Delayed discharges and unplanned admissions from the Day Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital, Malta

Day care units are playing an increasingly important role in healthcare provision, however they require the development of specialised resources to fulfil their role. The rate of unplanned admissions following day-case procedures is considered as one of several indicators of the quality of day-case services available.1 The aim of this study is to identify how often there are delayed discharged or unplanned admissions following day-cases at the Day Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital (MDH), Malta. A list of patients whose discharge did not go as planned was forwarded daily to the authors by the Bed Management Unit at MDH. The medical files of these patients were then reviewed and data collected. This included demographics, type of procedure carried out and reasons for delayed discharge or unplanned admission. The study was carried out over 45 days.peer-reviewe

What a tangled net: unravelling the international complications of tuna conservation

The eighth meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission concluded in Guam on Friday 30 March 2012. Five hundred delegates from more than 40 countries argued for a week about how to reduce overfishing in the Western and Central Pacific tuna fisheries and sustainably manage the world’s largest tuna fisheries. Scientific assessments clearly recommend urgent action to address overfishing and reduce fishing mortality for bigeye tuna, halt any increases in fishing mortality for yellowfin and probably albacore, reduce fishing mortality of juvenile bigeye and yellowfin, and develop precautionary limits for skipjack. If these actions are not taken the stocks of these species will see further declines for some stocks and potentially see overfishing start to occur for others. But despite clear advice from the Commission’s scientific committee that further measures were required to address overfishing of bigeye tuna, the Commission couldn’t agree how members should distribute the “burden of conservation”

Fisheries

Fisheries management is inherently difficult, and often \u27wicked\u27. \u27Wicked\u27 problems are difficult to define because they are intermeshed with other complicated and larger problems and include multiple factors that are hard to quantify (Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2009). Such problems have no clear single solution and require the engagement of stakeholders in an ongoing, cyclical and consultative manner

CITES \u27Introduction from the Sea\u27: A Practical Way Forward

On 31 August 2007, TRAFFIC and ANCORS* (The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security) convened a small group of experts to examine operational issues relating to the question of who should be responsible for issuing Introduction from the Sea (IFS) documentation under CITES for Appendix II species, and how and when this should be applied. The workshop considered the practicalities of whether documentation should be issued by the flag or port State (or some combination) and ran through a series of real examples to test the veracity of its findings

Challenges and priorities in shark and ray conservation

Sharks, rays, and chimaeras (Class Chondrichthyes; herein ‘sharks’) are the earliest extant jawed vertebrates and exhibit some of the greatest functional diversity of all vertebrates. Ecologically, they influence energy transfer vertically through trophic levels and sometimes trophic cascades via direct consumption and predation risk. Through movements and migrations, they connect horizontally and temporally across habitats and ecosystems, integrating energy flows at large spatial scales and across time. This connectivity flows from ontogenetic growth in size and spatial movements, which in turn underpins their relatively low reproductive rates compared with other exploited ocean fishes. Sharks are also ecologically and demographically diverse and are taken in a wide variety of fisheries for multiple products (e.g. meat, fins, teeth, and gills). Consequently, a range of fisheries management measures are generally preferable to ‘silver bullet’ and ‘one size fits all’ conservation actions. Some species with extremely low annual reproductive output can easily become endangered and hence require strict protections to minimize mortality. Other, more prolific species can withstand fishing over the long term if catches are subject to effective catch limits throughout the species’ range. We identify, based on the IUCN Red List status, 64 endangered species in particular need of new or stricter protections and 514 species in need of improvements to fisheries management. We designate priority countries for such actions, recognizing the widely differing fishing pressures and conservation capacity. We hope that this analysis assists efforts to ensure this group of ecologically important and evolutionarily distinct animals can support both ocean ecosystems and human activities in the future

CITES \u27Introduction from the Sea\u27: A Practical Way Forward

On 31 August 2007, TRAFFIC and ANCORS* (The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security) convened a small group of experts to examine operational issues relating to the question of who should be responsible for issuing Introduction from the Sea (IFS) documentation under CITES for Appendix II species, and how and when this should be applied. The workshop considered the practicalities of whether documentation should be issued by the flag or port State (or some combination) and ran through a series of real examples to test the veracity of its findings

Tackling vulnerability to debt. Affordable lending alternatives and financial education:An evidence review

The pathways to vulnerability to debt and what works to reduce such vulnerability are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an evidence review. Many low-income borrowers have little alternative but to resort to high interest lending. Developing 'affordable' lending alternatives has been a challenge. Policy-makers have advocated person-centred approaches (for example, financial education) despite little evidence supporting the efficacy of such behavioural measures. Arguably this has shifted the burden of social responsibility and risk for managing problem debt primarily onto borrowers. While better regulation of the credit industry is needed, ultimately policymakers need to look beyond market-based solutions. © Policy Press 2018

Guitarfishes are plucked: Undermanaged in global fisheries despite declining populations and high volume of unreported international trade

Some sharks and rays are subject to fisheries catch and international trade regulations. However, the Guitarfishes (family Rhinobatidae) are a highly threatened group with minimal regulations. The true volume of Guitarfishes in international trade is underestimated and masked by substantial underreporting of catch and the use of broad commodity codes for traded products. Here, we begin to document the extent of trade by collating international trade information for Guitarfishes that have not readily been documented in trade, possibly due to poor resolution of molecular genetic markers. We also assess the shortfall in fisheries management (M-Risk) for all species of Guitarfish based on 99 assessments across 28 countries. Globally, Guitarfishes are inadequately managed, with an average M-Risk of 45% of an ideal score, resulting in 76% of species being threatened globally. The high and unregulated catch and trade volume, paired with the management shortfalls, require global integrated improvement in fisheries management, supported by regulating international trade to sustainable levels

High overexploitation risk due to management shortfall in highly traded requiem sharks

Most of the international trade in fins (and likely meat too) is derived from requiem sharks (family Carcharhinidae), yet trade in only two of the 56 species is currently regulated. Here, we quantify catch, trade, and the shortfall in national and regional fisheries management (M-Risk) for all 56 requiem shark species based on 831 assessments across 30 countries and four Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). Requiem sharks comprise over half (60%) of the annual reported global Chondrichthyan catch with most species (86%) identified in the international fin trade. Requiem sharks are inadequately managed by fisheries, with an average M-Risk of half (50%) of an ideal score, consequently 70% of species are threatened globally. The high catch and trade volume and shortfall in management of these iconic species require worldwide fisheries management for sustainable catch, supported by full implementation of CITES regulations for international trade of this newly listed family