This article describes the proliferation of drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) and analyses subsequent legal questions that arise for fisheries and marine litter management over who is responsible for FADs during their drifting stage. This follows recent concerns about unlicensed FADs drifting through closed areas. This article analyses a case study of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in order to determine State obligations to manage drifting FADs. Analysis concludes that a drifting FAD in the WCPFC Area is ‘fishing’ from deployment to recovery, thereby creating obligations to monitor, control and report drifting FADs, consistent with broader obligations for coastal and flag States. The article recommends strengthening regional management in three ways: implement regional drifting FAD monitoring systems; control deployment of drifting FADs so as to promote recovery and minimize lost gear; and define appropriate responses for FADs that drift into national or closed waters without a license.
Twelve spotted seals (Phoca largha) equipped with satellite-linked tags were tracked in the Bering Sea for 46-272 days during August-June 1991-1994. Alaskan seals were mostly near shore during August-October and 100-200 km offshore in January-June, and were broadly distributed in the region north of the 200-m isobath. Russian seals were located primarily near shore and within 100 km of the 200-m isobath during all months. During August-October, all seals were usually more than 200 km south of the sea-ice edge. In January-June, seals were mostly 0-200 km north of the sea-ice edge, often in areas with extensive ice coverage (7/10-9/10). We tested for habitat selection by determining how frequently a randomly moving seal would have been located in each habitat and comparing that with observed habitat use. Russian seals selected for nearshore and shallow-water areas in September-October and for near shore, within 25 km of the 200-m isobath, and the ice front during November-April. Alaskan seals selected for near shore areas in September-December; for offshore, shallow water, and the ice front in January-February; and for shallow water and pack ice in March-April. Biological processes associated with the highly productive "Green Belt" may have influenced the habitat use of Russian seals, but this did not appear to have been the case with Alaskan seals.
The demand of clean energy calls for efficient and low‐cost hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. Fabricating hybrid catalysts from noble/non‐noble catalysts is a practical route to reducing the consumption of noble metals and enhancing catalytic efficiency. Here, 2H‐MoS2 is etched and edge‐doped with Pt nanoparticles using focused ion beam and photoreduction techniques. Precise comparison of as‐prepared samples demonstrates that the enhancement of catalytic performance can be controlled through tuning the catalyst defect length. On this basis, remarkably high performance is obtained by designing a specific defect array that is superior to commercial Pt/C with less Pt loading and higher mass activity. It has been proved by experimentation and COMSOL Multiphysics simulations that the promotion of catalytic activity not only benefits from the synergistic effect of Pt and edge active sites, but also contributes to the increased potential at the edges of the designed defect. This study sheds light on the mechanism of understanding nanoscale edge‐doped hybrid catalysts and provides a feasible strategy for the full utilization of noble metals.
The loofah gourd is like a natural water tank that stores underground water and drains it out after aging, leaving only a three-dimensional network consisting of hollow and interconnected fibers. This phenomenon inspired us to fabricate a solarenergy-powered sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting device using a loofah sponge. Herein, moisture absorption and photothermal conversion strategies are rationally designed to fast release the absorbed water. This is accomplished by filling the hollow and connected loofah fiber with LiCl and replacing the original luffa peel with a bacterial cellulose (BC)/carbon nanotube (CNT) photothermal conversion membrane. As a result, loofah/BC/CNT (LBC)@LiCl presents a high water absorption capacity of 2.65 g g −1 at 90% relative humidity (RH) and fast water release performance of 1.33 kg m −2 h −1 under 1.0 sun. Noticeably, ∼1.92−2.40 kg LBC@LiCl can produce daily drinking water for adults (2000−2500 mL) in one night outdoors at ∼66% RH, proving that it is a feasible method to overcome the drinking water shortage of poor and arid areas using cheap and renewable biomass material.
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