Study on Legal Issues of Ocean Fishing in China

“The 21st century is the century of the ocean.”In recent years,China has paid more and more attention to the promotion and development of the ma­rine industry,especially the ocean fishery has brought immeasurable eco­nomic benefits to China.The development of the marine field is becoming more and more important in the national political,economic and cultural development.All coastal countries have included marine development in their national development strategies and continuously improved their ma­rine legislation under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea.China’s pelagic fishing began in 1985,but because Chi­na’s pelagic fishing started too late,after the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea at the end of 1994,nearly 36%of the richest high seas on earth became the exclusive economic zone of coastal countries,and the development space of China’s pelagic fishing has become very limited.After just more than 30 years of development,***.However,before that,China’s pelagic fishing was still subject to the dual norms of international conventions and domestic laws,and China had not yet formulated a special law on pelagic fishing,and there were still many deficiencies in the legal system norms of pelagic fishing.Therefore,the biggest problem facing China’s pelagic fishery is how to better develop the marine industry under the system of laws and regulations,drive the coordi­nated economic development,provide legal guidance and help for pelagic fishermen,and provide solid technical support for building a marine power with Chinese characteristics.

Species composition and diversity of pelagic fishes based on a longline fishery catch in the North Pacific Ocean

Evaluation of spatial-temporal variability of species composition and diversity in oceanic ecosystems is not easy because it is usually difficult to obtain sufficient data quantifying such variability.In this study,we examined pelagic species diversity indicators,species richness,Shannon-Wiener index of diversity and Hurlbert's species evenness,for fish assemblages from two areas(north and south) in the North Pacific Ocean(2°±12°N,178°E±165°W) during May±July 2008.The assemblages were based on data collected by an onboard scientific observer during a commercial longline fishing trip.The species richness and Shannon-Wiener diversity index of fish assemblages in the northern area were slightly higher than those in the southern area,although these differences were not significant(t test,P.0.05).Non-parametric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarities indicated that there were significant differences in fish assemblages between the two areas(P,0.01).

Relationship Between the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Dominant Small Pelagic Fishes and Environmental Factors in Mauritanian Waters

The relationship between the spatiotemporal distribution of three dominant small pelagic fishes,including chub mackerel(Scomber japonicus),horse mackerel(Trachurus trecae)and round sardinella(Sardinella aurita),and the environmental factors in Mauritanian waters were analyzed by using 4 years of logbook data of commercial purse seine fisheries to improve the efficiency of fishery and management of sustainable exploitation.A Tweedie-generalized additive model(GAM)of 8-day average catches and the monthly geostatistical analysis of daily catches were used in this study to analyze the influence of environmental factors on catch per unit of effort(CPUEs)and to map the spatial distribution of three mixed dominant small pelagic fishes,respectively.A 10'×10' grid was used,and environmental factors were processed from remote sensing,including 8-day average sea surface temperature(SST),the nearest distance between SST fronts and CPUE position(Df),chlorophyll-a(Chl-a)concentration,salinity,and eddy kinetic energy.Results showed that 1)the distribution of three dominant small pelagic fishes might be related to the intensity of upwelling in Mauritanian waters;2)oceanic fronts might play a key role in the ecology of chub mackerel,horse mackerel,and round sardinella;3)Chl-a concentration might be associated with the feeding grounds of chub mackerel;4)the target species distribution appeared sensitive to gradient changes in the amount of salinity;5)three zones(northern,central,and southern)with variable abundances were delineated;and 6)a high concentration of the center of gravity in the central zone might be related to the strong upwelling of nutrient-rich waters.This study can provide new insights to enhance the fishery efficiency and sustainable exploitation management of purse seiners in certain area off Mauritania.

A fuzzy distinguishability on species composition similarities of pelagic fishes in different years in the southern Taiwan Strait

A fuzzy mathematical method is used to discriminate the similarities of pelagic fishes land- ed in the 9180 hauls by 10 light-seine information vessels in the southern Fujian waters from 1989 to 1998. The results indicate that the dominant species of the communities had an obvious alternation and the fuzzy adjacency of annual species composition varied between 0. 659 and 0. 923 with an average value of 0. 791. The fuzzy clustering analysis indicates that the annual fuzzy adjacency in general remains good although the species composition of the pelagic fishes has changed to a certain degree since 1992. This paper concludes that the community structure of pelagic fishes in the southern Taiwan Strait remains rel- atively stable and the state of fish stocks shows a good potentiality for a larger utilization.

Characterization of refined fish oil from small fish in Mauritania

In this study,the effects of chemical refining on the physicochemical indices,environmental pollutants,lipid functional groups,relaxation characteristics,fatty acid profiles,and triglyceride(TG)molecular species in crude oil extracted from small fish in Mauritania were evaluated.The acid,peroxide,and iodine values of crude oil were identified as 5.52 mg KOH/g,1.73 meq/kg,and 200.78 g/100 g oil,respectively.After refining,these values were determined to be 0.29 mg KOH/g,0.76 meq/kg,and 210.80 g/100 g oil,respectively.The polychlorinated biphenyls and arsenic content of crude oil were identified as 32.30μg/kg and 1.00 mg/kg,respectively.After refining,these were not detected.The content of eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA)and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA)accounted for as much as 87.55%of the polyunsaturated fatty acids in the refined oil,indicating that high-quality fish oil is suitable as a food supplement.The correlation coefficient of the infrared spectra before and after refining was 0.968,and the relaxation time and peak shape data were almost similar before and after purification.Meanwhile,there were no significant differences(P≥0.05)in fatty acid profiles between the crude and refined oils,except for C16:0(P<0.01).Based on UPLC-Q E-MS/MS detection,137 TG molecules were identified in both crude and refined oils.Among the detected TG molecular species,64 contained EPA or DHA,which accounted for 46.83%and 46.00%of the total TG content in crude and refined oils,respectively.After refining,the content of the molecular species decreased by 31.95 mg/10 g,among which the three most variable molecular species were TG(16:0/18:1/22:6),(16:1/16:2/18:1),and(18:4/16:0/20:5),accounting for 29.26%of the decline of the molecular species.Overall,the refining process had little effect on the fatty acid profile and distribution of TG molecular species in fish oil.