nursery area. This approach offers fisheries managers the ability to account for the benefits of improved fishing yields derived from spatial protection while minimising revenue loss

Traceability in the UK Seafood chain

Traceability in seafood supply chains is vital for ensuring food safety, proving legality and tackling illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, and verifying sustainability. UK seafood supply chains vary in complexity. As complexity across a supply chain increases, the importance of seafood transparency and traceability at each stage of the supply chain increases.The project sought examples of different supply chains of seafood landed in the UK to examine the current levels of traceability across the supply chain, examples of best practice, challenges to traceability and improvements that could be recommended for implementation in UK seafood supply chains. Case studies were sought from three UK seafood supply chains: i) Case study A: (Demersal) Dover (common) sole landed into ports in South West England; ii) Case Study B: (Pelagic) Mackerel from vessels landing into Peterhead, Scotland; and iii) Case Study C: (Shellfish) Brown crab / lobster from vessels landing into Bridlington, England. An initial seafood supply chain mapping exercise was undertaken for each case study through stakeholder structured interviews followed by in-depth semi structured interviews with actors across the supply chain.Key recommendations for improving traceability within the UK seafood supply chain include:• Focus on improving traceability up to the point of first sale.• Definitions of traceability need to more clearly stated to stakeholders.• Digitalise and integrate information systems.• Improve stakeholder engagement around data submission.• Minimise duplication of catch reporting by MMOs and IFCAs• Improvements to traceability systems are needed to allow for the distinction between sustainable versus non-sustainably caught seafood.• Increase transparency in how data submissions are used to increase data accuracy• Improve monitoring of wholesale markets.It should be acknowledged that the current approaches to improving traceability in seafood supply chains are already implementing some of the recommendations highlighted in this report. The recommendations from this report should serve to strengthen areas of traceability work that are already ongoing and to provide further impetus for development of best practice across UK seafood supply chains

Traceability in the UK Seafood chain

Traceability in seafood supply chains is vital for ensuring food safety, proving legality and tackling illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, and verifying sustainability. UK seafood supply chains vary in complexity. As complexity across a supply chain increases, the importance of seafood transparency and traceability at each stage of the supply chain increases.The project sought examples of different supply chains of seafood landed in the UK to examine the current levels of traceability across the supply chain, examples of best practice, challenges to traceability and improvements that could be recommended for implementation in UK seafood supply chains. Case studies were sought from three UK seafood supply chains: i) Case study A: (Demersal) Dover (common) sole landed into ports in South West England; ii) Case Study B: (Pelagic) Mackerel from vessels landing into Peterhead, Scotland; and iii) Case Study C: (Shellfish) Brown crab / lobster from vessels landing into Bridlington, England. An initial seafood supply chain mapping exercise was undertaken for each case study through stakeholder structured interviews followed by in-depth semi structured interviews with actors across the supply chain.Key recommendations for improving traceability within the UK seafood supply chain include:• Focus on improving traceability up to the point of first sale.• Definitions of traceability need to more clearly stated to stakeholders.• Digitalise and integrate information systems.• Improve stakeholder engagement around data submission.• Minimise duplication of catch reporting by MMOs and IFCAs• Improvements to traceability systems are needed to allow for the distinction between sustainable versus non-sustainably caught seafood.• Increase transparency in how data submissions are used to increase data accuracy• Improve monitoring of wholesale markets.It should be acknowledged that the current approaches to improving traceability in seafood supply chains are already implementing some of the recommendations highlighted in this report. The recommendations from this report should serve to strengthen areas of traceability work that are already ongoing and to provide further impetus for development of best practice across UK seafood supply chains

Improved traceability in seafood supply chains is achievable by minimising vulnerable nodes in processing and distribution networks

Seafood is a globally traded commodity, often involving complex supply chains which have varying degrees of traceability. A robust traceability system for seafood supply chains enables the collection and communication of key information about catch and fisheries origins vital for assurance of the legality and sustainability of seafood products. End-to-end traceability is increasingly demanded by retailers, consumers, NGOs and regulatory bodies to ensure food safety, deter IUU fishing and verify sustainable and ethical credentials. Here, we map three UK seafood supply chains and evaluate traceability performance in: Dover sole landed in the south west of England, North-East Atlantic (NEA) mackerel landed at Peterhead, Scotland, and brown crab and European lobster, landed at Bridlington, England. Through a comparative analysis of traceability performance, this study suggests improvements to the technologies, processes, and systems for traceability in the seafood sector. The application of monitoring technologies and regulatory changes across the sector have increased traceability and potentially reduced instances of IUU fishing. While shorter supply chains are more likely to achieve end-to-end traceability, vulnerable nodes in processing and distribution networks may result in a loss of seafood traceability. While traceability systems may provide sustainability information on seafood, a high level of traceability performance does not necessarily equate to a sustainable source fishery. Encouragingly, while UK seafood supply chains are meeting minimum regulatory requirements for traceability, in the present study, many stakeholders have indicated ambitions towards traceability best practice in order to provide confidence and trust in the UK fishing industry

Mark-recapture validates the use of photo-identification for the widely distributed blue-spotted ribbontail ray, Taeniura lymma

The ability to identify individual animals can provide valuable insights into the behaviour, life history, survivorship, and demographics of wild populations. Photo-identification (photo-ID) uses unique natural markings to identify individuals and can be effective for scalable and non-invasive research on marine fauna. The successful application of photo-ID requires that chosen distinguishing markings are unique to individuals and persist over time. In this study, we validate the use of dorsal spot patterns for identifying individual blue-spotted ribbontail rays (Taeniura lymma) in conjunction with traditional tagging methods. Spot patterns were unique among T. lymma with 90.3% of individuals correctly identified using I3S photo-matching software from images taken up to 496 days apart. In comparison, traditional physical tagging methods showed a tag loss rate of 27% and a maximum tag retention period of only 356 days. Our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of photo-ID as a tool to monitor populations and better understand the ecology of the blue-spotted ribbontail ray without the need for physical tagging. The validation of photo-ID for this widespread species is important as it enables behavioural and demographic changes to be easily tracked in relation to coastal threats such as human development and habitat degradation.</p

A new model study species: high accuracy of discrimination between individual freckled hawkfish (Paracirrhites forsteri) using natural markings

Variations between distinct natural markings of freckled hawkfish (Paracirrhites forsteri) could allow in situ identification of individuals from underwater photography. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to assess the ability of the Interactive Individual Identification System (I3S) software to assist in discriminating between images of P. forsteri individuals. This study's results show the high discriminant ability of I3S to differentiate between unlike individuals and identify images of the same individual. The ability to use automatic computer-aided assistance in the study of this species will enable future research to explore behaviour and movements of individuals in the wild

Confidence does not mediate a relationship between owner experience and likelihood of using weight management approaches for native ponies

Funding: This study was funded by Mars Petcare and is part of a PhD studentship funded by the Scottish Funding Council Research Excellence Grant (REG). Authors WR and MN receive salary support from the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS). With the exception of PH (employed by the funding organization), the funding organization did not have any additional role in the conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. PH was involved in study design, data interpretation, and manuscript preparation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Simulation of freshwater transport network and salt flux in the Bangladesh delta

Circulation of saline water is important for maintaining water quality in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta because of its vulnerability to the threat of climate change. We applied a numerical model to examine the volume and salt transports within the GBM delta, Bangladesh. To understand the components of salt water intrusion driven by tidal and subtidal (residual) transports, we selected 19 cross-sections to represent the complex delta circulation in a simplified network model. Our results show that over 82.51% of GBM river water drains through the eastern estuarine system (EES) in the wet season, increasing to 98.37% in the dry season. Residual transport can be comparable in size with the tidal transport in the wet season, and one order of magnitude smaller in the dry season. The western estuarine system (WES) experiences serious salinity intrusion in the dry season, and strong seasonal variability in both tidal and subtidal transport, with suppression of tide-driven transport observed during the wet season. Our results show the sub-channels area of the Lower Meghna River also faces the risk from salinity intrusion issues, as stronger tidal salt flux is estimated in the dry season. Tidal volume transport varies seasonally, corresponding to the variability of river discharge. A simplified solution by means of polynomial expansion was applied to describe the tidal propagation within river channels. Inland penetration of tidal energy is reduced with large river discharge, and additionally the propagation speed of the tidal wave increases in the wet season. Our analysis helps understand the response of the three estuarine systems to seasonal and tidal controls, and can be used to inform river management about the upstream-downstream linkages

Surgical site infections after emergency hernia repair:substudy from the Management of Acutely Symptomatic Hernia (MASH) study

Introduction: Acutely symptomatic abdominal wall and groin hernias (ASH) are a common acute surgical presentation. There are limited data to guide decisions related to surgical repair technique and use of antibiotics, which can be driven by increased risk of surgical site infection (SSI) in this group. This study aims to report rates of SSI following ASH repair and explore the use of patient-reported outcome measure reporting in this setting.Methods: An 18-week, UK-based, multicentre prospective cohort study (NCT04197271) recruited adults with ASH. This study reports operatively managed patients. Data on patient characteristics, inpatient management, quality of life, complications, and wound healing (Bluebelle score) were collected. Descriptive analyses were performed to estimate event rates of SSI and regression analysis explored the relationship between Bluebelle scores and SSI. The 30 and 90-day follow-up visits assessed complications and quality of life.Results: The MASH study recruited 273 patients, of whom 218 were eligible for this study, 87.2 per cent who underwent open repair. Mesh was used in 123 patients (50.8 per cent). Pre- and postoperative antibiotics were given in 163 (67.4 per cent) and 28 (11.5 per cent) patients respectively. There were 26 reported SSIs (11.9 per cent). Increased BMI, incisional, femoral, and umbilical hernia were associated with higher rates of SSI (P = 0.006). In 238 patients, there was a difference in healthy utility values at 90 days between patients with and without SSI (P = 0.025). Also, when analysing 191 patients with Bluebelle scores, those who developed an SSI had higher Bluebelle values (P &lt; 0.001).Conclusion: SSI is frequent in repair of acutely symptomatic hernia and correlates with BMI and site of hernia