Size spectrum ecological models are representations of a community of individuals which grow and change trophic level. A key emergent feature of these models is the size spectrum; the total abundance of all individuals that scales negatively with size. The models we focus on are designed to capture fish community dynamics useful for assessing the community impacts of fishing.We present mizer, a...

There are numerous examples of no-take marine reserves effectively conserving fish stocks within their boundaries. However, no-take reserves can be rendered ineffective and turned into 'paper parks' through poor compliance and weak enforcement of reserve regulations. Long-term monitoring is thus essential to assess the effectiveness of marine reserves in meeting conservation and management obje...

The public perception of fisheries is that they are in crisis and have been for some time. Numerous scientific and popular articles have pointed to the failures of fisheries management that have caused this crisis. These are widely accepted to be overcapacity in fishing fleets, a failure to take the ecosystem effects of fishing into account, and a failure to enforce unpalatable but necessary re...

Fishing is widely considered a leading cause of biodiversity loss in marine environments, but the potential effect on ecosystem processes, such as nutrient fluxes, is less explored. Here, we test how fishing on Caribbean coral reefs influences biodiversity and ecosystem functions provided by the fish community, that is, fish-mediated nutrient capacity. Specifically, we modelled five processes o...

BACKGROUND Understanding the extent to which HIV burden differs across communities and the drivers of local disparities is crucial for an effective and targeted HIV response. We assessed community-level variations in HIV prevalence, risk factors, and treatment and prevention service uptake in Rakai, Uganda. METHODS The Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS) is an open, population-based cohort of...

We identify changes in the pelagic fish community of the tropical Pacific Ocean by comparing recent data collected by observers on longline fishing vessels with data from a 1950s scientific survey when industrial fishing commenced. A major shift in size composition and indices of species abundance and community biomass accompanied the start of fishing. The largest and most abundant predators, s...

Disaster recovery after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 led to a number of challenges and raised issues concerning land rights and housing reconstruction in the affected countries. This paper discusses the resistance to relocation of fishing communities in Chennai, India. Qualitative research methods were used to describe complexities in the debate between the state and the community regarding...

The Seri people, a self-governed community of small-scale fishermen in the Gulf of California, Mexico, have ownership rights to fishing grounds where they harvest highly valuable commercial species of bivalves. Outsiders are eager to gain access, and the community has devised a set of rules to allow them in. Because Seri government officials keep all the economic benefits generated from grantin...

Population and community indicators for the impact of fishing are often estimated using abundance estimates instead of raw sampling observations. Methods are presented for testing null hypotheses of non-significant impacts and where possible, for calculating the statistical power. The indicators considered concern populations (intrinsic growth rate, total mortality, exploitation rate and a new ...