In lowland river systems, in-channel, slow-flowing or still-water areas (still-water patches, SWPs) are considered to be important habitats for many organisms, particularly the early-life stages of fish and shrimp. However, the distribution of the early life-stages of fish and shrimp among these habitats appears to be very patchy and studies suggest that the quality and diversity of microhabitat conditions within SWPs and the accessibility of SWPs to spawning adults and dispersing young may be important determinants of their suitability as nursery habitat. The aims of this thesis were to examine the utilisation of still-water patches by fish and shrimp in a lowland river in relation to habitat suitability and accessibility, with particular emphasis on early-life stages. To determine the factors influencing habitat selection among SWPs, the environmental variability in SWP habitat, and both the distribution and the movement patterns of fish and shrimp, were examined in the Broken River, a lowland river in south-eastern Australia. SWP habitat was found to be highly spatially and temporally variable in the Broken River. SWPs differed in relation to permanence, accessibility and microhabitat variables, and all life-stages of fish and shrimp were found to be significantly spatially aggregated among SWPs. This suggests that individual SWPs may differ in their suitability as habitat, and/or in their accessibility to dispersing organisms and indicates either differential rates of retention, movement into SWPs, spawning effort or survival among SWPs for these organisms. Significant associations were found for all species and life-stages in relation to the microhabitat characteristics of SWPs. The two introduced species, carp and gambusia, were found to have fewer associations, which suggests that these species are habitat generalists. Cover and SWP morphology variables were shown to be important for all native species. Significant, positive associations were found for most species and life-stages with large, deep, SWPs containing instream cover, however, the extent of cover preferred was variable. It was hypothesised that large, deep SWPs that contain instream cover are more environmentally stable and provide better foraging efficiency and reduced competition for space, whilst also providing refuge from predators and, that they may be easier to locate than smaller patches. Specific associations with microhabitat variables differed among all species and life-stages, and this was attributed to differences in diet and predation rates. Consequently, generalised microhabitat relationships for particular life-stages or species could not be identified and the results from this thesis suggest that a diversity of microhabitat conditions are required to meet the differing requirements of various life-stages and species. Significant associations were also found for most groups in relation to the accessibility characteristics of SWPs, indicating that the ability of individuals to access SWPs is an important factor in determining their distribution among SWPs. This further suggests that movement is an important factor in the distribution pattern of fish and shrimp among SWPs. Significant associations were found for most groups in relation to patch isolation, adjacent hydraulic habitat and entrance conditions, indicating that landscape composition and configuration as well as boundary conditions may be important determinants of organisms being able to locate suitable patches. Associations with accessibility variables differed among species and life-stages, and may be attributable to differences in movement capabilities. Field manipulations of instream cover and entrance depth were conducted to further examine the habitat associations found. The results confirmed a positive relationship between instream cover and fish and shrimp abundances. No species, however, responded consistently to the manipulation of entrance depths, and this was attributed to water level rises throughout the experiment and/or the correlation of entrance depth with SWP depth. However, the results from the field manipulations suggested that deeper habitats are able to be exploited by small-bodied adults and larvae when significant levels of instream cover are also available as refuge from predation. In order to confirm the importance of movement in the selection of SWP habitat by fish and shrimp, the movement patterns of fish and shrimp into and out of SWPs were investigated. Whilst the results from this aspect of the study were inconclusive for fish, the results for shrimp confirmed that adults and larvae moved routinely into and out of SWPs. However, for all shrimp species, movement appeared to be limited to a certain period of larval development, indicating that SWP quality and stability may be more important at particular stages of development than others. The results of this thesis have demonstrated the importance of SWP quality and stability for fish and shrimp in the Broken River and have shown that habitat preferences vary among individual species and life-stages. Consequently, in order to manage for multiple species and life-stages, consideration must be given not only to the availability of SWPs, but also to their stability over time and to the availability of a diverse range of microhabitats. In addition, consideration must also be given to the accessibility of SWPs and this will require a greater knowledge of the specific spawning and dispersal requirements of the organisms which utilise these patches, in combination with a greater understanding of the impacts of flow modification on riverine landscape composition and configuration.

Aquatic sediments are the recipients of a continual rain of organic debris from the water column. The decomposition reactions within the sediment and the rates of material exchange between the sediment and water column are critically moderated by the transport processes within the sediment. The sediment and solute movement induced by burrowing animals – bioturbation and bioirrigation – far exceed abiotic transport processes such as sedimentation burial and molecular diffusion. Thalassinidean shrimp are particularly abundant burrowing animals. Living in high density populations along coastlines around the world, these shrimp build complex burrow networks which they actively maintain and irrigate.¶ I used a laser scanner to map thalassinidean shrimp (Trypaea australiensis) mound formation. These experiments measured rapid two-way exchange between the sediment and depth. Subduction from the sediment surface proved to be just as important as sediment expulsion from depth, yet this is not detected by conventional direct entrapment techniques. The experiments demonstrated that a daily sampling frequency was needed to capture the extent of the two-way exchange.¶ I derived a one-dimensional non-local model accounting for the excavation, infill and collapse (EIC) of burrows. Maximum likelihood analyses were used to test the model against 210Pb and 228Th profiles taken from sediment cores in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne. The maximum likelihood approach proved to be a useful technique for quantifying parameter confidence bounds and allowing formal comparison with a comparable biodiffusion model. The EIC model generally outperformed the biodiffusion model, and in all cases best EIC model parameter estimates required some level of burrow infill with surface material. The EIC model was expanded to two and three dimensions, which allowed the representation of lateral heterogeneity resulting from the excavation, infill and collapse of burrow structures. A synthetic dataset generated by the two-dimensional model was used to demonstrate the effects of heterogeneity and core sampling on the mixing information that can be extracted from one-dimensional sediment core data.¶ Burrow irrigation brings oxygenated water into burrow depths, and can affect the nitrogen cycle by increasing the rates of coupled nitrification and denitrification reactions. I modelled the nitrogen chemistry in the annulus of sediment surrounding an irrigated burrow using a radially-symmetrical diffusion model. The model was applied to three published case studies involving thalassinidean shrimp experiments and to field data from Port Phillip Bay. The results highlighted divergences between current theoretical understanding and laboratory and field measurements. The model further demonstrated potential limitations of measurements of burrow characteristics and animal behaviour in narrow laboratory tanks. Activities of burrowing animals had been hypothesised to contribute to high denitrification rates within Port Phillip Bay. Modelling work in this thesis suggests that the model burrow density required to explain these high denitrification rates is not consistent with the sampled density of thalassinidean shrimp in the Bay, although dense burrows of other animals are likely to be important. Limitations of one-dimensional representations of nitrogen diagenesis were explored via comparisons between one-dimensional models and the full cylinder model.

<p>African medicinal plants are commonly used throughout Africa to treat a variety of ailments including wounds and ulcers, cough and chest complaints, gingivitis, fever and gonorrhoea, indication all related to infection and inflammation. In screening several plant species from an inventory of common medicinal plants from both South and West Africa for diverse medicinal purposes, 6 plants were selected because of their interesting and useful ethnomedicinal values.</p>

The goal of this study was to characterize the nutritional contribution of microalgae to white-legged shrimp and optimize fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) inclusion levels in their diets in the presence of microalgae. Phytoplankton composition was first determined in a typical Peruvian intensive commercial shrimp farm and in a semi-closed greenhouse-covered reservoir. A predominance of 76.3% cyanobacteria was observed for most of 9 months in all shrimp ponds. However, with the fertilization program in a reservoir tank, 60.7% diatoms and 22.8% cyanobacteria predominated. Thus, with the imposed fertilization regimen, the microalgae composition was manipulated to be different than that in commercial shrimp ponds. The microalgae composition was then evaluated along with different dietary levels of FM and squid meal (SM) in a feeding trial to evaluate the potential of phytoplankton to reduce FM and SM levels in shrimp feeds. Six diets were formulated to contain either 5, 10 or 20% SM combined with either 6.5 or 12% FM. Dietary effects on growth and survival were compared in a "clear-water system" (CWS) and a "green-water system" (GWS). Results suggest that 6.5% FM and 5% SM can be used as a cost-effective combination in feeds for shrimp. The effects of different dietary levels of FO and soybean lecithin (LT) on shrimp growth in CWS and GWS were evaluated in another feeding trial to determine if dietary phospholipids and phytoplankton increase the availability of essential fatty acids (EFAs) to shrimp. Six diets were formulated to contain 1, 2 or 3% FO combined with either 1 or 4% LT. Shrimp fed diets containing 1% LT and 1% FO in both systems had significantly lower weight gain and higher feed conversion ratio. Cephalothorax lipids and phospholipids were higher in shrimp fed diets containing 4% LT. Inclusion of 4% LT increased the availability of EFAs, and could contribute to reduce the FO in shrimp diets. The contribution of phytoplankton to shrimp weight gain, varied from 38.8 to 60.6%. This study demonstrated that cost-effective diets could be formulated with reduced inclusion levels of FM and FO considering the contribution of microalgae to the nutrition of shrimp.

As food scares have hastened the growth of safety and quality standards around the world, certification schemes to assure various attributes of foods have proliferated in the global marketplace. High-value food commodities produced in the global south for export have been the subject of such schemes through third-party environmental certifications, providing regulatory and verification mechanisms welcomed by global buyers. As certification becomes more common, re-localization in the current global context can also mean the projection of place onto a food commodity to highlight its origin or attributes secured by transparent verification mechanisms. However, environmental food certification is often criticized for its inapplicability in the context of the global south, due to the extensive documentation requirements and high costs. The key question here is the process for small-scale producers in the global south to navigate increasing international regulation of food safety and quality. This dissertation examines (1) how the environmental standards (as defined by the global north) were translated in the rural global south through international certification schemes, and (2) what the implications are at the local level, especially where producers had not yet integrated into conventional global markets before the introduction of certification. The dissertation also analyzes the influence of such certification in determining the development trajectories of rural society in the global south. A case study is used to examine newly-introduced certified organic shrimp production in Ca Mau Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The selected shrimp production site is the first pilot organic shrimp project in Vietnam working with an international third-party certification scheme. It is located in rural Vietnam where, as in other parts of Southeast Asia, an accelerated process of agrarian transition is underway. Whereas elsewhere the trend with intensified regulation has been the consolidation of large-scale farms and the exclusion of small-scale farms from international agrofood markets, this case study demonstrates comparative advantages of small-scale farms over large-scale farms in producing sensitive high-value crops. This dissertation employs two main analytical approaches. The first approach is to examine the network of actors and the flow of information, payment and shrimp at the production level using environmental regulatory network (ERN). In contrast to chain analyses, which can be useful in identifying linear structure of supply chains for global commodities, ERN can capture the interrelatedeness of actors in the network built around environmental certification for agrofood products. The second analytical lens is that of agrarian transition. Countries experiencing agrarian transition at present are doing so in a very different international context from countries that accomplished their transitions in the past. Results of this research indicate that technical and financial constraints at the time of initial certification are not the primary obstacles to farmers getting certified, since the extensive farming method employed at the study site is organic by default. In spite of this, many farmers unofficially withdrew from the organic shrimp project by simply shifting their marketing channel back to a conventional one. Inefficient flows of information and payments, and a restrictive marketing channel within the environmental regulatory network that does not take into account local geographical conditions and farming practices, all contributed to limiting the farmers’ capacity and lowering their incentives to get involved in the network. The analysis also indicates that, by influencing those agrarian transition processes, food standards and certification based on values developed in the global north may modify, reshape and/or hold back agrarian transition processes in agricultural sectors of developing countries. The potential benefits of environmental certification are enhanced rural development, by generating opportunities for small-scale farmers to connect to global niche markets. The findings of this dissertation highlighted that such certification schemes or their environmental regulatory networks need to ensure information sharing and compensation for farmers. As an empirical finding, this dissertation also captures where ecological credibility and market logic meet: the success of this kind of certification depends on finding a balanced point where standards are ecologically (or ethically) credible to the level that does not attract too much criticism for being green washing, but not too unrealistic to become a disincentive for farmers to participate.

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.

Patent information can provide up-to-date technological data that accelerate the development of new products and the improvement of technology. They also can provide a most useful survey of known solution possibilities, which avoid duplication and the resources wasting. Therefore, this study focuses on the patent searching and analysis of the mechanical overload protection devices. Patent information are fed into computer databases and stored for design around activities. The connections between biology and technology be called as bionics or biomimetics can lead to very useful and novel technical solution. This study introduced special underwater creatures ¡§snapping shrimp¡¨ which have a large claw can generate the snapping action. This action inspires us to find a new technical solution that using the liquid cohesion to store and release the energy. In the end, using the patent information and the new solution to achieve the new design of mechanical overload protection devices, include ¡§Force-Type¡¨ and ¡§Torque-Type¡¨.

Tong-Kong sakura shrimp is one of important fisheries in southwest coast. Tong-Kong sakura shrimp, blue fin tuna and mullet roe are called Three Treasures of Tong-Kong . It brings significant economic benefits for local residents. This research is based on Gordon-Schaefer Model theory that combines with fishery catch statistics and operational cost data. Also, we use these data to discuss open-access fishing ground and dynamically optimal fishing ground of balance status under equilibrium level. Next step is to do stimulation analysis that based on annual fishery catch statistics of sakura shrimp. After stimulation, we can make comparisons of equilibrium values of these two fishing grounds. From analysing fishery catch statistics and fishing resource we may know that it can shows that the management of sakura shrimp tends to dynamically optimal fishing ground, and also can state that the management mechanism of sakura shrimp is an ideal of sustainable management. Then, through the example, we can understand how each variation influences fishing resources and fishing effort of these two fishing grounds. Finally, we simulate fishing resources model of two fishing grounds to show the result. If we don¡¦t manage fishery of sakura shrimp well and keep uncontrolled fishing, not only the fishing ground will become an open-access fishery, but also fishing resources will become extinct. However, once we can manage fishing ground efficiently, it will become a dynamically optimal fishing ground and the fishery of sakura shrimp will develop sustainably.

This study is aiming to investigate the distribution of epibenthic shrimp communities in relation to the environmental factors of their habitats in the coastal sandy bottom of southwestern Taiwan. Shrimp samples were collected from April 2002 to July 2003, with a beam trawl operated at seven stations along the coasts. Simultaneously, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen were measured and sediments were collected. Particle size and organic matter of the sediments were then analyzed in the laboratory. The results of PCA analyses on these environmental factors revealed that the observations could be segregated into two groups along the PC1, representing rainy season with high temperature, low salinity and dry season with low temperature, high salinity, respectively. The observations with coarse particle (>0.125 mm), representing samples from north sites, were found to distribute in the upper part of the PC2; while those with fine particle (<0.125 mm), representing samples from south sites, distributed in the lower part. In total, 15,591 individuals of shrimp were collected, including 20 genus, 39 species. Metapenaeopsis palmensis (88.2%), Trachysalambria curvirostris (3.6%), M. barbata (3.5%) and Parapenaeopsis cornuta (1.4%) were the four dominant species. Significant differences in the spatial distribution were due to the different composition of the dominant species. Although M. palmensis was the most abundant species in most stations, its percentage abundance was the lowest at Fangliao and Jiading, where the dominant species were T. curvirostris for the former and M. barbata and P. cornuta for the latter. Species preferences for various combinations of environmental variables are responsible for shifts in the structure and overall abundance of assemblages and dictated some patterns. Higher abundances of T. curvirostris, Trachypenaeus granulosus, and Solenocera koelbeli were associated with the appearance of high temperature, low salinity and very fine sand, representing the environmental features of Fangliao and Linbian during the rainy season. Stenopus hispidus, Metapenaeus moyebi, Metapenaeus ensis and M. palmensis were abundant coinciding with low temperature, high salinity and high silt and clay that reflecting the dry season of Linyuan and Linbian waters. Metapenaeopsis dalei and M. barbata appeared in large numbers at habitats with high temperature, low salinity and coarse sand, which mainly occurred in Zouying to Jhongjhou during the rainy season. Moreover, Scyllarus rugosus and Parapenaeopsis cornuta seemed to prefer coarse sandy bottom mainly distributed from Jiading to Linyuan. Temporal fluctuations were associated with the population dynamic of the dominant species. The abundance was reduced while the M. palmensis migrated to open sea in late summer and early autumn. As the juveniles of M. palmensis and M. barbata back to the inshore waters, the abundance were increased and reached the peak in spring. Because of the limited distribution, T. curvirostris and P. cornuta were not influence the overall temporal fluctuations but the local fluctuations. Overall, temporal fluctuations act more at a specific level even structural one, and may be linked to some particular stages of the benthic shrimp life cycle, but do not significantly influence the spatial organization.

Shrimp and mussel samples were cleaned, washed and exposed to steam before freezing. HHP treatment was performed at combinations of 200, 220 and 250 MPa at 25, 30, 40 and 50&deg / C for 10 and 20 minutes. Microbial analysis were performed by analyzing the effect of treatments on the microbial reduction in the samples. Based on the results of the microbial reduction, the best combinations of HHP treatments were determined as 250 MPa, 50&deg / C, 10 minute for shrimps and 220 MPa, 50&deg / C, 10 minute for mussels where total microbial inactivation was achieved. Storage analysis was performed on the samples, treated at the selected HHP combinations and stored at room (25&deg / C) and refrigeration temperatures (4&deg / C). For the storage analysis, variations in Total Volatile Bases (TVB-N) and pH were measured. According to the results evaluated, shelf-life of the shrimps were detected as 10 and 16 days for storage at room and refrigeration temperature, respectively as compared to 4 days of untreated sample at 4oC. Similarly shelf-life for the mussel samples were obtained as 12 days for storage at room and 18 day for storage at refrigeration temperature as compared to 4 days of untreated sample at 4oC. HHP-at the studied parameters for shrimps and mussels- can be offered as an alternative method for the preservation of shell-fish instead of conventional frozen food technology, which is currently used in the industry, since it gives the opportunity to handle the samples at lower temperatures for the post-production period resulting in both reduction of energy required and operational costs without sacrificing from the quality as measured by microbial reduction, TVB-N and pH.