Sergestid Shrimp contains rich nutrition, regards as a high-class aquatic product in Japan. The management of the catch has come into operation, and it¡¦s led the price raising and the output value increasing rapidly when the establishment of TungKung producer organization of the Sergestid Shrimp in 1993 and it also has become the important seasonal fishery in the southwestern coast of Taiwan. This study is based on the fundamental model of fish dynamic- Gordon Schaefer Model, to discuss the equilibrium values for the optimal conduction of open access and dynamic optimization, and to do the comparative statics analysis. By applying the data provided by Fisheries Research Institute, the evaluation of the variation are under both conductions were available, and in additions, the sensitivity analysis had been done by assuming all bio-economics parameters varied within a reasonable range. The study can figure out the fact that the management of TungKang producer organization of the Sergestid Shrimp with the notion of the sustainable administration by the derivation of theoretical model and the simulate analysis of historical data, and the conclusions of analysis are consistency. Furthermore, the study discusses the fishery management policies of TungKung Sergestid Shrimp. I hope the management policies of TungKung producer organization of the Sergestid Shrimp could be popularized in the related industry.

Increased international trade has sparked a debate on the need to coordinate dispersedactivities in Global Value Chains, linking production to end consumers. Implementationof standards has in the literature on Global Value Chains been suggested as a wayto coordinate a value chain. We have investigated the value chain of shrimp andprawns production in Bangladesh, in order to analyze if standards placed by the EUhave proven a successful way to coordinate the value chain. The implementation ofstandards has been studied to capture the coordination in the value chain. A singlecase study was conducted with interviews from a sample of actors in direct or closeconnection to the production of shrimp and prawns in Bangladesh. The focus of thestudy has been on the perspectives of the individuals and if and how standards areimplemented successfully in a social context. The attempt has been to bridgeunderstandings of implementation of standards together with knowledge of the complexnature of Global Value Chains. The results show that there are multiple challengesto successful implementation of standards. Hurdles can especially be linked tothe ability to follow standards where lack of human- and financial resources havebeen found. In addition, the will to follow standards can have an impact when traditionalmethods stand in the way and immediate financial incentives are not in place.

published_or_final_version / Ecology and Biodiversity / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In the Maritimes, only two striped bass spawning populations remain: the Miramichi River in New Brunswick and the Shubenacadie – Stewiacke system in Nova Scotia. The Shubenacadie – Stewiacke system is subjected to a well pronounced twice daily tidal bore which induces dramatic changes in water parameters and challenges pelagic life. This system will be subject to potential change through brine discharge, a by-product of the Alton Natural Gas Storage Project. . Examining the temporal distribution of mysids, striped bass eggs and larvae at a fixed location around the Alton Project site will provide baseline information on population structure and insights into how egg and larvae distributions change with respect to tidal cycles, temperature and salinity. Surface plankton net tows from the top 0.75m of the water column were used to collect mysids, striped bass eggs and larvae over 14 months over two years. Daily mean egg abundance surpassed 1000 eggs/m3 once in 2008. A decrease of 1.9 °C in water temperature at the Alton Project site coincided with a cessation of eggs, and presumably, spawning. Spawning resumed when temperatures surpassed 15 °C. In contrast, the largest spawning event of the 2009 season occurred as water temperatures decreased (14 to 12.7 °C). The 2009 spawning season was longer (49 days) than 2008 (31 days) by 18 days, and in both years spawning peaked within the last week of May and first week of June. Two large spawning events, over 4000 daily mean eggs/m3 apiece, were detected May 24 and June 2, 2009. Mysids were present in high numbers throughout May to November, with some tows greater than 14,000 individuals/m3 in June 2008 and August 2009. Over the length of the ebb tide, as salinity decreases, mysid abundance also decreased. Whereas, striped bass egg abundance was consistently lowest at high tide and increased progressively over about 300 minutes through the ebb tide. Both striped bass larvae and mysids displayed patchiness in their temporal distribution suggesting passive transport in the this system. In both 2008 and 2009, larvae were detected at the Alton Project site for 38 days. The colder temperatures and larger tidal range of 2009, coupled with large increase in rainfall during the larval season contributed to the over 30-fold lower abundance over that found in 2008. When abundance was related in concert with temperature and salinity, mysids were ever present at high abundances except on three occasions. Mysid abundance decreased when salinity dropped beneath 5 ‰ during both years, and in 2008 when temperatures were lower than 15 °C. Salinity was impacted according to a seven-day lag after rainfall in both years, although the minimum volume of rainfall and associated impact on salinity have yet to be described.

<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>

Chitin is a polysaccharide found in abundance in the shell of crustaceans. In this study, chitin was first extracted from shrimp waste material previously demineralized, using proteolytic enzymes, i.e., chymotrypsin and papain. The conditions used for the deproteinization were optimized with respect to 3 factors, viz., pH, temperature, and enzyme to waste (E/W) ratio, using response surface methodology (RSM). / In a second part of the study, chitosan was prepared from chitin by partial deacetylation and its capacity to preserve whole and headless fresh shrimps was evaluated. The shrimps (Pandalus borealis) were dipped in chitosan (1 and 2% w:v), and stored on ice. Chemical indicators such as pH, drip loss, total volatile bases (TVB), nucleotide degradation, and sensory indicators of appearance (including melanosis) and odor, as well as total microbial counts were monitored during 20 days. / As a third and final part, the antimicrobial properties of chitosan were evaluated using several microorganisms implicated in food spoilage and/or food poisoning outbreaks, especially those associated with fish and seafood products. Chitosan prepared from crab offal and used in the previous study on shrimp preservation was compared with commercially available chitosan from Sigma Chemical Co. (St-Louis, MO). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Farm-raised marine shrimp are Thailand's most important agricultural export, earning $US 2.4 billion annually in revenues for the government. Thailand's experience with intensive shrimp culture spans almost two decades. First generation marine shrimp farms. located mostly in coastal areas. have given way to a second generation of shrimp farms located in freshwater and brackishwater areas. The success of these second generation farms is attributed to the discovery by farmers that they can successfully cultivate a marine species of shrimp under low-salinity conditions. The nature of this innovation. referred to as inland or low-salinity culture. has greatly increased the potential for establishing shrimp cultivation much further from the coast than previously believed possible. While there are still many coastal shrimp farms. the most significant industry expansion since the mid 1990s has occurred in the irrigated floodplain and delta of Thailand's central plain. The output from low-salinity shrimp culture in freshwater areas now accounts for a large and rising proportion of total Thai production. and is a significant component of world production. This dissertation investigates the development of low-salinity shrimp culture in Thailand. The key findings were the firsthand documentation of the factors contributing to the development of low-salinity shrimp farming in freshwater environments. This study documents the innovations in hatchery and farming techniques. examines the development of the saltwater infrastructure required to sustain inland shrimp ponds. and identifies the land and water management challenges associated with low-salinity culture from both the government and producer perspective. The methodology adopted to achieve the research objectives consisted of secondary data review, farm and key informant surveys utilizing semi-structured interviews. informal interviews and discussions. and statistical description and analysis. The research was completed during four separate field investigations totaling ten months over an eight-year period from 1997 to 2004. Recommendations are offered to improve the environmental management of low-salinity shrimp culture.

The shrimp processing industry has to deal with the ever-growing costs associated with the disposal of their residuals. However, investigation into the possibility of making high-value biopolymers (chitin and chitosan) from this waste shows significant potential for developing a chitin and chitosan industry in Quebec. / The pharmaceutical and medicine industry is the target market for high-grade chitosan. Based on the related data of cellulose derivatives (the closest substitute for chitosan), the Bass model was used to forecast the sales of high-grade chitosan in Quebec. It is estimated that the potential market for chitosan in Quebec is worth 37 million dollars (in 1999 prices) cumulative for the next 20 year period and 59 million for Canada. In the first year of marketing chitosan, sales in Canada (high-grade) are expected to reach $3.2 million from which $1.55 million is expected to be generated in Quebec. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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.

Aquaculture plays a critical role in alleviating demand pressures caused by increasing fish consumption and over-exploitation of fishery stocks. While aquatic foods are generally considered low-revenue generators in comparison to other protein-sources, aquaculture products help to support food security, income, and higher standards of living, particularly in developing countries. Decision makers, i.e. policy-makers and farmers, are challenged with the responsibility of planning and conducting aquaculture development in a sustainable way whereby social, environmental and economic goals are simultaneously satisfied. Existing studies that economically evaluate the industry for its current and historical performance, and future development scenarios are invaluable to sustainable planning, but have not been developed in Mexico. This dissertation is comprised of two essays applying Economics and Operations Research theory to regional economic planning for the sustainable development of shrimp farming in northwest Mexico. The analyses are carried out both at the micro (farm) and macro (industry planning and development) levels based on an unbalanced panel of shrimp semi-intensive farms containing primary-source information at pond level for the period 1994, 1996-1998. Using an input distance function approach, the first essay examines total factor productivity (TFP) and technical efficiency (TE) using both traditional (T) and environmentally-adjusted (EA) indicators. The reduction in TFP was determined to be due to a technological regression as reflected by increased input-intensive production technology resulting in an increase in undesirable outputs. The learning curve resulting from a shift from white shrimp to blue shrimp production species resulted in higher FCRs, water exchange and pollution emissions, despite increasing shrimp yields. In all years except 994, EA TE and EA TFP were lower than the traditional TE and TFP scores. TE and TFP had an opposite behavior than yields in this period of time. In order to improve the technological change (TC) component of TFP in light of stable TE scores, increased government assistance in disseminating technological know-how is necessary to improve TFP at a faster rate during the transition period. A sensitivity analysis also revealed the economic feasibility of the implementation of pollution abatement technology based on the calculated shadow price of N and P pollutants at USD $6.35/kg and $8.3/kg respectively. In the second essay, a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model was developed to evaluate the sustainable development of shrimp farming in the northwest region of Mexico (States of Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit) based on government objectives for aquaculture development in Mexico. Three possible production systems among two species were investigated. The optimal combination of new shrimp farms within 22,500 ha over a five-year period is determined. The planning objectives assumed in the MCDM model are maximization of employment (E), foreign exchange earnings (XG), and economic rent (ER), and total pollution (TOTALPOLL) minimization, subject to land availability and local market demand constraints. Under a preliminary evaluation of single objective optimization, XG and ER maximization produce similar results: USD $888.6 and $322.5 million in foreign exchange earnings and economic rent respectively, and the creation of 6,150 jobs. The MCDM model was implemented using Feasible Goals, which allows for the simultaneous graphical evaluation of decision maps arising from trade-offs among efficient solutions. When fully allocating the available land (22,500 ha), the multiobjective development of the shrimp farming industry produces 7,490 new jobs, ER and XG of USD $204.5 and $497.6 million respectively, with a total pollutant discharge of 2,000 tons. The multiple-criteria optimization strongly favors semi-intensive systems (93% of the total 466 new farms), producing 57,119 tons of shrimp by 2005. The sustainable development of the industry based on the assumptions of this analysis does not suggest intensification of systems. Rather, the results of the MCDM analysis support the claim that semi-intensive farms, which are more common in Mexico, promote sustainability. Based on the findings of each of the essays, it is suggested that production performance indicators are needed on a periodic basis for the evaluation of the shrimp industry of Mexico. Production performance measurements may better assist farmers in the decision-making for industry sustainability and growth. Moreover, direct determination of N and P discharges by farms are recommended in future studies as well as incorporating risk and employing longer time series.