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Red seabream (Pagrus major) is an important fisheries species in Japan, where it has been managed since 2025. Accurate stock assessment is necessary for rational fisheries management, and catch per unit effort (CPUE) is one of the key indexes used for this purpose. In the present study, the CPUE of red seabream in the East China Sea and Sea of Japan was standardized by incorporating seawater temperature and salinity based on fishing data obtained from bottom trawlers operating in key fishing grounds in these regions. We used data from operation reports available from 1982 to 2022, including fishing positions and efforts during each cruise and incorporated temperature and salinity data into the model from 1993. We applied a delta log-normal model for CPUE standardization and revealed an increase in this index since the early 1990s. We examined the horizontal distribution patterns of red seabream in each fishery grid that is 30 × 30 min latitude and longitude, and observed that the high-CPUE area extended northeastward from Taiwan to Japan along the shelf edge, which corresponds to the main fishing grounds covered by Japanese fleets after 2000. The probability of presence of red seabream increased drastically when water temperature at a depth of 50 m exceeded 15 °C. The reasons for the observed stock fluctuations may be a reduction in fishing pressure and warming seawater temperature.

Fisheries targeting sole (Solea solea) are primarily conducted using demersal beam and otter trawls. Despite the economic importance of sole across its wide distribution range, there is limited knowledge regarding its size selectivity in trawl codends. Understanding how codend mesh size and shape influence the size selection of sole is critical for defining technical measures and assessing the implications of regulatory changes for both the stock and the fisheries targeting this species. We developed a morphology-based model to predict size selectivity for sole across a range of sizes and mesh openings in both diamond and square mesh configurations, following the FISHSELECT methodology. This methodology has been successfully applied to several fish and crustacean species. The predicted size selectivity for sole codends aligns well with the relatively limited number of experimental estimates available, providing a morphologically based explanation for sole size selectivity. We predict size selectivity for diamond mesh codends ranging from 50 mm to 120 mm and estimate the number and weight of sole retained above and below the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS), using an experimentally derived population. Our results demonstrate that the various technical regulations implemented across the broad distribution area result in markedly different catch efficiencies and potential discard ratios for sole.

The connecting channels of the Laurentian Great Lakes provide socially and economically important fisheries. The St. Clair – Detroit River System, which connects the upper and lower Great Lakes, provides world-class recreational fishing opportunities for several popular sport fishes. These fisheries have been shaped by a wide range of anthropogenic modification and use of the Great Lakes as well as the introduction and subsequent ecological effects of invasive species such as dreissenid mussels (Dreissena spp.) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are among the most popular sportfish species in Lake St. Clair. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been monitoring smallmouth bass populations since 1972 over two intensive sampling periods, 1972–1985 and 2002–2023. During the later period, improvements in population size structure have been observed, transforming the fishery into one comprising many larger individuals. Our objective was to analyze trends in smallmouth bass population relative abundance, growth rates, and mortality during two intensive sampling periods to better understand the changes in population size structure. Linear regression was performed for fishery metrics separately for the early (1972–1985) and late (2002–2023) sample periods, and the slopes of those regressions were compared to evaluate changes in population trajectory. Significantly different slopes for proportional size distribution of larger individuals existed between the early and late periods. Catch-per-unit effort did not differ between the early and late periods, though biomass caught per unit effort did. Growth rates changed at a similar rate between the early and late period. Mortality decreased at a steady rate across the study, with no change between the early and late time periods. We concluded that a long-term decreasing trend in mortality is likely the largest driver in improved size structure shaping the trophy smallmouth bass fishery that exists today.

Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) has profound adverse effects on the marine environment and ecosystem through plastic pollution and continuous capture of target and non-target species, so-called “ghost fishing”. A trap fishery is usually conducted in a large area of fishing grounds, increasing the risk of interaction with other fisheries and resulting in high fishing gear loss and ghost fishing. This study evaluated the catch efficiency and catch-at-length of derelict traps targeting bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana), herein called squid, in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. Here, two experimental treatments were investigated 1) trap with an egg cluster and soaked for 30 days (EXP1) and 2) trap without an egg cluster (empty trap) and soaked for 30 days (EXP2). Those experimental treatments were considered as derelict traps and were compared to the conventional daily soaked traps (CTR). Results showed that although derelict traps captured squid significantly less than conventional traps at all size classes, the capture was substantial. The mean catch-per-unit-efforts (CPUEs; number of squid per trap) of EXP1 and EXP2 were 0.42 and 0.17, respectively, compared to 0.59 for CTR, demonstrating that lost fishing gear can continuously capture animals for long periods after it is abandoned. A majority of captured target species were pregnant females, which has significant negative ecological impacts. In addition to the impacts on living resources, the derelict traps could contribute tonnes of plastic waste into the waters annually. Taken together, the study showed that derelict fishing gear is a serious threat to fisheries sustainability, ecosystem health, and marine debris pollution. In order to mitigate the problems caused by derelict fishing gear, an effective collaboration among fishermen, scientists, management, agencies, and other stakeholders is needed.

Small-scale fisheries capture a wide marine biodiversity including highly vulnerable and endangered species. Despite global conservation efforts, at regional scale, strategies to conserve threatened species are often constrained by poor biological information and a paucity of fisheries data to understand the level of threat posed to their populations. In Myanmar, devil and manta rays (mobulids) are caught for meat consumption and export of gill plates. The impact of this exploitation is not fully understood as mobulid rays, especially in this region, have been poorly studied, catch levels are under-reported and the fishery is unregulated. An accurate knowledge of the species composition and catch levels is an important first step to inform potential management and protection strategies for these species. This study is the first to combine digital catch recording alongside genomic tools to analyze mobulid rays caught in the Tanintharyi Region of south Myanmar. Our catch data analyses indicate a sustained catch and decrease in total landings of mobulids from 2016 to 2018 in Tanintharyi. We identified five species of mobulid rays, including the first record of M. tarapacana for Myanmar. Our analyses of population genomics provided evidence of structured populations of M. thurstoni and partial admixture in M. mobular. Our findings are highly valuable 1) contributing to fill the knowledge gap for these threaten species in the region, and 2) as the first documentation of sustained fishing pressure these rays are exposed to, and the species under potential fishing threat in the Tanintharyi Region, a high priority biodiversity hotspot.

Highlights •This is the first pre/post evaluation of ‘CATCH My Breath’ (CMB) in Canada.•Students exhibited a significant increase in knowledge after exposure to CMB.•Students demonstrated modest reductions in subjective norms of vaping.•Impacts of CMB were similar across gender subgroups.

This study investigated the reciprocal loop between catch-up sleep and mobile phone dependency from late childhood to late adolescence, distinguishing between inter-individual and intra-individual variations. Data from two nationally representative South Korean birth cohorts (N = 4,729, 48.8% female) were collected annually, assessing participants seven times from Grade 4 to Grade 10 or Grade 7 to post-high school. Findings from a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and a random-intercept CLPM showed that students who were more dependent on their mobile phones, either compared to others or to their own averages, were likely to report greater catch-up sleep from Grade 4 through Grade 7 in the younger cohort and from Grade 7 through Grade 10 in the older cohort. Likewise, students with greater catch-up sleep, compared to others or to their own averages, tended to rely more on their mobile phones from Grade 4 to Grade 5 in the younger cohort and from Grade 7 to Grade 8 in the older cohort. The CLPM findings further revealed that in the younger cohort, students with higher mobile phone dependency than their peers were more likely to increase catch-up sleep from Grade 7 to Grade 8, and in the older cohort, from Grade 10 to Grade 11. Similarly, higher catch-up sleep led to increased mobile phone dependency from Grade 9 to Grade 10 in the younger cohort, and from Grade 12 to the year post-high school in the older cohort. These patterns suggest consistent tendencies at both inter- and intra-adolescent levels.

In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the majority of the commercial catch of eastern rock lobster (Sagmariasus verreauxi) is captured from traps fished on the mid and outer continental shelf in depths 50 – 220 m (119.5 t in 2021–22: 66.5 % of landings). Hermit crabs are the greatest bycatch from this fishery. The Fishery Management Strategy (2007) for the NSW lobster fishery, recognised the need to quantify by-catch species associated with lobster catches with an emphasis on increasing knowledge of the populations of hermit crabs along the NSW coast. An observer-based survey during 2008 and 2009 quantified by-catch from the fishery including, for each hermit crab species identified: (i) spatial and temporal distribution; (ii) relative abundance (number per trap-lift), and (iii) size distribution (shield length, SL). A total of 5782 hermit crabs were collected from 70 offshore trips comprising 722 trap-lifts. No hermit crabs were collected from 73 inshore trips (< 50 m depth) comprising 3232 trap-lifts, due to the low number (seven) of hermit crabs observed. Five species of hermit crab were identified. Three species were captured in very low numbers: Dardanus crassimanus (n=2), Dardanus pedunculatus (n=2) and Dardanus australis (n=1). The striated hermit crab (Dardanus arrosor; Herbst, 1796; n = 1970) and the stridulating hermit crab (Strigopagurus strigimanus; White, 1847; n =3812) were common in all latitudinal zones (30° - 37°S) and offshore depths (50–220 m) sampled. Abundance of D. arrosor decreased southward in contrast to S. strigimanus that showed the opposite pattern. Both species were more abundant on the outer-shelf than the mid-shelf. Mean SL of males was greater than females for both species across all latitudes on both the mid- and outer-shelf. Annual catches by the commercial fishery, by latitude and depth, were estimated for each species. This research provides a baseline for monitoring and interpretation of any future changes in the distribution and abundance of hermit crab species along the NSW coast.

This paper examines the changing landscape of GVCs and competition in the global semiconductor industry in the context of new geopolitics featured by the United States implementing “chokepoint” measures to limit the rise of semiconductor manufacturing in China. Overall, the paper finds that these US measures, like the IRA and CHIPS act, will have important impacts on semiconductor GVCs, especially in three types of memory (HBM, DRAM and NAND) and logic chips, and will slow down the speed and process of China's catching up and possibility of leapfrogging. By developing a conceptual framework for analyzing realism-based great power rivalries and national firm responses, we note that lead firms in South Korea and Taiwan can muddle through by reconfiguring their modes of GVCs, which can be summarized as “a bigger capacity and higher-ends in home bases and a smaller capacity and lower-ends abroad.” Analyses of US patents show that Korea and Taiwan have maintained their technological superiority in terms of both quantity and quality of their patents, compared to China, whereas Japan has lost its past superiority to China at least in patent quantity. We also find that the pace of China's catch-up is very fast in quantity, but slow in quality in key segments (DRAM, NAND and logic chips), except HBM which is the most recent segment where China has already surpassed Korea or Taiwan in terms of the number of patents. Whereas China has been catching up rapidly in the number of patents, it might encounter problems in turning that into market catch-up given the existing restrictions in accessing complementary technologies and chipmaking equipment, such as advanced lithography machines (EUV) or even more matured technologies (DUV), and software. Severely constrained by these technological entry barriers, the degree of catching up by China tends to be faster in lower-end products by foundry firms (e.g. SMIC), medium to high in NAND memory chips (e.g. YTMC), and slow or difficult in DRAM (e.g. CXMT). In the meantime, China has been making progress in domesticating value chains in diverse equipment and components in chip manufacturing.

Reducing the impacts of bottom trawling on seafloor habitats is a management priority in the U.S. West Coast groundfish bottom trawl fishery as well as other trawl fisheries internationally. Modifications to conventional bottom trawls, such as semi-pelagic trawl technology, are commonly used in demersal fisheries to reduce trawl-seafloor interactions by elevating the doors and portions of the sweeps off the seafloor. This study evaluated changes in catch efficiency and trawl geometry between a conventional bottom trawl outfitted with bottom-tending doors and the same trawl modified with midwater doors to fish semi-pelagically. We observed the seafloor interactions using Dual-frequency IDentification SONar (DIDSON) and quantified the reduction in trawl-seafloor interactions by periodically placing an altimeter on the semi-pelagic trawl door to measure height off bottom. Across the tows where the altimeter was used, results showed that the midwater doors fished off bottom >96% of all tow durations at a minimum height of 0.6 m. The midwater doors also spread 43 m wider on average than the conventional doors, which was significant (p 

Visual perception has become a prerequisite for automated jujube harvesting robot operations under complex orchard conditions. Catch-and-Shake harvesting, as the most efficient and common harvesting method, has widely been applied on various manually operated harvesters to complete large-area jujube fruit harvesting. However, the main factors restricting the development of existing harvesters are labor shortage, high labor cost, and low operating efficiency. To address the issues, we designed a catch-and-shake harvesting robot for jujube tree trunks and branches visual perception that can provide a barrier-free catch-and-shake operation area and guide the manipulator to reach the area to complete the harvesting operation. Meanwhile, a visual perception system including tree trunks and branches detection, skeleton extraction, catch-and-shake area confirmation was presented to guide robot intelligent operations. In the visual perception system, a novel salientobjectdetectionmodel called feature intersection and fusion Transformer (FIT-Transformer) network was proposed to split branches and background to provide reference for determining safe catch-and-shake areas. Moreover, we designed a diverse feature aggregation (DFA) and an attention feature fusion module (AFFM) to strengthen feature learning capabilities and obtain robust perception models. Comparative experimental results showed that our proposed FIT-Transformer model outperformed 12 state-of-the-art (SOTA) algorithms including C2FNet, RAS, BASNet, U2Net, SCRNet, PiCANet, EDRNet, EGNet, ICONR, VST, TransSOD and ABiU_Net. Specifically, the segmentation accuracy of jujube tree trunks and branches using our method showed the satisfactory result on five evaluation indexes under natural environment (the EM, SM, WF, FM and MAE reached 0.9713, 0.8991, 0.8854, 0.8905, and 0.0302, respectively). Field experiments also proved that our method could meet the requirements of operational accuracy and real-time operations.