Evaluating Alternate Management Strategies for Spotted Seatrout (\u3ci\u3eCynoscion nebulosus\u3c/i\u3e) in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico

Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) receive considerable fishing pressure as the most popular saltwater target species in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. The potential for alternate management strategies, including stock enhancement and reducing discard mortality, to support the sustainability of the stocks and the desires of stakeholders is unknown. The purpose of this study was to provide an objective evaluation of the efficacy of alternate management strategies for Spotted Seatrout in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I used a management strategy evaluation (MSE) to measure the performance of 18 alternate management scenarios relative to control scenarios. Scenarios with a high hatchery input exhibited the highest expected benefit to the stock and fishery in each state; reducing discard mortality had a substantially lesser predicted effect. MSE model results indicated that the expected outcome of alternate management strategies was highly variable by state in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Characteristics of the stock and fishery in the three states provided information to describe the observed geographic variability in MSE model results. States with a large stock size such as Louisiana exhibited the lowest potential benefit from the management alternatives evaluated. Key fishery characteristics included the proportion of fishing mortality due to discarding, and the minimum length limit imposed by managers. Results from this study provide insights regarding the optimal management of Spotted Seatrout in the north-central Gulf of Mexico

The deteriorating action of salt and brine on reinforced concrete

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Water planning in an age of change

This review paper examines a variety of methodologies that underpin current water planning in the United States – spanning the city, state, and Federal scales – and identifies ways in which changing realities and greater interdependencies between various different critical infrastructures are driving the need for new water planning approaches and processes. Specifically, new sources of uncertainty and their implications are examined, and challenges relating to water supply, allocation, decision making, safety and security, and the information and processes of planning are delineated. In this context, the usefulness of adding scenario planning to current water planning processes is assessed, and ways in which it can be implemented effectively are described. Opportunities for One Water planning to be augmented by critical infrastructure planning and enhanced risk mitigation are also discussed. Recommendations are articulated that are relevant to states, cities, and utility agencies, in order to ensure that they are more resiliently prepared for a substantially more uncertain planning environment in the future, with particular attention to critical infrastructure for water and for other services and the interrelationships between them

Scenarios, sustainability, and critical infrastructure risk mitigation in water planning

This paper examines the state of water supply planning facing unprecedented challenges for ensuring reliable, resilient, safe, and affordable water supplies in Texas and throughout the US. Analysis of water planning methods and practices reveals a robustly sophisticated quantitative modeling capability. Its focus is on both near-term and long-term capital investment requirements and managing operating costs. Water planning focuses on drought mitigation and flood risk management as predominant concerns. But climate change is impacting whole watersheds as well as water systems subject to sea level rise incursions that disrupt wastewater systems. Significant cross-impacts between energy and water add new risks to both energy and water infrastructure, with uncertainties still difficult to robustly quantify. Energy-water nexus issues reflect deeper planning challenges concerning critical infrastructures. Critical infrastructure planning tends to be sectoral-specific even though interdependencies and cross impacts can create broadly impactful cascade effects. Future-state water planning should be done in the context of critical infrastructure planning. Both will benefit from integrating qualitative scenario planning into established quantitative planning models. Doing so expands the complexity that can be captured in planning while providing narratives and using decision-making and public communications tools

Testing the boundaries of municipal supervision: an analysis of Section 106 of the Municipal Systems Act and provincial legislation

Magister Legum - LLMSouth Afric

Effects of EMF Emissions from Undersea Electric Cables on Coral Reef Fishes

The objective of this project was to determine if the electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions from undersea power cables impacted the local and transient marine life, with an emphasis on reef fishes. The work was done at South Florida Ocean Measurement Facility of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Broward County, Florida. This facility functions as the hub for a range of active undersea detection and data transmission cables. It has multiple active submarine power cables that extend several miles offshore and which can deliver power and enable data transmission to and from a range of acoustic and EMF sensors. The cables lie directly on the seabed, are buried in the sand, or are suspended in the water column. EMF emissions from a selected cable were created during SCUBA fish surveys. During the surveys the transmission of either alternating current (AC) or Direct Current (DC) was randomly intiated by the facility with no transmitted current (OFF) provided a control. The surveys were conducted using standardized transect and stationary point count methods to acquire reef fish abundances prior to and immediately after a change in transmission frequency (the divers were aware of the time of frequency change but not the specific frequencies). The divers were also tasked to note the reaction of the reef fishes to the immediate change in the EMFs emitting from the cable during a power switch. The surveys were conducted on a quarterly basis at three sampling sites offshore on the same cable. These sites were in water depths of approximately 5, 10, and 15 m, respectively and were selected based on their robust reef fish community and are representative of each of the three primary hardbottom coral reef habitats in the local offshore environment: the Inner (Shallow), Middle, and Outer (Deep) reef tracts. A total of 263 surveys were conducted: 132 transect-counts and 131 point-counts over 15 months. There were 24,473 fishes counted during transect-count surveys and with point-counts, 36,115 fishes were counted. With count types and sites combine a total of 151 species representing 35 families were recorded. An analysis of the data primarily did not find statistical differences among power states and any variables. However, this may be a Type II error as there are strong indications of a potential difference of a higher abundance of reef fishes at the sites when the power was off. There are a number of caveats to consider with this finding: the data set needs to be larger in terms of numbers of: counts, sites and eletro-sensitive species to allow for rigorous statistical analysis; also a longer time between frequency changes to allow for slower, but nonetheless important, reactions to differing EMFs might lead to differing conclusions. Obviously, more research is required to confirm the results of this study

The Critical Role of Public Charging Infrastructure

Editors: Peter Fox-Penner, PhD, Z. Justin Ren, PhD, David O. JermainA decade after the launch of the contemporary global electric vehicle (EV) market, most cities face a major challenge preparing for rising EV demand. Some cities, and the leaders who shape them, are meeting and even leading demand for EV infrastructure. This book aggregates deep, groundbreaking research in the areas of urban EV deployment for city managers, private developers, urban planners, and utilities who want to understand and lead change