Artificial reefs

At Tuticorin and Minicoy observations were made on the experimental artificial reefs constructed by the Scientists of CMFRI during 1988-'92, whereas at Vizhinjam the artificial reefs constructed by the local artisanal fishermen were monitored by the Scientists of the Institute. Good congregation of fishes was observed in the vicinity of the artificial reefs at all the three Centers. In the experimental artificial reef constructed at Tuticorin, four distinct groups of fishes were recognized based on their mode of attraction towards the reef structures. At Vizhinjam, an increase in the landing offish was noticed in the commercial catches. At Minicoy, settlement of pearl oyster spat and growth of several species of seaweeds were recorded

Synchronous Presentation of Autoimmune Hepatitis and Multiple Myeloma

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare immune-mediated disease predominantly seen in women and triggered by various environmental factors. Rarely, AIH can be triggered by an underlying malignancy. We report a woman in her 60s who presented with markedly abnormal liver biochemical tests. Serology was positive for anti-smooth muscle antibodies and a liver biopsy confirmed AIH. During the hospital course, she developed sepsis and acute renal failure requiring dialysis support. Serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) showed a monoclonal IgG kappa protein of 1.92 g/dL and a bone marrow biopsy revealed 7% clonal plasma cells. She had lytic lesions on skeletal survey confirming the diagnosis of a coexisting multiple myeloma (MM). Given her markedly abnormal liver chemistries, we decided to treat the AIH first and use the steroids (an important anti-myeloma therapy) as a bridge to the specific treatment of the MM once her clinical condition improved. She was treated with oral prednisone and azathioprine for AIH. One month later, a marked improvement in liver biochemical test results was noted and she was started on oral ixazomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone. She received palliative radiotherapy to the lumbar spine (L2), left femur, and ischium lesions. This case highlights a rare co-occurrence of AIH and MM, the underlying mechanism of which is unknown

Evaluation of a Brazilian fuel alcohol yeast strain for Scotch whisky fermentations

Traditionally, distilling companies in Scotland have employed a very limited number of yeast strains in the production of alcohol for Scotch whiskies. Recent changes such as the decline in availability of brewers’ yeast as a secondary yeast strain and the availability of yeast in different formats (e.g., dried and cream yeast as alternatives to compressed yeast) have promoted interest in alternative Scotch whisky distilling yeasts. In previous work, we investigated different strains of yeasts, specifically Brazilian yeasts which had been isolated from and used in fuel alcohol distilleries. One of the Brazilian yeasts (CAT 1) showed a comparable fermentation performance and superior stress tolerance compared with a standard commercial Scotch whisky distilling yeast (M Type). The Brazilian CAT 1 yeast isolate was further assessed in laboratory scale fermentations and subsequent new make spirit was subjected to sensory analyses. The spirits produced using the Brazilian strain had acceptable flavour profiles and exhibited no sensory characteristics that were atypical of Scotch whisky new make spirit. This study highlights the potential of exploiting yeast biodiversity in traditional Scotch whisky distillery fermentation processes

भारत की बाँगडे मात्स्यिकी की कुछ विशेषताएं

कृपया पूरा लेखा पढ

Some characteristics of the mackerel fishery in India

The recent increases in the catch of mackerel from the deeper waters of the Calicut - Cochin area indicate that the fish move down to deeper areas during summer due to the thermocline. Spreading of trawling to deeper waters, with the opening up of export market for cephalopods, can be the reason for the increased catch of mackerel by trawls. The most successful period of recruitment to the mackerel fishery coincides with upwelling (Mackerel form large shoals to feed on the plankton that is abundant due to upwelling, making surface fishery highly successful.) which guarantees abundance of stock during the period. Intensity of upwelling increases catchability and can result in a decline in spawning stock and recruitment. This can be one of the reasons for wide annual fluctuations in the catch of this resource

Distribution and abundance of carangids along the EEZ India

Distribution and abundance of carangid groups of fish along the EEZ of India based on the data collected during 80 cruises undertaken by FORV Sagar Sampada is presented here. East coast of India showed maximum concentration of ctrangids with a catch rate of 64 kg/hr along the northeast coast. The least distribution was noticed along the northwest coast ( 5 kg/hr). Carangids formed up to a maximum of 19 % of the total bottom trawl catch along the northwest coast. With more than 20 species of carangids reported to be caught in various cruises, Decapterus spp formed the most dominant group, followed by species like Atule mate, Selar crumenophthalmus, Carangoides malabaricus etc. Depthwise distribution showed higher density in the 60-80 m range all along the coast excepting the Andaman-Nicobar archipelago. Areawise, higher densities of carangids were noticed at latitude-longitude 7°N - 77°E, 1TN - 75°E, 1TN - 79°E, 14°N - 80°E , 18°N - 72°E, 19°N -85°E and 19°N -86°E. Seasonally, carangids were represented in the catch more during the monsoon especially along the northeast and southwest coasts. Potential yield of carangids along the EEZ of India is estimated to be 94971 tonne

Stock assessment of seerfishes in the Indian seas

The annual average catch of seerfishes from the Indian seas was 45,0601 during 1995-'99, which constituted 1.8% of the total marine fish catch in India. State-wise Gujarat (28.5%) was the major producer followed by Tamilnadu (15.8%), Maharashtra (15.4%), Andhra Pradesh (11.4%) and Kerala (10.5%). Gill net is the dominant gear in exploiting seerfish followed by trawl, hooks & line, boat seines, shore seines and purse seines. Among the five species, the kingseer Scomberomorus commerson (59.0%) and the spotted seer S. guttatus (35.1%) sustained the fishery, while the streaked seer S.lineolatus and the wahoo Acanthocybium solandri formed only a negligible portion of the fisher

Status of exploitation of seerfishes in the Indian seas

Seerfish production from the Indian seas during the past five decades from 1950s to 1990s, showed an increasing trend. The annual catch increased from 4,505 t in 1953 to 54,8761 in 1998. The average annual catch during the five decadal periods k-aried from 7,278 t in 1950-'59 to 41,575 t in 1990-'99 contributing 1.5% and 1.75% respectively to the total marine fish catch of India. However, the rate of increase through the successive decades decreased indicating the attainment of op- ;imum level of production currently. During 1950-'59, the east coast contributed more (60%) than the west coast (40%), which changed to 36:64 during 1990-'99. iVmong the maritime states of India, Gujarat (25.88%), Maharashtra (16.09%), familnadu (13.59%), Kerala (13.07%) and Andhra Pradesh (12.68%) were the prime seerfish producers during 1990-'99. Gill net (64.8%) was the dominant gear, folowed by trawl (17.4%) and hooks and line (4%) with an average catch rate of 8.1 <g/unit, 0.24 kg/hr and 3.7 kg/unit respectively during 1995-'99. Among the five species, the fishery was sustained only by two species viz., the king seer Scomberomorus commerson and the spotted seer S.guttatus

Stock assessment of mackerel in the Indian seas

Along both the coasts they start appearing in the catches when they are about two months old. But, along the west coast they are fiilly recruited to the fishery at an age of 6 months and along the east coast this happens at an age of 9 months. Bulk of the catches from west coast is by large seines of small meshes where young ones are liable to be caught and peak catches are from the size group of 140-149 mm. The major gear along the east coast is gill net with larger mesh and peak catches are from size group 190-199 mm. Along the west coast the estimated annual total mortality is 3.6. With an estimated M of 2.64 the fishing mortality F is 0.96 at an exploitation rate of 0.27 and E _^ estimated is 0.70