ALBERT

Description: Here we present the results of the inversion of a new geodetic data set covering the 2012 Emilia seismic sequence and the following 1 year of postseismic deformation. Modeling of the geodetic data together with the use of a catalog of 3-D relocated aftershocks allows us to constrain the rupture geometries and the coseismic and postseismic slip distributions for the two main events (Mw 6.1 and 6.0) of the sequence and to explore how these thrust events have interacted with each other. Dislocation modeling reveals that the first event ruptured a slip patch located in the center of the Middle Ferrara thrust with up to 1 m of reverse slip. The modeling of the second event, located about 15 km to the southwest, indicates a main patch with up to 60 cm of slip initiated in the deeper and flatter portion of the Mirandola thrust and progressively propagated postseismically toward the top section of the rupture plane, where most of the aftershocks and afterslip occurred. Our results also indicate that between the two main events, a third thrust segment was activated releasing a pulse of aseismic slip equivalent to a Mw 5.8 event. Coulomb stress changes suggest that the aseismic event was likely triggered by the preceding main shock and that the aseismic slip event probably brought the second fault closer to failure. Our findings show significant correlations between static stress changes and seismicity and suggest that stress interaction between earthquakes plays a significant role among continental en echelon thrusts.

Description: Published

Description: 4742–4766

Description: 1T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: 2T. Sorgente Sismica

Description: 3T. Storia Sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: The lack of sustainable management programs has resulted in the drastic decline of sturgeons stocks in the Caspian Sea in the past two decades. Legal catch quotas for all Caspian littoral states has dropped from 28500 tons in 1985 to 460 tons in 2007 while caviar production in the Caspian Sea during the same period decreased from 3000 tons to 70 tons. Caviar production in the I.R. of Iran dropped from 305 tons in 1985 to about 11 tons in 2007. The "Strategic and applied research planning for sturgeon management and conservation" was developed with the collaboration of academicians from universities, researchers, experts, fishery authorities and representatives of the executive government to maintain sustainable development and rational management of sturgeon stocks in the Caspian Sea. The preparation and development of this planning was carried out through 121 sessions (2100 person hours) A comprehensive report (375 pg) was prepared which was divided into five volumes; Volume I comprises an introduction, objectives, strategies and planning, present status of production and caviar harvest, catch and export quotas, revenue generated and release of sturgeon fingerlings, Volume II comprises analysis of the problem by constructing a problem tree with 8 broad categories to analyze 344 problems and an objective tree which is the hierarchic flowchart of objectives with 9 broad categories with 241 items, Volume III comprises a review and analysis of previous and ongoing research (414 projects) on different aspects of sturgeon during the past 40 years, Volume IV comprises prioritizing research objectives outlined by the objective tree and finally Volume V which prioritizes primary objectives for 14 executive and 10 research programs. On the basis of the evaluation of the present status and for the sustainable development and rational management of sturgeon stocks a strategic and applied research planning program was proposed and developed within the framework of three primary objectives; 1) Management and sustainable use of Caspian Sea resources (5 programs), 2) Rehabilitation and restoration of stocks (5 programs), 3) Development of aquaculture (4 programs). The applied research program for each proposed executive program was outlined in 10 programs, 42 comprehensive plans and 222 projects. The primary objective on management and sustainable use of Caspian Sea resources includes 5 programs, 14 comprehensive plans and 63 projects, while the primary objective on rehabilitation and restoration of stocks includes 4 programs, 16 comprehensive plans and 87 projects. The primary objective to address sturgeon aquaculture includes 1 program, 12 comprehensive plans and 72 projects. The impacts and outcome of each of these programs was determined and presented. It is evident that if the present situation persists, the catch figures for adult sturgeon specimens and caviar production in Iran will reach zero in 2021. But if concerted efforts are taken and the proposed strategic and applied research planning program is executed (commencing from 2009) we can put a halt to these declining trends. By producing sturgeon fingerlings to restore population abundances, by conserving and protecting them in the Caspian Sea and by conducting applied research we can produce 206.4 tons of caviar by the year 2033. Apart from harvesting caviar from the Caspian Sea we can also annually produce 3000 tons sturgeon meat and 60 tons farmed caviar starting from the year 2023. The total budget proposed for implementation of this program for a period of 14 years (2008-2022) is USD 2483 million. If this budget is allocated in time and the proposed strategic program is properly and totally implemented, we can not only save many sturgeon populations from extinction but also ensure job opportunities for 6000 fisherman, provide 1480 new job opportunities and annually produce 266 tons of caviar which will generate USD 4957 million.

Description: Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute

Description: Published

Description: The project is funded by the CASPECO Project which is the Third Phase of the GEF supported project in the Caspian Sea region titled “The Caspian Sea: Restoring Depleted Fisheries and Consolidation of a Permanent Regional Environmental Governance Framework” , and implemented by the Iranian Fisheries Research Organization (IFRO) in partnership with four Coastal Research Centers affiliated to IFRO, Coldwater Fishes Research Centre (CFRC).The project's objective is to improve the conservation and restoration of Caspian Salmon (Salmo trutta caspius) stocks. In accordance with IUCN criteria Caspian Salmon is placed in the red list of endangered fish. In the recent decades the destruction of habitats for juveniles, reduction of genetic diversity and fish immune system were main causes of the Caspian salmon decline. Numbers of public meetings were held with participation of fishing communities’ representatives, experts, relevant local authorities and experts of the IFRO and Iranian Fisheries Organization (IFO), Iran Environment Protection Organization (IEPO), Water Resource Management (Ministry of Energy) and University senior professors, in order to create interaction and understanding of the project objectives. Educational awareness and extension program were conducted with the involvement of fisheries communities, private sector and NGO associations. The results of the project suggests that cross-sectoral coordination for sustainable fisheries can be achieved through building partnerships and enhancing communication between the environment, private , fisheries sectors and academia. Cross-sectoral cooperation through this project improved public awareness on growing risks facing Caspian Salmon from different sources including local sources (illegal fishing and over-fishing, urban wastewater, environment destruction, industrial pollutants, pollution of air and water resources), new emerging and invasive organisms, climate change, implications of the Caspian salmon population decline on economic and social affairs of the people who depend on them for their livelihood and food security and their role in fish stock protection. The project, through its capacity building, extension and educational programs and efforts to link science to management, could translate scientific findings into an action agenda for managers and policy makers that can bring an improvement in the future of the Caspian Sea salmon stock.

Description: Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute

Description: Published

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Baumgartner, M. F., Bonnell, J., Van Parijs, S. M., Corkeron, P. J., Hotchkin, C., Ball, K., Pelletier, L., Partan, J., Peters, D., Kemp, J., Pietro, J., Newhall, K., Stokes, A., Cole, T. V. N., Quintana, E., & Kraus, S. D. Persistent near real-time passive acoustic monitoring for baleen whales from a moored buoy: System description and evaluation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(9), (2019): 1476-1489, doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.13244.

Description: 1. Managing interactions between human activities and marine mammals often relies on an understanding of the real‐time distribution or occurrence of animals. Visual surveys typically cannot provide persistent monitoring because of expense and weather limitations, and while passive acoustic recorders can monitor continuously, the data they collect are often not accessible until the recorder is recovered. 2. We have developed a moored passive acoustic monitoring system that provides near real‐time occurrence estimates for humpback, sei, fin and North Atlantic right whales from a single site for a year, and makes those occurrence estimates available via a publicly accessible website, email and text messages, a smartphone/tablet app and the U.S. Coast Guard's maritime domain awareness software. We evaluated this system using a buoy deployed off the coast of Massachusetts during 2015–2016 and redeployed again during 2016–2017. Near real‐time estimates of whale occurrence were compared to simultaneously collected archived audio as well as whale sightings collected near the buoy by aerial surveys. 3. False detection rates for right, humpback and sei whales were 0% and nearly 0% for fin whales, whereas missed detection rates at daily time scales were modest (12%–42%). Missed detections were significantly associated with low calling rates for all species. We observed strong associations between right whale visual sightings and near real‐time acoustic detections over a monitoring range 30–40 km and temporal scales of 24–48 hr, suggesting that silent animals were not especially problematic for estimating occurrence of right whales in the study area. There was no association between acoustic detections and visual sightings of humpback whales. 4. The moored buoy has been used to reduce the risk of ship strikes for right whales in a U.S. Coast Guard gunnery range, and can be applied to other mitigation applications.

Description: We thank Annamaria Izzi, Danielle Cholewiak and Genevieve Davis of the NOAA NEFSC for assistance in developing the analyst protocol. We are grateful to the NOAA NEFSC aerial survey observers (Leah Crowe, Pete Duley, Jen Gatzke, Allison Henry, Christin Khan and Karen Vale) and the NEAq aerial survey observers (Angela Bostwick, Marianna Hagbloom and Paul Nagelkirk). Danielle Cholewiak and three anonymous reviewers provided constructive criticism on earlier drafts of the manuscript. Funding for this project was provided by the NOAA NEFSC, NOAA Advanced Sampling Technology Work Group, Environmental Security Technology Certification Program of the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy's Living Marine Resources Program, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Funding from NOAA was facilitated by the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR) under Cooperative Agreement NA14OAR4320158.