Daniel E. Lane

Generation of Priority Research Questions to Inform Conservation Policy and Management at a National Level

Integrating knowledge from across the natural and social sciences is necessary to effectively address societal tradeoffs between human use of biological diversity and its preservation. Collaborative processes can change the ways decision makers think about scientific evidence, enhance levels of mutual trust and credibility, and advance the conservation policy discourse. Canada has responsibility for a large fraction of some major ecosystems, such as boreal forests, Arctic tundra, wetlands, and temperate and Arctic oceans. Stressors to biological diversity within these ecosystems arise from activities of the countrys resource-based economy, as well as external drivers of environmental change. Effective management is complicated by incongruence between ecological and political boundaries and conflicting perspectives on social and economic goals. Many knowledge gaps about stressors and their management might be reduced through targeted, timely research. We identify 40 questions that, if addressed or answered, would advance research that has a high probability of supporting development of effective policies and management strategies for species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in Canada. A total of 396 candidate questions drawn from natural and social science disciplines were contributed by individuals with diverse organizational affiliations. These were collaboratively winnowed to 40 by our team of collaborators. The questions emphasize understanding ecosystems, the effects and mitigation of climate change, coordinating governance and management efforts across multiple jurisdictions, and examining relations between conservation policy and the social and economic well-being of Aboriginal peoples. The questions we identified provide potential links between evidence from the conservation sciences and formulation of policies for conservation and resource management. Our collaborative process of communication and engagement between scientists and decision makers for generating and prioritizing research questions at a national level could be a model for similar efforts beyond Canada. Generación de Preguntas de Investigación Prioritarias para Informar a las Políticas y Gestión de la Conservación a Nivel Nacional

Operational research models and the management of fisheries and aquaculture: A review

Abstract This paper reviews the role that the operational research (OR) discipline has played in the understanding and management of renewable resources in the areas of fisheries and aquaculture. The analysis is undertaken with two purposes. First, to assess the past performance of the OR models in this field. Second, to highlight current problems and future directions of research.

A Partially Observable Model of Decision Making by Fishermen

This paper presents an application of a partially observable Markov decision process for the intraseasonal decisions of fishing vessel operators. Throughout each fishing season, independent vessel operators must decide in which zone or fishing ground of the fishery to fish during each period to catch the most fish with the highest return to fishing effort. Fishermens decisions are assumed to be made to maximize net operating income. The decision model incorporates the potential fish catch, the cost of the fishing effort, and the unit price of fish. Catch potential is modeled by considering the abundance of the fish stock and the catchability of the fishing technique. Abundance dynamics not observed directly are modeled as a Markov chain with a parsimonious state-space representation, which renders the problem practicable. Dynamic decision policies are computed by the method of optimal control of the process over a finite horizon. The resultant policies are used to simulate distributions of fishermens net operating income, fishing effort dynamics, and catch statistics. The model may be used as a decision aid in the regulation of the common property fisheries resource.

The Gathering Storm: managing adaptation to environmental change in coastal communities and small islands

Small island communities are inherently coastal communities, sharing many of the attributes and challenges faced by cities, towns and villages situated on the shores of larger islands and continents. In the context of rapidly changing climates, all coastal communities are challenged by their exposure to changing sea levels, to increasingly frequent and severe storms, and to the cumulative effects of higher storm surges. Across the globe, small island developing states, and small islands in larger states, are part of a distinctive set of stakeholders threatened, not only by climate change but also by shifting social, economic, and cultural conditions. C-Change is a collaborative International Community–University Research Alliance (ICURA) project whose goal is to assist participating coastal communities in Canada and the Caribbean region to share experiences and tools that aid adaptation to changes in their physical environment, including sea-level rise and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events associated with climate change. C-Change researchers have been working with eight partner communities to identify threats, vulnerabilities, and risks, to improve understanding of the ramifications of climate change to local conditions and local assets, and to increase capacity for planning for adaptation to their changing world. This paper reports on the knowledge gained and shared and the challenges to date in this ongoing collaboration between science and society.

Operational research and fisheries management

Abstract This paper presents a review of operational research in the management of fisheries. A brief history of fisheries management is presented. The fundamental problems in the control and management of fisheries systems are discussed along with the contribution of operational research to problem modelling and analysis. Current and future challenges for the role of operational research in the management of fisheries conclude the paper.

Management Science in the Control & Management of Fisheries: an Annotated Bibliography

SYNOPTIC ABSTRACTIssues and problems in the control and management of fisheries systems have given rise to an extensive literature of applied management science models and methods. This paper surveys and classifies this literature into areas according to the major problems confronted in fisheries applications. Widely used management science methods are presented and key publications annotated. Finally, the bibliography presents an extended list of management science research in fisheries.

Batching and scheduling in FMS hubs: flow time considerations

Many flexible manufacturing systems FMS involve complex queueing networks in the processing of lots jobs in a production facility. In particular, the feedback of lots to a common, multipurpose workstation, or hub, processing different tasks for the same lot at various points in the production process, can create serious scheduling problems. This paper models the hub structure and presents some results for dual measures of flow time in the facility, namely, total flow time required for a fixed number of lots or makespan, and average flow time for all lots or average completion time. The flow time performance is a function of different batch sizes and priority scheduling rules for lots arriving at the hub. The results can be used to establish strategies for batching and scheduling lots according to adjustments in the importance of the cycle time versus the work-in-process WIP tradeoff. Extensions of the results to more general production facilities are also discussed.

Interactive Multiple Criteria Optimization for Capital Budgeting in a Canadian Telecommunications Company

Decision Support System for Optimal Resource Allocation (DSS ORA) is an interactive mathematical programming system for optimal resource allocation developed to support decisions of investment in capital intensive telecommunications projects. The system strives to maximize corporate goals while respecting financial constraints such as the availability of capital funds, institutional requirements and varied dependencies or synergies among projects. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used for quantification of qualitative managerial judgment in regard to the relative value of projects through a two stage process. An initial resource allocation is found by a linear program, the objective coefficients of which are determined by the AHP. Then, a modified simplex algorithm proposes some rates of funding substitution. Users choose the amount of substitution or can override the substitutions proposed. Thus, users can build gradual confidence in the constraint checking mechanism of DSS ORA and come to rely on its efficiency-seeking capabilities. DSS ORA has been tested by several groups of managers responsible for the management and the implementation of project portfolios with significantly consistent results. The flexibility, user friendliness and quick time response of DSS ORA make it an effective negotiation tool in a group setting.

Integrated Systems Analysis for Marine Site Evaluations and Multicriteria Decision Support for Coastal Aquaculture

Traditional fisheries are based on wild, spatially uncontrolled stocks whose habitats are the coastal and marine environments. Aquaculture attempts to control and manage the supply of products from the sea by establishing designated marine farms. In recent years, the aquaculture industry is growing more rapidly than all other animal food producing sectors (Allen et al. 1992; Fletcher and Neyrey 2003). However, aquaculture has also been challenged by complex interactions between marine resources, ecosystems and multiple resource users. An integrated valuation approach that incorporates the ecosystem, aquaculture, and other marine activities is needed to promote sustainable development in the coastal zone and to find feasible solutions to resolve conflicts (Nath et al. 2000). While the benefits of coastal aquaculture have been widely recognized (CAIA 2003), Barg (1992) noted “. . . aquaculture may increasingly be subject to a range of environmental, resource and market constraints. Aquaculture is competing for land and water resources, which in some cases resulted in conflicts with other resource users. Also, there is growing concern about the environmental implications of aquaculture development, comprising the adverse effects of aquaculture operations on the environment as well as the consequences of increasing aquatic pollution affecting feasibility and sustainable development of aquaculture.” Similarly, Brindley (1991) pointed out the necessity to evaluate coastal aquaculture from different points of view and that a multi-disciplinary team, including specialists involved in decision making, should consider the economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects to assess all possible impacts of coastal aquaculture development (Lane and Stephenson 1998). At the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Oceans Action Plan featured in the recent 2005 federal budget (Department of Finance Canada 2005, p. 194) acknowledge that improved integration of marine impacts is an important matter for management of our ocean ecosystems.

Jai Alai arbitrage strategies

This paper presents arbitrage and risk arbitrage betting strategies for Team Jai Alai. This game is the setting for the analysis and most results generalize to other sports betting situations and some financial market applications. The arbitrage conditions are utility free while the risk arbitrage wagers are constructed according to the Kelly criterion/capital growth theory that maximizes asymptotically long-run wealth almost surely.