Tuna-Led Sustainable Developlment in the Pacific

The paper reviews the importance of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and examines whether current and proposed economically focussed institutional mechanisms, that underpin tuna management, are sufficient to promote appropriate and long term tuna-led development. Substantial potential gains are shown to exist from co-operation in terms of tuna management, but it seems highly unlikely such benefits will be realised in the short or medium term despite the formation in 2004 of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Even if gains from co-operation were to be realised, without substantial improvements in the nstitutional quality and capacity of many PICs the tuna fisheries might still fail to sustain the region’s long-term development. The study’s implications are that the twin development priorities in the region should be support for social infrastructure, especially capacity building to increase the effectiveness of the public sector, and the promotion of co-operative approaches to ensure the sustainability and profitable use of the region’s shared fishery resources.

Remembering the Forgotten

How does one bring new life and meaning to old, forgotten things? I plan on doing this by creating a book that combines the dusty, boring parts of history and facts with the fun and exciting parts of life. Those who read this book will learn about artifacts of South and Central America. Full color illustrations showcase what artifacts would have looked like in use, during the time and place that they were created. This will teach people about the rich cultures that surround these everyday items. Along with the in-use illustrations, there will be black and white technical drawings and a written history for each artifact included. With this project, I want to delve into the world of people that are not like me, learning the ins and outs of what their lives were like in order to better understand and relate to them. And once I\u27ve done that, I want to share it with everyone else

Climate-ready conservation objectives: a scoping study

AbstractAnticipated future climate change is very likely to have a wide range of different types of ecological impact on biodiversity across the whole of Australia. There is a high degree of confidence that these changes will be significant, affecting almost all species, ecosystems and landscapes. However, because of the complexity of ecological systems and the multiple ways climate change will affect them, the details of the future change are less certain for any given species or location. The nature of the changes means that the multiple ways biodiversity is experienced, used and valued by society will be affected in different ways. The likely changes present a significant challenge to any societal aspiration to preserve biodiversity in its current state, for example, to maintain a species in its current abundance and distribution. Preserving biodiversity ‘as is’ may have been feasible in a stationary climate (one that is variable but not changing), but this will not be possible with the widespread, pervasive and large ecological changes anticipated under significant levels of climate change. This makes the impacts of climate change quite unlike other threats to biodiversity, and they challenge, fundamentally, what it actually means to conserve biodiversity under climate change: what should the objectives of biodiversity conservation be under climate change? And what are the barriers to recalibrating conservation objectives?Based on key insights from the scientific literature on climate change and biodiversity, the project developed three adaptation propositions about managing biodiversity:Conservation strategies accommodate large amounts of ecological change and the likelihood of significant climate change–induced loss in biodiversity. Strategies remain relevant and feasible under a range of possible future trajectories of ecological change.Strategies seek to conserve the multiple different dimensions of biodiversity that are experienced and valued by society. Together these propositions summarise the challenge of future climate change for biodiversity conservation, and define a new way of framing conservation we called the ‘climate ready’ approach. In the near term, conservation strategies may be able to include some consideration of these propositions. However, under significant levels of climate change many of the current approaches to conservation will become increasingly difficult and ineffective (e.g. maintaining community types in their current locations). This challenge is fundamentally different from that posed by other threats to biodiversity, and the climate-ready approach is akin to a paradigm shift in conservation.The project used a review of 26 conservation strategy documents (spanning scales from international to local) and four case studies with conservation agencies to test and refine the climate-ready approach. The project found the approach to be robust and highly relevant; in the majority of situations, if adopted, it would lead to significant changes in the objectives and priorities of conservation. There were also many ‘green shoots’ of elements of the new approach in existing conservation practice. However, the project found there are currently substantial barriers to fully adopting a climate-ready approach. These include the need for: further development of ecological characterisation of ecosystem health and human activities in landscapesmuch better understanding of how society values different aspects of biodiversity, including ecosystems and landscapesdevelopment of policy tools to codify and implement new ecologically robust and socially endorsed objectives.  Anticipated future climate change is very likely to have a wide range of different types of ecological impact on biodiversity across the whole of Australia. There is a high degree of confidence that these changes will be significant, affecting almost all species, ecosystems and landscapes. However, because of the complexity of ecological systems and the multiple ways climate change will affect them, the details of the future change are less certain for any given species or location. The nature of the changes means that the multiple ways biodiversity is experienced, used and valued by society will be affected in different ways. The likely changes present a significant challenge to any societal aspiration to preserve biodiversity in its current state, for example, to maintain a species in its current abundance and distribution. Preserving biodiversity ‘as is’ may have been feasible in a stationary climate (one that is variable but not changing), but this will not be possible with the widespread, pervasive and large ecological changes anticipated under significant levels of climate change. This makes the impacts of climate change quite unlike other threats to biodiversity, and they challenge, fundamentally, what it actually means to conserve biodiversity under climate change: what should the objectives of biodiversity conservation be under climate change? And what are the barriers to recalibrating conservation objectives?Based on key insights from the scientific literature on climate change and biodiversity, the project developed three adaptation propositions about managing biodiversity:Conservation strategies accommodate large amounts of ecological change and the likelihood of significant climate change–induced loss in biodiversity. Strategies remain relevant and feasible under a range of possible future trajectories of ecological change.Strategies seek to conserve the multiple different dimensions of biodiversity that are experienced and valued by society. Together these propositions summarise the challenge of future climate change for biodiversity conservation, and define a new way of framing conservation we called the ‘climate ready’ approach. In the near term, conservation strategies may be able to include some consideration of these propositions. However, under significant levels of climate change many of the current approaches to conservation will become increasingly difficult and ineffective (e.g. maintaining community types in their current locations). This challenge is fundamentally different from that posed by other threats to biodiversity, and the climate-ready approach is akin to a paradigm shift in conservation.The project used a review of 26 conservation strategy documents (spanning scales from international to local) and four case studies with conservation agencies to test and refine the climate-ready approach. The project found the approach to be robust and highly relevant; in the majority of situations, if adopted, it would lead to significant changes in the objectives and priorities of conservation. There were also many ‘green shoots’ of elements of the new approach in existing conservation practice. However, the project found there are currently substantial barriers to fully adopting a climate-ready approach. These include the need for: further development of ecological characterisation of ecosystem health and human activities in landscapesmuch better understanding of how society values different aspects of biodiversity, including ecosystems and landscapesdevelopment of policy tools to codify and implement new ecologically robust and socially endorsed objectives. Please cite this report as: Dunlop M, Parris, H, Ryan, P, Kroon, F 2013 Climate-ready conservation objectives: a scoping study, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 102

Tuna-led sustainable development in the Pacific

The paper reviews the importance of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and examines whether current and proposed economically focussed institutional mechanisms, that underpin tuna management, are sufficient to promote appropriate and long term tuna-led development. Substantial potential gains are shown to exist from co-operation in terms of tuna management, but it seems highly unlikely such benefits will be realised in the short or medium term despite the formation in 2004 of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Even if gains from co-operation were to be realised, without substantial improvements in the institutional quality and capacity of many PICs the tuna fisheries might still fail to sustain the region’s long-term development. The study’s implications are that the twin development priorities in the region should be support for social infrastructure, especially capacity building to increase the effectiveness of the public sector, and the promotion of co-operative approaches to ensure the sustainability and profitable use of the region’s shared fishery resources

A Ghostly Closure? The Strange History of Brinkley Female College, Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism, and the Terminal Effects of Sensationalist Journalism

In 1871, Brinkley Female College in Memphis, Tennessee, closed due to a ghost story, regional interest in Spiritualism, and sensationalist journalism that harmed the short-lived academy. Spiritualism—a religio-spiritual movement punctuated by medium-guided communications between the living and deceased—was well-followed, though often contested during the nineteenth century. Spiritualism grew in popularity in the American South due to mass deaths resulting from yearly epidemics and the American Civil War. At the same time, sensationalist print media was widespread, and newspaper firms profited from unchecked accounts of Spiritualist seances and supernatural encounters. In the midst of this, higher education had expanded across the state of Tennessee. In the early years of Memphis-based women’s higher education, newspapers stoked interest in the paranormal by publishing unverified events attributed to a local women’s college. Sensationalist, penny-dreadful newspaper accounts influenced public perceptions, caused enrollment decline at Brinkley Female College, and resulted in institutional closure. As such, this case study recounts an unusual catalytic moment within the context of heightened Spiritualistic belief and uncouth journalistic practices. Ultimately, this study seeks to detail the influence of regional religious practices and sensational journalism on institutional termination

Differential immunity as a factor influencing mussel hybrid zone structure

Interspecific hybridisation can alter fitness-related traits, including the response to pathogens, yet immunity is rarely investigated as a potential driver of hybrid zone dynamics, particularly in invertebrates. We investigated the immune response of mussels from a sympatric population at Croyde Bay, within the hybrid zone of Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis in Southwest England. The site is characterised by size-dependent variation in genotype frequencies, with a higher frequency of M. galloprovincialis alleles in large mussels, largely attributed to selective mortality in favour of the M. galloprovincialis genotype. To determine if differences in immune response may contribute to this size-dependent variation in genotype frequencies, we assessed the two pure species and their hybrids in their phagocytic abilities when subject to immune challenge as a measure of immunocompetence and measured the metabolic cost of mounting an antigen-stimulated immune response. Mussels identified as M. galloprovincialis had a greater immunocompetence response at a lower metabolic cost compared to mussels identified as M. edulis. Mussels identified as hybrids had intermediate values for both parameters, providing no evidence for heterosis but suggesting that increased susceptibility compared to M. galloprovincialis may be attributed to the M. edulis genotype. The results indicate phenotypic differences in the face of pathogenic infection, which may be a contributing factor to the differential mortality in favour of M. galloprovincialis, and the size-dependent variation in genotype frequencies associated with this contact zone. We propose that immunity may contribute to European mussel hybrid zone dynamics

Is the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting its conservation and management objectives?

The Convention of the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean is a remarkable achievement in international fisheries cooperative management and significant, albeit slow and uneven, progress ha

Tuna dreams and tuna realities: Defining the term "maximising economic returns from the tuna fisheries" in six Pacific Island states

Previous work on identifying opportunities for Pacific Island countries to improve the economic returns from their tuna resources in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has not generally included articulation of aspirations from Islanders themselves. However, generating such an understanding is increasingly important as these countries assert their positions in regional fisheries policy making. This study analyses the self-identified aspirations of industry and government representatives from six Pacific Island countries and finds a wider diversity of attitudes, strategies and success than is generally recognised. Implications for negotiations in the WCPFC are then discussed