Long-term changes of inorganic nutrients in the Lagoon of Venice (Italy)

The paper aims at investigating the trends of the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorous in the Lagoon of Venice, Italy, in the last 35 years. The trend analysis of ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and reactive phosphorus (RP) yielded rather different results. The decrease in ammonia nitrogen concentration, in particular, in the basin influenced by severe industrial discharges, is accurately described by a negative exponential model. The nitrate concentration did not show significant interannual trends, while wide seasonal variations have been detected. Reactive phosphorus concentration increased until the end of the 1970s at the stations close to the industrial area as well as in those influenced by river discharges and by sewages of the city of Venice. The sudden decrease that followed was most likely related with environmental policies, namely the improvement of wastewater purification treatments and the regulation of phosphorus use in detergents.     

Galvanic corrosion behaviour of HE 20 / MDN 138 & HE 20 / MDN 250 alloys in natural seawater

In view of their excellent mechanical properties, workability and heat treatment characteristics, MDN 138 & MDN 250 have been widely used in missile, rocket and aerospace industries. With light weight and high performance characteristics HE 20 aluminium alloy acts as an important material in defence and aerospace applications. The galvanic corrosion behaviour of the metal combinations HE 20 / MDN 138 and HE 20 / MDN 250, with 1:1 area ratio, has been studied in natural seawater using the open well facility of CECRI’s Offshore Platform at Tuticorin for a year. The open circuit potentials of MDN 138, MDN 250 and HE 20 of the individual metal, the mixed potential and galvanic current of the couples HE 20 / MDN 138 and HE 20 / MDN 250 were periodically monitored throughout the study period. The calcareous deposits on MDN 138 and MDN 250 were analysed using XRD. The results of the study reveal that that HE 20 has offered required amount of protection to MDN 138 & MDN 250.     

Regulation,trust and contractual incentives around transport contracts – Is there anything bus operators can learn from public air service contracts?

This paper compares recent experiences in contract negotiation and subsequent commitment in public air services with the bus industry. The heart of the paper is a survey of European and Australian regional airlines, which we mirror with revealed experiences of bus operators. We aim to identify a number of elements in the contracting regimes that have exposed ambiguity and significant gaps in what the principal (e.g., transport department) expected, and what the agent (airline or bus operator) believed they were obliged to deliver. Ultimately airline and bus services are similar in that public authorities procure transport services that are desirable for the society but would be unprofitable without government involvement. In both sectors (theoretically fairly similar) public transport contracts are used, and those usually include obligations and performance measurements. In terms of similarities, one of the surveyed contract details that had a perceived high clarity in both industries was “payment procedures” and amongst those with rather poor clarity was also in both industries “incentives to improve performance and grow patronage”. We also show differences between regional air services and bus operations with regard to performance measurement and pre-specified obligations. Because of the strong safety culture around air services we find that regulation and trusting partnerships are even more important to aviation than to the bus sector. Because of the high level of trust but also because of simpler and more complete contracts in aviation, there is much less (re-)negotiation going on compared to the bus operations.     

Modelling the investment decision of the entrepreneur in the tanker sector: choosing between a second-hand vessel and a newly built one

It is often the case that the investor in the shipping sector faces the dilemma of investing in a second-hand vessel or building a new one. This happens because an active second-hand market for almost all kinds of vessels exists. We argue that one of the prime considerations for the investment decision should not be the price of the vessel per se, second-hand (SH) or newly built (NP) but

• ?(a)?the relative price ratio (SH/NP) second-hand price over the new building price and

• ?(b)?the movement of this ratio.

We investigate the determinants of this ratio across different vessel sizes in the tanker sector and show that it can be used as an effective tool in investment decision as well as in asset appraisal.

We employ monthly data between 1995 and 2006 for four different ship sizes–VLCC, Suezmax, Aframax and Handysize–and implement an error correction model.

The investment decision depends on a number of risk and return variables as well as the perceived speed of adjustment of the price ratio to its equilibrium level.

Overall we claim that the cyclicality of the shipping sector together with expectations formed by the agents operating in it (the entrepreneur, the ship-owner and the broker), determine the movement of the ratio and hence the decision of the entrepreneur.     

Book reviews

Coastal Resources Management: Beyond Market and Bureaucracy by Robert B. Ditton, John L. Seymour, and Gerald C. Swanson. Published by D. C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1977, 191 pp., 6 figures.

The Urban Sea: Long Island Sound by Lee E. Koppelman, Peter K. Weyl, M. Grant Gross, and DeWitt S. Davies. Published by Praeger Publishers, 1976. 209 pp., 81 figures, 42 tables.     

Management of corals and coral ecosystems in the United States

Abstract

Corals and coral communities provide substantial societal benefits by virtue of their recreational and esthetic appeal, the habitat provided for commercially harvested fish and shellfish, the structural foundation provided for productive coastal ecosystems, and the market value of harvested coral specimens. Coral resources are subject to adverse effects from pollution, dredging, specimen collecting, anchor damage, commercial fishing, overharvesting, and activities related to offshore petroleum development. Management programs which protect coral resources in the United States comprise a patchwork of separate federal and state programs. They attempt to adapt broad regulatory authorities for parks, fisheries, offshore mineral resources, and other subjects for the purpose of coral conservation. These programs embody species‐specific, area‐specific, and generic approaches to coral management. This paper traces the evolution of U.S. coral management programs and comments on their respective strengths and weaknesses. Alternative approaches for strengthening management systems could include new coordinating committees, legislation, memoranda of agreement between involved agencies, and others.     

Federal‐state revenue sharing and resource management under outer continental shelf lands act section 8(g)

Abstract

Section 8(g) was added to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) in 1978. It mandated sharing of the revenues from tracts that included oil and gas pools underlying the federal‐state boundary 3 miles offshore. Revenues were to be split based on agreements negotiated by the secretary of Interior and the relevant coastal state governor or “fair and equitable”; divisions made by the federal district courts. Only one agreement was concluded. Texas and Louisiana sued to force distribution of their shares of $6.1 billion in 8(g) funds held in escrow. In 1986 Congress divided the escrowed 8(g) revenues approximately 27 percent to the adjacent states and 73 percent to the federal government and legislated the same split for all future 8(g) revenues. This article examines the complex issues that section 8(g), as amended, raises for the management of federal and state submerged lands. Cooperative federal‐state approaches to implementing amended section 8(g) are reviewed. Section 8(g)'s broader implications as the only federal‐state ocean resource, revenue‐sharing mechanism currently in place also are addressed.     

Numerical simulation on truncated oval-nosed projectile penetrating into stiffened plate北大核心CSCD

[Objectives]In this paper, the numerical simulation method is used to study the anti-penetration performance and energy absorption mode of a stiffened plate, as well as the influence of different stiffened bars on the flight attitude of the projectile body.[Methods] Finite element software LS-DYNA is used to simulate the process of a truncated oval-nosed projectile penetrating a stiffened plate, and the results of the numerical simulation are compared with an experiment to verify the reliability of the numerical simulation method. The momentum method and mass equivalence method are used to predict the residual velocity of the projectile, and the applicability of different theoretical methods within different velocity ranges is compared. The deformation energy of different regions of the stiffened plate is then extracted to analyze the influence of the initial velocity of the projectile body on the energy absorption mode of the target plate. Finally, the structure of the stiffeners is changed and the influence of the relative position of the stiffeners on the penetration attitude of the projectile body is analyzed.[Results]The results show that the mass equivalence method is more accurate than the momentum method in predicting the residual velocity of the stiffened plate when the initial velocity of the projectile body is in the range of 300–900 m/s. The ratio of the deformation energy of the stiffened plate to the energy loss of the projectile body decreases with the increase of the initial velocity of the projectile body. The effect of a T-stiffened plate on trajectory is greater than that of a rectangular-stiffened plate.[Conclusions]The related calculation method and research results have certain reference value for research and engineering application surrounding the anti-penetration of stiffened plates. © 2023 Chinese Journal of Ship Research. All rights reserved.     

Sea Cucumber Moratorium and Livelihood Diversity in Papua New Guinea

Livelihood diversity factors such as flexibility within fisheries, geographical mobility, reallocation of fishing effort into the broader economy, and the non-material benefits that fisheries provide are important areas of research in marine policy. We use two small-scale fisheries related socio-economic surveys of communities in the Tigak Islands of Papua New Guinea. The first conducted 5 years before a ban on the harvesting of sea cucumbers was imposed and the second from the present day, 5 years after the initiation of the ban—with the objectives of exploring changes in household fishing strategies (types and numbers of species targeted) and to identify any important socioeconomic factors that help explain those changes. Fishing's contribution to total household income has increased significantly (p = 0.019) up from 61% in 2004 to 73% in 2014 with the percentage of female residents living in a household now positively and significantly (p = 0.018) associated with fishing income. The average number of species categories targeted per household increased insignificantly while households with more women are significantly (p = 0.018) less likely to target more species than households with more men. Moreover, customary management practices contribute to this difference. Together, these results show that households are not worse off financially 5 years after the ban on sea cucumber harvesting and that gendered seascape use has implications for the role of livelihood diversity as a marine policy tool.     

Adapting without Retreating: Responses to Shoreline Change on an Inlet-Associated Coastal Beach

Coastal barrier systems around the world are experiencing higher rates of flooding and shoreline erosion. Property owners on barriers have made significant financial investments in physical protections that shield their nearby properties from these hazards, constituting a type of adaptation to shoreline change. Factors that contribute to adaptation on Plum Island, a developed beach and dune system on the North Shore of Massachusetts, are investigated here. Plum Island experiences patterns of shoreline change that may be representative of many inlet-associated beaches, encompassing an equivocal and dynamically shifting mix of erosion and accretion. In the face of episodic floods and fleeting erosive events, and driven by a combination of strong northeast storms and cycles of erosion and accretion, the value of the average Plum Island residence increases by 34% for properties on the oceanfront where protection comprises a publicly constructed soft structure. Even in the face of state policies that ostensibly discourage physical protection as a means of adaptation, coastal communities face significant political and financial pressures to maintain existing protective structures or to allow contiguous groups of property owners to build new ones through collective action. These factors mitigate against adapting to shoreline change by retreating from the coast, thereby potentially increasing the adverse effects of coastal hazards.