Thesis (M.Sc.-Res.)--University of Wollongong, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: p. 69-83.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Ichthyology & Fisheries Science)) - Rhodes University, 2008.

Includes bibliographical references. / "Submitted to Ohio Division of Wildlife." "The first objective was to determine the accuracy of field identification of individual fish to species and to assess the extent of hybridization between walleye and sauger ... The second objective was to assess genetic variation in both species ... " -- p.3. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. / Bibliography: leaves 11-1-11-48.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Restricted until November 2001. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003. / Bibliography: leaves 88-93. Also available online.

The object of my thesis was to document the basic characteristics of four small ponds. Register seasonal changes in the occurrence of selected zooplankton groups and compare individual ponds among them. Then evaluate management on ponds and assess the possible impact on the formation of plankton. These results were then compared with the current situation on standard economic ponds. In this study, I observed three private ponds and local pond, which were located in the cadastral area Lodhéřov. From the results it is evident, that the zooplankton development was in private ponds very slow, while at local pond was developed zooplankton quickly. The diversity of zooplankton species was higher in local pond. On private ponds showed a high increase in fish, which amounted to R1 597 kg/ha and R3 519 kg/ha. In terms of management of ponds R2 was the least effective because the gain was only 113 kg/ha. Private ponds, according to the average annual ration 2910 kg/ha still ranked in halfintesification, while local pond to intensification ration with 4557 kg/ha.

Submitted by (ana.araujo@ufrpe.br) on 2016-08-10T12:06:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Jose Duarte Neto.pdf: 927067 bytes, checksum: 6f9466ce92dc195b6b58522421427737 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T12:06:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Jose Duarte Neto.pdf: 927067 bytes, checksum: 6f9466ce92dc195b6b58522421427737 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-02-28 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The otolith shape of dolphinfish, C. Hippurus, was studied to verify the hypotheses of two stocks in the northeastern Brazilian coast. Eighty two sagittal otoliths were collected from specimens caught by the artisanal fleet in two regions of northestern Brazil (Maranhão – MA and Rio Grande do Norte – RN coasts), in December of 2003 and April to May of 2004, respectively. Several types of shape descriptors were taken (area, perimeter, rectangularity, circularity, eccentricity, fractal dimension and Fourier coeficients) to evaluate the similarity level between regions. Differences between left and rigth otoliths and by sex were not found in the sample. Cluster and principal components (PC) analyses, based in the Fourier coeficients of 30th harmonics, revealed a three morfotypes pattern, concerning general differences of otolith shape. This pattern is supposed to be influenced by genetic factors, according to ANOVA results among the six signicant PC, regardless clinal variation between samples. When the two geographical regions were compared, significants differences were found in the otolith structure using both MANOVA and ANOVA, for all shape descriptors. Canonical discriminant analysis suggested the separation of the two regions samples, with a sucess classification of 57,1% for MA and 69,6% for RN, despite the high variability among otoliths shapes. The fractal dimension was a powerful descriptor to discriminate the two samples in this work, since the significance in all cases and high DSC value. Differencesin sagittal otoliths shape, possibly are due to different growth rates, added evidences to confirm the two stocks hypotheses of C. hippurus along the Brazilian coast. / A forma do otólito sagita do dourado, C. hippurus, foi estudada para verificar a hipótese de dois estoques na costa nordeste do Brasil. Oitenta e dois otólitos foram coletados de espécimes desembarcados pela frota artesanal na costa do estado do Maranhão (MA), em dezembro 2003, e na costa do Rio Grande do Norte (RN), de abril a maio de 2004. A partir da imagem do otólito, foram obtidos vários descritores da forma (área, perímetro, retangularidade, circularidade, excentricidade, dimensão fractal e coeficientes de Fourier) para avaliar, sobre vários aspectos, qual o nível de similaridade entre os otólitos das duas amostras. Nenhuma diferença significativa, na amostra, foi observada entre os otólitos direitos e esquerdos e entre sexos. As análises de agrupamento e de componentes principais, baseadas nos coeficientes de Fourier das 30 primeiras harmônicas, estabeleceram um padrão de 3 morfotipos do otóltio de dourado, os quais estão correlacionados a diferenças gerais da forma. A ANOVA entre os CPs sugeriu que este padrão esteja relacionado a características genéticas, pois nenhuma evidência de seleção clinal foi encontrada. Na comparação das amostras do MA e do RN, foram encontradas diferenças significativas na estrutura do otólito entre as duas regiões estudadas, tanto nas análises de variância uni e multivariada, como também na análise discriminante canônica. O sucesso de classificação foi de 57,1% para a amostra do MA e 69,6% para a do RN. A dimensão fractal demonstrou ser um eficiente descritor, pois foi significativamente diferente em todas as análises e apresentou um dos maiores valores de DSC. Os resultados sobre diferenças das características da forma do otólito sagita, que aparentam estar relacionadas a taxas de crescimento, adicionou evidências indicativas para a confirmação da hipótese de 2 circuitos migratórios do C. hippurus ao longo da costa brasileira mesmo havendo uma grande variabilidade individual.

The panga, Pterogymnus laniarius (Cuvier, 1830), is a South African endemic sparid fish species. On the Agulhas Bank, South Africa it is a commercially important species, caught as bycatch in the hake directed trawlfisheries and targeted by offshore hook-and-linefishers. Recently there has been considerable interest shown in directing further fishing effort on this species. The lack of a suitable management procedure for teleost bycatch in South Africa was the principal reason for undertaking this study. This thesis investigates aspects the panga's life history, particularly those aspects that have management implications. A full knowledge of this species' distribution and abundance was necessary as this could highlight the existence of any nursery areas, ontogenetic migratory patterns and areas of high spawner biomass. The derived parameter estimates were then included as inputs into stock assessment models to determine the status and productivity of the resource. Growth studies based on sectioned sagittal otoliths revealed that the panga was a relatively slow growing fish with ages of 16 years being recorded. Growth was best described by the von Bertalanffy growth model as Lt=379.4(1-e⁻°·¹³⁽t ⁺ ¹·⁷⁸⁾). Total, natural and fishing mortalities were estimated at 0.36 year⁻¹, 0.28 year⁻¹ and 0.08 year ⁻¹, respectively. Detailed histological examination of the gonads revealed that panga is a late gonochorist, males and females maturing after a non-functional intersexual stage. Females mature at approximately 200 mm fork length or 4 years of age. Reproduction occurs throughout the year although there is a slight peak in winter. Gametogenesis was found to be similar to that of other sparid fishes and marine teleosts in general. The panga feeds predominantly on crustaceans with a distinct ontogenetic shift in feeding habits. Juvenile fish feed predominantly in the water column on mysids after which they move to the benthos. Subadult fish feed principally on ophiuroids and amphipods. Adult fish remain on or near the benthos, feeding predominantly on crabs, and on polychaetes, ophiuroids and fishes to a lesser extent. Several aspects of the panga's biology contribute to its ability to sustain a higher fishing pressure than other sympatric sparid species. These include its late gonochoristic reproductive style, protracted spawning season, maturation before recruitment and preference for soft substratum prey that enables it to utilise large areas of the Agulhas Bank. The panga's longevity, slow growth and low natural mortality rate, however, mitigated against these factors and were considered in the stock assessments. A heterogeneous Geographical Information System (GIS) was developed to analyse the distribution and abundance patterns of the panga. The GIS developed in this thesis makes a significant contribution towards the development of a South African Fisheries Information System to analyse and manage fish resources in general and bycatch resources in particular. The GIS developed in this study combines statistical Generalized Additive Modelling and standard GIS methods. Analysis of fourteen biannual fishery independent biomass surveys, disaggregated by life history stage, revealed that a nursery area for immature fish (<23 cm TL or < 4 years of age) exists on the Central Agulhas Bank. After sexual maturation, approximately 40% of the biomass migrated eastwards, colonising large areas of the Eastern Agulhas Bank.ilie location of the nursery area appears to be a result of the pelagic eggs and larvae being advected towards the coast in an anti-cyclonic gyre, stemming off the Agulhas current and later deposited over the Central Agulhas Bank. The weak bottom currents on the Central Agulhas Bank prevented juvenile loss to the Benguela system. The eurytopy of adult fish to various physical variables such as temperature, dissolved oxygen and stronger currents enabled it to reduce conspecific competition and migrate eastwards with distribution primarily determined by depth. Relative biomass estimates revealed a gradual increase in biomass of 5.5% per annum between 1988 and 1995. Predictions from yield-per-recruit, biomass-per-recruit and spawner biomass-per-recruit analyses showed that there was scope for further exploitation. A FSB₅₀ fishing strategy was considered to be the most appropriate fishing strategy as it did not reduce the spawner biomass-per-recruit to less than 50% of unexploited levels. Effort control was considered the most effective management tool as the age-at-50%-selectivity occurred after age-at-sexual maturity and releasing undersized fish was undesirable due to heavy mortalities resulting from severe barotrauma. The panga resource was also assessed using an age-structured production model. The values for the free parameters of the model were estimated using biomass indices derived from fishery-independent trawl surveys. Although the data were fairly uninformative about the productivity of the resource, the results indicated robustly, that the population has recovered from low levels in the mid-1970's and could sustain higher levels of fishing intensity. Risk analysis calculations were used to assess the sustainability of different catch scenarios. The level of sustainable catch was found to be sensitive to the selectivity pattern of the gear utilised. Both stock assessment methods used in this study to investigate the status of the panga resource showed that the resource could theoretically sustain higher catches. It was found that although the stock could be harvested using available fishing methods, the sympatry of this species with other commercial species was of concern as the latter would form a significant bycatch in a panga directed fishery. The failure of current harvesting methods to address the bycatch problem highlights the management problem in South Africa and stresses the need for creativity by both scientists and fishers in designing new and improved methods for selectively harvesting bycatch fish resources. Considering that no suitable method is currently available to fish the panga stock in a directed fishery the fishery should be managed as status quo until some suitable and efficient gear is developed.

Chrysoblephus puniceus is an over-exploited linefish species, endemic to the coastlines off southern Mozambique and eastern South Africa. Over-exploitation and habitat loss are two of the biggest threats to the sustainability of fisheries globally. Assessing the genetic stock structure (a prerequisite for effective management) and predicting climate related range changes will provide a better understanding of these threats to C. puniceus which can be used to improve the sustainability of the fishery. Two hundred and eighty four genetic samples were collected from eight sampling sites between Ponta da Barra in Mozambique and Coffee Bay in South Africa. The mitochondrial control region and ten microsatellite loci were amplified to analyse the stock structure of C. puniceus. The majority of microsatellite and mtDNA pairwise population comparisons were not significant (P > 0.05) although Xai Xai and Inhaca populations had some significant population comparisons for mtDNA (P < 0.05). AMOVA did not explain any significant variation at the between groups hierarchical level for any pre-defined groupings except for a mtDNA grouping which separated out Xai Xai and Inhaca from other sampling sites. SAMOVA, isolation by distance tests, structure analysis, principle component analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis all indicated a single population of C. puniceus as being most likely. The migrate-n analysis provided evidence of current driven larval transport, with net migration rates influenced by current dynamics.Two hundred and thirty six unique presence points of C. puniceus were correlated with seasonal maximum and minimum temperature data and bathymetry to model the current distribution and predict future distribution changes of the species up until 2030. Eight individual species distribution models were developed and combined into a mean ensemble model using the Biomod2 package. Winter minimum temperature was the most important variable in determining models outputs. Overall the ensemble model was accurate with a true skills statistic score of 0.962. Binary transformed mean ensemble models predicted a northern and southern range contraction of C. puniceus' distribution of 15 percent; by 2030. The mean ensemble probability of occurrence models indicated that C. puniceus' abundance is likely to decrease off the southern Mozambique coastline but remain high off KwaZulu-Natal. The results of the genetic analysis support the theory of external recruitment sustaining the KwaZulu Natal fishery for C. puniceus. While the high genetic diversity and connectivity may make C. puniceus more resilient to disturbances, the loss of 15 percent; distribution and 11 percent; genetic diversity by 2030 will increase the species vulnerability. The decrease in abundance of C. puniceus off southern Mozambique together with current widespread exploitation levels could result in the collapse of the fishery. A single transboundary stock of C. puniceus highlights the need for co-management of the species. A combined stock assessment between South Africa and Mozambique and the development of further Marine Protected Areas off southern Mozambique are suggested as management options to minimise the vulnerability of this species.