Otolith morphometrics and population structure of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) along the west coast of North America

The broad distribution of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) along the Pacif ic coast of North America makes it difficult for fisheries managers to identify regional stocks of this dominant small pelagic species. An investigation of morphometric characteristics of otoliths of Pacific sardine across most of their range revealed regional differences in populations. In a survey of over 2000 otoliths, all ages (with an emphasis on age-1 recruits) were compared. Principal components analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and a novel method derived from regression and residuals calculations, termed perimeter-weight profiles (PWPs), revealed otolith similarities and differences. The results of the different approaches to statistical comparisons did not always agree. Sardine otoliths from Mexican waters were generally lighter and more lobate than those from U.S. and Canadian populations. Age-1 otoliths from northern California in 2006–07 tended to be heavier and smoother than those from other areas, including year-class cohorts from southern California. Comparisons of age-groups and year-classes of northern California otoliths with the use of the PWP models indicated signif icant trends in year-to-year patterns. In conjunction with other established indices of population structure, otolith PWPs are a useful tool for identifying local and regional stocks of Pacific sardine and may help distinguish populations of other fish species as well

Using Toolkit Activities to Reduce Household Food Waste

Food waste is a significant problem with environmental, economic, social and ethical consequences. Wasting food wastes energy, water, fuel, and land that go into producing, packaging, and transporting food. Additionally, the agriculture-related release of pesticides and greenhouse gases into the air, soil and water makes wasting food an environmental hazard. As much as 40 percent of U.S. food produced for human consumption, which is more than 20 pounds per person per month valued at $165 billion annually, goes uneaten. Worldwide, onethird of food is wasted while the population continues to grow. There are many reasons why Americans throw away food in their households, making it challenging to change this behavior. But there are campaigns that are having success addressing the issue. The author’s contribution to that effort is educational toolkit activities that focus on raising people’s self-awareness with the goal of reducing household food waste

Biomass and reproduction of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) off the Pacific northwestern United States, 2003–2005

The Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) is distributed along the west coast of North America from Baja California to British Columbia. This article presents estimates of biomass, spawning biomass, and related biological parameters based on four trawl-ichthyoplankton surveys conducted during July 2003 –March 2005 off Oregon and Washington. The trawl-based biomass estimates, serving as relative abundance, were 198,600 t (coefficient of variation [CV] = 0.51) in July 2003, 20,100 t (0.8) in March 2004, 77,900 t (0.34) in July 2004, and 30,100 t (0.72) in March 2005 over an area close to 200,000 km2. The biomass estimates, high in July and low in March, are a strong indication of migration in and out of this area. Sardine spawn in July off the Pacific Northwest (PNW) coast and none of the sampled fish had spawned in March. The estimated spawning biomass for July 2003 and July 2004 was 39,184 t (0.57) and 84,120 t (0.93), respectively. The average active female sardine in the PNW spawned every 20–40 days compared to every 6–8 days off California. The spawning habitat was located in the southeastern area off the PNW coast, a shift from the northwest area off the PNW coast in the 1990s. Egg production in off the PNW for 2003–04 was lower than that off California and that in the 1990s. Because the biomass of Pacific sardine off the PNW appears to be supported heavily by migratory fish from California, the sustainability of the local PNW population relies on the stability of the population off California, and on local oceanographic conditions for local residence

Furniture Stability: A Review of Data and Testing Results

This report by Kids In Danger (KID) and Shane's Foundation focuses on tip-overs of dressers and chests. ASTM International, which has developed thousands of voluntary industry consensus technical standards, has a standard in place to test furniture stability. However, furniture on the market is not required to conform, resulting in widespread non-compliance. Additionally, these standards are too lenient and require reform, as testing protocols have remained virtually unchanged for over a decade, despite continuing injuries and deaths. Units may pass the standard, but still present a significant risk. KID advocates for a two-pronged approach to decreasing tip-over incidents:Increasing consumer awareness of the danger of furniture tip-overs and knowledge of the actions needed to keep children safe, andImproving furniture stability by strengthening standards, making those standards mandatory and enforceable and promoting changes in furniture design.KID compiled data from incidents reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) by various sources and from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). These include reports from January 1, 2010 to October 14, 2015. Findings of the data analysis include:Two-year-olds are the age group most affected by tip-overs, especially in regard to fatal incidents.Children age 2 to 5 accounted for 77% of total incidents.The age range of children injured is wider than the age range of children killed by tip-overs.Fatalities accounted for 12% of total incidents.Head injuries (37%) were the most common category of injury.Almost all (98.7%) of head injuries are related to a television tipping over on a child.KID conducted performance tests on a sample of 19 dressers and chests. Testing was run at the UL Furniture Center of Excellence in Holland, Michigan. UL laboratory technicians followed a testing protocol developed by KID. The protocol included tests based on the current voluntary standard for furniture stability. KID added tests that, among other things, evaluated for tip-overs when more weight was added (simulating larger children), drawers were full of clothes, furniture was placed on carpeting as opposed to bare flooring, televisions were placed on top of the furniture, and additional drawers were opened simultaneous with weighting one drawer. These additional tests were intended to be more representative of real-world scenarios.Test results include:Only nine of the 19 units passed performance tests based on the current tip-over safety standard, ASTM F2057.Only two units passed all tests, including the additional testing protocols added by KID.The weight of a television or any type placed on top of the unit did not decrease the stability of furniture.Furniture placed on carpet is less stable than furniture placed on hard floors.Many units remained stable when more than 70 pounds was placed on an open drawer, while others tipped with less than half that weight

Stock assessment and management recommendations for Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) in 1997

The primary goal of sardine management as directed by the California Fish and Game Code is rehabilitation of the resource with an added objective of maximizing sustained harvest. Accordingly, the Code states that the annual sardine quota can be set at an amount greater than 1,000 tons, providing that the level of take allows for continued increase in the spawning population. We estimated the sardine population size to have been 464,000 short tons on July 1, 1997. Our estimate was based on output from a modified version of the integrated stock assessment model called CANSAR (Deriso et al. 1996). CANSAR is a forward-casting, age-structured analysis using fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data to obtain annual estimates of sardine abundance, year-class strength and age-specific fishing mortality for 1983 through the first semester of 1997. Non-linear least-squares criteria are used to find the best fit between model estimates and input data. Questions about stock structure and range extent remain major sources of uncertainty in assessing current sardine population biomass. Recent survey results and anecdotal evidence suggest increased sardine abundance in the Pacific Northwest and areas offshore from central and southern California. It is difficult to determine if those fish were part of the stock available to the California fishery. In an attempt to address this problem, the original CANSAR model was reconfigured into a Two-Area Migration Model (CANSAR-TAM) which accounted for sardine lost to the areas of the fishery and abundance surveys due to population expansion and net emigration. While the model includes guesses and major assumptions about net emigration and recruitment, it provides an estimate which is likely closer to biological reality than past assessments. The original CANSAR model was also used and estimates are provided for comparison. Based on the 1997 estimate of total biomass and the harvest formula used last year, we recommend a 1998 sardine harvest quota of 48,000 tons for the California fishery. The 1998 quota is a decrease of 11% from the final 1997 sardine harvest quota for California of 54,000 tons. (55pp.

Performance of some tests for bivariate independence, interchangeability, and equality of distributions of ratios

The purpose of this thesis is to derive and compare asymptotic performances of certain tests of independence, interchangeability and equality of the distributions of_ratios Y/X for positive variates and Y with joint c.d.f. H(x,y) of particular forms. Three bivariate families, Morgenstern, Plackett, and Moran, are considered which permit marginal c.d.f.'s F(x) and G(y) of specified forms. For testing independence of X and Y, asymptotic locally optimal parametric tests are derived for bivariate gamma and Weibull distributions for each of three families. Locally most powerful nonparametric tests are also derived for each of the three bivariate families, and asymptotic relative efficiency comparisons are made among the various tests of independence. Nonparametric tests for interchangeability of X and Y, based on the Wilcoxon, symmetric squared ranks, and Savage statistics are considered. Asymptotic relative efficiency comparisons of the nonparametric tests are made for scale alternatives in the Morgenstern and Moran bivariate gamma distributions and bivariate log normal distributions. Wilcoxon, symmetric squared ranks, and normal score tests are considered for testing equality of two distributions of ratios Y/X. Asymptotic relative efficiency comparisons of the nonparametric tests are made for scale alternatives in some Morgenstern bivariate gamma distributions. The techniques and results of this study may have application in the analysis of data from rain-making experiments, reliability studies and medical research

Fecundity, egg deposition, and mortality of market squid (Lolilgo opalescens)

Loligo opalescens live less than a year and die after a short spawning period before all oocytes are expended. Potential fecundity (EP), the standing stock of all oocytes just before the onset of spawning, increased with dorsal mantle length (L), where EP = 29.8L. For the average female squid (L of 129 mm), EP was 3844 oocytes. During the spawning period, no oogonia were produced; therefore the standing stock of oocytes declined as they were ovulated. This decline in oocytes was correlated with a decline in mantle condition and an increase in the size of the smallest oocyte in the ovary. Close agreement between the decline in estimated body weight and standing stock of oocytes during the spawning period indicated that maturation and spawning of eggs could largely, if not entirely, be supported by the conversion of energy reserves in tissue. Loligo opalescens, newly recruited to the spawning population, ovulated about 36% of their potential fecundity during their first spawning day and fewer ova were released in subsequent days. Loligo opalescens do not spawn all of their oocytes; a small percentage of the spawning population may live long enough to spawn 78% of their potential fecundity. Loligo opalescens are taken in a spawning grounds fishery off California, where nearly all of the catch are mature spawning adults. Thirty-three percent of the potential fecundity of L. opalescens was deposited before they were taken by the fishery (December 1998−99). This observation led to the development of a management strategy based on monitoring the escapement of eggs from the fishery. The strategy requires estimation of the fecundity realized by the average squid in the population which is a function of egg deposition and mortality rates. A model indicated that the daily total mortality rate on the spawning ground may be about 0.45 and that the average adult may live only 1.67 days after spawning begins. The rate at which eggs escape the fishery was modeled and the sensitivity of changing daily rates of fishing mortality, natural mortality, and egg deposition was examined. A rapid method for monitoring the fecundity of the L. opalescens catch was developed

Batch fecundity of Sardina pilchardus (Walb.) off the Atlantic Iberian coast

Sardina pilchardus is a serial spawner releasing several batches of eggs per spawning season. The Hydrated Oocyte Method was used for the first time to estimate sardine fecundity on the Atlantic Iberian coast in 1988. The mean batch fecundity of the Atlantic Iberian sardine in March/April 1988 was 30227.3 (standard error = 1342.6) and the mean relative fecundity (number of hydrated oocytes per gram of female weight) was 426.54 (standard error = 18.95). The sardines' relative fecundity was higher than that of other clupeoid species. Sardine batch fecundity (F) was expressed as a linear function of ovary-free weight (W) based on both Portuguese and Spanish fecundity data: F= -1184.7 + 443.26 WLa especie Sardina pilchardus es un reproductor del tipo múltiple, por tanto, realiza varias puestas parciales en cada período reproductivo. En el año 1989 se utilizó por primera vez en las costas atlánticas de la península Ibérica el Método de Ovocitos Hidratados para el cálculo de la fecundidad de esta especie. El valor medio de la fecundidad parcial de la sardina atlántica de la península Ibérica calculado en marzo y abril de 1988 fue 30227.3 (error = 1342.6) y el valor medio de la fecundidad relativa (número de ovocitos hidratados por gramo de peso de hembra) fue 426.54 (error = = 18.95). Este valor es más alto que el determinado para otras especies de clupeidos. La fecundidad parcial de la sardina (F) se expresa como una función lineal del peso vivo de las hembras sin ovario (W) basada en los datos obtenidos por Portugal y España: F = - 1184.7 + 443.26 WVersión del editor0,000

Stock assessment of Pacific sardine for 1998 with management recommendations for 1999

The primary goal of sardine management as directed by the California Fish and Game Code is rehabilitation of the resource with an added objective of maximizing sustained harvest. Accordingly, the Code states that the annual sardine quota can be set at an amount greater than 1,000 tons, providing that the level of take allows for continued increase in the spawning population. We estimated the sardine population size within the range of the fishery and survey data (Ensenada, Baja California to San Francisco, California) to have been 1,182,881 short tons on July 1, 1998. Our estimate was based on output from a modified version of the integrated stock assessment model called CANSAR (Deriso et al. 1996). CANSAR is a forward-casting, age-structured analysis using fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data to obtain annual estimates of sardine abundance, year-class strength and age-specific fishing mortality for 1983 through the first semester of 1998. Non-linear least-squares criteria are used to find the best fit between model estimates and input data. Questions about stock structure and range extent remain major sources of uncertainty in assessing current sardine population biomass. Recent survey results and anecdotal evidence suggest increased sardine abundance in the Pacific Northwest and areas offshore from central and southern California. It is difficult to determine if those fish were part of the stock available to the California fishery. Last year, in an attempt to address this problem, the original CANSAR model was reconfigured into a Two-Area Migration Model (CANSAR-TAM; Hill et al. 1998) which accounted for sardine lost to the areas of the fishery and abundance surveys due to population expansion and net emigration. While the model includes guesses and major assumptions about net emigration and recruitment, it provides an estimate which is likely closer to biological reality than original CANSAR assessments. Corroborative results from a new, preliminary sardine stock assessment model, 'SAM', are also presented in this report. Based on the 1998 estimate of age 1+ biomass within the range of the fishery and survey data, and a proposed harvest formula in the draft Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan (Amendment 8), we recommend a 1999 sardine harvest quota of 132,800 tons for the California fishery. The 1999 quota is a significant increase from the final 1998 sardine harvest quota for California of 48,000 tons. (93pp.