The objective of this study was to determine the effect of sodium alginate and methyl cellulose coatings on the respiration rate, firmness, acidity, pH, total soluble solids and desiccation rate of peaches. Coated and uncoated control fruits were stored at 15°C and 40% RH. Respiration rate, moisture loss, and changes in firmness, total titrable acidity, pH and total soluble solids of coated and control samples were determined at 3-day intervals. The respiration rate, moisture loss and changes in quality parameters were much lower in coated peaches as compared with the control. While the maximum acceptable shelf-life at 15°C for control samples was 15 days, the coated samples maintained their acceptability up to 21 and 24 days, respectively, with sodium alginate and methyl cellulose coating. The reduced respiration and transpiration rates as a result of coatings were considered responsible for maintaining the quality and increasing the shelf-life of peaches.
Introduction 263Approach 265Case study -the Pacific salmonids 265
AbstractKnowledge of life-history traits is increasingly recognized as an important criterion for effective management and conservation. Understanding the link between physiology and life history is an important component of this knowledge and in our view is particularly relevant to understanding marine and freshwater fishes. Such linkages (i.e. the life-history/physiology nexus) have been recently advocated for avian systems and here we explore this concept for fish. This paper highlights the gap in fisheries literature with regard to understanding the relationship between physiology and life history, and proposes ways in which this integration could improve fisheries management and conservation. We use three case studies on different fishes (i.e. the Pacific salmon, the grouper complex and tuna) to explore these issues. The physiological structure and function of fish plays a central role in determining stock response to exploitation and changes in the environment. Physiological measures can provide simple indicators necessary for cost-effective monitoring in the evaluation of fisheries sustainability. The declining state of world fisheries and the need to develop and implement restoration strategies, such as hatchery production or protected areas, provides strong incentive to better understand the influence of physiology on population and reproductive dynamics and early life history. Physiology influences key population-level processes, particularly those dealing with reproduction, which must be incorporated into the design and successful implementation of specific and broadscale initiatives (e.g. aquatic protected areas and bycatch reduction). Suggestions are made for how to encourage wider application of the physiology/life-history link, in fisheries management and conservation, as well as more broadly in education and research.
Behavioral observations of lactating Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and their offspring were recorded at four haulout sites in Alaska to determine (1) whether sea lions wean during winter while they are 7 to 9 mo old and (2) whether sea lions using sites in the Gulf of Alaska (the declining endangered population) made longer foraging trips than sea lions in southeast Alaska (where the population appeared larger and healthier). Longer foraging trips are commonly thought to be an indicator of nutritional stress. Eight sets of behavioral observations were made using focal and scan-sampling techniques at haulouts from 1995 to 1998 during three seasons (winter, spring, and summer). Counter to expectations, we found no significant differences between haulout populations in the time that lactating Steller sea lions spent at sea or on shore. This suggests that lactating sea lions did not have more difficulty capturing prey from winter through summer in the area of decline compared to where sea lion numbers increased. Lactating Steller sea lions in both regions did make longer foraging trips in winter than they did in spring and summer. These changes in foraging patterns among seasons were consistent among all years and sites. The proportion of time that immature Steller sea lions suckled declined through the spring to early summer, suggesting that sea lions began supplementing their milk diet with solid food in the spring. We did not observe any sea lions weaning during winter; rather, most appeared to wean at the start of the breeding season when they were 1 or 2 y old. Sea lions observed in southeast Alaska during the late 1990s while population growth was slowing suggest that most males weaned at 2 y and that about 50% of females weaned at 1 y and the remainder at 2 y.
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