Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Le genre Thecostegites EDWARDS et HAIME, 1849 (Tabulata) dans le Frasnien de la Belgique
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Les Coraux des récifs de marbre rouge "F2j".
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Nouveaux sondages pour l'étude hydrologique des eaux chaudes à Chaudfontaine
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Looking for the key to preservation of fossil marine vertebrates in the Pisco Formation of Peru: new insights from a small dolphin skeleton
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Validating a biophysical dispersal model with the early life-history traits of common sole (Solea solea L.)
- Larval dispersal and juvenile survival are crucial in determining variation in recruitment, stock size and adult distribution of commercially important fish. This study investigates the dispersal of early-life stages of common sole (Solea solea L.) in the southern North Sea, both empirically and through modeling. Age at different life-history events of juvenile flatfish sampled along the coasts of Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in 2013, 2014 and 2016, was determined through the counting of daily growth rings in the otoliths. Juveniles captured between August and October were estimated to be on average 140 days old with an average pelagic larval duration of 34 days. The hatching period was esti- mated between early April and mid-May followed by arrival and settlement in the nurseries between May and mid-June. Growth rates were higher off the Belgian coast than in the other nursery areas, especially in 2013, possibly due to a post-settlement differentiation. Empirical pelagic larval duration and settlement distributions were compared with the L AR- VAE &C O larval dispersal model, which combines local hydrodynamics in the North Sea with sole larval behavior. Yearly predicted and observed settlement matched partially, but the model estimated a longer pelagic phase. The observations fitted even better with the mod- elled average (1995–2015) distribution curves. Aberrant results for the small juvenile sole sampled along the UK coast in March 2016, led to the hypothesis of a winter disruption in the deposition of daily growth rings, potentially related to starvation and lower food availabil- ity. The similarities between measured and modelled distribution curves cross-validated both types of estimations and accredited daily ageing of juveniles as a useful method to cali- brate biophysical models and to understand early-life history of fish, both important tools in support of efficient fisheries management strategies.
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Study assignment to determine the conservation status of the Vlakte van de Raan Natura 2000 area
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Potential for Mesopelagic Fishery Compared to Economy and Fisheries Dynamics in Current Large Scale Danish Pelagic Fishery
- Mesopelagic fish species represent a large potentially unexploited resource for the fishing industry and the fish meal, oil, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical production. However, thorough investigation on ecological sustainability and socio- economic viability are fundamental prerequisites for potential exploitation. The current study explores the economic viability of a potential mesopelagic fishery investigating minimum catch rates, under the assumption of previous assessments of biological sustainability of such exploitation. We analyzed fishery data from the North-East Atlantic fisheries of the Danish large pelagic fleet from 2015 to 2019, by comparing the combined data on fishing dynamics and cost-structures with data from interviews of key pelagic producer organization representatives to develop scenarios of profitability. The results show full year-round fleet occupation with the ongoing fisheries, exposing the need of switching from existing activities, or investing into new vessels for conducting potential mesopelagic fishery. Economic analyses revealed that the minimum revenue to break even (zero profit) by trip varies among métiers between 60,000 and 200,000 euro showing strong positive correlation with vessel sizes. High profitability was discovered for herring, Atlantic mackerel and blue whiting fisheries while low profitability was observed for the Norway pout fishery. Due to the lack of mesopelagic fishery data, different scenarios of profitability were investigated as informed by the pelagic catch sector stakeholder perceptions of prices and costs and compared to current economic dynamics. A high break-even revenue per trip was forecasted given the increased perceived costs for fuel, modifications of gears and on-board processing methods and potential new vessel investments. High profitability may be reached if the catches exceed 220–1,060 tons per trip depending on costs and vessel storage capacity. If the conservation methods are improved from current refrigerated sea water, fishing trips could last longer than 5 days, being the major limiting economic factor for potential mesopelagic fishery. Future investigations on realistic mesopelagic catches trip durations and spatio-temporal distribution of fisheries in relation to location, resource abundance, fishing rights, storage and conservation methods will be essential to test the robustness of the scenarios proposed in this study, and will in turn benefit of the economic requirements evaluated herein.
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From plate to plug: The impact of offshore renewables on European fisheries and the role of marine spatial planning
- Offshore renewables (OR), such as offshore wind farms, are a key pillar to address increasing energy demands and the global transition to a carbon-free power sector. The transition to ever more occupied marine spaces, often facilitated by marine spatial planning (MSP), increases the conflict potential with free ranging marine sectors such as fisheries. Here, we quantified for the first time the direct impact of current and future OR development on fisheries across European seas. We defined direct impact as the average annual fishing effort (h) overlapping with OR planning sites and applied an ensemble approach by deploying and harmonising various fisheries data to optimise spatial coverage for the European seas. The North Sea region will remain the centre of OR development for a long time, but a substantial increase of conflict potential between these sectors will also occur in other European sea basins after 2025. Across all sea basins, fishing fleets deploying bottom contacting gears targeting flatfish and crustaceans are and will be affected the most by the already constructed and planned OR. Our results provide a solid basis towards an understanding of the socio-economic effects of OR development on European fisheries. We argue that European MSP processes need to adopt common strategies to produce standardised and harmonised socio-economic data to understand implications of OR on free-ranging marine activities such as fisheries.
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Neolithic fishing in the South Caucasus as seen from Aruchlo I, Georgia
- A B S T R A C T The spread of the Neolithic way of life from its centers of origins remains one of the central topics of archae- ological research, with ongoing debates about the importance of economic, demographic, and cultural changes in the transition. The Southern Caucasus, while close to one area where agriculture emerged, has remained understudied regarding this spread. Here, information about the role of fish, a topic that has been almost completely neglected until now is presented. Fish remains are scarce in this region. Moreover, isotope analyses seem to indicate that freshwater fish were not an important food source. For the first time, fishbones have been found in larger quantities at the site of Aruchlo I from some layers in ditches. It is the largest assemblage of fish bones safely dated to the sixth millennium BC in the South Caucasus. The interpretation of these finds is not straightforward due to the lack of other comparable finds and the absence of fishing gear. Fishing appears to have been conducted in the waters close to the settlement. It is unclear if fishing was a year-round activity, although the way these bones were concentrated in different layers in the ditches suggests that this was not the case. We think that the bounteous catch of spawning fishes at certain times of the year can be linked to special social events like feasting, showing the importance of a food resource that is usually greatly underrepresented archaeologically. Introducing more precise recovery methods for animal remains at other excavations will hopefully refine our understanding.
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Comments on some Syringothyridoidea (Brachiopoda) from the Carboniferous of North Africa
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An annotated catalogue of types of Silurian–Devonian brachiopod species from southern Belgium and northern France in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (1870–1945), with notes on those curated in other Belgian and foreign institutions
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Recent thecideide brachiopods from a submarine cave in the Department of Mayotte (France), northern Mozambique Channel
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Reassignment of Pentamerus davyi Oehlert to Zdimir robustus (Barrande) (Brachiopoda, Devonian): Stratigraphic and palaeogeographic implications
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On some Mississippian (Carboniferous) brachiopods from neptunian dykes of the Harz Mountains (central Germany)
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Brachiopod faunas from the basinal facies of southeastern Thuringia (Germany) before and after the Hangenberg Crisis (Devonian–Carboniferous boundary) Article
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An attempt of time calibration of the Tournaisian and Viséan stages (Lower and Middle Mississippian) based on long duration orbitally forced sequences
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Revision of the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary in Belgium and surrounding areas: a scenario
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Deep-water brachiopods at the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary (Hangenberg Crisis): the Thuringian data (Germany)
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Tournaisian and Viséan (Carboniferous) brachiopods from neptunian dykes of the Harz Mountains (Germany)
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Field trip A1: The Uppermost Devonian and Lower Carboniferous in the type area of Southern Belgium
