Towards spatial management of fisheries in the Gulf: benthic diversity, habitat and fish distributions from Qatari waters

Abstract As with many other regions in the world, more complete information on the distribution of marine habitats in the Gulf is required to inform environmental policy, and spatial management of fisheries resources will require better understanding of the relationships between habitat and fish communities. Towed cameras and sediment grabs were used to investigate benthic habitats and associated epifauna, infauna and fish communities in the central Gulf, offshore from the east coast of Qatar, in water depths of between 12 and 52 m. Six different habitats were identified: (i) soft sediment habitats of mud and (ii) sand, and structured habitats of (iii) macro-algal reef, (iv) coral reef, (v) mixed reef, and (vi) oyster bed. The epibenthic community assemblage of the mud habitat was significantly different to that of sand, which in turn differed from the structured habitats of coral reef, mixed reef and oyster bed, with the macroalgal assemblage having similarities to both sand and the other structured habitats. Fish assemblages derived from video data did not differ between habitats, although certain species were only associated with particular habitats. Epibenthic diversity indices were significantly lower in mud, sand and macro-algal habitats, with no differences recorded for fish diversity. Soft sediment grab samples indicated that mud habitats had the highest benthic diversity, with Shannon-Weiner values of &amp;gt;4, and were more diverse than sand with values of 3.3. The study demonstrates high biodiversity in benthic habitats in the central and southwestern Gulf, which may in part be due to the absence of trawling activity in Qatari waters. There is a strong influence of depth on benthic habitat type, so that depth can be used to predict habitat distribution with a high level of accuracy. The presence of outcrops of hard substrata creates a mosaic of patchy shallow structured benthic habitat across extensive areas of the offshore seabed. Such heterogeneity, and the association of commercially exploited fish species with specific habitats, indicates that this region is well suited to a spatial approach to fisheries management.</jats:p

Effect of general risk on trust, satisfaction, and recommendation intention for halal food

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the effect of general risk, a multidimensional factor, on halal customer trust, satisfaction and intention to recommend halal food. The study also calculates the mean comparison of trust, satisfaction and intention recommendation across the demographic variables of halal customers. Our results from the structural analysis revealed that general risk has significant and positive effects on trust, satisfaction, and intention to recommend halal food. In addition, the results of the mean difference test advised that satisfaction and intention to recommend halal food are significantly different between male and female customers and that trust significantly varies across halal customers with different educations and marital status backgrounds. This study added a valuable contribution to the current literature of halal food consumption by performing a set of symmetric analytical approaches to assess desired responses from halal food customers

دراسة أولية للشعاب المرجانبة والكائنات المصاحبة لها في المياه القطرية ، الخليج العربي

Coral reef grounds and their associated biota m Qatari waters were investigated by Scuba diving. Four selected reef-sites were studied. Coral was presented by 17 species. Descriptive notes of each site and an initial list of associated fauna and flora were presented. The associated biota composed mainly of Algae 23 sp, Porifera 5 sp, Bryozoa 4 sp, Polychaeta 17 sp, Echinodermata 21 sp, Mollusca 102 sp, Chordata 4 sp, and Crustacea 15 sp. Mollusca was the predominant group in all visited sites forming between 43 and 52% Abundance and distribution of species were compared to other studies along the Gulf.تم تعريف الشعاب المرجانية والكائنات المصاحبة لها في أربع مناطق تعتبر هامة للتكاوين المرجانية في المياه القطرية . جمع العينات وتصوير الشعاب تم بواسطة الغطس تحط الماء . وقد وصفت المناطق المختارة للدراسة والشعاب السائدة في كل منها حيث سجل 17 نوعاً من المراجين السائدة، وفيما يتعلق بأنواع الكائنات المصاحبة فقد تم تعريف 23 نوعاً من الطحالب ، 5 أنواع من المساميات، 4 أنواع من الأشنات، 17 نوعاً من الديدان الشوكية ، 21 نوعاً من شوكيات الجلد ،102 من الرخويات ، 4 من الحبليات و15 نوعاً من القشريات . تمثل شعبة الرخويات أهم الشعب السائد في جميع مناطق الدراسة ، إذ تشكل وفرة عالية مقارنة بالأنواع الأخرى تصل إلى حوالي 42 - 52 %. تدل النتائج الأولية للدراسة في مناطق الشعاب المرجانية المختارة على تميزها بالحيوية والتنوع البيولوجي الوفي مما يكسبها ديناميكية هامة للتوازن في البيئة البحرية الأمر الذي يتطلب إجراء دراسات تفصيلية في المستقبل

Sustaining employees’ creativity through the organizational justice: The mediating role of leadership styles

Research on organizational justice and leadership styles has been conducted widely in the workplace for a few decades. But, integration of creativity, innovation and sustainability in the learning workplace is emerging quickly due to the rapid change and digitalization of learning environments. This research aims to investigate the employee creativity (EC) at Dhofar University through organizational justice (OJ) and mediating role of leadership styles (LS). OJ was tested through its four dimensions namely: distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice and LS included transformational, democratic, transactional, laissez faire and strategic styles. Data was collected from 220 academics and administrative staff at Dhofar University and analyzed by SPSS and Amos 23 version. Results reveal that three dimensions of OJ including distributive, interpersonal and informational have positive significant impact on EC but procedural has negative significant impact on EC. Furthermore, four styles of leadership transformational, democratic, transactional and strategic has also positive and significant effect on EC while laissez faire has negative and insignificant impact on EC. Finally, the mediating role of LS enhances the relationship between OJ and EC partially and positively. This research contributes to the literature and practice by using LS as mediators to improve creativity and maintain continuous sustainability

الأسماك التجارية والاحياء المرافقة في فشت الديبل بالمياه القطرية، الخليج العربي

The present study is an attempt to study the fish diversity of Fasht Ad-Dibal in the north-western coast of Qatar. Thirty three species belonging to 25 families were caught using gill nets, gargoors (metal traps) and hand line. Most of these fish are of economical importance. The study also revealed that Fasht Ad-Dibal is an important nursery ground for a number of economically important species such as Lethrinus spp. (Family: Lethrinidae), Siganus canaliculatus (Family: Siganidae) and Gerres oyena (Family: Gerreidae). The fishing methods used gave different results 32 species were caught by gill nets, 21 species by traps (gargoor) and 20 species by hand-lines. The species caught by the latter 2 methods were caught by the former except for the fish Arothron stellatus caught only by gargoor trabs. The community structure of macrobenthic biota of Fasht Ad-Dibal showed some variation between stations. Station FDN sustained the highest diversity recording with 31 species recorded, station FDW with 21 species, while FDS and FDE each with 16 species. Molluscs form the main component of the catch (18 species), followed by 8 algal species, 3 seagrasses, 4 polychaete, 8 crabs and one isopod.الدراسة الحالية هي محاولة لدراسة تنوع الأسماك في فشت الديبل الواقع في الشمال الغربي من الساحل القطري. ثلاثة وثلاثون نوعا من الأسماك تنتمى إل 25 عائلة تم صيدها بالشباك الخيشومية، الأقفاص (القراقير) والخيط اليدوي (الحداق). غالبية هذه الاسماك ذات أهمية اقتصادية. وكشفت الدراسة أيضا أن فشت الديبل ذو أهمية في كونه منطقة حضانة لعدد من الأنواع الهامة اقتصاديا مثل أسماك الشعري والصافي. أدوات الصيد المستخدمة أعطت نتائج مختلفة حيث تم صيد 32 نوعا من الأسماك بالشباك الخيشومية 21 نوعا بالأقفاص (القراقير)و 20 نوعا ‏بالخيط (الحداق). الأنواع التي تم صيدها بالطريقتين الأخيرتين تم صيدهم أيضا بالشباك الخيشومية، باستثناء نوعا واحدا تم صيده بالقراقير. ‏تركيبة تجمعات الأحياء القاعية في فشت الديبل بينت بعض الاختلافات فيما بين المحطات المختارة. المحطة FDN تضم أعلى نسبة من التنوع يصل إلى 31 نوعا، وفي المحطة FDW 21 نوعا بينما المحطات FDS و FDE تحتوي كل منها على 16 ‏نوعا، تشكل الرخويات أعلى نسبة من الأنواع القاعية (18 نوعا) يتبعها الطحالب 8 أنواع ٠ ‏والأعشاب 3 أنواع والديدان 4 أنواع والسرطانات البحرية 8 أنواع ونوعا واحدا من متساوية الأرجل . ‏تركيبة تجمعات الأحياء القاعية ئ فشت الاييل بينت بعفدر الاختلافات فيما بين المحطات المختارة. المحطة ‏´(~_ تمنمم أعلى نسبة مئ التنور يصل إلى ٩ ‏_ نوقا، وفي المحطة ~~_ (~ نوعا بينما المحطات ~~كا و ~~كا تحتوي كلى منها على لأ ٩ ‏نوه. تشلر اليخويات أعلى نبة هن الأنواع القاعية (~ _ نوعالم ء يتبعها الطحالب _ أنواع ٠ ‏وا.عشأهب ~ أنموأع والديدالذ - أنو 1 ‏ز والسرحلانات البحرية _ أنواع ونوعا واحاا من ~وية ا.رحل

Macrobenthos in the central Arabian Gulf: a reflection of climate extremes and variability

The arid subtropical ecosystem of the central Arabian Gulf was used to explore the combined effects of low primary productivity, high salinities, and variable temperatures on the composition and structure of benthic macrofauna at 13 sites encircling the Qatar Peninsula in winter and summer (or late spring) of 2010 and 2011. The low abundance, biomass, and remarkably high species turnover may be a reflection of the oligotrophic, thermally variable, hypersaline coastal environment. The number of species and within-habitat diversity was lowest in the highest salinities but increased with finer-grained sediments and lower salinity. A remarkable temporal variation in species composition observed may reflect insufficient primary production to sustain new populations recruited from the seasonal exchange of water from the adjacent Sea of Oman. Low abundances accompanied by continued replacement of species may be a "new model" for extremely arid conditions associated with global warming. 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.We would like to thank the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for field work support (NPRP 08-497-1-086), as well as Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe) and Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology for supporting data analysis and manuscript preparation (MOST 103-2119-M-002-029-MY2). We also thank captain and crew of the R/V "Mukhtabar Al Bihar" and the Qatar University Environmental Studies Center laboratory staff and technicians for their work at sea and conducting chemical and biological analyses.Scopu

Radioactivity levels in the marine environment along the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Qatar.

A study on (137)Cs, (40)K, (226)Ra, (228)Ra, and (238)U was carried out along the EEZ of Qatar. Results serve as the first ever baseline data. The level of (137)Cs (mean value 1.6±0.4Bqm(-3)) in water filters was found to be in the same order of magnitude as reported by others in worldwide marine radioactivity studies. Results are also in agreement with values reported from other Gulf regions. The computed values of sediment-water distribution coefficients Kd, are lower than the values given by IAEA. Measurements were carried out for bottom sediments, biota samples like fish, oyster, sponge, seashell, mangrove, crab, shrimp, starfish, dugong and algae. The 'concentration factors' reported for biota samples are below the levels published by IAEA and cause no significant impact on human health for seafood consumers in Qatar