Proposed voluntary fishery adjustment scheme. South Coast Purse Seine Managed Fishery.

On 29 May 1997 the Minister for Fisheries established a Committee of Management in respect of the South Coast Purse Seine Managed Fishery under the Fisheries Adjustment Schemes Act 1987 (the Act). The initial function of the Committee of Management (the Committee) is to consider, in respect of the Fishery, the desirablity of the establishment of a Voluntary Fisheries Adjustment Scheme. This document constitutes the report of the desirability of a Scheme

Southern demersal gillnet and longline fishery.

In its report to the Ministier for Fisheries in November 1986, the Southern Western Australian Shark Working Group recommended the establishment of an Industry/Government Mangement Advisory Committee to provide managememt advice on the fishery to the Minister for Fisheries. The Advisory Committee held its first meeting in Albany on 23 February 1989. After being briefed on the state of shark stocks, the Committee\u27s deliberations fell into three broad categories. In the first category there was sufficient time and information available to make a recommendation to the Minister for Fisheries. In the second category, discussion commenced, but was held over to the next meeting for further discussion when more information would be available. In the third category, the Committee noted administrative actions taken by the Fisheries Department and the Minister since the start of the limited entry fishery

Interaction of swine nursery and grow-finish space allocations on performance

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the possible interaction of nursery space allocations and grow-finish space allocations in swine. In Exp. 1, crowding was achieved by varying the number of pigs per pen. During the nursery phase, decreasing the space allocation (0.16 m2/pig vs 0.25 m2/pig; 8 and 12 pens per treatment, respectively) by increasing the number of pigs per pen (18 vs 12) resulted in a decrease in daily feed intake (0.609 vs 0.683 kg/d; P \u3c 0.001) and daily gain (0.364 vs 0.408 kg/d; P \u3c 0.001). Pigs were mixed within nursery treatment groups and reassigned to grow-finish pens (6 pens per treatment) at the end of the 35-d nursery period providing either 0.56 m2/pig (14 pigs/pen) or 0.78 m2/pig (10 pigs/pen). Crowding during the grow-finish phase decreased daily feed intake (P \u3c 0.003) and daily gain (P \u3c 0.001). In Exp. 2, space allocations of 0.16 m2/pig vs 0.23 m2/pig during the nursery phase (24 pens per treatment) resulted in a decrease in daily feed intake (0.612 vs 0.654 kg/d; P \u3c 0.005) and daily gain (0.403 vs 0.430 kg/d; P \u3c 0.001). Pigs remained in the same (social) groups when moved to the grow-finish phase. Unlike Exp. 1, there was no effect of crowding during the grow-finish phase (0.60 m2/pig vs 0. 74 m2/pig) on daily feed intake or daily gain. The difference in results between experiments suggests that the response to crowding during the grow-finish phase may depend in part on whether pigs are mixed and sorted following movement from the nursery

Targeting Conservation Investments in Heterogeneous Landscapes: A distance function approach and application to watershed management

To achieve a given level of an environmental amenity at least cost, decision-makers must integrate information about spatially variable biophysical and economic conditions. Although the biophysical attributes that contribute to supplying an environmental amenity are often known, the way in which these attributes interact to produce the amenity is often unknown. Given the difficulty in converting multiple attributes into a unidimensional physical measure of an environmental amenity (e.g., habitat quality), analyses in the academic literature tend to use a single biophysical attribute as a proxy for the environmental amenity (e.g., species richness). A narrow focus on a single attribute, however, fails to consider the full range of biophysical attributes that are critical to the supply of an environmental amenity. Drawing on the production efficiency literature, we introduce an alternative conservation targeting approach that relies on distance functions to cost-efficiently allocate conservation funds across a spatially heterogeneous landscape. An approach based on distance functions has the advantage of not requiring a parametric specification of the amenity function (or cost function), but rather only requiring that the decision-maker identify important biophysical and economic attributes. We apply the distance-function approach empirically to an increasingly common, but little studied, conservation initiative: conservation contracting for water quality objectives. The contract portfolios derived from the distance-function application have many desirable properties, including intuitive appeal, robust performance across plausible parametric amenity measures, and the generation of ranking measures that can be easily used by field practitioners in complex decision-making environments that cannot be completely modeled. Working Paper # 2002-01

Shake-table tests of a reinforced concrete frame designed following modern codes: seismic performance and damage evaluation

This paper presents shake-table tests conducted on a two-fifths-scale reinforced concrete frame representing a conventional construction design under current building code provisions in the Mediterranean area. The structure was subjected to a sequence of dynamic tests including free vibrations and four seismic simulations in which a historical ground motion record was scaled to levels of increasing intensity until collapse. Each seismic simulation was associated with a different level of seismic hazard, representing very frequent, frequent, rare and very rare earthquakes. The structure remained basically undamaged and within the inter-story drift limits of the "immediate occupancy" performance level for the very frequent and frequent earthquakes. For the rare earthquake, the specimen sustained significant damage with chord rotations of up to 28% of its ultimate capacity and approached the upper bound limit of inter-story drift associated with "life safety". The specimen collapsed at the beginning of the "very rare" seismic simulation. Besides summarizing the experimental program, this paper evaluates the damage quantitatively at the global and local levels in terms of chord rotation and other damage indexes, together with the energy dissipation demands for each level of seismic hazard. Further, the ratios of column-to-beam moment capacity recommended by Eurocode 8 and ACI-318 to guarantee the formation of a strong column-weak beam mechanism are examined

Increasing convergence between the recognition of an intangible asset for financial accounting purposes and strategic management accounting and project management techniques

New management techniques such as 'just-in-time', 'lean manufacturing' and 'Six Sigma' allow management accountants to shift their focus from the management and control of production processes to the management of strategic issues. This paradigm shift resulted from shorter product life cycles, due to technological advances and a more competitive business environment. Recent revisions to the International Accounting Standards which are particularly supportive of life cycle costing and project management are likely to increase the focus on strategic management accounting further. This article describes developments in management accounting and the recent convergence of financial reporting in terms of International Accounting Standards with strategic management accounting and project management techniques. Strategic management accounting (particularly life cycle costing) involves applying project management techniques and using the calculus of investment to manage the project as a whole. This contrasts with managing only costs and revenues during the manufacturing phase of a project. The article demonstrates that project management techniques and the calculus of investment provide the information needed to account for the value of a project in terms of IAS 38: Intangible Assets. This will ultimately give rise to both improved decision-making and more relevant financial reporting

Private finance for the delivery of school projects in England

This paper analyses the use of the private finance initiative (PFI) approach to deliver school projects in England. The findings are based on case-study research in the Building Schools for the Future scheme (BSF), the largest single capital investment in SO years to rebuild and renew all of England's secondary schools. Up to half of the school infrastructure is to be procured by PFI contracts. A major concern has been the high cost associated with PFI procurement and any subsequent changes to scope. Furthermore, in some cases PFI-funded schools have been closed soon after completion; at great cost to the public sector. The aim of this research was therefore to understand the underlying reasons for these problems. The main conclusion is that the difficulties in BSF arise from not sorting out strategic issues and instituting appropriate organisational frameworks before engaging the private sector. The result of this is a lack of clarity about the long-term needs and end user aspirations. A brief outline of current programme management methods is given and it is suggested that this might be integral to the successful delivery of schools using private finance. A clear strategic vision that cascades into projects via programmes will ensure that the school infrastructure is appropriate for the anticipated strategic benefits and is aligned to the overall service delivery ambitions

A Plan for the Future of the Presumpscot River: A Vision for the Future, Findings and Recommendations

The Presumpscot River, including its tributaries and shorelands, is managed to realize the greatest good for all its communities, both human and ecological, through a careful balancing of all potential uses. The river supports the production of renewable energy, and the full range of natural and economic benefits and uses that are dependent upon a restored and ecologically healthy river, including the benefits to resident and migratory fish and wildlife, and the use and enjoyment of the river for open space and recreation. In pursuing this vision, the participants in this planning effort recognize two important and inescapable conclusions: balancing and optimizing among potentially competing uses, values and interests is complex and requires considered judgments on how to integrate uses to achieve the greatest overall benefits; the optimum mix of uses and management of the river will change over time as our knowledge and society’s needs change. Thus, the planning effort should not be viewed as finished at any point in time. Rather, to be effective, it will require a periodic reexamination of the issues involved in management of the river. In fact, this shift in our understanding of appropriate management, and the changing needs of our society over the last two centuries is what has prompted renewed interest in the Presumpscot, and a reexamination of its management

A Plan for the Future of the Presumpscot River: Cumulative Impacts to Environmental Conditions on the River and its Shorelands

The Presumpscot has a rich history. The river was settled early in Maine’s history (the first dam was constructed at Smelt Hill in the early 1730’s). The power and water supplied by the Presumpscot were fundamentally important to the early development of the area. Without the river there would have been no mills and little development in the area. The Presumpscot was the site of Maine’s first pulp mill, first hydroelectric project, only significant canal, and largest gunpowder mill. Interest in reclaiming the river was given a boost in 1992 when the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife undertook one of its most successful efforts to reestablish a trout and salmon fishery in the upper reach of the river, below Sebago Lake. More recently, the removal of the Smelt Hill Dam at head-of-tide, and cessation of the Westbrook Mill\u27s pulp operation have combined to improve the condition of the lower river and air quality in the area. As in the past, this has given rise to a new set of competing interests, which are being addressed by this planning effort