Can the Vaquita Be Saved From Extinction?

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is considered the world’s most endangered marine mammal. It is the smallest member of the porpoise family endemic to the upper part of the Gulf of California. The current population is estimated at less than 30 individuals. The primary reasons for the species decline includes limited habitat and incidental mortalities associated with illegal gillnet fishing activities. Since 2008, the Mexican government has taken environmental and economic actions to protect the vaquita’s focusing in reducing by-catch deaths to zero. In 2015, a federal Agreement decreed by the Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA in Spanish) prohibited the use of any fishing gillnets for two years, affecting severely the local human communities because in the region the coastal fisheries represent 40% of the regional PIB, besides that 50% of the local inhabitants are devoted to this activity. Recently, an economical compensation is giving to the fishing permits owners if they do not continue with their fishing activities. However none of this actions and agreements have considered social and economic solutions for the local inhabitants of this region, which includes three communities: San Felipe, Golfo de Santa Clara and Puerto Peñasco. If there is not enacted a change of paradigm of the conservation programs, focusing in the wellbeing of the local fishing communities then the vaquita could be the second marine mammal species to disappear due to human activities

Plan estratégico para la empresa Tabacos del Sol S. A, ubicada en el municipio de Condega, departamento de Estelí

El plan estratégico contribuirá en mejor la calidad, incrementar los niveles de productividad y en consolidar en el mercado a Tabacos del Sol; lo que le permitirá ofertar diversidad de productos en nuevos segmentos e incrementar los márgenes de ganancias y liderazgo en el mercado de puros

Extinction is imminent for Mexico’s endemic porpoise unless fishery bycatch is eliminated

Primary funding was by Secretaria del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Secretario R. Pacchiano). Mexican support was from SEMARNAT, CONABIO, CONANP, PROFEPA, SEMAR, and WWF-Mexico. US support from NOAA-Fisheries-SWFSC and The Marine Mammal Center.The number of Mexico’s endemic porpoise, the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), is collapsing primarily due to bycatch in illegal gillnets set for totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), an endangered fish whose swim bladders are exported to China. Previous research estimated that vaquitas declined from about 567 to 245 individuals between 1997 and 2008. Acoustic monitoring between 2011 and 2015 showed a decline of 34%/year. Here, we combine visual line transect and passive acoustic data collected simultaneously in a robust spatial analysis to estimate that only 59 (95% Bayesian Credible Interval [CRI] 22 – 145) vaquita remained as of autumn 2015, a decrease since 1997 of 92% (95% CRI 80%-97%). Risk analysis suggests that if the current, temporary gillnet ban is maintained and effectively enforced, vaquitas could recover to 2008 population levels by 2050. Otherwise, the species is likely to be extinct within a decade.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Biodiversity of Gastropod in the Southeastern Gulf of California, Mexico

Currently, studying the environment is important because of the phenomena that take place on the earth every day. That is why it is a priority to carry out studies that relate environmental changes to the biology of organisms. This allows us to know the interactions with the environment, and in this way solve, reduce or prevent ecological and economic problems, if they are organisms with a commercial value. The objective of this investigation is to determine ecological parameters of the gastropod community from the intertidal zone on five islands from the Gulf of California, México, to model the diversity, distribution and abundance of malacological fauna. We considered to evaluate the Shannon-Wiener diversity (H′), Pielou’s of evenness (J) and the Margalef species richness indexes, in order to evaluate through an analysis from biotic and abiotic factors, the species status that was collected from the exposed and non-exposed zone tidal. The generated data were contemplated from a year-based biodiversity project (2016–2017) on the following islands: Patos, Bledos, Bleditos, Tunosa, and Mazocahui which belong to the Ohuira lagoon in Ahome, Sinaloa, southeast of the Gulf of California, México. Likewise a status about the importance of gastropods is mentioned for the study area

Reference Points for Vulnerable Fish Species Based on Bioeconomic Age-Structured Models: An Approach for Totoaba macdonaldi

Management objectives of vulnerable fish species must focus on maintaining healthy population status. Hence, reference points should be constrained to ensure recruitment. We assessed bioeconomic reference points for the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), an endemic fish to the Gulf of California, reaching lengths of 2 m and 25 years. Totoaba fishing is banned since 1975, after a drastic decline of catches in the upper Gulf of California. Although totoaba is protected by several international organizations, the demand by the Asian black market for the totoaba swim bladder has intensified illegal fishing in the past few years. Totoaba reference points were estimated as the steady state solution of a dynamic optimal management problem, taking into account: (1) fishing hook and gillnet technology with different selectivity shapes, (2) a discount factor associated with the reference points to discount future economic profits, and (3) effort levels (f) are subject to maintaining optimal spawning-stock biomass (SSB). With the introduction of economic behavior in the model, we analyzed f, yields (Y), and SSB trajectories under four scenarios, where the initial f begins at different years when totoaba fishery regulation decision is taken (from 2013 through 2016). Each scenario was modeled under three totoaba population states: recovered, mid-recovery, and depleted. Gillnet reached higher Y at lower f; however, this gear is not recommended because it is highly predatory for other protected species. Different scenario modelling showed that regulation delay has a negative impact on net present value

Boletus luridellus (Murr.) Murrill y Quercus fusiformis Small: cultivo, síntesis de micorrizas y producción de esporomas en invernadero

Se presenta el primer registro de Boletus luridellus (Boletaceae, Boletineae) para los estados de Nuevo León y Tamaulipas, México. Se identificó la especie y se obtuvieron cultivos puros in vitro, se midió el crecimiento en dos medios de cultivo, se obtuvo la síntesis de micorrizas en plántulas de Quercus fusiformis y se regristra por primera vez la producción de esporomas de esta especie en condiciones de invernadero. En las entidades citadas, B. luridellus forma ectomicorrizas con Quercus fusiformis, Q. polymorpha y Q. canbyi, porque tiene potencial para producción de plántulas inoculadas de encino en vivero o invernadero, en el noreste de México, donde se utilizan frecuentemente para arborizar áreas urbanas, parques y nuevos fraccionamientos. Dicha simbiosis es de interés porque ocurre en una zona geográfica donde las temperaturas son altas durante el verano y el hongo puede inducir resistencia a sequía y mejorar crecimiento de las plantas. Se ha comprobado que Boletus luridellus crece bien en campo y produce esporomas cada año en los jardines del campus de la Facultad de Ciencias Forestales en Linares, Nuevo León, además se cita como comestible en la literatura especializada

INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT COSTS, AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA\u27S TRADE: A GRAVITY MODEL APPROACH

This paper examines the impact of transport infrastructure, as an important determinant of transport costs, on trade between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s fifteen largest trading partners. The estimation is based on a gravity model and panel data for the years 2005 to 2014. Transport costs have been estimated on the basis of distance, geography and quality of transport infrastructure, as well as on sets of "dummy" variables, such as the impact of borders, language or "dummy" variables for identifying whether a country is surrounded by land or sea. The results can be summarized as follows: (i) the quality of infrastructure and logistics is an important determinant of trade performance; (ii) the importance of distance is not diminished when the quality of infrastructure is included; (iii) Bosnia and Herzegovina trades with countries with which it shares a common language – ceteris paribus – twice as much as with others

Cultivo intensivo de camarón blanco Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone) en agua de pozo de baja salinidad como alternativa acuícola para zonas de alta marginación

In pour areas, forward the coast zone, an alternative of relevant importance is shrimp farming of Litopenaeus vannamei. This study is focused on determining the potential of four different sources of groundwater of low salinity located in different regions (T1), 25.43° N, 108.44° W; ((T2), 25.48° N, 108.37° W; (T3), 25.60° N, 108.40° W y (T4) 25.64° N, 108.51° W) of Guasave, Sinaloa, to culture the white shrimp. A pilot crop cycle was completed, with each of the four sources of water for 12 weeks, and a testing crop with seawater. Three replicates for each treatment with 200 shimp/m2 each. The results showed that the ionic composition of the different sources of water were high in bicarbonate (268 to 314.0 mg/L) and low potassium (0.58 to 4.74 mg/L). An average weight did not present statistically significant differences between treatments managed with the four sources of groundwater, but between these treatments and the seawater assay, this last treatment has a higher final mean weight (8.75 g). Source T3 has the lowest growth (6.78 g). Differences in the concentration of some ions of the different sources of water do not alter shrimp survival and final. Although shrimp culture in seawater had better values. This results show that it is possible to culture shrimp into groundwater of low salinity, as alternatives to increase employment level and income for the people of these areas.En zonas de alta marginación alejadas de la costa una alternativa puede ser el cultivo de camarón blanco Litopenaeus vannamei. El presente estudio se enfocó en la determinación del potencial de diferentes fuentes de agua subterránea de baja salinidad, ubicadas en cuatro regiones ((T1), 25.43° N, 108.44° W; (T2), 25.48° N, 108.37° W; (T3), 25.60° N, 108.40° W y (T4) 25.64° N, 108.51° W) del municipio de Guasave, para cultivar el camarón blanco. Se realizó un ciclo de cultivo experimental con cada una de las cuatro fuentes de agua durante 12 semanas, a la par de un cultivo con Agua Marina. Se manejaron tres réplicas por cada tratamiento, en cada una de ellas se sembraron 200 orgs/m2. Los resultados mostraron que la composición iónica de las diferente fuentes de agua fueron alta en bicarbonato (268 a 314.0 mg/L) y baja en potasio (0.58 a 4.74 mg/L). Se determinó que el peso promedio final no presentó diferencias estadísticas significativas entre los tratamientos manejados con las cuatro fuentes de agua subterránea, pero si entre estos y el cultivo realizado en agua marina, siendo en este último donde se observó un mayor peso promedio final (8.75 g). El menor crecimiento (6.78 g) se presentó en el cultivo con agua de la fuente de T3. La diferencia en la concentración de iones, esto no se vio reflejado en la sobrevivencia y peso de los organismos. Aunque el valor de dichas variables fue mayor cuando los organismos se cultivaron en agua marina. Los resultados obtenidos indican que sí es posible realizar cultivos de camarón con agua subterránea de baja salinidad para zonas de alta marginación, con el fin de incrementar el nivel de vida población de estas áreas

Comercialización de productos no tradicionales: flores tropicales

Las Flores Tropicales crecen en las zonas de clima subtropical como Bucay, Puerto Inca, Milagro, Santo Domingo entre otros puntos del país. Sus exóticas formas, gran colorido y tamaño seducen a los gustos extranjeros, en especial a los alemanes quienes son nuestro mercado meta. Escogimos Alemania porque su alto nivel de exigencias que los ha situado como un excelente mercado de prueba ya que si resulta exitosa la introducción y afianciación de nuestras Flores Tropicales en este país significa que podremos ingresas casi sin problemas a los demás mercados. Buscamos posicionarnos en el mercado alemán con las Flores Tropicales Ecuatorianas como las flores ecológicas de alta calidad que se usan para decorar, regalar, etc.; es decir que cuando un alemán piense en Flores Tropicales piensen en Ecuador, como un país productor con alta calidad, permitiendo el establecimiento de una imagen país favoreciendo a otros productos con perspectivas de exportación. ¿Qué ganamos con el posicionamiento? Ganamos que se pague por nuestras flores tropicales un precio más alto que la competencia; que se reconozca al Ecuador como un país que posee productos de alta calidad y ecológicos permitiendo que se abran las puertas para la exportación; atraer inversión y turismo