<p>Very little protection has been afforded to wetlands1 and estuaries within the South African legislative framework.2 These ecosystems are extremely important and valuable to mankind, the flora and fauna.3 The continued destruction of wetlands and estuaries is the most heinous act of environmental vandalism on a worldwide scale today.4 Wetland and estuarine loss has been accelerated and extended by human activities such as mining,5 urbanisation,6 drainage, river diversion,7 groundwater abstraction as well as climate change.8 Time is running out for so many critically important sites and for the world at large.9 Without wetlands and estuaries the biosphere10 cannot continue to do its essential work.11 Despite, the importance of a range of resources and services12 which wetlands and estuaries provide, these have been taken for granted by humans.13 As a result hereof, the maintenance of wetlands and estuaries has received low priority in many countries.14 This is further precipitated by the lack of interest and ignorance which result in the conversion of wetlands and estuaries into man-made structures.15 Research has shown that the lack of information and the awareness of the importance of these ecosystems has the made the conservation legislation for these ecosystems a toothless dragon.16 People are becoming increasingly aware17 of the loss of wetlands and estuaries, once in abundance and now merely shadows of their former nature.18 To investigate this lack of protection, the starting point would be the global level.</p>

The catch of Sergestid (Sergia lucens) shrimp is one of notable self-managed fishery in Taiwan. In 1992, Tung-Kang fishery association has assembled ship owners for a sale and marketing sector within the local fishery association which is a organization to regulate and manipulate relevant to the fishing guideline and fund management. Up to now, no adjustment has been made on the catch limit under the fishing guideline. Although there is some improvement on such species catch. The result however shows still problem of fishery management resulting from high density of fishing. To better monitor the Sergestid shrimp fishery, this study aims to collect the Sergestid shrimp sample monthly from November, 2006 to December, 2007, for measuring the body length and weight of shrimp. The monitoring data appears that monthly mature female and Sergestid shrimp ratio are as low as 20% during April-June of 2007 and 36.01% in June of 2007 among the monitoring period. After reviewing a correlation between monthly mature female and Sergestid shrimp, the female is heavier than male shrimp at same length. When applying body length into FiSAT ¢º to calculate female and male coefficients, the VBGF (Von Bertalanffy Growth Function) growth coefficient (K) is 0.67 and 0.92 respectively; Limit body long (L¡Û) is 43.47mm and 40.29mm respectively; Total mortality coefficient (Z) is 2.97 and 3.57 respectively; the Fishing mortality coefficient (F) is 1.96 and 2.3 and rate of exploitation (E) is 0.66 and 0.64 respectively. The estimate resource of female can be deduced from above data, for example, annual catches is 562.4 tons in 2007. The estimates resources of female is 1995.5¡Ñ106 per tail; male is 925.0¡Ñ106 per tail; total female and male is 2,920.5¡Ñ106 per tail. In addition to the earlier result of research, this study concludes that the peak season of spawning around marine water of western Taiwan occurs from December to next February and July, which does not correspond to the forbidden period from June to October under the fishing regulation. Thus, two forbidden periods in December to next February and June to August are necessary to avoid the spawning from over fishing. The study also found that the current size of fishing gear such as outer codend in 28.9mm and cover codend in 21.2mm are smaller than size at the first maturity for female in 26.19mm and the L50 for total female and male in 31.88mm. This implied that the size of outer codend and cover codend may catch immature shrimp, which is not bigger enough for spawning. In order to avoid the catch of immature female shrimp, the size of fishing gear should be reset at bigger size. Further studies is needed for the size of fishing gear correction. Finally, the resulting fishing mortality coefficient calculated from FiSAT is 2.10 that the resources of Sergestid shrimp are approximately 2,920.5¡Ñ106 per tail. This shows down trend of stock over time. This suggests that the fishing guideline should reinforce to limit the number of fishing boat and harvest. Another suggestion is to limit the number of fishing per boat daily or adopt fishing boat rotation without reducing the amount of fishing boat. If the shrimp fishery population remain no significant improvement, the implementation of a long-term fishing boat reduction and the total allowance per catch regulation are the useful policy. These measures shall be employed to raise the value of Sergestid shrimp, in order to increasing the income of fisherman and also to achieving the sustainable development of Sergestid shrimp.

<p>Very little protection has been afforded to wetlands1 and estuaries within the South African legislative framework.2 These ecosystems are extremely important and valuable to mankind, the flora and fauna.3 The continued destruction of wetlands and estuaries is the most heinous act of environmental vandalism on a worldwide scale today.4 Wetland and estuarine loss has been accelerated and extended by human activities such as mining,5 urbanisation,6 drainage, river diversion,7 groundwater abstraction as well as climate change.8 Time is running out for so many critically important sites and for the world at large.9 Without wetlands and estuaries the biosphere10 cannot continue to do its essential work.11 Despite, the importance of a range of resources and services12 which wetlands and estuaries provide, these have been taken for granted by humans.13 As a result hereof, the maintenance of wetlands and estuaries has received low priority in many countries.14 This is further precipitated by the lack of interest and ignorance which result in the conversion of wetlands and estuaries into man-made structures.15 Research has shown that the lack of information and the awareness of the importance of these ecosystems has the made the conservation legislation for these ecosystems a toothless dragon.16 People are becoming increasingly aware17 of the loss of wetlands and estuaries, once in abundance and now merely shadows of their former nature.18 To investigate this lack of protection, the starting point would be the global level.</p>

No description available.

Utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods, this in-depth ethnographic study of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (BSFNRRA) examines social conflict and resistance stemming from competing values, definitions, and concerns over the management of cultural and natural resources within the region. The timing of this project is fortuitous for the National Park Service (NPS) has completed the creation of a ten year General Management Plan. Thus, we are provided with an opportunity to study and analyze the policy and methodology that park officials are required to follow in creating a management plan and eliciting public participation. The first goal of this study is to ascertain how the establishment of the BSFNRRA has altered local communities: (1) means of access to the area and (2) uses of resources within the area. Several questions will be asked and probed for answers. What happens to the meanings of the land and places on the land (such as a family cemetery) when the land is transformed from private to public ownership and is managed by a government agency for the benefit of preservation or recreation? How have residents been affected by and adapted to this transformation? The second goal is to probe the complex relationships and identify sources of conflict, resistance, and cooperation between community residents, NPS employees, and special interest groups. Essential questions arise and must be addressed. How are conflict, resistance, and cooperation demonstrated? The third goal is to delineate what measures can be taken to lessen conflict or resistance and promote cooperation? Since resistance often manifests itself in not participating in public meetings pertaining to the BSFNRRA, what measures can be taken to promote public participation? In conclusion, this study will draw clear and concise recommendations towards diminishing conflict between local residents and the NPS, along with recommendations on increasing public participation in the creation of policy pertaining to the management of public land. In addition to the applied aspect of this project, this study contributes to the body of theory by building on the mentalist paradigm of symbolic interactionism and the materialist paradigms of conflict and resistance theory.

This dissertation examines decision making as discourse to capture subtle characteristics and processes within top management team discussions and examines their influence on decision outcomes. Additionally, this approach allows for exploration of decision making processes in real time by utilizing audio analysis techniques that can provide a more dynamic and integrative view of conversations and discussions as they relate to the dialogue and debate that goes on within top management teams, as well as providing an alternate pathway of study for top management team and group research, decision making studies, and the fields of communication and conversational analysis.

Throughout their history in America, museums, including those of art, have adapted according to their environment. One result of this adaptability is that objects in art museum collections are not as permanent as those outside the museum field tend to believe. As scholarship, funding, and audiences change, objects which at one time were considered pertinent to a museum collection may be deaccessioned, the term used for when a museum removes an accessioned object from its permanent collection. Yet deaccessioning in America tended to remain the exception, rather than the rule, until the last three decades of the twentieth century. How deaccessioning became a normal element of collections management in the late twentieth century can be understood as a consequence of a number of factors, including a change in the institutional and economic climate in which art museums operated. Examining some of the factors leading to the normalization of deaccessioning, at least for those in the museum community, can help us better understand the implications of such a shift.

The purpose of this study is to develop the construct of organizational hardiness which is thought to distinguish organizations that thrive under conditions of turbulence and uncertainty from organizations that whither under these same conditions. This new construct is based on individual hardiness which is a constellation of personality dispositions that a large body of empirical work has suggested supports individual performance under conditions of turbulence and uncertainty. Paralleling the individual hardiness dispositions of challenge, commitment, and control, organizational hardiness is posited to consist of the organizational level constructs of sensemaking, organizational identification, and enactment. The development of organizational hardiness is supported by literature reviews of individual hardiness, organizational stress, sensemaking, organizational identification, and enactment. To support the theoretical development of this construct, this study includes a content analysis of the CEO letters to shareholders for the 20 largest commercial banks in the United States during the years 2000-2009. Using generalized least squares estimation techniques, the current study demonstrates a positive relationship between organizational hardiness, sensemaking, organizational identification, and enactment and multiple measures of organizational performance. Furthermore, organizations demonstrating higher levels of organizational hardiness demonstrate higher levels of organizational performance on three out of four measures. The study concludes with a discussion of theoretical and managerial implications concerning the development of this new construct.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--McMaster University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-244). Also available via World Wide Web.

No description available.