No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

The Port of Durban, with its close proximity to industrial, urban and agricultural activities, receives a number of chemical pollutants that settle out and accumulate in sediments. Chemical analysis of these sediments has indicated elevated levels of chemicals that, according to sediment quality guidelines, might cause adverse biological effects. However, elevated concentrations alone do not necessarily imply that chemicals are present in bioavailable concentrations high enough to be harmful to organisms that come into contact with them. Thus, chemical tests alone cannot provide an accurate indication of the potential adverse biological effects of these chemicals. In this regard, toxicity tests of sediment porewaters have been developed using sea urchin gametes to assist in determining the bioavailability of chemicals present in porewaters. Further, procedures such as Toxicity Identification and Evaluation (TIE), which involves the manipulation and/or treatment of toxic porewater, have also been developed to assist in the isolation and identification of chemicals causing porewater toxicity. In this research, on a number of sampling occasions between July 2007 and July 2009, three replicate sediment samples were extracted from a site in the Port of Durban known to contain sediment with potentially toxic porewater. Results of initial toxicity tests, using the sea urchin fertilisation test indicated the presence of toxic porewater although, in some instances, porewater toxicity was highly variable between replicate samples. However, results from TIE procedures performed to reduce potentially toxic concentrations of metals, ammonia and organic compounds did not resolve the primary cause of porewater toxicity. Further research indicated that chemicals including hydrogen sulphide, which can occur naturally in organically enriched sediments, may have been confounding factors that masked the potential toxicity of other chemicals present in the sediment samples. Consequently, a sampling strategy and modified TIE procedure have been recommended. The sampling strategy has been designed to assist with detecting and understanding any sample variability that may occur. The modified TIE procedure, which suggests initial procedures to determine and reduce/remove the possible confounding effects of potential naturally occurring compounds such as hydrogen sulphide from the porewater, could be used in future to understand and evaluate the quality of contaminated sediments from similar environments. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

What is the role of a port? It is a place that handles ships and cargo with operational efficiency. For this reason, ports must be seen as elements in value-driven chain systems or in value chain constellations. They deliver value to shippers and to third party service providers; customer segmentation and targeting is on the basis of a clearly specified value for itself and for the chain in which it is embedded. Ports no longer operate in an insulated environment. They face the same competitive forces that companies in other industries experience. There is rivalry among existing competitors, continuing threat of new entrants, potential for global substitutes, presence of powerful customers and powerful supplies. Since the early 1980s, moves to rapidly liberalise trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) have strongly influenced policy makers in many developing countries in their thinking about this challenge. Openness to international market forces and competition was expected to allow those countries to alter both the pace and the pattern of their participation in international trade, thereby overcoming balance-ofpayments problems and accelerating growth, to catch up with industrial countries. Today, the Port of Durban is the clear African leader in total container throughput. In the world port league for 2000 established by Containerisation International Yearbook 2001, Durban was in 44th position. The Port of Durban is an important gateway with regards to general cargo flows especially since the port's goal is to become a hub port in the Southern Africa. It has great economic value for the city and the country at large. It can be seen that the poor economic and operational efficiency of the port leads to poor overall economic growth for the nation. It is therefore desirable to ensure that the terminal is always operating at optimum operating efficiency with the required infrastructure and capacity in place. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

Over the last couple of years the ship repair industry in South Africa and in particular Durban has expanded significantly and the potential and opportunities for growth are still significant. This should be regarded as a positive sign for the industry that is currently enjoying a high level of demand for its services. This in turn has far reaching economic impacts upstream in the economy in terms of employment, revenue and income generation. The opportunities currently presented to the industry in the Port of Durban are vast and require exploitation. The Port of Durban, however, has physical constraints that are at present being addressed, but also structural and operational inefficiencies that hamper the full exploitation of such opportunities. The absence of a Development Framework Plan, in which these opportunities can be exploited, further aggravates the situation, much to the frustration of local ship repairers. This dissertation seeks to evaluate and assess opportunities currently presented to the industry in the Port of Durban. It further seeks to put a framework in place to best exploit such opportunities. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Marine recreational fishing is a highly developed activity and has an increasingly global following. In New Zealand, over 30 % of the population participate in recreational fishing and the annual harvest of some species is larger than the commercial catch. It is therefore vital for resource management to include data on recreational take. Since marine recreational fishing and charter boat fisheries in New Zealand are managed outside the Quota Management System (QMS), Area Management Tools (AMT) such as taiapure (local fishery), mataitai (reserves) rahui (temporary closures) can be used to ensure sustainability of certain coastal areas affected by fishing and other activity. The Akaroa Harbour Taiapure was established in 2006 and is currently the only taiapure in Canterbury. The main objective with this study was to characterise the recreational fishery in the Akaroa Harbour Taiapure in order to provide management solutions for this area. Three surveys were set up whereby two were specifically designed to record the recreational take landed on the four most frequently used slipways in Akaroa Harbour. A third survey was to gauge local resident‟s perception on recreational fisheries over time. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used and appropriate statistical analysis applied. Over 451 intercept interviews were conducted on slipways on Banks Peninsula and 138 trip records were returned. Main findings include significant differences in target and landed species, also a shift in areas mostly fished since the previous survey in 1997 by the Ministry of Fisheries. The most frequently landed fish in this study included blue cod, flounder, rock lobster and perch. The perception survey revealed a strong community bond to recreational fishing and a need for increased local input in the management of the Akaroa Harbour Taiapure. The three surveys are recommended to be continued over time in order to create a data base on recreational fishing and also to document local and indigenous knowledge on marine conservation.

This thesis provides insights into the transport and fate of contaminants of concern (polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and mercury (Hg)), as well as results on the impacts of these compounds on marine mammal health. Atmospheric transport is known to be a significant pathway for the delivery of contaminants to remote food webs. Air and rain samples were collected from one remote site on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC), Canada, and from one near-urban site in the Strait of Georgia, BC. While global atmospheric dispersion was observed for the legacy PCBs, 40% of PBDEs detected in BC air appeared to be originating from trans-Pacific transport. It was estimated that 3kg of PCBs and 17kg of PBDEs were deposited every year in the Strait of Georgia. Once deposited, PCBs, PBDEs and Hg biomagnify up the food chain. Harbour seals are non-migratory and can be used to provide signals of local contaminant sources. They have been extensively used as indicators of PCB and PBDE food web contamination in the BC coastal environment. The collection of over 200 harbour seal fur samples from various locations around Vancouver Island, BC and Puget Sound, WA, USA helped us pinpoint three sites where Hg levels were significantly higher than our reference site, Bella Bella (Queen Charlotte Strait, Port Renfrew and central Puget Sound). A combination of anthropogenic sources and marine food web processes appeared to influence the delivery of methylmercury (MeHg) to the top of this coastal marine food chain. Our results also suggested that these Hg levels (1.6-46.9 µg/g) could be a concern for the health of these harbour seals. Genomic techniques were used to generate insights into the implications of contaminant exposure on the health of marine mammals inhabiting industrialized regions (harbour seals from the Northeastern Pacific and Northwestern Atlantic) and remote, supposedly pristine, environment (Arctic beluga whales). In harbour seal blubber, there were positive correlations between the mRNA levels of several genes, including estrogen receptor alpha (Esr1), thyroid hormone receptor alpha (Thra), and glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1), and PCB levels. In beluga blubber, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr) and cytochrome P450 (Cyp1a1) mRNA levels increased with PCBs, consistent with their role in toxicity.While PCB-related toxic responses were observed in both species, additional factors appeared to be affecting the expression of important genes in beluga. Our results suggested that a shift in beluga diet during periods of low sea ice extent, as evidenced by changes in δ13C isotope ratios, had a significant impact on mRNA levels coding for genes involved in growth, metabolism and development. The use of a dual study design to evaluate the long range versus local sources of contaminants highlighted the importance of trans-Pacific transport in the delivery of PBDEs to coastal BC and the occurrence of local Hg sources in this marine environment. However, consistent with previous studies, our results suggested that PCBs remain the top contaminant of concern for marine mammal health. We also raised questions about the potential exacerbation of toxic risks due to PCBs as a consequence of climate changes currently underway in the Arctic. / Graduate / 0768 / 0383 / marie.t.noel@gmail.com

This thesis presents a case study conducted in 1994 concerning the effects of fishery management regulations on the Native village of Old Harbor, Alaska. Access to the traditional livelihood of harvesting marine resources has profound implications for the sustainability of the economy of Alaska's rural Native villages. The institution of the limited entry system in 1975 caused the transfer of commercial salmon fishing rights away from some Native fishermen and a reduction in local fishing jobs. Although the alternatives may have had similar or worse effects on the village, limited entry is perceived as a major cause of economic and social dysfunction. One of many factors that has integrated remote villages into the global market economy, it has exacerbated the uneven distribution of wealth in the community and contributed to a growing gulf between fishing as a business and a lifestyle.

Studies were conducted to broadly describe and understand the sediment benthos of a shallow-water coastal area (Aramoana Beach - Heyward Point - Blueskin Bay) near the entrance to Otago Harbour, a system largely representative for southeastern New Zealand. Benthic assemblages were examined in relation to gradients of wave exposure and disturbance, sediment type and bathymetry, and dredge-spoil disposal. Sediment and macrofaunal surveys in autumn and spring 2003 found little change in sediment texture gradients from historical studies and a lack of vertical stratification. Macrobenthic samples from spring produced significantly higher abundances of three numerically dominant phyla (Arthropoda, Annelida, and Mollusca) and higher taxon richness compared to autumn. Within water depths of 6-30 m, abundance, richness, and diversity increased with depth. Multivariate analyses identified similar assemblages among deeper sites, despite sediment textural differences, whereas distinct assemblages were found in the shallow portions of the three areas. Meiofaunal abundance patterns did not reflect those of macrofauna, possibly indicating greater vertical penetration of sediments in these hydrodynamic environments. Several new kinorhynch taxa were found. In a field manipulation, part of the Aramoana dredge-spoil dumpground was protected from spoil disposal for an extended period followed by experimental dumping of sandy and muddy spoil. Macrofaunal samples were collected before dumping and at nine sites < 119 d after disposal. Water velocities at the sediment-water interface were compared to a local sediment disturbance model. Dumpground samples were depauperate in individuals and taxa compared to an area protected from dumping for > 180 d. A drop in abundance and a dissimilar community coincided with muddy spoil, but fine sediments were dispersed within 26 d and macrofaunal assemblages recovered to the pre-existing state. Sandy spoil, while not altering native sediment textures, had a more prolonged impact due to transplantation of macrofauna from the dredged area that persisted for < 41 d after disposal. Side-scan sonar mapping indicated that the disposal footprint model used approximated the extent of sandy spoil impacts well, while local conditions spread muddy sediments beyond the initial impact site. A novel sediment profile imaging device was constructed that has many advantages over existing devices for spoil mound studies and habitat mapping: it is smaller, can be manually deployed from small boats, is cheaper, and can be modified to work in almost any soft sediment. Studies of one dominant taxon, the gastropod Zethalia zelandica, showed it was better able to survive sand burial than mud burial, did not vary in overall activity through a range of 5-14� C, and contributed a large proportion of biomass of its community. The spoil disposal strategy used does not appear as environmentally neutral as originally thought. Only muds are effectively dispersed whereas coarser sediments accumulate, affecting physical and biological benthic processes of a wider area. Two mitigation strategies were evaluated using a heuristic model. Reducing the disposal area and spreading mud disposal events over a longer time span may be an effective interim strategy. Overall, the studies will help guide management of the area.

Contaminated sediments pose a direct risk to sediment fauna and have the potential to affect other benthic assemblages. Disturbances that resuspend and remobilise contaminants may impact on filter-feeding, hard-substrate organisms that live immediately above sediments. This thesis uses laboratory and field manipulations to examine the impact of metal-contaminated sediments on sediment fauna and hard-substrate fauna simultaneously. It also compares the response of assemblages to metal contamination in a temperate and polar ecosystem. Simulated resuspension exposures in the laboratory indicated that contaminated sediments have the potential to affect hard-substrate organisms. Spirorbid polychaetes responded to both aqueous metals and to resuspended, particulate-bound metals. Impacts on hard-substrate fauna were however, not observed in manipulative field experiments using metal-spiked sediments. The recruitment and cover of hard-substrate organisms were either not affected or enhanced above contaminated sediments. In contrast, metal contamination had direct negative effects on sediment fauna, with a reduction in the abundance of most taxa. Results suggest that sediment fauna may interact with hard-substrate fauna through physical and/or biological mechanisms. In a reciprocal transplant experiment, established Antarctic hard-substrate assemblages were also unaffected by contaminant concentrations at an impacted site. Overall, metal-contaminated sediments are unlikely to pose as serious a threat to hard-substrate fauna as they do to sediment fauna. Contaminated sediments are not restricted to industrialised regions, and human activities in Antarctica have resulted in localised contamination near research stations. Although Antarctic assemblages are thought to be more sensitive than temperate assemblages to contaminants, few studies have explicitly examined this. Little evidence was found to support the theory that Antarctic assemblages are more susceptible to contaminated sediments. The response of Antarctic and temperate assemblages in the field to metal-contaminated sediments over a 10-11 month period was comparable. Responses were of a similar magnitude, despite differences in the composition of assemblages. In 10-d toxicity tests, the mortality of a common Antarctic hard-substrate organism was relatively insensitive to aqueous Cu, Zn and Pb. These results suggest that using current sediment quality guidelines from Australia may be a useful screening tool to assess the risk associated with contaminated sediments in Antarctica.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / "Workshop report." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-156).