Fishery, reproductive biology and stock status of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817), landed along the north-east coast of India

The fishery, biology and stock status of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817), landed along the north-east coast was studied during 2011-2014. The average annual catch was 52,206 t. Catch was more or less equally contributed by trawlers, gillnetters and seiners with average catch rates of 3.05 kg h-1, 22.74 kg unit-1 and 140.09 kg unit-1 respectively. Catch was positively influenced by wind speed and negatively by sea surface temperature and precipitation. Growth in males was isometric, while it was allometric in females and indeterminates. Females outnumbered males in the commercial catches. Length at first maturity varied between 18.32 and 18.86 cm. Peak spawning season was during July - October and February - April. Relative fecundity was 567.51 ova per gram body weight. von Bertalanffy growth equation obtained was: Lt = 27.72 [1-e -1.2 (t + 0.023)]. Length at first capture and life span estimated were 12.78 cm and 2.48 years respectively. Natural mortality, fishing mortality and total mortality were 2.06, 3.69 and 5.75, respectively with an exploitation rate of 0.64. Peak recruitment was found to be during September-October. Maximum sustainable yield and yield per recruit were 40,675 t and 14.74 g respectively which were obtained by increasing the present fishing effort by 20%, but at the increased fishing effort, the increase in yield was a meager 0.53%, which indicates that the present level of fishing can be continued

Carbon footprint in life cycle of marine fisheries at major fishing harbours of Andhra Pradesh, India

Contribution of marine fisheries at all stages of its life cycle, to climate change during 2012-2013 was studied by determining their carbon footprint at four major fishing harbours/fish landing centres in Andhra Pradesh viz., Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Nizamapatnam and Machilipatnam . Functional unit was 1 kg of marine fish to the consumer. Fuel and electricity consumption per kg of marine fish was on an average 0.43 l and 0.24 kWh at Visakhapatnam, 0.41 l and 0.15 kWh at Kakinada, 0.52 l and 0.26 kWh at Nizamapatnam and 0.48 l and 0.21 kWh at Machilipatnam. Mechanised catches contributed 80-85% of the total fuel burnt and 79-90% of the total electricity consumed. The harvest phase (88-93%) burnt the most fuel, while the post-harvest phase (51-62%) contributed the most to the electricity consumption. Emission intensity per kg of marine fish was 0.34 kg C and 1.26 kg CO2 in Visakhapatnam, 0.31 kg C and 1.16 kg CO2 in Kakinada, 0.41 kg C and 1.50 kg CO2 at Nizamapatnam and 0.37 kg C and 1.37 kg CO2 at Machilipatnam. Fuel and electricity consumption and emission intensity was high for mechanised landings and low for motorised landings. The highest emissions were recorded in the harvest phase at all the places. Energy consumption and subsequent emissions can be reduced by making suitable modifications to the diesel engines, speed of operation and to the craft and propeller designs

Carbon footprint of marine fisheries: life cycle analysis from Visakhapatnam

The contribution of marine fisheries in Visakhapatnam at all stages of its life cycle to climate change during 2010–2012 was studied by determining its carbon footprint. Pre-harvest phase consisted of vessel construction and maintenance and provision of fishing gear; harvest phase included harvest from mechanized and motorized craft and post-harvest phase involved fish transportation and fish processing. The functional unit selected was 1 kg of marine fish to the consumer. Fuel and electricity consumption was 0.48 l/kg and 0.255 kWh/kg of fish. The C and CO2 emitted were 0.382 kg C/kg and 1.404 kg CO2/kg of fish. The highest consumption of energy and the highest emissions of CO2 were observed from the harvest phase. The fuel and electricity consumption and C and CO2 emissions were high for mechanized landings and low for motorized landings. Reduction in energy consumption and subsequent emissions is possible in mechanized craft by increasing the fuel efficiency of marine diesel engines, controlling craft speed, using large propeller with lower revolutions and reducing the craft drag

निज़ामपट्टणम और मछलीपट्टणम की समुद्री मात्स्यिकी में कार्बन पदचिह्न्न

कृपया पूरा लेखा पढ

Metrics for the assessment of quantity and quality of the data by Argo floats

187-192Observing system or research initiative's foundation lies on reliable in situ data from sensors, which accurately tell about various key parameters that are being measured. Argo floats had brought huge amount of ocean observational in-situ data which is widely used from analysis to modelling. Present work describes a metrics for analyzing performance of sensors on Argo floats which can be used to assess the performance of float or set of floats as a whole. A set of new metrics like Total Data Return, Quality Data Returned and Quality Data Expected are proposed including the well-known Half-Life Period utilizing all of the Argo profile data. From the analysis, temperature and sensors performance is found to be more than 80 % and average Half-Life is found to be 1065 days. These metrics provide the overall performance of the floats, and can also be applied to other similar floats deployed by other countries as well as sensors fitted on other oceanic platforms

Evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal activity of root and root callus extracts of Trianthema decandra L.

Trianthema decandra L. root and root callus extracts of different solvents viz.,petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol were tested against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and also against Fusarium spp. Root callus extract of chloroform and ethanol showed significant activity against Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus. Staphylococcus aureus, Staph. epidermis and also against the other spp. of Gram negative bacteria viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebseilla pneumonia, Alcaligens faecalis, Proteus vulgaris Enterobacter aerogenes,Salmonella typhi, Salmonella tyhimurium, Salmonella paratyphi A and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica with a MIC of 3.12 to 12.50 μg/ml when compared to root extract of chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol of Trianthema decandra. Root callus extract of chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol showed activity against Fusarium verticilliodes, F. anthophilum, F. oxysporum and F. proliferatum with a lowest MIC of 3.12 μg/ml when compared to root extract of Trianthema decandra. The result showsthat antibacterial and antifungal activity was more in root callus extract than root extract

Characterization of maize genotypes using microsatellite markers associated with QTLs for kernel iron and zinc

224-234Crop genetic resources rich in Fe and Zn provide sustainable and cost-effective solution to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. Maize being the leading staple crop assumes great significance as a target crop for biofortification. We report here wide genetic variation for kernel Fe and Zn among 20 diverse maize inbreds lines, majority of which were bred for quality protein maize (QPM) and provitamin-A. Kernel Fe ranged from 30.0 - 46.13 mg/kg, while kernel Zn ranged from 8.68-39.56 mg/kg. Moderate but positive correlation was observed between the micronutrients. Characterization using 25 Single sequence repeats (SSRs) linked to QTLs for kernel Fe produced 58 alleles. Similarly, 86 alleles were identified from 35 SSRs linked to QTLs for kernel Zn. One unique allele for kernel Fe and three unique alleles for kernel Zn were identified. The mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.40 for both kernel Fe and  Zn. Jaccard’s dissimilarity coefficients varied from 0.25 - 0.91 with a mean of 0.58 for kernel-Fe while 0.27- 0.88 with a mean of 0.57 for kernel Zn. Principal coordinate analysis depicted diversity of inbreds. Cluster analysis grouped the inbreds into three major clusters for both kernel Fe and Zn. Potential cross combinations have been proposed to develop micronutrient rich hybrids and novel inbreds with higher Fe and Zn. The information generated here would help the maize biofortification programme to develop nutritionally enriched hybrids

Allelic variants of DYX1C1 are not associated with dyslexia in India

Dyslexia is a hereditary neurological disorder that manifests as an unexpected difficulty in learning to read despite adequate intelligence, education, and normal senses. The prevalence of dyslexia ranges from 3 to 15% of the school aged children. Many genetic studies indicated that loci on 6p21.3, 15q15-21, and 18p11.2 have been identified as promising candidate gene regions for dyslexia. Recently, it has been suggested that allelic variants of gene, DYX1C1 influence dyslexia. In the present study, exon 2 and 10 of DYX1C1 has been analyzed to verify whether these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) influence dyslexia, in our population. Our study identified 4 SNPs however, none of these SNPS were found to be significantly associated with dyslexia suggesting DYX1C1 allelic variants are not associated with dyslexia