Impact of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) on salmon fisheries in Monterey Bay, California

To assess the impact of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) on salmon fisheries in the Monterey Bay region of California, the percentages of hooked fish taken by sea lions in commercial and recreational salmon fisheries were estimated from 1997 to 1999. Onboard surveys of sea lion interactions with the commercial and recreational f isheries and dockside interviews with fishermen after their return to port were conducted in the ports of Santa Cruz, Moss Landing, and Monterey. Approximately 1745 hours of onboard and dockside surveys were conducted—924 hours in the commercial fishery and 821 hours in the recreational fishery (commercial passenger fishing vessels [CPFVs] and personal skiffs combined). Adult male California sea lions were responsible for 98.4% of the observed depredations of hooked salmon in the commercial and recreational fisheries in Monterey Bay. Mean annual percentages of hooked salmon taken by sea lions ranged from 8.5% to 28.6% in the commercial fishery, 2.2% to 18.36% in the CPFVs, and 4.0% to 17.5% in the personal skiff fishery. Depredation levels in the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries were greatest in 1998—likely a result of the large El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event that occurred from 1997 to 1998 that reduced natural prey resources. Commercial fishermen lost an estimated $18,031−$60,570 of gear and $225,833−$498,076 worth of salmon as a result of interactions with sea lions. Approximately 1.4−6.2% of the available salmon population was removed from the system as a result of sea lion interactions with the fishery. Assessing the impact of a growing sea lion population on fisheries stocks is difficult, but may be necessary for effective fisheries management

Food habits of California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) and their impact on Salmonid Fisheries in Monterey Bay, California

In the ocean commercial troll and recreational salmon fishery in Monterey Bay California, California sea lions (Zalophus califomianus) will swim near or follow fishing boats and will depredate fish once hooked. The objectives of the study were to determine the percentage of salmon taken by pinnipeds in commercial and recreational fisheries, identify relative importance of prey items seasonally consumed by sea lions, and determine the proportion of salmonids in the sea lion diet on a seasonal basis. From April 1997 through September 1998, 1041 hours of onboard and dockside surveys of the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries were conducted at the three ports in Monterey Bay, California. Sea lions depreadated 7.9 % of the fish hooked in the commercial fishery in 1997 and 28.6 % in 1998,8.4 % (1997) and 18.3 % (1998) of the CPFV fishery, and 15.6 % (1997) and 17.5 % (1998) of the private skiff fishery. Increased depredation rates in both the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries in 1998 were most likely the result of the large EI Nino Southern Oscillation event that occurred in 1997-1998 during which a greater number of sea lions were present in central California. Prey hardparts identified in sea lion fecal samples collected in Monterey Bay indicated that schooling fishes were the predominant prey fish species, such as market squid (Loligo opalescens), Pacific sardine (Sardinops caeruleus), northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), and rockfish (Sebastes sp.). Sea lions consumed similar prey species in the summer and fall 1997, winter 1997-98, and spring 1998 (PSI> 70.0) with market squid and northern anchovy being the dominant prey species. However, prey composition changed significantly during the summer 1998 and fall 1998 (PSI < 46.0) because of the increased importance of sardine and rockfish in the diet and the decreased importance of market squid. This report does not intend to imply that salmonids are not a prey species for pinnipeds in the Monterey Bay region, but highlights the difficulties encountered in establishing the role of salmonids in the pinniped diet when analyzing fecal samples. (PDF contains 38 pages)

A parallel multistate framework for atomistic non-equilibrium reaction dynamics of solutes in strongly interacting organic solvents

We describe a parallel linear-scaling computational framework developed to implement arbitrarily large multi-state empirical valence bond (MS-EVB) calculations within CHARMM. Forces are obtained using the Hellman-Feynmann relationship, giving continuous gradients, and excellent energy conservation. Utilizing multi-dimensional Gaussian coupling elements fit to CCSD(T)-F12 electronic structure theory, we built a 64-state MS-EVB model designed to study the F + CD3CN -> DF + CD2CN reaction in CD3CN solvent. This approach allows us to build a reactive potential energy surface (PES) whose balanced accuracy and efficiency considerably surpass what we could achieve otherwise. We use our PES to run MD simulations, and examine a range of transient observables which follow in the wake of reaction, including transient spectra of the DF vibrational band, time dependent profiles of vibrationally excited DF in CD3CN solvent, and relaxation rates for energy flow from DF into the solvent, all of which agree well with experimental observations. Immediately following deuterium abstraction, the nascent DF is in a non-equilibrium regime in two different respects: (1) it is highly excited, with ~23 kcal mol-1 localized in the stretch; and (2) not yet Hydrogen bonded to the CD3CN solvent, its microsolvation environment is intermediate between the non-interacting gas-phase limit and the solution-phase equilibrium limit. Vibrational relaxation of the nascent DF results in a spectral blue shift, while relaxation of its microsolvation environment results in a red shift. These two competing effects result in a post-reaction relaxation profile distinct from that observed when DF vibration excitation occurs within an equilibrium microsolvation environment. The parallel software framework presented in this paper should be more broadly applicable to a range of complex reactive systems.Comment: 58 pages and 29 Figure

MAGMO: Coherent magnetic fields in the star forming regions of the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent

We present the pilot results of the `MAGMO' project, targeted observations of ground-state hydroxyl masers towards sites of 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent, Galactic longitudes 280 degrees to 295 degrees. The `MAGMO' project aims to determine if Galactic magnetic fields can be traced with Zeeman splitting of masers associated with star formation. Pilot observations of 23 sites of methanol maser emission were made, with the detection of ground-state hydroxyl masers towards 11 of these and six additional offset sites. Of these 17 sites, nine are new detections of sites of 1665-MHz maser emission, three of them accompanied by 1667-MHz emission. More than 70% of the maser features have significant circular polarization, whilst only ~10% have significant linear polarization (although some features with up to 100% linear polarization are found). We find 11 Zeeman pairs across six sites of high-mass star formation with implied magnetic field strengths between -1.5 mG and +3.8 mG and a median field strength of +1.6 mG. Our measurements of Zeeman splitting imply that a coherent field orientation is experienced by the maser sites across a distance of 5.3+/-2.0 kpc within the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The five-minute oscillations: What's left to be done

Current observational methods for studying these oscillations at large horizontal wavenumbers are discussed in detail and several two dimensional power spectra obtained with a CID camera on the main spectrograph of the McMath telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory are described. The best-resolved observations of the p-mode obtained at chromospheric elevations are also presented. Recent progress in studies of the p-modes at low wavenumbers with full-disk velocity detection schemes is summarized. These full-disk observations of radial and low-degree non-radial modes were shown to place severe constraints on the theoretical calculation of solar interior structure. Progress in making fully-consistent solar models which fit both the high- and low-wave number observations is described. Finally, the observational and theoretical improvements that are necessary for further progress in solar seismology are summarized

Threshold Crack Speed Controls Dynamical Fracture of Silicon Single Crystals

Fracture experiments of single silicon crystals reveal that after the critical fracture load is reached, the crack speed jumps from zero to [approximate]2 km/sec, indicating that crack motion at lower speeds is forbidden. This contradicts classical continuum fracture theories predicting a continuously increasing crack speed with increasing load. Here we show that this threshold crack speed may be due to a localized phase transformation of the silicon lattice from 6-membered rings to a 5–7 double ring at the crack tip

Introduction to the themed issue - Corporate power : agency, communication, influence and social policy

This paper introduces this themed issue of Critical Social Policy on the question of corporate power. Corporate power is recognized as an important agent in social policy making and delivery. However, to date there has been comparatively little attention to the crucial role that lobbying and corporate 'spin' play in helping to shape policy making contexts. This special issue of Critical Social Policy is concerned to bring such issues to the mainstream of social policy analysis. It is argued here that the rise of spin and public relations is a key feature of neoliberalism in the past two decades. These have worked to reshape policy making, resulting in pronounced changes in the content and process of policy making and it is argued that these have tended to marginalize or undermine democratic processes

Large Magnetic Fields and Motions of OH Masers in W75 N

We report on a second epoch of VLBA observations of the 1665 and 1667 MHz OH masers in the massive star-forming region W75 N. We find evidence to confirm the existence of very strong (~40 mG) magnetic fields near source VLA 2. The masers near VLA 2 are dynamically distinct and include a very bright spot apparently moving at 50 km/s relative to those around VLA 1. This fast-moving spot may be an example of a rare class of OH masers seen in outflows in star-forming regions. Due to the variability of these masers and the rapidity of their motions, tracking these motions will require multiple observations over a significantly shorter time baseline than obtained here. Proper motions of the masers near VLA 1 are more suggestive of streaming along magnetized shocks rather than Keplerian rotation in a disk. The motions of the easternmost cluster of masers in W75 N (B) may be tracing slow expansion around an unseen exciting source.Comment: 7 pages including 4 figures (2 color) & 3 tables, to appear in Ap

Noncommutative Solitons and Intersecting D-Branes

We construct intersecting D-branes as noncommutative solitons in bosonic and type II string theory. ``Defect'' branes which are D-branes containing bubbles of the closed string vacuum play an important role in the construction.Comment: 17 pages, harvmac; published version with added clarification