Crustacean fisheries

Proceedings of the Conference on Life History Assessment and Management of Crustaceans, La Coruna, Galicia, Spain, 8–11 October 200

Quinoline synthesis: scope and regiochemistry of photocyclisation of substituted benzylidenecyclopentanone O-alkyl and O-acetyloximes

Irradiation of substituted 2-benzylidenecyclopentanone O-alkyl and O-acetyloximes in methanol provides a convenient synthesis of alkyl, alkoxy, hydroxy, acetoxy, amino, dimethylamino and benzo substituted annulated quinolines. para-Substituents yield 6-substituted-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[b]quinolines with 8-substituted products being obtained from ortho-substituted starting materials. Reactions of meta-substituted precursors are highly regioselective, with alkyl substituents leading to 5-substituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[b]quinolines and more strongly electron-donating substituents generally resulting in 7-substituted products. 2-Furylmethylene and 2-thienylmethylene analogues yield annulated furo- and thieno-[2,3e]pyridines respectively. Sequential E- to Z-benzylidene group isomerisation and six [pi]-electron cyclisation steps result in formation of a short-lived dihydroquinoline intermediate which spontaneously aromatises by elimination of an alcohol or acetic acid. For 2-benzylidenecyclopentanone O-allyloxime, singlet excited states are involved in both steps

Catch and bycatch in the tangle net fishery for crayfish (Palinurus elephas) off the south west coast of Ireland

Crayfish or spiny lobster is fished off the south west coast of Ireland. There are also smaller fisheries on the west and north west coasts. Although historically, prior to the 1970s, the main fishing gear used in the fishery was top entrance traps crayfish are now targeted with large mesh tangle nets. The selectivity of these nets is poor and there is known to be a by-catch of finfish, skates and rays and protected species such as grey seal. The fishery usually occurs from mid-March to December. The species composition and size distribution of the catch and by-catch was surveyed over a 4 year period from 2017-2020 from Dingle Bay north to the Shannon Estuary. Additional data south of this area was obtained in 2020. A crayfish tagging programme was undertaken in 2017 and 2018. Between 2 and 6 vessels participated in the programme depending on year Most of the data was reported directly by Skippers and crew who were contracted to supply data. Scientific observers covered a proportion of trips in 2017 and 2019. A total of 1500 nmiles of tangle net hauls were surveyed across 6 vessels. A total of 11792 crayfish and 899 lobsters were measured, 1234 crayfish were tagged and released and 45 recaptures were reported. Spider crab, brown crab and crayfish were the numerically dominant species in the catch. Lobster, pollack, thornback ray, spurdog, monkfish and turbot were caught regularly in low numbers. There was no cetacean by-catch. A total of 200 grey seals were caught over the 4 year period by the vessels participating in the survey. Endangered and critically endangered species, including flapper skate, common skate, angel shark and white skate, were caught in very low numbers. The finfish catch is mainly lost to scavengers or seal depredation before nets are retrieved and because of long soak times which averaged 8 days. This reduces the value of the catch. The average value of the live crustacean (crayfish, lobster, brown crab) catch was approximately €300 per mile of net hauled. Crayfish were tagged and released in 2017 and 2018 and recaptured during the period 2017-2020. Three crayfish tagged by IFREMER off Brittany in 2015 and 2016 were recaptured off the south west and west coast of Ireland in 2019. The northern most recapture was off Erris Head Co. Mayo. The tagging data shows that most crayfish were recaptured locally close to release points even in the years following tagging. It is still unclear if crayfish are resident or if they migrate in and out of the tagging area as the reporting rate of recaptures outside the tagging area is unknown. The by-catch of critically endangered species poses a high risk to the continued presence of these species in Irish waters and indeed in European waters given that the area is known to hold the last European remnant populations of species such as angel shark and white skate. Grey seal by-catch was related to the distance between the fishing event and the nearest seal colony haul out at the Blasket Islands. Sixty % of seals were caught within 10km of the haul out. The probability of capture in a single net haul declined from 30-35% within 10km to 9-14% at distances of 10-30km to 4% at distances of 40-60km and zero at distances greater than 60km (data for 39 hauls >60km). The high by-catch of grey seal is a significant risk to the Blasket Island seal colony. It is unlikelythat the Blasket population can sustain this level of by-catch mortality without inward migration fromother colonies

Differences in Prevalence of Multiple Paternity in the Spiny Spider Crab Maja Brachydactyla in Two Localities That Differ in Female Fecundity, Fishing Intensity, and Management Measures

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Many marine species are under high fishing pressure, which can cause alterations in their mating systems and the structure of their populations. The spiny spider crab Maja brachydactyla is a commercial decapod on the east Atlantic coast. In Galicia, the most exploited region in Spain, the landing of ovigerous females is prohibited, favouring exploitation focused on males. The removal of males, especially the largest ones, may lead to sperm limitation and a reduction in the average size over generations. In these cases, polyandry can work as a mechanism to protect females against sperm limitation and to increase genetic diversity and effective population size. This study analyses the multiple paternity in M. brachydactyla in two localities that differ in female fecundity, fishing intensity, and management measures. Our results showed multiple paternity in this species for the first time, with a moderate bias between sires. However, the frequency of multiple paternity was almost seven times higher in the intensely exploited Golfo Ártabro (NW Spain; 69%) than in Carna (W Ireland; 10%), where exploitation levels and female fecundity are lower.This work was funded by a CTM2014-53838-R grant from the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad), by a GRC2014/050 grant from Xunta de Galicia (Programa de Investigación Competitiva do Sistema Universitario Galego, Modalidade de grupos de referencia competitiva: Grupo de Investigación en Biología Evolutiva), and by a PID2019-109194RB-I00 grant from the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación). The researcher Elba Rodríguez-Pena was supported by the Axudas de apoio á etapa predoutoral from the Xunta de Galicia (Spain), co-financed by the European Social FundXunta de Galicia; GRC2014/05

Social Flow: social connectedness and flow in participatory art

Zeitgeist - a participatory artwork developed by the researcher/artists Dr Shama Rahman and Dr Olive Gingrich, uses deep-learning algorithms to indicate creative ‘Flow’ mental states visualised on a holographic Pepper’s ghost display. Based on real-time analysis of physiological brainwave data through deep-learning algorithms, participants visually experience the probability of being in Flow - a mental state of creative peak performance (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). Forming part of the AHRC-funded p_ART_icipate research project, this research looks at the effect of participatory arts on social connectedness and mental well-being. A small-scale pilot user study (n=12), points to a significant effect of the intervention on social connectedness, mood and flow - with facilitation being a potential confounding factor. This paper presents the findings of this initial pilot study, as well as a discussion around co-factors of social flow

The Distribution and Abundance of Elasmobranch Fish in Tralee, Brandon and Dingle Bays in 2018-2019

Surveys of skates and rays were undertaken in Tralee, Brandon and Dingle Bays in north Kerry during 2018 and 2019. The area was previously shown, from angling records and more recent shore surveys of egg cases, to support a high diversity of these species some of which are critically endangered in Ireland, the Atlantic or globally. Twelve species were recorded in the area and their geographic and seasonal distribution is described in this report. Their relative abundance in the surveys confirms their presence in the Tralee Bay area and the importance of that area as a refuge for them. Three of the species recorded, angel shark, blue skate and flapper skate are critically endangered globally. White skate was not recorded in the surveys but a single individual was captured separately in commercial tangle nets in 2018 in the area. This species is critically endangered in the Atlantic. Data from other broad scale fisheries surveys and fisheries sampling at sea, not reported here, confirm that these species are rarely found elsewhere. In addition, and in order of abundance, thornback ray, painted ray, sting ray, undulate ray, blonde ray, spotted ray, spurdog, tope and greater spotted dogfish were recorded. Endangered species of skates and rays are listed on various species red lists internationally and are prohibited species (from being landed) under Common Fisheries Policy regulations. The main source of mortality is from fishing. The current regulations, however, do not necessarily remove this source of impact because accidental by-catch and mortality can still occur. Populations that are at critically low levels locally are unlikely to be able to sustain this additional mortality and there is an ongoing risk of local extinction. Effective protection and restoration will need to consider additional measures such as marine protected areas or other mitigations of the effects of fisheries where they pose a high risk to the viability of local populations. Waters off north Kerry are important internationally as they hold some of the last remaining refuges for angel shark and white skate.European Maritime Fisheries Fun

Development and clinical performance of high throughput loop-mediated isothermal amplification for detection of malaria.

BACKGROUND: Accurate and efficient detection of sub-microscopic malaria infections is crucial for enabling rapid treatment and interruption of transmission. Commercially available malaria LAMP kits have excellent diagnostic performance, though throughput is limited by the need to prepare samples individually. Here, we evaluate the clinical performance of a newly developed high throughput (HTP) sample processing system for use in conjunction with the Eiken malaria LAMP kit. METHODS: The HTP system utilised dried blood spots (DBS) and liquid whole blood (WB), with parallel sample processing of 94 samples per run. The system was evaluated using 699 samples of known infection status pre-determined by gold standard nested PCR. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of WB-HTP-LAMP was 98.6% (95% CI, 95.7-100), and 99.7% (95% CI, 99.2-100); sensitivity of DBS-HTP-LAMP was 97.1% (95% CI, 93.1-100), and specificity 100% against PCR. At parasite densities greater or equal to 2 parasites/μL, WB and DBS HTP-LAMP showed 100% sensitivity and specificity against PCR. At densities less than 2 p/μL, WB-HTP-LAMP sensitivity was 88.9% (95% CI, 77.1-100) and specificity was 99.7% (95% CI, 99.2-100); sensitivity and specificity of DBS-HTP-LAMP was 77.8% (95% CI, 54.3-99.5) and 100% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The HTP-LAMP system is a highly sensitive diagnostic test, with the potential to allow large scale population screening in malaria elimination campaigns

Management and restoration of crayfish stocks- Phase 2

Crayfish or spiny lobster occur in physically complex reef habitat in shallow waters off the west coast of Ireland. These habitats provide shelter for larvae that are settling out from the overlying water column and for juvenile and adult lobsters that use these areas to shelter and forage. Fisheries for spiny lobster occur in these areas and remove lobsters from the reef. The consequence of this for the structure and function of reef habitat is unknown. In this study the distribution of reef habitat was estimated from multibeam acoustic data collected in previous campaigns by the INFOMAR programme. Sub-sets of this area were re-mapped at higher resolution to provide further detail of the topography of the reef from which terrain variables were derived. Underwater video and SCUBA methods were used to identify the flora and fauna in areas with different topographies. Weak correlations between the terrain variables and the biological data were found. This was used to model the distribution of areas of high and low biodiversity over broader areas where only terrain data were available. Capacity to model the distribution of biological communities and crayfish over broad areas using physical terrain data remains difficult. Other physical variables that may be important in regulating the biology of reef need to be included and the association of crayfish with particular types of reef terrain needs to be established by higher resolution sampling. The benefits of the work reported here include increased capacity to monitor the distribution of biodiversity in marine reef habitats, to detect change that may be brought about by sector activities such as fishing or climate change, to estimate the population size of exploited reef species for fisheries management and to identify positive changes to biodiversity and lobster abundance that may occur through spatial management of reef habitat.European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme 2014-2020. Project ref number: MB/2019/0

The velocity field of 2MRS Ks=11.75 galaxies: constraints on beta and bulk flow from the luminosity function

Using the nearly full sky Ks=11.75 2MASS Redshift Survey [2MRS]of ~45,000 galaxies we reconstruct the underlying peculiar velocity field and constrain the cosmological bulk flow within ~100. These results are obtained by maximizing the probability to estimate the absolute magnitude of a galaxy given its observed apparent magnitude and redshift. At a depth of ~60 Mpc/h we find a bulk flow Vb=(90\pm65,-230\pm65,50\pm65) km/s in agreement with the theoretical predictions of the LCDM model. The reconstructed peculiar velocity field that maximizes the likelihood is characterized by the parameter beta=0.323 +/- 0.08. Both results are in agreement with those obtained previously using the ~23,000 galaxies of the shallower Ks=11.25 2MRS survey. In our analysis we find that the luminosity function of 2MRS galaxies is poorly fitted by the Schechter form and that luminosity evolves such that objects become fainter with increasing redshift according to L(z)=L(z=0)(1+z)^(+2.7 +/-0.15).Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure