32181 research outputs found
Sort by
The economic importance of the Belgian ports: Flemish maritime ports, Liège port complex and the port of Brussels – Report 2017
Get PDFThis Working Paper analyses the economic importance of the Belgian ports largely based on annual accounts data for the year 2017. As the years prior to 2017 have been described in earlier papers in the same series, the emphasis lies on the figures for 2017 and the developments between 2016 and 20171. After the stagnation in 2016, direct value added at the Belgian ports rose by 7.3% from € 18 052 million to € 19 368 million (current prices) or roughly 4.4% of Belgium’s GDP. All ports, with the exception of the Liège port complex, contributed to value added growth at the Belgian ports. The ports of Antwerp and Ghent were the most important players. The biggest contributing sectors to value added growth were the chemical industry, and to a lesser extent cargo handling and the metalworking industry. In 2017, indirect value added was around 82% of direct value added. Direct value added increased significantly at the ports of Ghent, Brussels and Antwerp, by 13.4%, 16.0% and 6.1% respectively. The increase by more than 3% of direct value added at the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend was also substantial. Direct value added fell by 2.4% at the Liège port complex. After the decline between 2012 and 2015, direct employment at the Belgian ports was up for the second year in a row. Between 2016 and 2017, the number of direct full-time equivalent jobs rose by 0.8%, from 115 401 to 116 311 or approximately 2.8% of Belgium’s total domestic employment. All ports, with the exception of Ostend and Brussels, contributed to employment growth at the Belgian ports. The ports of Antwerp and Ghent were the most important players. The biggest contributing sectors to employment growth were cargo handling, and to a lesser extent the chemical industry. In 2017, indirect employment was around 120% of direct employment. Direct employment increased by around 1% at the ports of Antwerp, Ghent and Zeebrugge. Growth at the Liège port complex was more modest at 0.4%. The number of direct full-time equivalent jobs fell at the ports of Ostend and Brussels, by 1.2% and 4.2% respectively. The pattern of investment is closely linked to projects and is therefore highly volatile. After the decline between 2012 and 2014, direct investment at the Belgian ports was up for the third year in a row. Between 2016 and million. The port of Ghent, and to a lesser extent the Liège port complex contributed to investment growth at the Belgian ports. The biggest contributing sectors to investment growth were the ‘port construction and dredging’ sector and to a lesser extent cargo handling, and the energy and chemical industries. Based on the figures of the traffic, the Flemish ports can be considered as real bridgeheads for trade with the UK. Developments regarding the modalities and consequences of the Brexit therefor should be followed with the greatest attention. Given the existing import and export volumes in terms of tonnage, it seems it will mostly be a challenge in Zeebrugge and to some extent for Antwerp. As a supplier to both China and the United States, Belgium is indirectly involved in trade between the two countries. If protectionism would close the United States off to exports from abroad, Belgian economy might get impacted one of the most in Europe
Requirements for documentation, data collection and scientific evaluations
Get PDFThis chapter describes the process and evaluation behind several of the flexibility elements introduced into the Basic Regulation. Firstly, it describes how a fishery may be granted a “high survival exemption” (HSE) or “de minimis” to the Landing Obligation, for a particular regulated species. It details the process of generating any exemption supporting evidence by Member States and the evaluation process. The impact of the Landing Obligation on the scientific advice for setting fishing opportunities is also described as well as the annual reporting process. The final section deals with the challenges faced by the main players in this whole process
How the implementation of the landing obligation was weakened
Get PDFThis chapter covers the development of provisions and exemptions to the Landing Obligation in the years following the adoption of the Common Fisheries Policy in December 2013. It focuses on the processes leading to certain changes in Article 15, the development of discard plans, and describes reasons for the slow implementation of the Landing Obligation. It provides further insight into why the intention of the objective of the discard ban, the reduction of unwanted catches, has not yet been achieved to its maximum possible extent
Marine biogenics in sea spray aerosols interact with the mTOR signaling pathway
Get PDFSea spray aerosols (SSAs) have profound effects on our climate and ecosystems. They also contain microbiota and biogenic molecules which could affect human health. Yet the exposure and effects of SSAs on human health remain poorly studied. Here, we exposed human lung cancer cells to extracts of a natural sea spray aerosol collected at the seashore in Belgium, a laboratory-generated SSA, the marine algal toxin homoyessotoxin and a chemical inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. We observed significant increased expression of genes related to the mTOR pathway and Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) after exposure to homoyessotoxin and the laboratory-generated SSA. In contrast, we observed a significant decrease in gene expression in the mTOR pathway and of PCSK9 after exposure to the natural SSA and the mTOR inhibitor, suggesting induction of apoptosis. Our results indicate that marine biogenics in SSAs interact with PCSK9 and the mTOR pathway and can be used in new potential pharmaceutical applications. Overall, our results provide a substantial molecular evidence base for potential beneficial health effects at environmentally relevant concentrations of natural SSAs
Food resources and microbiome composition of the Lake Tanganyika sardines: A novel approach to investigate structure of overexploited <em>L. miodon</em> and <em>S. tanganicae </em>stocks.
Get PDF
