Comparing economic and biological management objectives in the commercial Baltic salmon fisheries

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Optimal Management of Conflicting Species: Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) and Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in the Northern Baltic Sea

In the Baltic Sea, the successful conservation of grey seals has increased seal-induced damages to the Atlantic salmon fishery. The paper addresses the conflict between the conservation of the formerly endangered species and professional fishermen whose livelihood is also regulated by fisheries management. We develop a bioeconomic model that accounts for the age-structure of Atlantic salmon and grey seal populations. In order to reach a social optimum, we maximize the discounted net present value taking into account the seal-induced losses through a damage function. The socially optimal salmon stock size, salmon catch and fishing effort is studied under different management schemes aimed at mitigating the seal-salmon conflict. The results suggest that technological adaptation would effectively reduce the cause of the conflict, while a technology subsidy encouraging such adaptation shifts the economic responsibility from individual fishermen towards a broader public

Optimal Management of Conflicting Species: Grey Seal (Halichoerus Grypus) and Baltic Salmon (Salmo Salar L.)

Conservation goals and resource use can easily conflict when externalities exist. This is the case in the Baltic Sea with grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Both of the species have been defined as critically endangered in the late 20th century but due to conservation schemes, harvest controls and enhanced environmental quality the situation of both species has ameliorated. Grey seal population has been growing quickly after 1980s and is now regarded as near threatened whereas salmon is still regarded as endangered. The disadvantages towards the professional fishing have been growing along with the increasing grey seal population in the Northern Baltic. Catch losses (eaten and injured fish) and broken fishing gears have been identified as the most common seal induced damages to the fishery. Fishery, however, poses a threat to grey seals that are caught as by-catch. To these ends, we construct an age-structured bioeconomic model accounting for both species. The model observers commercial and recreational salmon fisheries and the damages caused by seals especially to commercial fishery. Further, the model accounts for the non-use and potential use value of increasing seal stock. Numerical methods are used to solve the socially optimal number of seals and optimal harvest allocation between commercial and recreational salmon fisheries

Callio lab: an underground and above ground,laboratory—overview and prospects for high energy and applied physics

This overview provides a comprehensive insight into Callio Lab, a versatile multidisciplinary research platform, by describing the events and actions that have led to the development of the project-based, pay-by-service approach to organizing and economically running the research activities, a mandatory approach for a platform operating without governmental funding. The research platform has a maximum depth of 1.4 km underground, equivalent to approximately 4,100 m of water equivalent (m.w.e.). The flat-overburden mine configuration of Callio Lab minimizes cosmic-ray background interference, making it an ideal setting for low-background experiments, particularly in neutrino and dark matter research. The main-level galleries, with dimensions up to 12 m wide, 30–40 m long, and 8 m tall, provide ample space for research activities, with the potential for even more extensive galleries based on Laguna design studies. Callio Lab has a history with several small and medium-scale cosmic ray and low-background experiments. This overview highlights the site’s inherent characteristics, revealing promising opportunities for high-energy and applied physics research and applications across various scientific domains

Costs and Risk Assessment of the Health Effects of the Food System

The project Costs and Risk Assessment of the Health Effects of the Food System employed biological, chemical and nutritional examples to investigate the health and economic risks of food and nutrition in Finland and the cost effectiveness of controls. The project explored the causes and consequences of the health risks associated with food in Finland and sought appropriate risk-management measures. The onset of foodborne health hazards can be slow, and therefore even strong efforts to control them at the population level may take years or decades. Based on the project results, several proposals for action were presented, the most important of which are to: 1. deepen and broaden the risk assessment of the public health impact of the food system to compare different health risks, 2. undertake cost–benefit analyses of food control and health care and 3. to study policy instruments for change. Food contributes significantly to the health of the population, which can be influenced by nutrition and food safety. According to the project results, the main burden of disease (BoD) was caused by the inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables and the excessive intake of salt and saturated fats, resulting in disease burdens of 36,000, 29,000, 32,000 and 9,200 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)/year, respectively. Reducing the intake of salt and saturated fats in particular would be a cost-effective way to reduce the BoD. Despite the relatively high level of food hygiene achieved in Finland, up to thousands of foodborne infections occur every year, and food contaminants increase the BoD on consumers. Of the biological food hazards, Listeria caused the largest BoD, about 670 DALYs annually. Of the chemical hazards, lead caused the largest BoD, about 570 DALYs annually. Most of the control costs are borne by food businesses. Therefore, the scenarios that most affect businesses also have the greatest financial impact.This publication is part of the implementation of the Government Plan for Analysis, Assessment and Research. (tietokayttoon.fi) The content is the responsibility of the producers of the information and does not necessarily represent the view of the Government

Atmospheric muography for imaging and monitoring tropic cyclones

Large-scale solid bodies on Earth such as volcanoes and man-made pyramids have been visualized with solid earth muography, and the recently invented technique, acqueous muography, has already demonstrated its capability to visualize ocean tides and tsunami. In this work, atmospheric muography, a technique to visualize and monitor the vertical profile of tropic cyclones (TCs) is presented for the first time. The density distribution and time-dependent behavior of several TCs which had approached Kagoshima, Japan, has been investigated with muography. The resultant time-sequential images captured their warm cores, and their movements were consistent with the TC trails and barometric pressure variations observed at meteorological stations. By combining multidirectional muographic images with barometric data, we anticipate that muography will become a useful tool to monitor the three-dimensional density distribution of a targeted mesoscale convective system

Ruokajärjestelmän kansanterveydellisten vaikutusten kustannukset ja riskinarviointi

Ruokajärjestelmän kansanterveydellisten vaikutusten kustannukset ja riskinarviointi -hankkeessa tutkittiin biologisten, kemiallisten ja ravitsemuksellisten esimerkkien avulla ruokaan ja ravitsemukseen liittyviä terveydellisiä ja taloudellisia riskejä Suomessa sekä valvonnan kustannusvaikuttavuutta. Hankkeessa avattiin esimerkinomaisesti suomalaiseen ruokaan liittyvien terveyshaittojen syitä ja seurauksia ja etsimään niille soveltuvia riskinhallintakeinoja. Ruoasta johtuvien terveyshaittojen ilmeneminen vie aikaa, siten vahvakin panostus niiden hallintaan ilmenee väestötasolla vasta vuosien tai vuosikymmenien kuluessa. Hankkeen tulosten perusteella esitetään useita toimenpide-ehdotuksia, joista tärkeimpinä 1. ruokajärjestelmän kansanterveydellisten vaikutusten riskien arvioinnin syventäminen ja laajentaminen erilaisten terveyshaittojen vertaamiseksi, 2. elintarvikevalvonnan ja terveydenhoidon kustannus-hyöty-analyysit ja 3. ohjauskeinojen tutkimus muutosten suunnittelua varten. Ravinto on tärkein väestön terveyteen vaikuttava tekijä, ja terveyteen voidaan vaikuttaa ravitsemuksella ja elintarvikkeiden turvallisuudella. Hankkeessa tehdyn selvityksen perusteella tarkastelluista tekijöistä suurinta tautitaakkaa aiheuttivat hedelmien ja kasvisten riittämätön kulutus ja liiallisen suolan ja tyydyttyneen rasvan saanti, joista aiheutui vuodessa 36 000, 29 000, 32 000 ja 9 200 haittapainotetun elinvuoden (DALY) verran tautitaakkaa. Erityisesti suolan ja tyydyttyneen rasvan saannin vähentäminen on kustannusvaikuttava tapa vähentää tautitaakkaa. Suomessa saavutetusta suhteellisen korkeasta elintarvikehygienian tasosta huolimatta vuosittain ilmenee jopa tuhansia elintarvikevälitteisiä infektioita, minkä lisäksi elintarvikkeiden vierasaineet lisäävät kuluttajien tautitaakkaa. Biologisista elintarvikevaaroista listeria-bakteerin aiheuttama tautitaakka oli suurin, noin 670 DALYa vuodessa, kemiallisista suurin taakka aiheutui lyijystä, noin 570 DALYa vuodessa. Suurin osa valvontakustannuksista kohdistuu yrityksille. Sen vuoksi skenaarioilla, jotka vaikuttavat eniten yrityksiin on myös suurimmat taloudelliset vaikutukset.Tämä julkaisu on toteutettu osana valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimussuunnitelman toimeenpanoa. (tietokayttoon.fi) Julkaisun sisällöstä vastaavat tiedon tuottajat, eikä tekstisisältö välttämättä edusta valtioneuvoston näkemystä

The economics of conflicting interests : northern Baltic salmon fishery adaption to gray seal abundance

The successful conservation of gray seals has led to increased seal-induced damage to the Atlantic salmon fisheries of the Baltic Sea. This paper addresses the conflict between the conservation of a formerly endangered species, the gray seal, and professional fishermen, whose livelihoods are affected by both seal-induced damage and salmon fisheries management. We develop a bioeconomic model that incorporates the age structure of Atlantic salmon and gray seal populations. To determine the social optimum, we maximize the discounted net present value of the trap net fishery, taking into account the presence of seals in the form of seal-induced losses, which we describe using a damage function. By choosing the optimal combination of fishing gear over time, we obtain the socially optimal fishing efforts, salmon stock size, and salmon catch. In addition, we study the private effects of introducing a technology subsidy aimed at mitigating the seal-salmon conflict. The results suggest that technological adaptation would effectively reduce the cause of the conflict, while a technology subsidy encouraging such adaptation would shift the economic responsibility from individual fishermen to the broader public.201