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Establishing future contracts in the Norwegian fish trade
Get PDFThe first-hand market for wild-caught fish in Norway is subject to much uncertainty for both buyers and sellers. Factors such as changing quotas, seasonal variations in availability of important species, and sudden changes in market conditions creates instability in volumes and prices both on the demand and supply side. For fishermen, processers and wholesalers, this makes production planning, business growth and market building challenging at best. One possible tool for reducing uncertainty in this market is the establishment of a commodity exchange that allows for trading future contracts on fish deliveries. Such a contract market would give fishermen more stability and predictability in future income, and processers would experience more stable margins on production. Further, a more stable first-hand market would enable wholesalers to reach new customers in segments where predictability of supply is a necessity. Through a literature study we identify a series of success-criteria for establishing a contract market in the first-hand trade of wild caught fish. Considering these criteria, we analyze chosen segments of the Norwegian first-hand market to check if these segments are suitable for the introduction of future contracts. At present, no such contract markets exist in the trade of wild-caught fish, neither in Norway or other parts of the world. Our study therefore gives new insight into a so far unexplored area of the first-hand trade of seafood
Livelihood Diversification by fisher women as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: evidence from a small scale fishing community in Southern Sri Lanka
No full textCoping with climate change is one of the most serious issues confronting small scale coastal fishing communities today. This study examined how small scale fisherwomen diversified their livelihood as an adaptation strategy against climate related risks. The study was conducted in Nilwella fishing village of Southern Sri Lanka. Focus group discussions and a structured survey of 94 fisher women were the tools employed for data collection. As revealed by the results, majority of the respondents have observed an increase in the intensity of rainfall and a shift in rainy seasons. As a result, 46% was revealed that they suffer with 15 – 21 ‘zero catch’ days per month. These changes have prompted the small scale fisherwomen to adapt different strategies to smoothen fluctuations in inter-temporal flows of fishing incomes. Among several alternative livelihoods, majority of small scale fisherwomen were engaged in fish drying and producing “Maldive fish” (umbalakada) to smoothen income fluctuations. These alternative livelihoods contribute up to 50% of the monthly average household income. A significant positive relationship was found between the number of livelihood activities and average monthly household income (r=0.307, p < 0 .01). A number of interventions were suggested to enhance fisher women’s contribution to household income and capacity to cope with climate change, which included market access to products and opportunities for vocational trainings for alternative employments outside the fisheries sector
Premium price for MSC octopus (Octopus vulgaris): the case of small producers from the Asturian region in Spain
Get PDFA proposed Sustainability Insurance Fund (SIF)
Get PDFPelagic fish stocks are subject to fluctuations that are driven by climate change, overfishing and changes in market conditions. The fluctuating nature of pelagic fisheries creates uncertainties in fishers’ income, thereby adversely affecting their livelihoods. The aim of this contribution is to reduce the risk and vulnerability fishers face by developing a pay-in-pay-out Sustainability Insurance Fund for fluctuating pelagic fisheries. We build an ecological-economic model and use it to investigate the feasibility of creating a Sustainability Insurance Fund that would be funded through a levy charged to the industry in good years, and/or contributions from government and/or private entities such as foundations and non-governmental organizations. A Sustainable Insurance Fund could therefore provide a source of short-term income to affected fishers in years of severe poor pelagic fish catches. The fund would thus address the possible economic shortcomings created by severe events, and thus reduce the motivation of the government to continue allowing excessively risky fishing levels when the stock falls below the target reference level necessary to support sustainability
Do Regulatory Policy Measures Affect Seafood Exports to the EU? Empirical Evidence from Oman
Get PDFAs net exporter of seafood products, investigation of potential impacts of domestic regulatory measures such as ban on export of certain fish species and ban on demersal trawl fishing on seafood export performance is of eminent practical importance to Oman. To this aim, the main purpose of this empirical work is to examine the influence of regulatory policy measures on Oman’s seafood export supply to the European Union (EU) market covering the period 2001-2015. Influences of other potential economic factors such as relative price, production capacity, gross domestic product and seasonality are also investigated under a partial adjustment modeling (PAM) framework through the use of multiple regression techniques. It is found that the regulatory policy measures and the relative price variable are significantly affecting the export supply. The result in relation to export ban suggests that such measures generate competition between the domestic and the EU market. The empirical result also indicates a considerable time lag in export supply. The policy implications of the results are also discussed in the paper. Management authorities, policy makers and seafood companies of the respective countries may find these results useful for formulating appropriate strategies to address such concerns
The Effects of Socialization on Urinary Cortisol Levels and Proximity-Seeking Behavior in Shelter Cats
Get PDFThis study aimed to explore the relationship between urinary cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats and the impact of socialization programs on these two factors. A Spearman’s correlation test found no correlation between cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats. Fisher’s 2x2 tests confirmed that the changes in cortisol levels or proximity scores experienced by the socialization group over the course of the treatment did not differ from those experienced by the control group by a statistically significant amount
User Interface and Database for the Intuitive, Developmental And Research Oriented, Easy To Use, Affordable, And Low Volume (IDEAL) Bioreactor
Get PDFExpensive pricing for laboratory bioreactors proves to be the main barrier-to-entry for lab-scale academic research. Most laboratory bioreactors are priced at 25K-$35K.
This thesis project focuses on the user interface and recipe database. These features are key to the ease of use and functionality of the bioreactor. The goal of the user interface is to balance ease of use with advanced functionality. The user interface and SQLite database was implemented using Python and the PyQt5 library. The user interface will be deployed on a Raspberry Pi and communicate with Arduino UNOs to run the system controls of the bioreactor.Key Words: bioreactor, user interface, database, python, SQ
Transcendence: May Time Take These Bones, They Are Not Mine - A Poetry Collection
Get PDFIn ethnographic research, an anthropologist becomes integrated in the community of their study. Throughout this process, the anthropologist adapts to the cultural practices and the language of this community, becoming intimately connected to them. Ethnography communicates, through the anthropologist’s experience, crucial practices, tensions, and values discovered during research. However, it has been said that if an ethnographer conducts her research in – for example - Spanish and then translates the paper to English, the meaning will get lost in translation twice. Once as it is converted from Spanish to English, and again as it is translated from the poetic language of emotion to the academic language of publishers. As a student in anthropology, I find everything I write is a type of anthropological inquiry. As a poet, I mourn what is lost in translation as we edit our thoughts to make them fit for the eyes of our academic peers. My thesis project follows a series of reflections that came to me following a purposefully ethnographic trip to Claresholm, Alberta – the home of my great grandfather. I had intended to carry out my project as an ethnography. However, given the deeply and emotionally profound experience I had, I did not want to lose any meaning in translation. Therefore, my proposed project is a poetry collection that follows the journey I took to realizing how the physical body is connected to and accountable to all living things in a way that transcends the importance of the individual self. The poetry collection is divided into three sections that explore the human relationship with time, human emotional experiences, and – finally – the relationship between the individual self and the natural world
Thermographic Testing Applied to Fiber Reinforced Polymers
Get PDFNon-destructive testing is a methodology to inspect production and operational parts for potential flaws, defects, or damages. The present work is based on pulsed wave thermography, a thermal imaging method based on heat conduction to identify surface and subsurface defects potentially present in a component. Pulsed wave thermography applies a fast pulse of heat energy on the specimen’s surface while heat conduction through the material is recorded through an infrared camera. Test procedures are established with the objective of comparing system performance between homogeneous and fiber reinforced polymers. Preliminary tests on aluminum alloy have shown reliable defect detection using profile graphs with noisy data due to high metal heat conductivity. Tests on fiber reinforced polymer samples confirmed pulsed wave thermography can detect defects within carbon composites, however only surface level data can be detected in fiberglass and sandwich panels applying the basic level analysis as performed in the current work. Advanced data processing for better performance on a wider range of composites will be applied in the continuation of the research. An educational laboratory procedure for teaching the basic operation of the system in an undergraduate and graduate class environment has been developed.Key Words: Non-destructive testing, thermography, composite, non-homogenous, homogenous, fiber reinforced polymers
An Overview of Multivariate Regression Analysis of Biological Data
Get PDFThis study investigates methods of multivariate regression analysis and their applications to biological data. It provides an overview of methods of reduced rank regression and sparse multivariate regression, including their motivations, methods, and applications. It also implements a form of sparse regression known as Regularized Multivariate Regression for Identifying Master Predictors to identify top master predictors for miRNA regulation of mRNA where a master predictor is defined by a predictor variable that affects many response variables. The data used in this study is from The Cancer Genome Atlas Project and samples from breast cancer patients.Key Words: Statistics, Biology, Multivariate Analysi