Prey metabarcoding has become a popular tool in molecular ecology for resolving trophic interactions at high resolution, from various sample types and animals. To date, most predator–prey studies of small-sized animals (<1 mm) have met the problem of overabundant predator DNA in dietary samples by adding blocking primers/ peptide nucleic acids. These primers aim to limit the PCR amplification ...

Ethical concerns regarding Artificial Intelligence technology have fueled discussions around the ethics training received by its designers. Training designers for ethical behaviour, understood as habitual application of ethical principles in any situation, can make a significant difference in the practice of research, development, and application of AI systems. Building on interdisciplinary knowledge ...

In the Asian paddle crab (Charybdis japonica) gillnet fishery in the Yellow Sea, China, the minimum mesh size (MMS) regulation has been of a major importance due to high bycatch rates of undersized crabs. In this study, we evaluated how gillnet mesh size can affect the capture probability of C. japonica and capture patterns in this fishery by comparing the performance of gillnets with four ...

Fisheries management is moving from a single-species to an ecosystem-based approach to better balance the technical, biological, and economic aspects of the many mixed-species fisheries in the world. Most mixed fisheries are conducted with trawl gears, which have a hereditary challenge of providing a species and size selectivity that meets the development in management objectives of reducing unwanted ...

Piscine red blood cells (RBC) are nucleated and have been characterized as mediators of immune responses in addition to their role in gas exchange. Salmonid RBC are major target cells of Piscine orthoreovirus-1 (PRV-1), the etiological agent of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). PRV-1 replicates in RBC ex vivo, but no viral amplification has been ...

Institutional barriers are critical obstacles to policy implementation. Such barriers hamper the performance of marine policies and may also limit the potential for adapting governance arrangements in order to improve policy performance. Instigating transformation within longstanding governance arrangements is very challenging and is often hampered by institutional barriers such as path dependency, ...

Management of thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) in the Northwest Atlantic has posed a conservation dilemma for several decades due to the species' lack of response to strong conservation efforts in the US Gulf of Maine and the Canadian Scotian Shelf, confusion over the relationship between two reproductive size morphs of differing life histories that are sympatric in the Northwest Atlantic, and ...

The Global Consortium for the Classification of Fungi and fungus-like taxa is an international initiative of more than 550 mycologists to develop an electronic structure for the classification of these organisms. The members of the Consortium originate from 55 countries/regions worldwide, from a wide range of disciplines, and include senior, mid-career and early-career mycologists and plant pathologists. ...

Synthetic oil spill dispersants have become essential in offshore oil spill response strategies. However, their use raises significant concerns regarding toxicity to phyto- and zooplankton and other marine organisms, especially in isolated and vulnerable areas such as the Arctic and shorelines. Sustainable alternatives may be developed by replacing the major active components of commercial dispersants ...

Pots are widely used fishing gear type for targeting different crustacean and fish species. Pot entrance size and design are among the most important technical parameters that influence the catch efficiency of certain species. An optimal pot entrance design should allow an efficient entry for the target species while preventing subsequent escape. The tropical estuary pot fishery targeting mud crab ...