Evaluation of status of commercial fish stocks in European marine subareas using mean trophic levels of fish landings and spawning stock biomass

Most of the fish stocks in the world, including European fish stocks, are threatened by overfishing and/or degraded environmental conditions. Although the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the main policy instrument managing fish stocks in Europe, there is continued concern as to whether commercial fish stocks will achieve Good Environmental Status (GEnS) in 2020 in accordance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). In this context, the evaluation of the status of fish stocks in the subareas of FAO fishing area 27 was carried out using mean trophic levels (MTL) in fish landings and spawning stock biomass (SSB). Comparisons were made before and after 2008 to establish whether the trend is positive or negative. The main data sources for landings and SSB were the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advisory reports. MTLs in landing and SSB were determined for each subarea and the subareas were categorized into four groups, according to MTLs after 2008. The first group (subareas I + II, V) had higher MTL in landings and higher MTL in SSB after 2008. Therefore, fisheries in these subareas appear sustainable. The second group was subareas VIII + IX, for which the fish stocks have higher MTL in landings but low MTL in SSB, indicating that SSB was being overfished. The third was subarea (VI), where fish stocks have lower MTL in landings than those in SSB after 2008, which may indicate that fish stocks are recovering. Fish stocks in the fourth group (subareas III, IV and VII) had low MIL in landings and the MTL in SSB was lower than that of landings before 2008. This may be due to heavy fishing. In addition, we estimated the harvest rate (HR) of the fish stocks before and after 2008. The results showed that most of the fish stocks have lower HR after 2008, indicating that the status has improved, perhaps due to improvements in the implementation of CFP. However, some fish stocks showed high HR even after 2008, so that new management options are still needed. Other factors such as eutrophication, seafloor disturbances, marine pollution, invasive species etc., influence SSB ecosystem health options and should also be incorporated in the management criteria. Most of these environmental pressures are of high priority in the MSFD, and therefore the findings of this study will be useful for both CFP and MSFD. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate in Marine and Coastal Management (MACOMA); EC 7FP [308392]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unemployment, crime and social insurance

We study an individual's incentive to search for a job in the presence of random criminal opportunities. These opportunities extenuate moral hazard, as the individual sometimes commits crime rather than searching. Even when he searches, he applies less effort. We then revisit the design of optimal unemployment insurance in this environment. If the individual is more likely to remain unemployed and unpunished when he commits crime than when he searches for a job (as suggested by empirical studies), declining unemployment benefits reduce the payoff from crime relative to that from searching. Compared to the canonical models of optimal unemployment insurance, this provides a further incentive to reduce benefits over time

The environmental impact of fertilizer embodied in a wheat-to-bread supply chain

Food production and consumption cause approximately one-third of total greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore delivering food security challenges not only the capacity of our agricultural system, but also its environmental sustainability. Knowing where and at what level environmental impacts occur within particular food supply chains is necessary if farmers, agri-food industries and consumers are to share responsibility to mitigate these impacts. Here we present an analysis of a complete supply chain for a staple of the global diet, a loaf of bread. We obtained primary data for all the processes involved in the farming, production and transport systems that lead to the manufacture of a particular brand of 800 g loaf. The data were analysed using an advanced life cycle assessment (LCA) tool, yielding metrics of environmental impact, including greenhouse gas emissions. We show that more than half of the environmental impact of producing the loaf of bread arises directly from wheat cultivation, with the use of ammonium nitrate fertilizer alone accounting for around 40%. These findings reveal the dependency of bread production on the unsustainable use of fertilizer and illustrate the detail needed if the actors in the supply chain are to assume shared responsibility for achieving sustainable food production

Transverse momentum and collision energy dependence of high pTp_{T} hadron suppression in Au+Au collisions at ultrarelativistic energies

We report high statistics measurements of inclusive charged hadron production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at \sqrtsNN=200 GeV. A large, approximately constant hadron suppression is observed in central Au+Au collisions for 5\lt\pT\lt12 GeV/c. The collision energy dependence of the yields and the centrality and \pT dependence of the suppression provide stringent constraints on theoretical models of suppression. Models incorporating initial-state gluon saturation or partonic energy loss in dense matter are largely consistent with observations. We observe no evidence of \pT-dependent suppression, which may be expected from models incorporating jet attentuation in cold nuclear matter or scattering of fragmentation hadrons.Comment: Final journal version. Data tables for figures may be downloaded from the STAR home page: http://www.star.bnl.gov --> Publications --> Access to STAR published dat

Evidence from d+Au measurements for final-state suppression of high pTp_T hadrons in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We report measurements of single-particle inclusive spectra and two-particle azimuthal distributions of charged hadrons at high transverse momentum (high $p_T$) in minimum bias and central d+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV. The inclusive yield is enhanced in d+Au collisions relative to binary-scaled p+p collisions, while the two-particle azimuthal distributions are very similar to those observed in p+p collisions. These results demonstrate that the strong suppression of the inclusive yield and back-to-back correlations at high $p_T$ previously observed in central Au+Au collisions are due to final-state interactions with the dense medium generated in such collisions.Comment: Final journal version. Data tables for figures may be downloaded from the STAR home page: http://www.star.bnl.gov --> Publications --> Access to STAR published dat

Azimuthally sensitive Hanbury Brown-Twiss interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_{NN}) = 200 GeV

We present the results of a systematic study of the shape of the pion distribution in coordinate space at freeze-out in Au+Au collisions at RHIC using two-pion Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) interferometry. Oscillations of the extracted HBT radii vs. emission angle indicate sources elongated perpendicular to the reaction plane. The results indicate that the pressure and expansion time of the collision system are not sufficient to completely quench its initial shape.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, published versio

Production of e+e−e^+e^- Pairs Accompanied by Nuclear Dissociation in Ultra-Peripheral Heavy Ion Collision

We present the first data on $e^+e^-$ pair production accompanied by nuclear breakup in ultra-peripheral gold-gold collisions at a center of mass energy of 200 GeV per nucleon pair. The nuclear breakup requirement selects events at small impact parameters, where higher-order corrections to the pair production cross section should be enhanced. We compare the pair kinematic distributions with two calculations: one based on the equivalent photon approximation, and the other using lowest-order quantum electrodynamics (QED); the latter includes the photon virtuality. The cross section, pair mass, rapidity and angular distributions are in good agreement with both calculations. The pair transverse momentum, $p_T$, spectrum agrees with the QED calculation, but not with the equivalent photon approach. We set limits on higher-order contributions to the cross section. The $e^+$ and $e^-$ $p_T$ spectra are similar, with no evidence for interference effects due to higher-order diagrams.Comment: 6 pages with 3 figures Slightly modified version that will appear in Phys. Rev.

Pion-Xi correlations in Au-Au collisions at STAR

We present pion-Xi correlation analysis in Au-Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)= 200 GeV and sqrt(s_NN) = 62.4 GeV, performed using the STAR detector at RHIC. A Xi*(1530) resonance signal is observed for the first time in Au-Au collisions. Experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions. The strength of the Xi* peak is reproduced in the correlation function assuming that pions and Xis emerge from a system in collective expansion.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of 18th Nuclear Physics Division Conference of the EPS (NPDC18),Prague, 23.8.-29.8. 200

Rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and antiproton production from 197Au + 197Au collisions at √SNN = 130 GeV

We report on the rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and antiproton transverse mass distributions from 197Au + 197Au collisions at sqrt[sNN ]=130 GeV as measured by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Our results are from the rapidity and transverse momentum range of |y| <0.5 and 0.35< pt <1.00 GeV/c . For both protons and antiprotons, transverse mass distributions become more convex from peripheral to central collisions demonstrating characteristics of collective expansion. The measured rapidity distributions and the mean transverse momenta versus rapidity are flat within |y| <0.5 . Comparisons of our data with results from model calculations indicate that in order to obtain a consistent picture of the proton (antiproton) yields and transverse mass distributions the possibility of prehadronic collective expansion may have to be taken into account