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Sekretariatet för selektivt fiske
Get PDFUnder 2024 genomförde sekretariatet för selektivt fiske, vid institutionen för akvatiska resurser på SLU (SLU Aqua), tre projekt tillsammans med svenskt yrkesfiske. Den övergripande målsättningen för alla projekt inom sekretariatet för selektivt fiske är att minska mängden oönskade fångster i svenskt yrkesfiske, samt att utveckla mer skonsamma och rovdjursäkra fiskemetoder. De tre projekt som utfördes under 2024 var: 1. ”Excluder för demersalt blandfiske” (HaV Dnr 2024-002037) – Kapitel 2 2. ”Vidareutveckling av lyft och rist för fisket efter havskräfta” (HaV Dnr 2024-002038) – Kapitel 3 3. ”Selektion och överlevnad av lax i modifierade pushup-fällor” (HaV Dnr 2024-002039) – Kapitel 4 Projekten initierades genom projektförslag som togs fram gemensamt av SLU Aqua och näringen utifrån fiskets uttryckliga behov och idéer. Projektförslagen prioriterades och beslutades av en styrgrupp bestående av representanter från Havs- och vattenmyndigheten och Jordbruksverket, varefter SLU Aqua upphandlade utförare och agerade projektledare för respektive projekt. Projekten avslutades med en vetenskaplig utvärdering (redskapsexperiment) utförd av personal från SLU Aqua
A Delphi-study to identify drivers of future angling participation in five Nordic countries
Get PDFThe Delphi method was used to gather assessments from 93 experts about drivers of future angling participation by locals and tourist anglers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The main drivers of future angling participation related to habitat and fish populations, and access to and information about fishing. For Norway and Finland, the predicted future decline in local angler numbers was consistent with a life-cycle model of recreational fisheries, while the anticipated increase for the three other countries contradicted the model. For tourist anglers, growth was expected for both domestic and foreign tourists. Long-term and societal drivers, such as urbanization, sociocultural changes, and climate change were not seen as strong drivers, and may be considered out of reach by managers, but should be included with information and conservation drivers in angler recruitment and retention strategies
Exploring the role of body mass in temperature-driven changes in metabolic rates of Arctic copepods
Get PDFAs Arctic sea temperatures rise and sea ice declines, boreal species are becoming more abundant in these waters. Generally, both inter- and intra-species variations show larger body sizes at higher latitudes and in colder climates. Continued Arctic amplification may lead to shifts in the size and composition of marine plankton, with cascading effects throughout the ecosystem. This study examines the metabolic rates of three common zooplankton species, Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis, and Metridia longa, across different temperatures (0 degrees C, 3 degrees C, and 6 degrees C) to understand these dynamics. Results showed a distinct decrease in aerobic scope with rising temperatures for all three copepod species, indicating potential fitness reductions in warmer waters. Larger copepods exhibited higher aerobic scopes than smaller ones at all temperatures; however, this advantage diminished at 6 degrees C, suggesting that smaller body sizes may confer metabolic benefits at higher temperatures. Conversely, larger sizes are favored in colder waters. These findings help explain the increase of smaller boreal species in warming Arctic seas and why colder Arctic conditions favor larger individuals
Fish Behaviour in a Vertical Slot Fishway: Multi-Species Upstream Passage Success, Size Selectivity and Diel Passage Patterns in a Large Italian River
Get PDFHydropower dams come with high ecological and social costs, not least concerning longitudinal connectivity in rivers, which causes declines and sometimes local extinctions of fish species. Fishways are widely used to allow fish to pass dams, but their efficiency is highly variable between species and sites. Many species, and at places entire fish communities, remain understudied, likely hindering the implementation of effective remedial measures. Here, we studied fish passage behaviour in a vertical slot fishway in the Po River, Italy. Almost 1000 individual fish of nine species, representing the local fish community, were tagged and released within and downstream of the fishway. The only species passing the fishway at relatively high numbers were potamodromous barbel and Italian chub, and for these species passage success was positively related to fish size. Passage was more likely to occur at night than during the day for barbel, but not for chub. In relation to the dispersal of invasive species, it is noteworthy that a few individuals of wels catfish and common carp passed the fishway
The benefits of inclusive conservation for connectivity of lions across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Get PDFHuman impacts on the planet degrade natural habitats, often restricting wildlife to protected areas. If connectivity between such areas is lost, wildlife populations may lose genetic diversity, thereby increasing extinction risk. For large carnivores, connecting populations separated by human-occupied habitats requires dedicated effort to foster human-wildlife coexistence. Using lion observation data from 1962 to 2023 and movement data from GPS collars, we evaluated how inclusive conservation actions (i.e., directly involving local communities) in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), Tanzania, are affecting the ability of lions to use and traverse human-occupied habitats. Efforts to promote human-lion coexistence were positively associated with the number of lions moving across human-occupied habitats and the ability of lions to settle in human-occupied areas, suggesting that conservation activities are having the desired impact on connectivity. However, despite a reduction in negative human-lion interactions from 2016 to 2021, the number of retaliatory lion killings and livestock attacks both increased sharply during an extreme drought in 2022, before dropping again in 2023. Thus, although our results highlight the benefits of inclusive conservation for connectivity of large carnivore populations, recent events highlight continued challenges and the need for long-term, nimble approaches to maintain balance where humans and large carnivores coexist
Dad's legacy: Epigenetic reprogramming and paternal inflammatory memory in offspring health
Get PDFOver the past decade, numerous reports have highlighted intergenerational and even transgenerational epigenetic effects resulting from parental exposure to diets, toxins, and stress. In many cases, these parentally induced phenotypes do not seem to confer an obvious benefit, making it challenging to understand the evolutionary drivers behind them. In this perspective, we discuss recent observations in humans and rodents indicating that a parental infection or vaccination can enhance the offspring's ability to cope with infections. Such parental priming of their offspring's immune system and cellular defense would provide immediate protection to the newborn, offering a clear evolutionary advantage. Here, focusing mainly on paternal effects, we propose that a parentally induced inflammatory memory in the offspring could be the underlying mechanism for many of the reported inter- and transgenerational effects. Sperm-borne RNA could be a triggering signal to initiate inflammatory pathways in early embryogenesis. This gene-regulatory state would then be maintained via epigenetic mechanisms throughout each mitosis and last for the individual's lifetime. The accumulating understanding that diet, stress, toxins, and infections affect offspring health raises important questions about public health policies. There is an urgent need to understand what consequences different exposures during sensitive time windows have on future generations
Biodegradation, Bioassimilation and Recycling Properties of Wheat Gluten Foams
Get PDFProtein-based foams are potential sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based polymer foams in e.g. single-use products. In this work, the biodegradation, bioassimilation, and recycling properties of glycerol-plasticized wheat gluten foams (using a foaming agent and gallic acid, citric acid, or genipin) were determined. The degradation was investigated at different pH levels in soil and high humidity. The fastest degradation occurred in an aqueous alkaline condition with complete degradation within 5 weeks. The foams exhibited excellent bioassimilation, comparable to or better than industrial fertilizers, particularly in promoting coriander plant growth. The additives provided specific effects: gallic acid offered antifungal properties, citric acid provided the fastest degradation at high pH, and genipin contributed with cross-linking. All three additives also contributed to antioxidant properties. Dense beta-sheet protein structures degraded more slowly than disordered/alpha-helix structures. WG foams showed only a small global warming potential and lower fossil carbon emissions than synthetic foams on a mass basis, as illustrated with a nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) foam. Unlike NBR, the protein foams could be recycled into films, offering an alternative to immediate composting
Opportunities and challenges for monitoring terrestrial biodiversity in the robotics age
Get PDFWith biodiversity loss escalating globally, a step change is needed in our capacity to accurately monitor species populations across ecosystems. Robotic and autonomous systems (RAS) ofer technological solutions that may substantially advance terrestrial biodiversity monitoring, but this potential is yet to be considered systematically. We used a modifed Delphi technique to synthesize knowledge from 98 biodiversity experts and 31 RAS experts, who identifed the major methodological barriers that currently hinder monitoring, and explored the opportunities and challenges that RAS ofer in overcoming these barriers. Biodiversity experts identifed four barrier categories: site access, species and individual identifcation, data handling and storage, and power and network availability. Robotics experts highlighted technologies that could overcome these barriers and identifed the developments needed to facilitate RAS-based autonomous biodiversity monitoring. Some existing RAS could be optimized relatively easily to survey species but would require development to be suitable for monitoring of more ‘difcult’ taxa and robust enough to work under uncontrolled conditions within ecosystems. Other nascent technologies (for instance, new sensors and biodegradable robots) need accelerated research. Overall, it was felt that RAS could lead to major progress in monitoring of terrestrial biodiversity by supplementing rather than supplanting existing methods. Transdisciplinarity needs to be fostered between biodiversity and RAS experts so that future ideas and technologies can be codeveloped efectively
Extended ICP Integrated Monitoring strategy
Get PDFICP Integrated Monitoring1 has decided to develop its monitoring strategy to include other ecosystem types than forests and to allow a simplified monitoring at differing levels of intensity. The extended monitoring strategy aims at monitoring current and future effects of air pollution on ecosystems across the UNECE area.The extended monitoring program has been developed with three levels of monitoring in ecosystem types other than forests such as grasslands, heathlands, wetlands or coastal habitats:• Level 1: Full ICP IM site. High frequency measurements and catchment based, as stated in the ICP IM Manual. • Level 2: Plot scale with element budgets. Alowing less frequent measurements. • Level 3: Plot scale without element budgets. Aiming for annual measurements, but accepting other temporal resolution, of soil and vegetation. Plant list and abundance, soil and foliage chemistry.We argue that the extended ICP IM monitoring programme will ensure that other ecosystems that are not part of the monitoring of the Air Convention today are monitored with proper methods that provide consistent monitoring within the UNECE area. The extended ICP IM monitoring programme is designed in a way that allows parties to be part of the ICP IM monitoring programme based on their own prerequisites with less intensive monitoring campaigns compared with the full ICP IM monitoring
Evaluation of circulating microRNAs in plasma from horses with non-strangulating intestinal infarction and idiopathic peritonitis
Get PDFNon-strangulating intestinal infarctions (NSII) associated with Strongylus vulgaris infection and idiopathic peritonitis (IP) share similar clinical presentation but require different treatment approaches. Horses with NSII need surgical intervention, while idiopathic peritonitis cases can be successfully treated with antimicrobials. A correct diagnosis is thus crucial, but because the two diseases overlap in clinicopathological features, differentiation is difficult in clinical practice. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that exhibit measurable changes in abundance in tissues and circulation during disease. This study aimed to explore differences in plasma miRNA abundance between patients with NSII and IP. Plasma samples were collected from 43 horses, consisting of 21 with NSII and 22 with IP. A subset (n = 12) was submitted for deep small RNA sequencing to identify miRNAs differing between the groups. Next, a panel of nine miRNAs (two were potential normalizers) were selected for evaluation and confirmation by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Small RNA sequencing detected 628 miRNAs in the blood samples, but no miRNAs were differentially abundant between the disease groups. This finding was confirmed by qPCR. In agreement with previous studies, the top abundant miRNAs in both groups included Eca-Mir-122-5p and Eca-Mir-486-5p, as well as Eca-Mir-223-3p, which has previously been associated with inflammation. Target prediction for the most abundant miRNAs additionally predicted targets in inflammatory pathways. Evaluation of clinicopathological parameters revealed differences between the groups in two measures (white blood cell count and blood neutrophil count), which aligns with findings from previous studies. The results demonstrate that NSII and IP elicit similar miRNA profiles in plasma and are characterized by systemic inflammation