Journal of Sea Research最新文献

The delimitation of fish stocks and how species use habitats are essential keys to develop and to implement fishery resources management and rational sustainable programs. Otolith shape and microchemistry analyses can provide helpful information for defining population units and solving ecological connectivity issues. The black drum, Pogonias courbina, is an important fishery resource in the southeastern Brazil lagoon systems, and is considered a vulnerable fish according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Thus, the present study aimed to understand the population structure and habitat connectivity of P. courbina in two lagoon systems in the south-east coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 60 individuals were collected from the lagoons of Saquarema (SQ) and Araruama (AR), between November 2019 and April 2020. Thirty individuals from each location, all estimated to be two years old based on the counting of the annual growth increments, were used. The composition (multi-elemental signatures – MES) and shape (elliptic Fourier descriptors – EFD) of the sagittal otoliths were integrated to evaluate the population structure and the habitat connectivity of the fish inside these lagoon systems. EFD showed differences between lagoon systems, with an overall reclassification rate of 97%. The MES exhibited distinct patterns between lagoon systems, mainly driven by differences in Ba/Ca, Co/Ca, Li/Ca, Mg/Ca, Ni/Ca, Sr/Ca, and Zn/Ca ratios. The overall reclassification rate for MES was also 97% (93% and 100% for SQ and ARA, respectively). The overall reclassification rate obtained using both EFD and MES was 98%. The results suggest a clear spatial discrimination and low connectivity between these groups of two years old P. coubina individuals living in the studied lagoon systems. These findings imply that small-scale artisanal fisheries in the lagoon systems require more attention, aiming to maximize local management strategies for commercially exploited species.

Biological monitoring of planktonic animals is greatly dependent on the deployment of traps. A variety of specialized traps have been designed for surface plankton and vertebrates. However, certain groups, such as planktonic larvae of benthic marine invertebrates remain underrepresented in sampling efforts. Catching them has proven to be more challenging because of their size, swimming ability, location, and abundance. In the present study a successful light trap for sampling American lobster larvae in New Brunswick, Canada, is evaluated on the island of Helgoland (German Bight, North Sea). Our results showed the traps were successful in catching larvae in laboratory experiments but were unable to catch European lobster larvae in the field. Traps deployed in the field were successful in capturing other benthic and pelagic zooplankton predominantly consisting of crustaceans from the orders: Cumacea, Amphipoda, Mysida and Isopoda. The low density of lobster larvae, the island's topography, and their unique photactic response possibly limited the success rate of the light traps. Future research is needed to construct a specialized trap to sample Helgoland's lobster larvae and provide information on the current larval fitness and population numbers.

The number of offshore artificial structures in the North Sea is continuously increasing. Apart from the structures that have been added to the marine environment accidentally (e.g., shipwrecks), structures are also deliberately developed to meet the increasing needs for renewable energy. These structures provide habitat for fouling organisms. The fouling communities vary in abundance and composition based on location, depth, and structure age. Most fouling species filter particles from the water column, changing phytoplankton production and affecting larval settlement success, while releasing ammonium that can fuel phytoplankton growth as well as (pseudo)faeces that enriches the seabed, changing local biogeochemical cycles.

Our study used in-situ incubation chambers to investigate oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphate fluxes associated with fouling organisms to improve understanding of these changes in biogeochemical cycles. Divers used incubation chambers (domes) on shipwrecks in the southern North Sea where over 55 years mature fouling communities have established. A series of water samples was collected from each dome during deployment to measure the change in concentration of ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate. All fauna enclosed in the domes was collected after each measurement for further analysis.

The full macrofauna dataset contained 65 unique species on 4 shipwrecks (25 to 50 species per sample). Abundance ranged from 2187 to 59,427 individuals per sample (683 cm²). On average, a decrease in oxygen concentration of 126 μmol/g ash free dry weight/h was found. The sequential water samples also showed clear changes in nutrient concentration with time in all incubations. The largest changes were observed with high fouling community abundances and biomass. Ammonium, nitrite, and phosphate always increased, with 1.5-to-5-fold increases from start to end of the incubation, while for nitrate both an efflux and influx were measured. Oxygen decreased in all incubations. Mean fluxes (all in μmol per m² per hour with standard error) were significant for ammonium (945 ± 300), nitrite (80 ± 30), phosphate (61 ± 8), and oxygen (−11,794 ± 3289), but not for nitrate (−206 ± 122). Per gram AFDW, only ammonium (12.7 ± 3.5) and oxygen (−126 ± 48) had fluxes that differed significantly from zero.

Compared to average seabed (sandy bottom) oxygen demand and community fluxes from previous studies, the observed fluxes were high. Our findings resembled those from temperate biogenic reef studies. Further data collection across a larger spatial and temporal scale is needed to fully understand offshore structure effects on marine environments.

The effects of oil pollution on nematode assemblages were investigated in a mangrove sediment. Microcosms comprised 350 mL plastic jars filled with 250 g sediment. In the oiled treatments (O), 15 mL oil were added to the soil. In the oil and fertiliser treatments (O + F), oil and fertiliser (N: P: K: 3: 2: 5) were added to the soil. After four weeks, nematodes were extracted and identified. The number of nematode taxa was highest in the C (61), intermediate in the O + F (59) and significantly lower in the O (25) treatment. Taxa present in the C but absent in the O treatment were oil-intolerant. Taxa present in the O treatments were oil-tolerant. Five taxa survived oiling probably due to fertiliser amendment. Oiling eliminated oil-intolerant taxa and favoured those that were resistant. In the O+ F treatment, the number and species of nematodes increased significantly.

In the era of economic globalization and heightened international competition, the emergence of free trade zones has significantly increased regional openness, introducing both new opportunities and challenges for ports. This paper proposes the enhancement of intelligent design in the maritime landscapes of smart ports, with a focus on optimizing internal pathways and developing a predictive model to gauge the impact of smart port landscapes. Furthermore, the study delves into the assessment of risks in smart port supply chains, employing an innovative approach that integrates rough set theory and neural networks. This novel model significantly improves the accuracy of risk evaluation in port supply chains, thereby providing crucial decision support for port management. Additionally, the economic efficiency of smart ports is scrutinized using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Malmquist index method. Through meticulous selection of research subjects, port efficiency indicators, and the DEA Malmquist index, this analysis offers a comprehensive insight into the economic operations of smart ports. This research not only offers guidance for port economic management but also establishes a framework for the sustainable development of smart ports, thereby ensuring their long-term viability.

The size selectivity and exploitation patterns of two T0 (diamond mesh) codends were tested and compared with T90 (diamond mesh turned by 90°) codends in demersal trawl fishery targeting white croaker (Pennahia argentata) of the northern South China Sea. The four experimental codends involved two mesh sizes, 30 and 35 mm, respectively. The size selectivity of the T0 codend with mesh size of 30 mm, T0_30, was used as a starting point to compare with the rest codends. The results showed that compared with the T0_30 codend increasing the mesh size to 35 mm or applying the T90 codends would result in significantly larger L50 values, and the retention risk (probability) of undersized white croaker with length < 8.5 cm would significantly reduce. These codends, however, had no effect on improving the size selectivity of undersized white croaker with the length ranging between 10 and 15 cm. The results of our study will have relevant implications for fishing gears management and future direction of codend selectivity research.

The vertical structure of internal tidal currents in the Jailolo Strait of the Indonesian seas is studied using the year-long mooring observations with two Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler instruments looking upward and downward, respectively, coving the full depth of the strait. The barotropic tides are extracted from the full-depth current profile measurements, showing the dominant M₂, K₁, and O₁ tidal currents with amplitudes of 13.5 cm s⁻¹, 11.0 cm s⁻¹ and 7.6 cm s⁻¹, in nearly reciprocating movement in the direction of 34.5°, 63.1°, and 75.2° clockwise from due north. The internal tidal currents in the Jailolo Strait contributing to about 50% of the total kinetic energy are found to be dominated by the low baroclinic modes, with M₂ tide as the most dominant tidal constituent. High-frequency internal tides of D₃ and D₄ are observed, with baroclinic structure similar to that of M₂ tides, and are suggested to be stimulated by nonlinear processes. The complicated vertical structure of tidal currents in the Jailolo Strait is disclosed for the first time in history. Its potential impact on vertical turbulent mixing suggests its importance in global ocean circulation and climate.

Ocean fronts, as typical marine phenomena, significantly impact the marine environment and the distribution of organisms. However, the research on their tilted structure is limited. This study considered the frontal slope as a key parameter for describing the tilting characteristics of ocean fronts. A novel method, based on high-resolution in situ observations and reanalysis data, was proposed to extract global frontal slopes using contour lines and surfaces. To validate this approach, a mathematical model was developed for the oceanic front slope and verified through in situ observations. The frontal slope equation produced reliable results, indicating that the front tilting primarily arises from shear flow and density differences. Furthermore, a modified oceanic front gradient parameter was proposed based on the frontal slope, and its significance in understanding the impacts of ocean fronts on underwater acoustic propagation was validated through numerical simulation and statistical analysis. The distribution characteristics of frontal slope for ocean fronts on a global scale were analyzed for the first time. Marginal ice zone fronts had the highest slope (>1.5 m/km), followed by tidal mixing fronts, western boundary current fronts, and water mass convergence fronts (1–1.5 m/km). In contrast, upwelling fronts and estuarine plume fronts generally had slopes below 1 m/km. This parameter provides a new perspective on ocean front systems and their influence on dynamic structures and ecological resource distributions. This study helps in a comprehensive understanding of the tilting characteristics of the ocean front and their implications.

This study investigates the impact of digital innovation on the growth of the marine economy by optimizing the structure of the new media communication culture industry. Through the simulation of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) and Back Propagation (BP) computational network model, the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of the marine economic zone is predicted, and the prediction effect of the PSO-BP computational network model on multivariate spatiotemporal transitions is further verified. The results show that the PSO-BP model has less prediction variance and a better fit than the BP model. The analysis of the joint prediction model reveals that there are differences in the publicity effects of different self-media modes in various types of sea areas. In terms of the economic peak of the overall data, Bilibili has the best publicity effect, followed by WeChat, Weibo, and Shake. The results show that the trend of macroeconomic indicators and the size of values in different regions affect the prediction effect. Region A has a higher annual average rate of change of macroeconomic indicators and has a better prediction effect. Region B has a faster macroeconomic development and has a more fluctuating prediction effect. Regions C and D have their advantages and disadvantages of the prediction effect under the self-media model.

Nutrient reductions are considered effective methods to control eutrophication; however, our understanding of how plankton assemblages respond to nutrient reductions is limited. In the present study, we used a long-term dataset between 2004 and 2018 from Laizhou Bay, China, to describe the main characteristics of plankton assemblage response to nutrient reduction, and to compare the differences in plankton response between the different nutrient reduction regions. The results showed that plankton abundance showed obvious decreasing trends in response to nutrient reductions. The phytoplankton abundance decline rate was directly proportional to the magnitude of nutrient reductions. The large-scale shellfish culture may disrupt the response of mesozooplankton to nutrient reductions. Positive recovery signs in the plankton community were observed with species dominance decreasing for small individuals and increasing for large ones. The results suggested that the reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus positively affected plankton abundance and community recovery in Laizhou Bay.