tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22125418145787838602024-03-08T09:07:32.975-08:00Vitality: heuristic assessing impairment and predicting survival and mortalityOn the use of reflex action impairment and injury as biomarkers for vitality with linking to sublethal and lethal effects of stress, injury, and disease in fish, elasmobranchs, invertebrates, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals; a natural history of species reflex actionsmichael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-37943656016072539072018-01-13T15:50:00.000-08:002018-02-26T12:06:58.003-08:00Vitality, stress, and survival<br />
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Image: <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/03/do-you-have-a-slow-or-racing-heartbeat/">Cleveland Clinic</a>; vitality distinguishes characteristics of survival (heart beat and stroke volume, nerve, muscle, and organ function).<br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">In our efforts to promote health and well-being in ecosystems and their components, we test hypotheses about the causes for impairment by assessing stress resulting from stressors (injury, hypoxia, pressure, xenobiotic, temperature, capture, hunger, fatigue, and disease). Typically, individual biomarkers (genetic, physiological, and behavioral) are measured and assumed to be correlated with survival. Vitality is a biomarker that reflects the whole animal condition after stress induction. Full vitality is characterized by consistently present defined reflex actions and is the constant control for hypothesis testing. Impairment is measured as loss of reflex action traits. The relationship between reflex impairment and survival is weighted by sequence of impairment. Sensitive reflex actions are impaired by low levels of stressors (sublethal). More resistant reflex actions become impaired at higher levels of stressors (lethal). </span><br />
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Vitality can be a subjective score for animal condition based on observation of injury, activity, and reflex action impairment. These vitality scores are correlated with survival and delayed mortality; where size and taxa sensitivity to stressors interact to control impairment. Levels of vitality can be indicated by condition class impairment; excellent, fair, poor, moribund, based on evaluation of activity and injury (<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/03/11/icesjms.fsv039.abstract">Benoît et al. 2015</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479717308320"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238); color: #551a8b;">Morfin et al. 2017</span></a>). </div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">A vitality heuristic based on trait classes of injury and reflex impairment (</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238); color: #551a8b;"><a href="https://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/p/list-of-potential-reflex-actions_9.html">see tables</a></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">) can be correlated with survival and delayed mortality. The index replicate is calculated as the number of impaired classes / total number of classes (ranges from 0 to 1).</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">This index is a combination of individual injury types and reflex actions with differing statistical distributions. As such it cannot supply a precise parametric estimate for vitality described <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479717308320">above</a>.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> Instead the index is a summary expression (<a href="https://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-observe-several-reflex-actions.html">see below</a>) of whole animal reactivity and impairment that is useful for rapid in-situ determination of stress levels and adjustment of experimental conditions for hypothesis testing (<a href="http://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Brownscombe-2016-best-angling-practices.pdf">Brownscombe et al. 2017</a>, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0179092">Meeremans, et al. 2017</a>).</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-24655516498698583152016-11-13T14:14:00.000-08:002016-11-17T04:01:01.915-08:00Reflex impairment in largemouth bass shows interactions of gear type, fight time, and air exposure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x28vvUlm1gw/WCjjCBdI13I/AAAAAAAAD80/D7RF04NkFLU8IrbauXi6xZDAldd8ZK87QCLcB/s1600/Largemouth-Bass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x28vvUlm1gw/WCjjCBdI13I/AAAAAAAAD80/D7RF04NkFLU8IrbauXi6xZDAldd8ZK87QCLcB/s400/Largemouth-Bass.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Largemouth bass, <a href="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/largemouth_bass">Bemep/Flicker</a><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00028487.2016.1208116">Cooke et al. 2016</a> examined reflex impairment in largemouth bass captured during the summer (25-27</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 9.3px; line-height: normal;"><sup>o</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">C). Excerpts from their paper detail study findings: </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“…little is known about how gear strength and fight time interact with air exposure duration to ultimately influence the level of exhaustion experienced by fish at time of release. Here we systematically varied fishing gear strength (ultralight versus medium-heavy) and air exposure duration (0 versus 120 s) when targeting Largemouth Bass <i>Micropterus salmoides</i>. We relied on reflex impairment (using five different reflexes) as a real-time indicator of fish condition.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“One of the more interesting observations from this study was that fish that were landed rapidly and thus in better condition were more difficult to handle, which led to longer air exposure. We are aware of anglers and scientists that have mused about the trade-offs between fight time and ease of handling, but to our knowledge this is the first study to formally assess this idea.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“In this study we used two extremes in gear type and suggest that moderate strength gear likely represents the best compromise in terms of achieving an appropriate level of exhaustion that would facilitate handling and hook removal without leading to complete exhaustion.”</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--fXFfeHFz9M/WCjju0mR8TI/AAAAAAAAD84/QAOus2-gAgIteNPneEOw2h0h3-Q9LeR0ACLcB/s1600/fig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--fXFfeHFz9M/WCjju0mR8TI/AAAAAAAAD84/QAOus2-gAgIteNPneEOw2h0h3-Q9LeR0ACLcB/s320/fig.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Reflex impairment in captured largemouth bass, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00028487.2016.1208116">Cooke et al. 2016</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">“Using reflex indicators, we showed clearly that there was a gradient in reflex impairment with Largemouth Bass; fish captured on UL gear had significantly higher reflex impairment than those captured with MH gear with no air exposure, while fish captured with both gear types had similarly high reflex impairment when exposed to the air.”</span></div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-80101937504901529542016-10-24T11:06:00.000-07:002016-10-24T11:06:52.180-07:00Yelloweye rockfish barotrauma and reflex impairment after capture in shallow and deep water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y84PegxCSKE/WA5KQvatRZI/AAAAAAAAD7g/PLoogApkCWcl5cak7qGu-9z2HnCw_cFHQCLcB/s1600/Yelloweye-rockfish-McDaniel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y84PegxCSKE/WA5KQvatRZI/AAAAAAAAD7g/PLoogApkCWcl5cak7qGu-9z2HnCw_cFHQCLcB/s400/Yelloweye-rockfish-McDaniel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Yelloweye rockfish, <a href="http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/consultation/sara-lep/spec-esp-profiles/yellow-jaune/index-eng.htm">Neil McDaniel</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783616302971">Rankin et al. 2016</a> report on barotrauma and reflex impairment observed for recompressed yelloweye rockfish in situ. They evaluated orientation, reaction to noise and motion stimuli, and visual and swimming capability. </span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rNwiulBLOI/WA5LtO95Y9I/AAAAAAAAD7o/KHTaWDX6nUoBZNVZMMmi3q3pBvT4I5QjQCLcB/s1600/rockfish%2Borient2%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rNwiulBLOI/WA5LtO95Y9I/AAAAAAAAD7o/KHTaWDX6nUoBZNVZMMmi3q3pBvT4I5QjQCLcB/s400/rockfish%2Borient2%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Behavior of recompressed fish. Top fish, presence of orientation and vision-dependent movement. Bottom fish, absence of vertical orientation in live fish. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783616302971">Rankin et al. 2016</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783616302971">authors conclude</a>, “Recompression is a valuable treatment for discarded rockfish that would otherwise be too buoyant to return to depth without assistance. However, the loss of reflex actions as basic as vertical orientation, along with the evidence we found of visual compromise in deep-dwelling recompressed yelloweye rockfish, is concerning, as are the long-lasting physical injuries and lack of neutral buoyancy observed in the weeks after capture and recompression. At a minimum, these effects indicate limits to a rockfish’s ability to move effectively, find refuge, and avoid predators upon release.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The findings from these two studies, which reveal severe and lasting injuries, as well as behavioral compromise of recompressed deep-water yelloweye rockfish, reinforce the importance of avoiding fishing contact with deep-dwelling yelloweye rockfish and maintaining spatially-managed rockfish conservation areas closed to fishing.”</span></div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-31426580061627999012016-08-31T16:11:00.000-07:002016-09-03T11:33:35.457-07:00Stressors, vitality impairment, and survival of fishes<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Developing rapid visual in situ trait assessment (reflex actions, injury) </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; text-align: center;">associated with vitality impairment.</span></div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/uU-w8nCTn28">Video slideshow</a> (2:06) discussing stressors, vitality impairment, and survival of fishes in fisheries contexts.</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-91881651305581986052016-08-19T06:05:00.000-07:002016-08-19T08:47:36.556-07:00Reflex impairment and vitality in white sturgeon exposed to simulated capture stressors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-doYE11NvNOU/V7b9-SaQoTI/AAAAAAAADyg/8oGm52Sn46ouq0pq4mAjUSoySVusUshnQCLcB/s1600/fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-doYE11NvNOU/V7b9-SaQoTI/AAAAAAAADyg/8oGm52Sn46ouq0pq4mAjUSoySVusUshnQCLcB/s400/fish.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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White sturgeon, <a href="http://www.neef.ca/projects/white-sturgeon-conservation-fish-culture-program/17">NEEF 2016</a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A study (<a href="http://m.conphys.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/17/conphys.cow031.full.pdf?keytype=ref&ijkey=wQyP8YlcV9m7VWl?view=full.pdf&uritype=cgi&ijkey=wQyP8YlcV9m7VWl&keytype=ref">McLean et al. 2016</a>) of reflex impairment in white sturgeon exposed to sustained exercise and elevated temperature showed whole-animal stress responses to simulated capture. The RAMP impairment index (a simple proportion of measured reflex actions that were impaired) was used to quantify relationships between treatment times, recovery times, and RAMP score.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsemHpYEjzQ/V7cBCGDY7EI/AAAAAAAADys/mcWCeY_TfLwKCGyEaJGKC11UvXQOXbR7QCLcB/s1600/figs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsemHpYEjzQ/V7cBCGDY7EI/AAAAAAAADys/mcWCeY_TfLwKCGyEaJGKC11UvXQOXbR7QCLcB/s400/figs.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The upper figure shows increasing RAMP score with increasing exercise (minutes) in summer (filled circle) and winter (filled triangle) temperatures. The lower figure shows increasing recovery time with increasing RAMP score in summer and winter temperatures. Figures adapted from <a href="http://m.conphys.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/17/conphys.cow031.full.pdf?keytype=ref&ijkey=wQyP8YlcV9m7VWl?view=full.pdf&uritype=cgi&ijkey=wQyP8YlcV9m7VWl&keytype=ref">McLean et al. 2016</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The authors state: “Our study demonstrates that reflex impairment (RAMP) indices are a promising tool to predict post-release vitality in white sturgeon exposed to acute fisheries encounters, such as an angling event. The reflexes used in our RAMP protocol were chosen so that multiple neurological and/or muscle pathways underlying the overall stress response were tested. What we found was that sturgeon exposed to fishing-related stressors had higher RAMP scores and took significantly longer to recover than control fish. The relationship between reflex impairment and stressor intensity (i.e. fishery-related treatment) indicates that sturgeon are undergoing whole-animal (or tertiary) responses to varying degrees of capture stress. Reflex impairment indicators were surprisingly sensitive to fisheries stressors. Control fish had all reflexes intact, whereas multiple reflexes were absent after fish were treated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">It is important to note that it was not the aim of this study to produce accurate mortality estimates for use in C&R fisheries, but rather to explore the use of RAMP on a sturgeon species frequently angled in the wild. We recognize the subjectivity of a whole-animal assessment and categorization; however, given the statistically significant difference in RAMP scores of observationally ‘recovered’ and ‘unrecovered’ sturgeon, we suggest that RAMP is an effective tool for predicting a lowered state of vitality post-release and that this suggests a continuum to an increased risk of delayed mortality.”</span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-32765384115257680662016-06-29T14:44:00.000-07:002016-06-29T14:44:03.402-07:00Assessment of reflex impairment and mortality in discarded deep-sea giant isopods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PLytLhe2SgM/V3Q6x-ftTOI/AAAAAAAADwk/b7i7ZGhUMbA9rxXb5qOMnfPNjEz_uf_qgCLcB/s1600/Giant%2Bisopod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PLytLhe2SgM/V3Q6x-ftTOI/AAAAAAAADwk/b7i7ZGhUMbA9rxXb5qOMnfPNjEz_uf_qgCLcB/s400/Giant%2Bisopod.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giant isopod, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_isopod">Wikipedia</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giant isopods were subjected to simulated capture and discarding by <a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/06/15/icesjms.fsw087.abstract">Talwar et al. (2016)</a>. Reflex impairment and mortality were induced by capture, exposure to air, and time at surface before discarding. Reflex actions tested are included in Table 1.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3W-jOkF4aFg/V3Q8rcIQVwI/AAAAAAAADww/c40Jpb4RA18ssfrhkZ2C3adHy3wTRw_VACLcB/s1600/table1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3W-jOkF4aFg/V3Q8rcIQVwI/AAAAAAAADww/c40Jpb4RA18ssfrhkZ2C3adHy3wTRw_VACLcB/s400/table1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/06/15/icesjms.fsw087.abstract"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talwar et al. (2016)</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six reflex actions were tested in control animals. Impairment of antennae extension and pleopod movement were not associated with mortality and were removed from the mortality analysis. Figure 1 shows the relationship between increasing reflex impairment and increasing mortality. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uP9Y7ibxfHA/V3Q9qKWCTZI/AAAAAAAADw8/mkXHvdDb5EERAnZztLfqfBiwb6_uZyCDgCLcB/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uP9Y7ibxfHA/V3Q9qKWCTZI/AAAAAAAADw8/mkXHvdDb5EERAnZztLfqfBiwb6_uZyCDgCLcB/s400/fig1.jpg" width="383" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/06/15/icesjms.fsw087.abstract"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talwar et al. (2016)</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Note that an impairment score of 0 was associated with 50% mortality. Clearly this score does not mean that animals were not impaired. Stressed animals were initially impaired without associated mortality, as indicated by the loss of antennae extension and pleopod movement. Removal of these two reflex actions from scoring and the mortality analysis may have produced a tighter analysis, but fails to show the sublethal effects of the experimental stressors. </span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-3319925243461214352016-06-07T15:01:00.000-07:002016-06-08T03:57:11.217-07:00A bigger picture: factors and traits that contribute to vitality and survival of discards in fisheries <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWuIUH-6sOs/V1dB3C1ah3I/AAAAAAAADvo/jMVWgSA0-qgjF409fDT2ccuLpq0uH2WpgCLcB/s1600/fuzzy%2Bmodel1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWuIUH-6sOs/V1dB3C1ah3I/AAAAAAAADvo/jMVWgSA0-qgjF409fDT2ccuLpq0uH2WpgCLcB/s400/fuzzy%2Bmodel1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2015/WKMEDS/04%20WKMEDS4%202015%20Report.pdf">ICES WKMEDS4 report (2015)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A conceptual model for discard survival in fisheries is developed in the <a href="http://ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2015/WKMEDS/04%20WKMEDS4%202015%20Report.pdf">ICES WKMEDS4 report (2015)</a>. In this concept, survival is linked to species sensitivity, injury, and predation, through fishing factors, environment, and size. The expanded view shows potential factors and traits in more detail.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Po8OwhzWd3Y/V1dCEhu6ypI/AAAAAAAADvw/KhOBWpf5UNg1JHae8TPtK6z9z0C6g6H2QCLcB/s1600/fuzzy%2Bmodel2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Po8OwhzWd3Y/V1dCEhu6ypI/AAAAAAAADvw/KhOBWpf5UNg1JHae8TPtK6z9z0C6g6H2QCLcB/s320/fuzzy%2Bmodel2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2015/WKMEDS/04%20WKMEDS4%202015%20Report.pdf">ICES WKMEDS4 report (2015)</a> Click on images.</span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-44898207455201069602016-06-06T13:33:00.000-07:002018-01-14T07:44:58.802-08:00Sport catch and release (C&R) fishing: assessing captured fish condition (vitality) with injury and reflex impairment <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EmviYSsKvog/V1XZwnh-iQI/AAAAAAAADu4/6l0CziTtcHwcXZZ4bG4IONfrr1HMP007gCLcB/s1600/fish-cpr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EmviYSsKvog/V1XZwnh-iQI/AAAAAAAADu4/6l0CziTtcHwcXZZ4bG4IONfrr1HMP007gCLcB/s400/fish-cpr.jpg" width="377" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.fix.com/blog/catch-and-release-fishing/">Fix.com (2015)</a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A review and synthesis of tools and tactics for best practices in sport C&R fishing is made by <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578361630131X">Brownscombe et al. (2017)</a>. A key factor for conservation of species fished with C&R is the assessment of fish condition (vitality) and associated survival after release. This assessment is conducted primarily with observation of injury and reflex impairment that results from fishing practices. Fishers can then make educated adjustments to their fishing practices (capture gear, playing time, handling, release, recovery, or harvest) to enhance future species recruitment in sport fisheries.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iZ2gaQqii6w/V1Xa1-ndEBI/AAAAAAAADvE/7Au4aleDktc1vM8cXfjXMCjSwyytq2WTACLcB/s1600/table%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iZ2gaQqii6w/V1Xa1-ndEBI/AAAAAAAADvE/7Au4aleDktc1vM8cXfjXMCjSwyytq2WTACLcB/s400/table%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reflex tests for C&R fishing, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578361630131X">Brownscombe et al. (2017)</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2_trCQkHy6U/V1hXRy-T5pI/AAAAAAAADwM/zFm_IW__WEAjxHauMKcbri5NU5EnWfiegCLcB/s1600/fig%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2_trCQkHy6U/V1hXRy-T5pI/AAAAAAAADwM/zFm_IW__WEAjxHauMKcbri5NU5EnWfiegCLcB/s400/fig%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578361630131X">Brownscombe et al. (2017)</a> concluded that “As catch-and-release grows in popularity, so must angler education and implementation of best angling practices to ensure the sustainability of this practice and conservation of fish and aquatic environments. Sustainable catch-and-release angling is a joint venture where it is the responsibility of management agencies and scientists to communicate and evaluate the best angling practices, while anglers need to be educated and use the correct tools and tactics to maximize the likelihood that released fish survive. In this regard, catch-and-release angling is perhaps among the most successful and rewarding conservation partnerships.”</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UZypb_bejFw/V1XboqArH9I/AAAAAAAADvQ/iHKTXnm6LGwUaeFa1y0KxuWAP0ab_hucwCLcB/s1600/catch_and_release_practices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UZypb_bejFw/V1XboqArH9I/AAAAAAAADvQ/iHKTXnm6LGwUaeFa1y0KxuWAP0ab_hucwCLcB/s400/catch_and_release_practices.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.thousandislandslife.com/BackIssues/Archive/tabid/393/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1592/A-Bass-is-Too-Valuable-to-Catch-Only-Once.aspx">C&R practices, Thousand Islands Life (2014)</a>.</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-16952939956266633732016-02-07T08:27:00.000-08:002016-02-08T06:31:53.882-08:00Why observe several reflex actions together to measure animal vitality?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YbyguKygE8M/Vrdf-lpekFI/AAAAAAAADkU/yxB7R-64SCc/s1600/fig%2Belephant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YbyguKygE8M/Vrdf-lpekFI/AAAAAAAADkU/yxB7R-64SCc/s400/fig%2Belephant.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.philipchircop.com/post/25783275888/seeing-the-full-elephant-its-a-tree-its-a">Philipchircop 2012</a></div>
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Why observe several reflex actions together to measure animal vitality? The short answer is that animals are whole beings; a summary collection of component parts and their interactions in response to stimuli.</div>
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Animals are constructed of biochemical and behavioral components that interact to form a whole; capable of responding to stressors. The interactions of stressors and behavior are also important for prediction of vitality impairment and survival. Reflex actions are fixed behavior patterns that include biochemical, muscle, organ, and nerve functions.</div>
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Efforts to identify factors that can control vitality and predict post-release survival and mortality of captured animals generally strive to identify single important variables. For example, temperature changes, injury, exhaustion, and hypoxia can control vitality and survival. For simplicity, single factors are statistically modeled as predictors for survival. Factor interactions are rarely considered because of their complexity.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Patterns of vitality impairment vary with species and contexts. Observing impairment of several reflex actions and possible injury in a defined context integrates the effects of multiple stressors, contexts, and their interactions on animal impairment and survival. Measurement of single reflex action impairment can miss the range of vitality that spans from excellent to moribund.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uaxRCsS1JOI/Vrdgud3GTuI/AAAAAAAADkY/UngqdOabX24/s1600/fig%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uaxRCsS1JOI/Vrdgud3GTuI/AAAAAAAADkY/UngqdOabX24/s400/fig%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10641262.2012.689025">Stoner 2012</a> (crabs)</div>
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Below are several examples of the cascading nature of impairment observed as individual reflex actions cease to function in a spectrum of stressor intensities. Reflex actions with higher proportion of impairment are impaired before those with lower percentage. Note that patterns of impairment vary with taxa and context.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SYb2a4g2-_Q/VrdhFBnzHyI/AAAAAAAADkc/EPbP8zHInOY/s1600/fig3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SYb2a4g2-_Q/VrdhFBnzHyI/AAAAAAAADkc/EPbP8zHInOY/s400/fig3.jpg" width="386" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00331.x/abstract">Davis 2010</a> (walleye pollock, coho salmon, northern rock sole, Pacific halibut)</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9L087b1-93g/Vrdi2oiCe3I/AAAAAAAADko/zZA3zH9zo2g/s1600/fig4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9L087b1-93g/Vrdi2oiCe3I/AAAAAAAADko/zZA3zH9zo2g/s400/fig4.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v21/n1/p13-23/">Stoot et al. 2013</a> (turtles)</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--hfLSoCDWPA/VrdjyrVLQ7I/AAAAAAAADks/kXSi67M-kzU/s1600/fig5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--hfLSoCDWPA/VrdjyrVLQ7I/AAAAAAAADks/kXSi67M-kzU/s400/fig5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/06/icesjms.fsv252.abstract">Uhlmann et al. 2016</a> (plaice, sole)</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AWyHLgDhWWI/VrdkPp2IIcI/AAAAAAAADkw/pRJ0bOSSWmE/s1600/fig6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AWyHLgDhWWI/VrdkPp2IIcI/AAAAAAAADkw/pRJ0bOSSWmE/s400/fig6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1572/">Forrestal 2016</a> (triggerfish)</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mCfiHEKTI8U/Vrdkjs0W7-I/AAAAAAAADk0/9kULsSSgaNQ/s1600/fig7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mCfiHEKTI8U/Vrdkjs0W7-I/AAAAAAAADk0/9kULsSSgaNQ/s400/fig7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1572/">Forrestal 2016</a> (yellowtail snapper)</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7NNSeezc3Xc/VrdkyFkcgiI/AAAAAAAADk4/wcSy7iquH3I/s1600/fig8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7NNSeezc3Xc/VrdkyFkcgiI/AAAAAAAADk4/wcSy7iquH3I/s400/fig8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://conphys.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/1/cot036.abstract?sid=34bf616e-6243-4c9a-8add-e482050bfc6a">Danylchuk et al. 2014</a> (lemon shark)</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4EI9Vpjlo0E/VrdlGZfvNfI/AAAAAAAADk8/VMZmQgxWzwI/s1600/fig9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4EI9Vpjlo0E/VrdlGZfvNfI/AAAAAAAADk8/VMZmQgxWzwI/s400/fig9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098114002044?np=y">McArley and Herbert 2014</a> (snapper)</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gm7N-b1f_U0/Vrdli7c8iwI/AAAAAAAADlA/zVuaVjRwkds/s1600/fig10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gm7N-b1f_U0/Vrdli7c8iwI/AAAAAAAADlA/zVuaVjRwkds/s400/fig10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ab/v23/n1/p101-108/">Sampson et al. 2014</a> (mottled mojarra)</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IHe-5BOozM0/Vrdl6FfZgAI/AAAAAAAADlE/X01ScyNd_G4/s1600/fig11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IHe-5BOozM0/Vrdl6FfZgAI/AAAAAAAADlE/X01ScyNd_G4/s400/fig11.jpg" width="321" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1074/stoner.pdf">Stoner 2009</a> (Tanner crab, snow crab)</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOejAQn1NBc/VrdmMJUApGI/AAAAAAAADlI/e_Z3mVEd8X4/s1600/fig12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOejAQn1NBc/VrdmMJUApGI/AAAAAAAADlI/e_Z3mVEd8X4/s400/fig12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783611003924">Stoner 2012</a> (spot prawn)</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-44724872838368363202016-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:002016-01-20T09:28:05.783-08:00Using vitality scores to predict post-release survival of plaice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXGXkSfmej0/Vp-4xzSkeQI/AAAAAAAADjo/CjY04whz5Zg/s1600/plepla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXGXkSfmej0/Vp-4xzSkeQI/AAAAAAAADjo/CjY04whz5Zg/s400/plepla.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-right;">European plaice (<a href="http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/species.asp?item=ZG9030">Picton & Morrow, 2015</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: -webkit-right;"><span style="background-color: #e7e7e7;">)</span></span></div>
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A recent study of plaice after capture and release from a beam trawl determined that vitality scoring can be used to predict post-release survival (<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/06/icesjms.fsv252.abstract">Uhlmann et al. 2016</a>). Vitality scores included observation of reflex impairment and injury. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dNvKHv-xl_g/Vp-7qDVv4kI/AAAAAAAADj0/IKE8lah1bh8/s1600/fig%2BUhlmann%2B2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dNvKHv-xl_g/Vp-7qDVv4kI/AAAAAAAADj0/IKE8lah1bh8/s400/fig%2BUhlmann%2B2016.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Figure from <a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/06/icesjms.fsv252.abstract">Uhlmann et al. 2016</a>.</div>
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The authors conclude: "<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">Our results illustrate that a vitality score and TL were the most relevant explanatory variables to predict post-release survival probability of plaice. In agreement with other post-release survival studies (Yochum et al., 2015), 14 d of post-release monitoring was appropriate to capture almost all fishing-related mortality events. Although one fish died after 21 d, > 60% of mortalities occurred within the first 4 d. Reflexes of both plaice and sole were sensitive to capture stress, in particular air exposure, although some of the differences may have been related to an observer effect.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">The authors noted reservations about scoring vitality: "</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">As with other animal behaviour scores, reducing a continuous spectrum of responses to presence/absence observations to improve practicality (Cooke et al., 2013) require a well-defined protocol, and assessments of bias, especially when multiple observers are involved (i.e. inter-observer reliability, Tuyttens et al., 2014). Although scoring binary as opposed to ordinal or continuous responses removes some subjectivity in interpretation (Tuyttens et al., 2009), it may still persist by abstracting from a continuous scale (Tuyttens et al., 2014).</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 14px;">Uhlmann et al. (2016) comments about binary scoring expose a misconception about vitality scoring using the RAMP approach. For RAMP, presence or absence of </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">individual</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 14px;"> reflex actions and injuries are given a binary score and then summed to derive an ordinal or continuous vitality score, representing the sum total of impairment. The vitality score is then correlated with survival or mortality for samples of animals (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00331.x/abstract">Davis 2010</a>, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10641262.2012.689025#abstract">Stoner 2012</a>).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 14px;">Future research is suggested to refine the vitality method: "</span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;">Further research is needed to disentangle the effects of observer, and expectation bias on reflex impairment scores, especially in studies where more than one scorer is involved. Accuracy of scores may also be improved, if researcher handling periods before reflex (and injury) assessments are kept consistently as short as possible. Finally, the utility of RAMP as a proxy to predict post-release survival will depend on both laboratory-based and field calibration studies where key technical, environmental, and biological drivers of post-release survival are included."</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-62895834324980893582015-09-21T16:13:00.000-07:002015-09-22T05:11:32.101-07:00Importance of context for RAMP curves used to predict mortality and survival of stressed animals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lagoFM_gSDg/VgCMr1YzyQI/AAAAAAAADic/pctEmBfGGX4/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lagoFM_gSDg/VgCMr1YzyQI/AAAAAAAADic/pctEmBfGGX4/s400/fig1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Relationships between reflex/buoyancy impairment and post-capture mortality for Atlantic cod (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783615300771">Humborstad et al. 2016</a>).</div>
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Humborstad et al. (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783615300771">2016</a>) looked at the relationship between reflex/buoyancy impairment and post-capture mortality for Atlantic cod exposed to fishing stressors. RAMP curves were generated for (a) fish exposed to laboratory simulated forced swimming, air exposure, and net abrasion, (b) field longline capture, and (c) field pot capture. The authors concluded that:</div>
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“It appears that specific RAMP curves may be needed for gears that involve different stressors, including consideration of any additional stress associated with captive observation of delayed mortality. Differences in stressors and holding conditions certainly reduce the general applicability of RAMP across different stressors and fisheries. However, once a RAMP curve has been established for a specific set of stressors or gears, the strong relationship between reflex impairment and mortality shows the potential for predicting mortality outcomes, especially at high and low levels of impairment.”</div>
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“Reflex impairment could predict mortality among fish caught by pot and longline. However, different RAMP curves were observed between laboratory and field conditions, indicating that careful consideration must be given to the types of stressors present and captive-observation conditions for delayed mortality when comparing RAMP curves for different fisheries. The inclusion of buoyancy status in modelling greatly improved mortality predictability.”</div>
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Science and medicine generally do not know proximate and ultimate causes for why fish and other animals die. This lack of mechanistic knowledge precludes us from direct understanding and prediction of death. However, we can observe correlates with death; animal size, stressors, vitality impairment, and physiological impairment. These correlates can be used to identify risk factors and predict immediate and delayed mortality. </div>
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Successful mortality and survival prediction requires that the context of animal exposure to stressor risk and recovery be included in any experimental analysis of this problem. We cannot simply identify stressors, impairment, or physiological numbers and say that they will result in a particular mortality (<a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/f02-139#.VgCOQbSGqTu">Davis 2002</a>). RAMP curves clearly show the importance of context for exposure to stressors and potential mortality or survival (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00331.x/abstract">Davis 2010</a>). The question of interactions among stressors and their context has recently been elaborated for freshwater and marine systems (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13028/abstract">Jackson et al. </a>in press).</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-68206515529426006782015-09-02T12:16:00.000-07:002015-09-08T14:51:05.605-07:00What is RAMP: reflex action mortality predictor?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VcSbs5I9KZQ/Veiw2tBNiFI/AAAAAAAADhY/5tu3xwUlGXM/s1600/RAMPfigcrab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VcSbs5I9KZQ/Veiw2tBNiFI/AAAAAAAADhY/5tu3xwUlGXM/s400/RAMPfigcrab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reflex actions and injury traits in crab scored for impairment (<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10641262.2012.689025#abstract">Stoner 2012</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783614002264">Yochum et al. 2015</a>).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YsKRG-0lPio/VeoArGSOg7I/AAAAAAAADiA/oRZYl2KxYRw/s1600/RAMPfigshark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="357" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YsKRG-0lPio/VeoArGSOg7I/AAAAAAAADiA/oRZYl2KxYRw/s400/RAMPfigshark.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reflex actions and injury traits in sharks scored for impairment (<a href="http://conphys.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/1/cot036.abstract">Danylchuk et al. 2014</a>).</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ct-yNaHXhK4/VedJhjUK01I/AAAAAAAADhA/FtNNTbGQxIs/s1600/RAMPfig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ct-yNaHXhK4/VedJhjUK01I/AAAAAAAADhA/FtNNTbGQxIs/s400/RAMPfig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reflex actions and injury traits in fish scored for impairment (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00331.x/abstract">Davis 2010</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098114002044">McArley and Herbert 2014</a>).<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTzZCe4EWpY/Vei48woNfFI/AAAAAAAADho/LRESfdbuq2k/s1600/RAMPturtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTzZCe4EWpY/Vei48woNfFI/AAAAAAAADho/LRESfdbuq2k/s400/RAMPturtle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reflex actions and injury traits in turtles scored for impairment (<a href="http://www.chelonianjournals.org/doi/abs/10.2744/CCB-1022.1">LeDain et al. 2013</a>, <a href="http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v21/n1/p13-23/">Stoot et al. 2013</a>).<br />
Photos; crab - <a href="http://www.farm-2-market.com/live-dungeness-crabs/">Farm to Market</a>, shark - <a href="http://snowbrains.com/2014-great-white-shark-attacks-humans-report/">Swell Brains</a>, fish - <a href="http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2696&q=322740&deepNav_GID=1647%20">DEEP</a>, turtle - <a href="http://aquaticabyseaworld.com/en/sandiego/attractions/animals/freshwater-turtles/">Aquatica</a>.</div>
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Any animal has <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/p/list-of-potential-reflex-actions_9.html">reflex actions and potential injury traits</a>; see diamonds in figures. These fixed traits can be observed, scored present or absent, and summed to form an animal vitality impairment score. Animal vitality is a gestalt of reflex and injury traits that we can observe as a whole animal, active and responding to stimuli. Vitality impairment and mortality are correlated and this relationship is expressed as RAMP, reflex action mortality predictor.<br />
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Impairment of well-defined reflex actions and injury types may differ for each species, dependent upon their natural history and phylum. These species traits of reflex actions and injury types can be scored and combined to express the percentage of whole animal impairment. No impairment represents a healthy animal with all actions present and all injury absent. Increasing absence of reflex actions and presence of injury types is increasing impairment and is correlated with mortality.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rcTEHJViFSc/VedJuF-IhQI/AAAAAAAADhI/UhBTtPj5ksw/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rcTEHJViFSc/VedJuF-IhQI/AAAAAAAADhI/UhBTtPj5ksw/s640/fig1.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
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Sublethal and lethal zones associated with reflex action impairment scores (RAMP) in walleye pollock, rock sole, sablefish, and Pacific halibut (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578360600316X">Davis and Ottmar 2006</a>). For these species at specific transition impairment values, a rapid rise in mortality is observed after a small increase in reflex impairment. </div>
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These curves illustrate the expression “you are alive until you are not”. Animals live in various states of vitality impairment that are correlated with stress. Above a quantifiable level of vitality impairment, animals begin to show mortality, correlated with continued increase for impairment. The distribution of reflex impairment and injury in a group of animals is a measure of population vitality. </div>
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For fish species (Davis 2010, McArley and Herbert 2014), animals have several types of reflex actions which can be secondary or primary. One action group contains secondary peripheral actions that are part of swimming and defensive behavior (fin erection and startle). Impairment of these reflex actions generally indicates sublethal stress effects and is associated with increasing stressor intensity (duration or strength). A second action group contains primary body functions (orientation and coordinated breathing). Impairment of primary body functions generally indicates delayed mortality after stress induction. In the same way, for crustacean species (Stoner 2012, Yochum et al. 2015), loss of leg reflex actions are associated with sublethal stress effects. Loss of eyestalk and mouth actions are associated with delayed mortality after stress induction.</div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-12381100829435188642015-08-02T11:55:00.000-07:002015-08-08T07:44:30.813-07:00Triage for captured and released fisheries species: research and survival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-plWRqEu_CB4/Vb5mJs220EI/AAAAAAAADd0/-VN53EMc120/s1600/European-Union-fishing-fl-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-plWRqEu_CB4/Vb5mJs220EI/AAAAAAAADd0/-VN53EMc120/s400/European-Union-fishing-fl-007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Will they survive? (<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/13/eu-discards-ban-fish-seas">The Guardian, 2013</a>)</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">Vitality impairment <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2014/01/quest-for-discard-survival-predictive.html">can be linked</a> to post-capture mortality in fisheries bycatch. Vitality impairment <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2015/04/observing-vitality-impairment.html">can be estimated</a> by direct observation of animal activity, responsiveness, and injury. For each critical fisheries species in crabs, fishes, sharks, and turtles, reflex actions that are consistently present in healthy, uninjured individuals are listed as control levels. Impairment is signified by loss of reflex action types and addition of injury types after capture. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">Reflex actions are fixed, consistent animal behavior patterns that can be triggered by perception of external stimuli (light, sound, smell, gravity, touch). Stimulation of reflex actions is not controlled by body size, motivation, strength of stimulus, or fear. Reflex action traits summed as a whole animal can be an expression of vitality (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00331.x/abstract">Davis 2010</a>). In contrast, volitional behavior can be altered by body size, motivation, strength of stimulus, fear, cognition, and as such is not a controlled measure of vitality.</span></div>
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With the species reflexes and potential injury lists, observations of captured animals can be made in commercial and sport fisheries. Patterns of significant impairment can be determined and related to fishing context and species (<a href="http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/07/21/icb.icv088.abstract">Raby et al. 2015</a>). These patterns <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-015-9393-y">help identify</a> the relative effects of fishing gears, handling, and physical factors (air, temperature, light, pressure) on impairment and potential survival and mortality.<br />
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Figure shows overlap between information on animal physiology and fisheries biology, adapted from <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-015-9393-y">Horodysky et al. 2015</a> and modified to show vitality information. Measures of vitality include reflex impairment and injury, which are whole animal measures that are ecologically relevant, linking physiological and population level research and hypothesis testing. Volitional behavior is coordinated whole animal movements beginning with perception and motivation, followed by attraction and aversion to various stimuli (injury, threat, food, shelter, species mates, migration).</div>
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Patterns of vitality impairment can guide research questions and priorities to triage fisheries for treatment of bycatch mortality and enhancement of survival. Vitality impairment can measure the <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2013/11/using-ramp-to-reduce-crab-mortality.html">efficacy of engineering fishing gears</a> to increase bycatch survival. </div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-88362264839927493532015-04-24T16:26:00.000-07:002015-06-17T14:09:59.848-07:00Observing vitality impairment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">Animal vitality can be measured by observing species traits associated with activity, responsiveness, and injury. For each species, a group of reflex actions can be observed that are consistently present in healthy animals. As vitality becomes impaired, reflex action traits disappear and injury traits may begin to appear. </span></div>
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Activity, responsiveness, and injury for measurement of vitality impairment (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783610002274">Benoît et al. 2010</a>). </div>
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Fisheries show gradients of stressors associated with capture, handling, and release or escape. Discard mortality, survival, and vitality impairment are controlled by stressor gradients.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NAMUhNIyQ00/VTwn82d3j4I/AAAAAAAADYM/yX3PQldPEGc/s1600/mortality_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NAMUhNIyQ00/VTwn82d3j4I/AAAAAAAADYM/yX3PQldPEGc/s1600/mortality_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Gradients of mortality and simulated stressors in sablefish fisheries; water temperature and gear type including trawl (time), longline, pot. Smaller fish are more sensitive to stressors (<a href="http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/RACE/behavioral/factors_bycatch_mort_1.htm">AFSC</a>).</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Vitality impairment gradients are associated with stressors and can be used to predict survival and delayed mortality for populations of impaired animals. Vitality impairment gradients can be measured by identifying classes of health condition; excellent, good, poor, and moribund based on rapid observation and impression of animal injury and activity (<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/03/11/icesjms.fsv039.abstract">Benoît et al. 2015</a>). </span></div>
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The resolution for observations of vitality impairment gradients can be increased by including more information. RAMP is an example of this approach (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578360600316X">Davis and Ottmar 2006</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00331.x/abstract">Davis 2010</a>). A list can be made of reflex actions present in control animals and possible injuries. Then presence or absence of listed traits is observed after exposure to stressors. Increasing impairment is associated with stress effects and morbidity.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5D-aIrwVqNs/VTq7ecuPl8I/AAAAAAAADXQ/7MM82N4C1EA/s1600/reflex%2Btable%2B(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5D-aIrwVqNs/VTq7ecuPl8I/AAAAAAAADXQ/7MM82N4C1EA/s1600/reflex%2Btable%2B(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Reflex actions observed in snapper by <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098114002044">McArley and Herbert 2014</a>.</div>
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Relationships between vitality impairment and survival or delayed mortality can be experimentally determined. Then predictions of stress effects in other settings with similar stressors can be made by measuring vitality impairment associated with stressors, without the need to hold or tag animals. Vitality impairment can be rapidly observed in sampled populations as an additional factor to evaluate stressor effects and is a useful indicator of animal health and stress status, that can be validated experimentally.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nrNWaq-ejSU/VTrHHcIzqmI/AAAAAAAADXw/a5LBa6X4kAY/s1600/RAMP%2Bgraphs%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nrNWaq-ejSU/VTrHHcIzqmI/AAAAAAAADXw/a5LBa6X4kAY/s1600/RAMP%2Bgraphs%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
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Reflex impairment and mortality for individuals (A) and groups (B) of Atlantic cod with 95% confidence intervals (<a href="http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1073/humborstad.pdf">Humborstad et al. 2009</a>). </div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-10806077448520397852015-03-10T08:37:00.000-07:002015-03-15T14:35:43.984-07:00Snow crab discard mortality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E94MxgpIzkU/VP8M4yRKCkI/AAAAAAAADJQ/sL5cjZHExoc/s1600/beringseaopis2082-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E94MxgpIzkU/VP8M4yRKCkI/AAAAAAAADJQ/sL5cjZHExoc/s1600/beringseaopis2082-2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
Snow crab in Bering Sea pot fishery (<a href="http://www.adn.com/article/20140308/brisk-snow-crab-fishery-alaskas-bering-sea-nears-quota">ASMI</a>).<br />
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Over 19,000 snow crab were evaluated in Bering Sea pot fisheries 2010-2012 for impairment using the RAMP method (<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/01/24/icesjms.fsv004.abstract">Urban 2015</a>). The estimated discard mortality rate was 4.5% (s.d. = 0.812), significantly below the rate used in stock assessment models. The author concludes: “ In this study, the results of RAMP observations showed that at the range of winter temperatures typically encountered by the Bering Sea snow crab fishery, nearly all discarded crab experienced no reflex impairments. Therefore, we estimate that they should have only a 4.8% chance of short-term mortality. Injuries caused by the fishery occurred at very low levels and so should also have a minimal effect on discard mortality rates. However, because long-term survival rates and the effects of reduced crab vitality are difficult to predict, an estimate of the total impact of discard practices on snow crab stocks is not possible. Even with these uncertainties, the current empirical evidence indicates that the assumed discard mortality rate of 50% is conservative.”</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YIiSvl9jY70/VP8OPmdn7UI/AAAAAAAADJY/HEiwLWbMBro/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YIiSvl9jY70/VP8OPmdn7UI/AAAAAAAADJY/HEiwLWbMBro/s1600/fig1.jpg" height="400" width="278" /></a></div>
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Figure 1. The upper panel shows the relationship between the temperature at the snow crab sorting table and the predicted mortality of snow crab based on reflex impairments. Error bars indicate the 95% CI. The lower panel shows the proportions of the temperatures recorded, while the observations were being made during the 2010–2012 fisheries (<a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/01/24/icesjms.fsv004.abstract">Urban 2015</a>).</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-69017579999247151992015-02-13T06:03:00.000-08:002015-02-13T06:07:52.954-08:00RAMP method video developed by ILVOILVO (Belgium Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research) has developed RAMP methods for three species of flatfish (plaice, sole, and dab) in European fisheries. <br />
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The first video sets the scene and explains the potential relevance of this method in relation to the recently reformed European Common Fisheries Policy.<br />
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The second video explains and demonstrates reflex tests in more detail and may guide other investigators in defining and recognizing reflex actions.</div>
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An excerpt from the video text explains, “A staggering amount of commercially-caught fish is being thrown overboard. Some say that all of those discarded fish are either dead before they hit the water or they die soon after, victims of predation or injury. But others argue that some of those species are strong enough to survive after being discarded and live long enough to reproduce. The European Common Fisheries Policy was recently reformed and will now phase in a ban on discarding, meaning that fishers will have to land everything they catch. The idea behind the ban is to stimulate more selective fishing techniques, because it will be in the fisher’s interest to only catch the most valuable fish. However, by landing everything, this ban risks killing more fish than before. If a juvenile fish lives long enough after being discarded to spawn new fish, it should be given that opportunity. For this reason, the discard policy provides an important exception: if a certain species can be scientifically proven to have a high chance of survival, fish of that species should be thrown back after catch. Researchers at the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (or ILVO) in Ostend, Belgium are testing the most commercially important species of flatfish - plaice, sole and dab – for their likelihood of survival.”</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-30762662023219052842015-01-11T14:01:00.000-08:002015-01-12T07:44:42.243-08:00Elements of vitality testing and delayed mortality in fisheries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pU1ZJ7RHNio/VLLw8p2pW2I/AAAAAAAADHU/BI9myzUC6MM/s1600/vitality%2Bbias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pU1ZJ7RHNio/VLLw8p2pW2I/AAAAAAAADHU/BI9myzUC6MM/s1600/vitality%2Bbias.jpg" height="400" width="388" /></a></div>
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Conceptual diagram outlining elements for vitality testing and delayed mortality in fisheries. Fish are captured and environment sampled. Fish become stressed which is measured as impairment from control health by observing reflex actions and injury types. Stressed fish are held for captive observation to determine delayed mortality. Bias and error can be introduced by initial impressions of vitality before testing reflex actions and injury, by differing observer scoring opinions, and by holding conditions that are stressful for the fish. </div>
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Scoring vitality impairment is most difficult when observer decision is used. Training observers is a key part of RAMP development. Reflex actions (RA) are clearly present in control animals, and observers do not need decisions to score present. As impairment increases, scoring RA requires increasing observer decisions about whether sampled RA are present. The decision can be based on how control RA appear to trained observers. Each observer will have different opinions that can be influenced by their initial impressions of the animal and of the stressor treatments the animal has been exposed to.</div>
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Initially after stress induction, RA impairment increases and mirrors stress levels, while mortality is not evident. When animals reach a critical impairment level, replicates begin to show mortality, which increases rapidly over small changes in RA score. At highest levels of impairment decisions are less frequent as the animal ceases general movement and responsiveness.</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-69007644837559685972015-01-09T16:04:00.000-08:002015-01-10T15:48:14.891-08:00Questions and answers about observer bias in RAMP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Refer to the <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2015/01/observer-bias-and-ramp.html">previous post for background on observer bias</a> in RAMP.</div>
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Q: What are the options when grappling with cognitive/expectation and sampling biases in manipulative fisheries research experiments under sometimes challenging conditions at sea?</div>
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A: Begin by training and calibrating observation. We all recognize vitality when we see animals with high vitality. This recognition is based on rapid visual assimilation of information about several traits including injury, activity, and responsiveness. We cannot separate our cognitive impression of vitality level from the act of observing individual traits and scoring their presence or absence. Presence or absence of reflex actions is scored relative to control animals which have a set of reflex actions consistently present. Reflex actions range from clearly seen through weakening stages to clearly absent. As the animal becomes more stressed and impairment increases, the interaction of impression and scoring observations contributes bias. </div>
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If observers are trained to clearly recognize a suite of real reflex actions in the species of interest, then correctly recognizing the impairment or absence of those reflex actions should be a realistic accomplishment. An experiment to test for the effect of observer bias and variability in scoring reflex actions could be conducted in the lab or field if enough fish and observers are available. Stress some fish (air exposure) to produce replicates over a <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/p/list-of-potential-reflex-actions_9.html">range of RAMP impairment scores</a> and have the observers sample reflex actions. Blind the study treatments from observers. Estimates for observer bias from stress studies with different species will be useful for improving observer training by identifying protocols that need to be more defined and less subject to observer opinions. Alternatively, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783610002274">Benoît et al. (2010)</a> modeled observer bias as a random factor. </div>
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Q: How can we achieve a blinded experimental design if the experimenter who assigns or is aware of experimental treatments also scores reflex impairment on board (commercial) vessels?</div>
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A: Perform some fish experiments on observer bias outlined above and decide how important observer bias is after training with well-defined protocols for testing individual reflex actions. The bias problem may be mitigated by training using clear definitions of present or absent for reflex actions. I will assume that the vessel captain is conducting the experimental fishing treatments. So the captain could be given treatment conditions by the scientist and then could conduct fishing by assigning treatments randomly without the knowledge of the scientist observer. However tow time, soak time, or haul time and catch volume will be apparent to observers. </div>
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Q: Is an observer influenced in his/her ability to score reflexes if, apart from knowing the treatment, also the condition of an organism is evident even before the scoring begins? Is there any option to minimise this?</div>
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A: We cannot separate the correlation between overall impression of vitality and scoring reflex actions. However, we can be trained to clearly recognize the presence of reflex actions. Any impairment through weakness, delay, or loss of action is scored absent. The key method for minimizing observer bias for reflex actions is to clearly establish what the suite of reflex actions look like when they are consistently present in control animals. If presence of a reflex action is difficult or inconsistent to determine then it is not a good candidate for testing. Any deviation from control appearance in action strength or delayed time for action can be considered impaired and scored absent. The goal is to eliminate variability in detection of presence for reflex actions. By sharpening the decision criteria, bias and variability can be reduced. This idea can be tested using the outlined experiment design.</div>
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Q: Seeing that vitality assessments of discarded fish in Europe are now being developed in several places is there a need to also quantitatively evaluate the ability of different observers to score reflexes consistently? What would be the best setup for such a training exercise? </div>
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A: As mentioned above, a stress experiment can be conducted to quantify observer bias and consistency. With enough replicate fish and observers, an air stress experiment could produce fish with varying levels of reflex action impairment. These fish could be sampled by observers with defined criteria and using an experimental design for testing the effects of observer variability and bias. The effect of training could also be evaluated using this design.</div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-39163700885581768472015-01-08T07:46:00.000-08:002015-01-16T11:46:49.945-08:00Observer bias and RAMP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cognitive bias (<a href="http://thedailyomnivore.net/2012/09/30/actor-observer-asymmetry/">The Daily Omnivore, 2012</a>)</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Subjective scores for animal behavior can be biased by observer opinions about experimental treatment differences and resulting outcomes (</span><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000334721400092X" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Tuyttens et al. 2014</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">). The research paper title expresses a fundamental bias of human perception and belief: “Observer bias in animal behaviour research: can we believe what we score, if we score what we believe?” The problem is to separate belief from observation. This may be accomplished by clearly defining and adhering to consistent protocols for behavior observation and analysis.</span></div>
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RAMP relies on subjective scoring for presence or absence of reflex actions or injury types. Control fish have a suite of reflex actions that are consistently and clearly present when tested for. When an observer begins to notice the weakening or complete loss of a reflex action, that action is scored as absent (impaired). There will be variation among observers in the decisions about when reflex actions are impaired and bias will vary with experimental protocol. </div>
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Because RAMP is an aggregate vitality impairment index summed from control reflex actions and potential injury types, a RAMP score includes the observer bias for each included reflex action and injury. Close correspondence of RAMP scores and mortality is noted at low and high scores because observers clearly know when fish are active and when fish are severely injured and impaired. Relationship of mortality and RAMP is more variable at intermediate levels of impairment and mortality in part because observer opinion about impairment is more variable. To reduce observer bias, RAMP for a species must be designed to include reflex actions and injury types that can be clearly separated into present or absent scores. Also experimental treatments can be administered without informing observers. </div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Vitality of a stressed fish is readily observed. We are primarily seeing the activity, responsiveness, and injury presented by the animal. The most widely used vitality index in commercial fisheries is for the halibut fisheries of the northeast Pacific Ocean (<a href="http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/FMA/Manual_pages/MANUAL_pdfs/manual2015.pdf">AFSC Observer Manual 2015</a>), based on Appendices S-X for trawl, pot, and longline fisheries.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">For trawl and pot fisheries, three levels of vitality (excellent, poor, and dead) are scored by observing injury types and spontaneous activity, startle response to touch, and operculum clamping. For longline fisheries, vitality is scored by observing injury types. Mortality rates are assigned to vitality impairment scores using tagging experiments (<a href="http://www.iphc.int/publications/rara/2014/rara2014_19incidentalcatch.pdf">Williams 2014</a>).</span></div>
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Vitality impairment codes (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783610002274">Benoît et al. 2010</a>).</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783610002274">Benoît et al. (2010)</a> constructed a fishery vitality index with four levels of impairment (excellent, good, poor, moribund) that are scored by observing injury types, spontaneous body movement, startle to touch, and operculum clamping. Their vitality index and the halibut vitality index use the progressive increase of injury and impairment of activity to score vitality impairment. Benoît et al. (2010) corrected </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">for observer bias by using a random effects term in their statistical model.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
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Reflex actions scored for presence or absence in RAMP for snapper (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098114002044">McArley & Herbert 2014</a>).</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The RAMP vitality index alters impairment scoring to only include presence or absence of a larger number of injury and reflex actions. This shift attempts to introduce more information about activity and injury types that may be associated with mortality and to reduce decisions about degree of impairment for individual activity and injury traits. Impairment is observed as a progressive increase in the number of reflex actions that become absent and the number of injury types that become present when compared to control animals. Because observer bias can be introduced in scoring, observer protocols must be well defined with clear rules for presence or absence of traits. Observer judgements about correspondence between experimental treatments and outcomes could also be eliminated by careful experimental design.</span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-51044351576119589622014-12-19T09:22:00.000-08:002015-02-21T16:59:31.338-08:00Belly up: Righting reflex action time to recovery correlated with delayed mortality?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Upside down fish in market tank (<a href="http://ihatehongkong2.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/coming-soon-i-hate-you-park-n-shop/">Hong Kong</a>)<br />
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RAMP incorporates presence/absence of several reflex actions and injuries to measure vitality impairment and potential delayed mortality. A simpler method may be possible by measuring time for recovery of orientation when fish are placed upside down in water. This method can be tested.<br />
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Place a fish upside down in water and observe the time until the fish returns to normal orientation. This duration is a measure of vitality impairment. Longer recovery times indicate greater vitality impairment and data can be included in statistical models for relationships among fishery stressors, injury, righting time, and delayed mortality. We can test the relationship between righting impairment and delayed mortality. </div>
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Righting reflex action is a central behavior that is the nexus of neural, muscle, and organ actions and is intimately linked with loss of physiological regulation associated with stressor exposure. Olfactory impairment is another example of a central function that is correlated with delayed mortality (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0107541">in humans, Pinto 2014</a>).</div>
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Body orientation is a sensitive measure of fish consciousness. Presence or absence of righting can be included in the RAMP score. Loss and recovery of orientation is a well known symptom for induction of and recovery from fish anesthesia and is used as an indicator of morbidity and delayed mortality in stress experiments (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578360600316X">Davis and Ottmar 2006</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098114001221">Szekeres et al. 2014</a>, <a href="http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/14-0798.1">Raby et al. 2015</a>). </div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Measuring replicate animals for the time to righting recovery and delayed mortality after a stressor experiment can test the correlation between righting impairment and delayed mortality. If the correlation between righting and delayed mortality is valid and strong, then we have a rapid method for predicting discard mortality on board fishing vessels without need for holding or tagging fish to confirm their survival. Research groups on fishing vessels can observe fish during catching, landing, sorting, and discarding under differing stressors; seasons, water temperatures, tow durations, catch quantities, species mixes, and sorting times.</span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-5906358395104407682014-12-12T05:04:00.000-08:002014-12-13T03:00:57.964-08:00Measuring and scoring vitality impairment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Associations between vitality impairment and mortality in Tanner and snow crab; <a href="http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1064/stoner.pdf">Stoner et al. 2008</a>.<br />
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At the risk of repetition and irrelevance, I will repeat my short history with vitality impairment and mortality. I began by trying to find out what kills fish. The word fish applies to all animal types in a fishery. We chose to do this in the lab for control reasons, given the common confounding of stressors in fisheries (<a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/f02-139#.VIrlGMaGqI-">Davis 2002</a>). All sorts of objections were made by field people that the work was irrelevant because it did not include field conditions. Well we focused on the fish and their capabilities, in an effort to formulate hypotheses that could be tested in the field. We found that each species and size of fish has different sensitivities to stressors and that stressors of importance were different for species. We also found that some stressors (temperature and hypoxia) could kill fish without apparent macro-injury. After killing many fish, we endeavored to identify characteristics (traits) of fish and fisheries that could be correlated with mortality as predictors, given the difficulty of holding fish and measuring delayed mortality in the field. We tried many traits; muscle and plasma physiology, stressors, volitional behavior, injury, and reflex actions.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Effects of fishing gear, temperature, and fish size on sablefish mortality, <a href="http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/RACE/behavioral/factors_bycatch_mort_1.htm">NOAA</a>.</span></div>
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Muscle and plasma physiology were not correlated with mortality because these are alarm responses that can be adaptive or maladaptive responses to stressors. In specific contexts, lactate and CO2 may be useful where hypoxia or fatigue are a concern. </div>
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Stressors are an approach that has garnered enthusiasm. However their effects can be confounded and difficult to model given the relatively unlimited combinations of factors that are possible in a fishery; seasonal effects, gear type and deployment times, catch type and amount, sorting and discarding. </div>
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Volitional behavior is not correlated with mortality because it is subject to variation that is not directly linked to mortality, such as changes in perception, motivation, fear, and attraction; all which confound the relationship of behavior and mortality. </div>
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Injury is often correlated with mortality, especially in accidental death. However not all mortality is correlated with injury, as in the effects of temperature and hypoxia, for which micro-injury may be evident (apoptosis) but difficult to measure in the field. Often the effects of injury, temperature, and hypoxia are confounded making interpretations of their effects on mortality difficult.</div>
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Single reflex actions are often not correlated with mortality when they are part of systems not central to body function and regulation directly related to mortality. They may be important for complex behaviors; predator avoidance, feeding, habitat choice, migration and these can have indirect effects on mortality. </div>
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We reasoned that fish had a quality called vitality and that vitality was correlated with mortality. However, for an individual fish this relationship is binomial. The fish is alive or dead. So decreasing vitality results in sublethal effects on behavior until a threshold is reached and the probability for death increases rapidly. In statistical groups of fish, decreasing vitality is log-linearly related to mortality.</div>
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At this point we chose to not measure the strength of reflex actions (because of confounded size effects); instead to score the presence or absence of several reflex actions as an expression of reflex action impairment and loss of vitality. Reflex actions are fixed behavior patterns based on neural, muscle, and organ functions which do not vary with changes in perception, motivation, fear, and attraction. We chose to focus on several types of reflex actions to increase the probability that reflex actions key to body regulation were included. Later work has shown that the orientation reflex is such a key reflex, often correlated with morbidity and mortality associated with hypoxia and fatigue. </div>
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Previous work with vitality scoring in fisheries had developed the semi-quantitative analysis method (SQA) of scoring fish activity and injury, which was used in tagging studies and in Pacific halibut discard mortality estimation (<a href="http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2014/WKMEDS/WKMEDS%20Report%202014.pdf">ICES 2014</a>). The method observes the sequential loss of operculum clamping and startle to touch and increased injuries from minor to major and bleeding; with ordinal scoring (1-4) for severity of impairment. The vitality score is readily incorporated in multivariate models that may identify stressors of importance to mortality and model mortality based on those stressors. RAMP can be scored in a similar manner as SQA and included in multivariate models. RAMP scores severity of impairment by noting the sequential loss of several types of reflex action and inclusion of injury types. Scores range from 0 to a maximum which is the number of trait types observed for presence/absence. Strength of action and extent of injury are not included because of the confounding effects of size. The effect of size is included in the model explicitly as fish length or weight. Smaller fish will have more vitality impairment than larger fish, when exposed to equivalent stressors.</div>
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RAMP is a simple extension of the SQA concept that includes more testing for reflex actions. SQA and RAMP are similar scoring systems that differ by emphasis. SQA and RAMP score activity, responsiveness, and injury to quantify levels of vitality impairment. RAMP simply includes more information about types of reflex actions in an effort to include reflex actions that are central to body regulation over a range of stressor conditions.</div>
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The primary reason for inclusion of more reflex action information in RAMP is the observation that some reflex actions are central expressions for status of body regulation. Given the binomial nature of mortality observations, we need to know why fish die. They die for many reasons which all seem to point to the loss of physiological regulation; either homeostatic or allostatic regulation. How do we measure regulation? Allostasis shows us that consideration of homeostatic set points is not sufficient to predict mortality. My view is that vitality is correlated with physiological regulation and that impairment of vitality and regulation leads to mortality when physiological bounds of the species are exceeded. Until we can directly measure the causes for mortality, we rely on measures for vitality based on activity, responsiveness, and injury.</div>
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For predicting mortality, I chose to measure vitality over modeling stressors because of the direct relationship between vitality impairment and mortality. Stressor interactions in fisheries can make interpretation of stressor effects on mortality difficult to interpret. Information about stressors in multivariate models for mortality can be used to identify changes in the design of fishing gears that reduce bycatch mortality. Then vitality impairment can be used to evaluate reduction in discard mortality associated with new gears.</div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-90069551220750721102014-10-18T10:48:00.000-07:002014-10-20T10:26:42.147-07:00Survival of schooling small pelagic fish discarded from purse seine fisheries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackerel">Greenback horse mackerel</a>, <i>Trachurus declivis</i> </div>
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<a href="http://www.montereyfish.com/pages/methods/p_seining.html">Purse seine fishing</a></div>
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Vitality impairment and RAMP can be <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2013/03/survival-of-bycatch-species-escaping_2.html">used to determine survival </a>of discarded schooling small pelagic fish in purse seine fisheries. When catch is too large, fish are “slipped” for the net and discarded. These discarded fish are usually exposed to some level of hypoxic conditions associated with crowding in the purse seine. Elevated temperature in surface water may be a stressor. Skin abrasion and scale loss can occur in the net. Many small pelagic species (mackerel, sardine, anchovy, smelt, herring) caught in purse seines are obligate or facultative schoolers that reflexively form groups mediated by the optomotor response. Vitality impairment can be tested for individual fish or groups. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578360600316X">See Davis and Ottmar, 2006</a> for testing groups of free-swimming fish. Schooling fish seek the company of species mates, so testing groups of schooling fish is probably the most informative method. How is this testing done and linked with delayed mortality in captive observation tanks? </div>
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RAMP links vitality impairment scores with delayed mortality scores. The RAMP estimate for delayed mortality is only as good as the mortality estimates from captive observation or tagging experiments. How many replicates are needed in captive observation experiments? The purse seine schooling species need to be held in groups. A replicate group size of ten fish is good for schooling. These fish must be held in good water quality and circulation, in a circular tank size that allows schooling. For initial RAMP formulation, you will need 10 replicate groups of ten fish each. Observations of reflex action impairment and delayed mortality should be made over a range of stressor intensities that result in delayed mortality of 0 to 100%. Then replicate vitality impairment scores are linked with replicate delayed mortality scores to form the RAMP which can be validated with further experiments and replication.<br />
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<a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y6981e/y6981e00.htm#Contents">Suuronen, 2005</a> Stressors in capture and escape of fisheries.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Fish can be sampled from any point on the fishing process, depending on the stressors of interest. Reflex action testing can be made on a group of fish held in a circular observation tank big enough for schooling (<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578360600316X">See Davis and Ottmar, 2006</a>). Possible reflex actions for testing include: orientation; schooling; rheotaxis; startle response to sound or light; swimming to bottom of tank. Injuries can also be noted; abrasion, scale loss. After testing the replicate group can then be placed in a holding tank and monitored for delayed mortality through five to ten days.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RasueeRHcrU/VEPM7CCc5JI/AAAAAAAAC2M/5n2q6S71Vks/s1600/herring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RasueeRHcrU/VEPM7CCc5JI/AAAAAAAAC2M/5n2q6S71Vks/s1600/herring.jpg" height="327" width="400" /></a></div>
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Herring lose schooling, orientation, and tail beat frequency increases as the purse seine is drawn smaller (<a href="https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/8338/121769803.pdf?sequence=1">Morgan, 2014</a>). Fatigue and hypoxia are possible stressors in purse seines (<a href="https://bora.uib.no/handle/1956/8303">Tenningen 2014</a>).</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">For discard species caught in purse seines that are not schooling fish, or are larger schooling fish, individual fish can be </span><a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2014/10/fisheries-studies-that-have-used-and.html" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">tested for vitality impairment</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">. </span><a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/p/list-of-potential-reflex-actions_9.html" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Reflex actions tested</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> can include: body flex, orientation, eye roll, operculum or mouth clamp, tail grab, righting, startle. These fish can be tagged for identification and held together for five to ten days in tanks to determine delayed mortality.</span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-50992815400295216642014-10-07T22:01:00.000-07:002015-01-10T16:07:42.443-08:00Fisheries studies that have used and documented reflex actions or injury for vitality impairment testing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The table presents selected examples of reflex action & injury vitality impairment testing.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOnvvZVCnpg/VLG93FLVG6I/AAAAAAAADG4/r8xcbDHZaJ0/s1600/table1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOnvvZVCnpg/VLG93FLVG6I/AAAAAAAADG4/r8xcbDHZaJ0/s1600/table1.jpg" height="640" width="504" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq8G8BQ66c0/VDW4OX5qV-I/AAAAAAAACkk/nDO35bHAwJU/s1600/table2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq8G8BQ66c0/VDW4OX5qV-I/AAAAAAAACkk/nDO35bHAwJU/s1600/table2.jpg" height="640" width="488" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">See also a </span><a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/p/list-of-potential-reflex-actions_9.html" style="text-align: left;">list of reflex actions and injury</a><span style="text-align: left;"> that may be scored for vitality impairment.</span></div>
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Citations:</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">AFSC, Alaska Fisheries Science Center 2014 Observer Sampling Manual.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division, North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program. Seattle, WA.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Barkley, A.S. & Cadrin, S.X. 2012. Discard mortality estimation of yellowtail flounder using reflex action mortality predictors. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 141:638-644.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Benoît, H.P., Hurlbut, T., and Chassé, J. 2010. Assessing the factors influencing discard mortality of demersal fishes using a semi-quantitative indicator of survival potential. Fish. Res. 106:436-447.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Braccini, M., Van Rijn, J., and Frick, L. 2012. High post-capture survival for sharks, rays and chimaeras discarded in the main shark fishery of Australia? PLoS ONE 7: e32547.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brownscombe, J.W., Thiem, J.D., Hatry, C., Cull, F. Haak, C.R., Danylchuk, A.J., and Cooke, S.J. 2013. Recovery bags reduce post-release impairments in locomotory activity and behavior of bonefish (<i>Albula</i> spp.) following exposure to angling-related stressors. J. Expt. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 440:207-215.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brownscombe, J.W., Nowell, L., Samson, E., Danylchuk, A.J., & Cooke, S.J. 2014. Fishing-related stressors inhibit refuge-seeking behavior in released subadult Great barracuda. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 143:613-617.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Campbell, M.D., Patino, R., Tolan, J., Strauss, R., and Diamond, S.L. 2010.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sub-lethal effects of catch-and-release fishing: measuring capture stress, fish impairment, and predation risk using a condition index. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 67:513-521. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Campbell, M.D., Tolan, J., Strauss, R., and Diamond, S.L. 2010. Relating angling-dependent fish impairment to immediate release mortality of red snapper (<i>Lutjanus campechanus</i>). Fish. Res. 106:64-70.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Danylchuk, A.J., Suski, C.D., Mandelman, J.W., Murchie, J.W., Haak, Brooks, A.M.L., and Cooke, S.J. 2014. Hooking injury, physiological status and short-term mortality of juvenile lemon sharks (<i>Negaprion bevirostris</i>) following catch-and-release recreational angling. Cons. Physiol. 2:cot036.</span></div>
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Davis, M. W. 2007. Simulated fishing experiments for predicting delayed mortality rates using reflex impairment in restrained fish. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 64:1535-1542.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Davis, M.W. & Ottmar, M.L. 2006. Wounding and reflex impairment may be predictors for mortality in discarded or escaped fish. Fish. Res. 82:1-6.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Depestele, J., Buyvoets, E., Calebout, P., Desender, M., Goossens, J., Lagast, E., Vuylsteke, D., and Vanden Berghe, C. 2014. Calibration tests for estimating reflex action mortality predictor for sole (</span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Solea solea</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">) and plaice (</span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Pleuronectes platessa</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">): preliminary results. ILVO-communication. Report nr. 158. 30p. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Diamond, S.L. & Campbell, M.D. 2009. Linking “sink or swim” indicators to delayed mortality in red snapper by using a condition index. Mar. Coast. Fish.: Dynamics, Manag. Eco. Sci. 1:107-120.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Donaldson, M.R., Hinch, S.G., Raby, G.D., Patterson, D.A., Farrell, A.P., and Cooke, S.J. 2012. Population-specific consequences of fisheries-related stressors on adult sockeye salmon. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 85:729-739.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hammond, C.F., Conquest, L.L., and Rose, C.S. 2013. Using reflex action mortality predictors (RAMP) to evaluate if trawl gear modifications reduce the unobserved mortality of Tanner crab (<i>Chionoecetes bairdi</i>) and snow crab (<i>C. opilio</i>). ICES J. Mar. Sci. 70:1308-1318.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hannah, R.W. and Matteson, K.M. 2007. Behavior of nine species of Pacific rockfish after hook-and-line capture, recompression, and release. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 136:24-33.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Humborstad, O-B., Davis, M.W., and Løkkeborg, S. 2009. Reflex impairment as a measure of vitality and survival potential of Atlantic cod (<i>Gadus morhua</i>). Fish. Bull. 107:395-402. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">McArley, T.J. & Herbert, N.A. 2014. Mortality, physiological stress and reflex impairment in sub-legal <i>Pagrua auratus</i> exposed to simulated angling. J. Expt. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 461:61-72.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Raby, G.D., Donaldson, M.R., Hinch, S.G., Patterson, D.A., Lotto, A.G., Robichaud, D., English, K.K., Willmore, W.G., Farrell, A.P., Davis, M.W., and Cooke, S.J. 2012. Validation of reflex indicators for measuring vitality and predicting the delayed mortality of wild coho salmon bycatch released from fishing gears. J. Appl. Ecol. 49:90-98.</span></div>
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Stoner, A.W. 2012. Assessing stress and predicting mortality in economically significant crustaceans. Rev. Fish. Sci. 20:111-135.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Stoner, A.W., Rose, C.S., Munk, J.E., Hammond, C.F., and Davis, M.W. 2008. An assessment of discard mortality for two Alaskan crab species, Tanner crab (</span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Chionoecetes bairdi</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">) and snow crab (</span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">C. opilio</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">), based on reflex impairment. Fish. Bull. 106:337-347.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Szekeres, P., Brownscombe, J.W., Cull, F., Danylchuk, A.J., Shultz, A.D., Suski, C.D., Murchie, K.J., and Cooke, S.J. 2014. Physiological and behavioural consequences of cold shock on bonefish (</span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Albula vulpes</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">) in The Bahamas. J. Expt. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 459:1-7.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Trumble, R.J., Kaimmer, S.M., and Williams, G.H. 2000. Estimation of discard mortality rates for Pacific halibut bycatch in groundfish longline fisheries. N. Amer. J. Fish. Manag. 20:931-939.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Yochum, N., Rose, C.S., and Hammond, C.F. 2015. Evaluating the flexibility of a reflex action mortality predictor to determine bycatch mortality rates: A case study of Tanner crab (</span><i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Chionoecetes bairdi</i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">) bycaught in Alaska bottom trawls. Fish. Res. 161:226-234.</span></div>
michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-60126910053390611672014-10-05T07:11:00.000-07:002014-10-05T07:11:21.638-07:00RAMP is a component of an integrated conservation approach to coho salmon bycatch mortality management<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ednWc6MUUk8/VDFOwLUzwgI/AAAAAAAACh0/aBKpHAg0lWs/s1600/fig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ednWc6MUUk8/VDFOwLUzwgI/AAAAAAAACh0/aBKpHAg0lWs/s1600/fig1.jpg" height="400" width="288" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/13-1885.1">Raby et al. 2014</a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><a href="http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/13-1885.1">Results of Raby et al. 2014</a> demonstrate the integration of vitality impairment and coho bycatch mortality estimation and management.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“We have provided an estimate of bycatch mortality for an endangered population of coho salmon captured in an aboriginal beach seine fishery, based on three years of tracking fish released from the fishery.” </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“Among all the variables we tested as predictors of mortality, none were significant except for RAMP score, whereby fish with higher RAMP scores (more impaired) were less likely to be successful migrants (Table 3, Fig. 4).”</span></div>
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<b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Distinguishing between natural mortality and </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">bycatch mortality. </span></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“An alternate approach to calculating a bycatch mortality rate that attempts to distinguish bycatch from natural mortality, is to use RAMP scores and their mortality rates at each level of impairment, and assume negligible bycatch mortality for the fish that were least impacted (vigorous at release).”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“Since some in-river mortality is natural, there is a need to attempt to differentiate mortality caused by the capture itself. To do so, RAMP scores can be used whereby coho salmon released with little or no reflex impairment (vigorous) are assumed to experience no post-release bycatch mortality. Using that conservative assumption, the post-release mortality rate for those fish can then be used as a baseline within the data set. Additional mortality above that baseline that occurs at higher levels of reflex impairment can then be assigned to the fishery (see Fig. 4).”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Using RAMP to monitor condition of bycatch and improve their survival</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“The expanded validation of the RAMP</span><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">approach in the present study provides confirmation that this simple technique is ready for use in this fishery if needed (Raby et al. 2012). The observers in the fishery could easily be taught how to conduct RAMP assessments to monitor the condition of bycatch in real time, provide advice to their crews on how to improve fish condition, and make decisions about whether individual fish should be revived using recovery bags.”</span></div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2212541814578783860.post-85587100418997120022014-10-03T14:54:00.000-07:002014-10-03T20:54:35.716-07:00Human delayed mortality can be predicted using olfactory impairment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Olfactory impairment in humans was measured by error rate in olfaction tests. Increasing number of errors in olfaction tests were related to increasing 5-year mortality rates in a logistic regression (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0107541">PLoS ONE</a>). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0px;">The human logistic relationship between olfactory impairment and 5-year delayed mortality is a powerful method for predicting delayed mortality and is similar to <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2012/12/anatomy-of-ramp-curve.html">other animal RAMP relationships</a> between reflex impairment, injury, and delayed mortality. Olfactory impairment can be easily measured in human and animal clinical settings and can easily and automatically be <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/2013/02/using-ramp-to-automate-process-in.html">measured in aquaculture contexts</a> by analysis of animal distributions and activity in rearing facilities. Given the fundamental nature of olfaction, one would expect the relationship between olfactory impairment and delayed mortality to be generally present among animal phyla and this can be tested in clinical and field settings.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0107541">Pinto et al. 2014 state</a>, “We are the first to show that olfactory dysfunction is a strong predictor of 5-year mortality in a nationally representative sample of older adults. Olfactory dysfunction was an independent risk factor for death, stronger than several common causes of death, such as heart failure, lung disease and cancer, indicating that this evolutionarily ancient special sense may signal a key mechanism that affects human longevity. This effect is large enough to identify those at a higher risk of death even after taking account of other factors, yielding a 2.4 fold increase in the average probability of death among those already at high risk (Figure 3B). Even among those near the median risk, anosmia increases the average probability of death from 0.09 (for normal smellers) to 0.25. Thus, from a clinical point of view, assessment of olfactory function would enhance existing tools and strategies to identify those patients at high risk of mortality.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">(</span><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0107541" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">PLoS ONE</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The human study controlled for the mortality effects of age, gender, socioeconomic status, and race. Additionally, “We excluded several possibilities that might have explained these striking results. Adjusting for nutrition had little impact on the relationship between olfactory dysfunction and death. Similarly, accounting for cognition and neurodegenerative disease and frailty also failed to mediate the observed effects. Mental health, smoking, and alcohol abuse also did not explain our findings. Risk factors for olfactory loss (male gender, lower socioeconomic status, BMI) were included in our analyses, and though they replicated prior work [41], did not affect our results.” Note that the study did not control for effects of possible episodic exposure to toxins or injury that may result in temporary or permanent olfactory impairment not related to death.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Olfactory response is an involuntary response to a stimulus, and may be considered a reflex action. In the human study, presence or absence of smell detection for rose, leather, orange, fish, and peppermint were summed and related to delayed mortality. Olfactory responses to various substances can be scored as present or absent and summed to predict delayed mortality. In the same way, the RAMP method is an example of presence-absence scoring with summation of reflex impairment and injury scores to predict delayed mortality. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Measuring and summing whole animal responses, i.e., olfaction, reflex actions, and injury to stimuli is a powerful method for observing the effects of stressors and aging on delayed mortality.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">“</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We believe olfaction is the canary in the coal mine of human health, not that its decline directly causes death. Olfactory dysfunction is a harbinger of either fundamental mechanisms of aging, environmental exposure, or interactions between the two. Unique among the senses, the olfactory system depends on stem cell turnover, and thus may serve as an indicator of deterioration in age-related regenerative capacity more broadly or as a marker of physiologic repair function [13].”</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Clearly, measurement and summation of presence-absence for <a href="http://yesheflowers.blogspot.com/p/list-of-potential-reflex-actions_9.html">whole animal involuntary characteristics</a> (olfaction, reflex actions, and injury) is a powerful way to predict delayed mortality in humans and other animals.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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michael davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497421444022078949noreply@blogger.com0