Management plan for the natural resources of the EEZ of the Dutch Caribbean

On the 10th of October 2010 the governmental entity known as the Netherlands Antilles is scheduled to cease to exist. Each island will aquire a new status within the kingdom. Following the declaration of an Exclusive Fishery Zone (EFZ) in 1993, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been declared in the Dutch Caribbean on the tenth of June 2010. The EEZ area concerned, is a large expanse of sea which harbours exceptional biodiversity, and represents an important natural renewable resource potential. The Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and The Netherlands have, therefore, opted to draft a management plan for the EEZ. This initiative began in the year 2005 when the first conference regarding the management of the biodiversity in the EEZ was held. The consensus was that despite a fragmented Dutch Caribbean, the EEZ should always be integrally managed. In 2009 the participants of the second conference confirmed the need for common management and developed common goals, principles and a framework for the management of the Dutch Caribbean waters. Resulting from this conference a management plan was drafted, circulated to all stakeholders and discussed on the 1st of June 2010. Based on the input and feedback received, as well as subsequent correspondence, this final management plan was jointly developed

Kennisvraag haaien: wat is er bekend over haaien voor de voor Nederland relevante gebieden?

Op basis van expert-judgement van IMARES medewerkers en buitenlandse collega’s, wetenschappelijke artikelen, rapporten en het internet, is een grove verkenning uitgevoerd naar (i) wat er bekend is over haaienbestanden, vangsten, monitoring en visserij voor de gebieden die relevant zijn voor Nederland (ii) welke afspraken gemaakt zijn over de vangst van haaien door de verschillende RFMOs (Regional Fisheries Management Organisations) waar Nederland lid van is

Habitat diversity and biodiversity of the benthic seascapes of St. Eustatius

Quantitative habitat mapping and description form the basis for understanding the provisioning of ecosystem services and habitat connectivity, and hence provide an essential underpinning for marine spatial planning, management and conservation. Including patch reef habitats, total hard coral-scape habitat for the St. Eustatius Marine Park amounted to about 19% of the area surveyed and about 475 ha of habitat. Sargassum reef habitat typically occurred at the seaward edge of communities dominated by hard coral growth

Apoptosis in Haematological Cancer. Regulation by mitochondria, the Bcl-2 family and IAPs

Contains fulltext : 27428.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)This thesis describes a number of studies that investigated several aspects of apoptosis in lymphoid malignancies. Resistance to apoptosis is an important asset of cancer cells, which allows them to evade cell death signals instigated by the changes they undergo during transformation, such as genetic alterations leading to aberrant cell cycle control, enhanced mitogenic potential and independence of growth signals. Reduced sensitivity to apoptosis also contributes to the resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy that often limits the clinical efficacy of cancer therapy. Apoptosis is an important mechanism for several aspects of normal B- and T-cells physiology and functioning of the immune system. Aberrations in apoptosis pathways may therefore play a prominent role in leukaemia and lymphoma, as suggested by the t(14;18) translocation in follicular lymphoma targeting anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and the t(11:18) translocation in MALT lymphoma targeting c-IAP2. To get a better understanding of the resistance to apoptosis in cancer, we need to unravel the basic mechanisms that control apoptosis. Mitochondria play a critical role in the apoptotic pathway that is initiated in response to intracellular signals. Bcl-2 family members are the principal regulators of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis that control the release of apoptogenic factors from the mitochondria into the cytosol. However, the exact mechanisms by which Bcl-2 family proteins regulate this release are not fully understood. Bcl-2 family members have been implicated to interfere with several mitochondrial functions that may play a role in apoptosis. In the first two chapters, we focussed on the interplay between Bcl-2 and mitochondria. In addition to functional regulation through biochemical pathways, apoptosis is controlled by transcriptional regulation of apoptotic genes. Altered expression of apoptotic genes is shown to be an important aspect that contributes to apoptosis deregulation in cancer. In the second part of this thesis we focussed on the expression of apoptosis-regulating genes in haematological malignancies.RU Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 28 april 2006Promotor : Witte, T.J.M. de Co-promotores : Jansen, J.H., Meijerink, J.P.P.136 p

BBCAnalyzer: a visual approach to facilitate variant calling

Contains fulltext : 170101.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

IAPs as therapeutic targets in haematological malignancies.

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: Regulation of apoptosis is fundamental to maintain the balance between cell survival and cell death. Disruption of this process may have severe consequences, contributing to carcinogenesis. Therapeutic targeting of the proteins that control apoptosis may therefore be used in the treatment of various types of cancer. OBJECTIVE: We address whether regulators of apoptosis could be suitable targets for the treatment of haematological cancers. METHODS: We focus on the emerging role of inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins in cancer, their modulators and the possibility of therapeutically targeting these proteins in haematological cancer. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: IAPs have emerged as an important novel class of intracellular proteins that regulate apoptosis. Various compounds have been described that may be used to modulate the activity of IAPs, which opens the way to therapeutically targeting these proteins in cancer

Elasmobranchs in the Dutch Caribbean: current population status, fisheries and conservation

In the Dutch Caribbean EEZ, at least 27 elasmobranch species have been documented. Of these, nine are listed as “critically endangered” and eight as “near threatened” by the IUCN. Elasmobranchs are not a target fishery in the Dutch Caribbean, but do occur as bycatch in artisanal fisheries. Sharks are considered nuisance species by fishermen. Most sharks caught are not discarded, but consumed locally, used as bait, or (reportedly) killed and discarded at sea on the two islands where landing of sharks is illegal (Bonaire and St. Maarten). Based on recent data, published sport diver accounts, and anecdotal accounts, it is clear that shark populations in most areas of the Dutch Caribbean have been strongly depleted in the last half century. Two of the six islands have implemented regulation to protect sharks due to their ecological importance and economic value. Two other islands have implemented fish- and fisheries monitoring programmes. The fisheries monitoring includes port sampling with low numbers of shark landings, and on-board sampling with bycatch of sharks on each fishing trip. The fish monitoring has introduced the use of stereo-Baited Remote Underwater Video, a new method for long-term monitoring of fish species composition and relative abundance of sharks.We conclude there is an urgent need to better cooperate with fishermen to make fisheries and conservation measures more effective and to conduct research on gear modifications and fishing methods to mitigate bycatch of sharks. We also conclude that local fisheries and conservation measures cannot resolve the depletion of shark populations in the Dutch Caribbean due to the (semi-)pelagic habitat use across EEZ borders by most shark species

Management plan for the natural resources of the EEZ of the Dutch Caribbean

On the 10th of October 2010 the governmental entity known as the Netherlands Antilles is scheduled to cease to exist. Each island will aquire a new status within the kingdom. Following the declaration of an Exclusive Fishery Zone (EFZ) in 1993, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been declared in the Dutch Caribbean on the tenth of June 2010. The EEZ area concerned, is a large expanse of sea which harbours exceptional biodiversity, and represents an important natural renewable resource potential. The Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and The Netherlands have, therefore, opted to draft a management plan for the EEZ. This initiative began in the year 2005 when the first conference regarding the management of the biodiversity in the EEZ was held. The consensus was that despite a fragmented Dutch Caribbean, the EEZ should always be integrally managed. In 2009 the participants of the second conference confirmed the need for common management and developed common goals, principles and a framework for the management of the Dutch Caribbean waters. Resulting from this conference a management plan was drafted, circulated to all stakeholders and discussed on the 1st of June 2010. Based on the input and feedback received, as well as subsequent correspondence, this final management plan was jointly developed