As part of the Namibian government initiative on sustainable resources development, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources strongly urges right holders to continuously engage in value addition and market diversification of their products in an effort to realise maximum returns on their products. The importance of being in line...
The natural estrogen 17β-estradiol (E2) is responsible for the endocrine disruption and also has potential effect on the reproduction of vertebrate. However, its effect on invertebrate reproduction has scarcely been studied. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of E2 on survival, egg production and egg hatch of...
This paper presents a new bio-economic simulation model for the Italian fisheries developed as a part of a project financed by The General Directorate for Fisheries and Aquaculture (under the Italian Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture Policies). The main objective of the model is to measure the effects of different...
This study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of buyback program implemented last during a 10-year period using a bioeconomic model. Aggregate fisheries stocks are assessed by the surplus-production model and standardized aggregate harvest function is used in the bioeconomic model. The simulation result indicate that the fish stocks are...
The West Coast Rock Lobster fishery is Australia's most valuable commercial fishery. Around 550 vessels
harvest 10,500 tonnes of lobster per annum. The industry has an enviable track record of biological
management which has been based on a variety of input controls. In recent years this has necessitated three
significant...
A bioeconomic model allowing different degrees of harvesting closures for two sub-stocks consisting of mature and immature fish is presented. Hence the model opens for partial closures of fisheries on both sub-stocks. Migration between the two sub-stocks is defined as recruitment of the young to the mature sub-stock, and egg...
Scallop fisheries are often characterized by variable abundance and periodic mass mortality occurrences. Area rotation is a respected management tool for sedentary species. A bioeconomic simulation model that incorporates the spatial and temporal distribution of scallop beds and fishing effort is presented. The model is user-friendly and was designed for...
The objective of the paper is to briefly present a comparative analysis of trends in the characteristics of
selected European fleets, observed over the last fifteen years, as an introduction to three empirical studies
of the behavioural determinants of these trends. The analysis presented aims at (i) describing changes
observed...
On 26th December 2004, colossal waves known as tsunami engulfed the coastal nations around the Indian
Ocean. The disaster brought physical, psychological and emotional suffering beyond measure to many
communities. It resulted in immense devastation of many coastal vegetations and marine ecosystems. The
fisheries in the coastal villages in Sri...
Generalised linear estimation and multi-layer perception neural network modelling techniques were applied to the Scottish trawler fleet data in order to estimate which inputs have the greatest impact on boat profits and output. Both produced comparable estimates that revealed inelastic and non-linear response to vessel power and length, negative response...
We focus on problems of access to marine sites for aquaculture in different countries, particularly in Maine, U.S.A. and Canada. The main question examined is how public natural goods (marine space) are allocated for aquaculture activities. Using ideas from law and economics, as well as institutional economics, we looked at...
This paper discusses sustainable development of Yemeni fisheries towards achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and stakeholder aspiration. Yemen is considered a Least Developed Country ranking 148 among 174 countries in terms of the Human Development Index. In terms of food security, Yemen is classified as a Low-Income and Food...
The harvest technology of several multispecies fisheries has been explained in the recent literature using dual-based models. These studies are useful for explaining rent dissipation, estimating input and output elasticities, as well as describing other aspects of fisherman behavior. Most of these analyses have assumed that inputs are fixed at...
The status of fisheries resources on coastal and offshore areas is getting worse in Taiwan. Thus, to establish a fishery resources management system has become the main task among stakeholders. In this study, we would like to examine the feasibility of imposing the community-based co-management system and setting closed fishing...
This paper proposes a formal analysis of the discarding issue including the sorting labour costs. Empirical evidences from an application to the Nephrops fishery in the Bay of Biscay show that sorting is an important time consuming activity on board and a factor of discarding. However existing literature does not...
For three years, a multidisciplinary group of researchers in social sciences, has analysed the Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of fisheries management in Europe. In the framework of this ELSA Pêche programme funded under the ELSA line of the FAIR research programme of the European Commission (DG XII, Research), a...
The aim of this paper is to assist teaching undergraduate students how to analyse the issue of fish stock investment. The mathematical prerequisites are a basic knowledge of calculus. Both discrete and continuos time frameworks are used. To fish down or to build up a fish stock takes time, and...
The fishery cooperative association of Akita Prefecture closed the sailfin sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus fisheries from 1992 to 1994 to rehabilitate the stock. Following the temporary closure, the total allowable catch (TAC) has gradually increased. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the fishery moratorium and other...
Coastal nations can impose conditions of use on foreign fishing firms that operate in their Exclusive Economic Zone. We develop a game-theoretical model in which a fishery owner maximizes the revenue that it collects from firms that operate in its EEZ by charging them a fishing fee. We find that...
The high ecological, social and economic value placed on Western Australia’s aquatic environment creates a significant obligation on the WA Department of Fisheries to develop and implement appropriate and sustainable resource management strategies for the State's fisheries and fish habitats. Historically, fisheries management in Western Australia has been based on...
Sustainable aquaculture can be achieved when risk and uncertainly are incorporated in the analysis of the activity. This paper presents a precautionary approach to the feasibility analysis of a project for a commercial hatchery, applying decision theory. Two production scenarios were assessed, continuous and periodic, the later a combination of...
Recent work in the domain of fisheries ecology has shown that major changes are occurring in fish
communities exploited by commercial fisheries. Selective fishing pressure on more highly valued
components of fish communities, and its indirect effects via trophic interactions, are amongst the key
factors proposed to explain these changes....
Algal beds are a key component of coastal ecosystems. In terms of inshore fisheries, algal beds are important as: spawning grounds for fishes; habitats for fry; and sources of small prey animals for fishes. To maintain robust fish catches, it is considered worthwhile to maintain the functions of algal beds,...
Nearly 75% of the stocks in the waters of the European Union are overused. Therefore, recovery programs
are both necessary and urgent. However, the decisions made by the fisheries ministers rather seem
to prolong the overuse situation instead of putting an end to it.
From an overall perspective, it would...
In this paper we define the regulatory structure of the New Zealand Quota Management System (QMS) and document key changes in its operation over time. We document the relevant legislation that affected the quota market from the Fisheries Act 1983 forward. We describe how the QMS operates in New Zealand...
Unfortunately, most of the stocks are damaged by natural disasters or human activities and rebuilding the
stock are urgent requirements. Until now, in the stock management, some policies are commonly believed
to valid but have not been confirmed. A simulation model of the population dynamics incorporating
uncertainty has been already...
A balanced development between economic activities and environmental concern are profound in public and emphasized by the government policy. It is especially so with the change in working policy, thus the increase in leisure time for Eco-tourism. All along, fishing industry and marine based tourism have been major industries in...
Earlier this year a White Paper from the Norwegian Minister of the Environment presented a new, holistic, area-based management plan for the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, including the Fishery protection zone around Svalbard. The plan will provide guidelines for managing human activities in relation to their use and...
Eco-labeling has been touted as a way for consumer preferences for environmentally benign products to be transmitted in markets. The label, as the argument goes, provides information to consumers who may then pay a price premium for the labeled products. Producers view demand for the eco-labeled products as quality differentiated...
In this paper we analyse different econometric procedures of technical efficiency to estimate fishing capacity. These procedures are then applied to the purse seine fishery located in the Gulf of Cádiz. The target species of this fishery has changed quite a lot over the past few years. It used to...
Since the collapse of the Newfoundland groundfishery in 1992, the snow crab fishery has become Newfoundland’s largest fishery, accounting for approximately half the value of total landings. This study uses trip log data to estimate the production frontier and the technical efficiency of this fishery using a Stochastic Frontier Analysis...
After joining the WTO, easier access to Taiwanese market due to tariff reductions and deregulation of import restriction is expected to have substantial impacts on the fishery sector in Taiwan. Comparing to the tariff rates in 2001, the average tariff rates of fishery products will decrease 35.5%, in 2004. Especially,...
A study was conducted to understand current practices of commercially important marine fish marketing systems in the Patuakhali area of southern Bangladesh. A total of ten commercially important marine fish were identified such as: 1) hilsa, 2) pomfret, 3) marine catfish, 4) tuna, 5) coral fish, 6) marine eel, 7)...
Vietnam’s marine fisheries are in need of knowledge-based management. This necessitates the establishment of
reliable indicators, which in turn entails a good data collecting and processing system. To bridge the gap between
specific requirements for fisheries policy development and the limited resources available, we have conducted a
study on costs...
An ITQ scheme has been shown to create a quota induced incentive for discarding of fish in excess of what is socially optimal. This finding is corroborated by empirical evidence in several ITQ managed fisheries. The incentive for discarding, over and above those expected in an unmanaged or input controlled...
The South Australian rock lobster fishery is about 2,700 tonnes annual catch and is accessed by commercial, charter and amateur fishers. The commercial sector is managed in two zones, one based on input controls and the other on individual transferable quotas. The commercial sector pays 100% of the costs of...
Resource Management and resource sharing issues are intimately connected. Through discussion of a constructed scenario workshop participants were encouraged to share different perspectives on the management challenges of the interaction between resource management, resource access and sectoral resource sharing issues. A key issue expressed by participants was the need to...
Les graves atteintes aux équilibres des écosystèmes côtiers et littoraux sont devenues une préoccupation partagée par les chercheurs et les développeurs. La détérioration du bien-être des populations gui en sont soit la cause, soit la conséquence, impose la révision du discours économique prédominant dans les programmes de développement. L'impératif de...
To disseminate update technologies and to enhance capabilities of resource poor farm families for the production of capture as well as culture fisheries, using natural and socio-economic resources an extensive study on linkage between resource availability and production potentiality were undertaken in the study area (under New Alluvial Zone of...
France is Europe's largest market for salmon, close to saturation for traditional products but open to opportunities for differentiated items. Over the last ten years, the supply of salmon-based products has moved from basic items to more sophisticated ones. Processing is one way of turning the product into what consumers...
Effects of age, period and birth cohort on consumption of fat fish, lean fish and processed fish were estimated based on panel data from the Norwegian Women and Seafood Consumption Study (NOWAC). Cohorts selected for the present analysis were women born between 1951 and 1966. Survey questionnaires were mailed to...
Fishing overcapacity has lead to unsustainable harvesting and rent dissipation in global fisheries. Only government intervention of some kind can lead to a reduction in capacity. If efficiency is the primary objective for the regulator, then the least efficient vessels should be decommissioned. Here we analyze the Swedish fishery using...
In this paper, the estimate of the productive efficiency for some Italian fleet segments is proposed. The estimate is based on a Stochastic Frontier Production (SFP) function and a Data Envelopment Analysis frontier (DEA) using micro data of fishing vessels. The essential random nature of the fishing processes under consideration...
L'exploitation des coquillages dans la lagune de Moulay Bousseiham, avec essentiellement sur la palourde européenne {Ruditapes decussatus), est une activité artisanale et manuelle pratiquée de deux façons: la pêche "à vue" (ou la pêche "à pied") est la plus courante, elle est pratiquée par un grand nombre de riverains de...
Research on omega-3 fatty acids of marine origin consistently indicates the value of these substances to human health, while seafood processors face the challenge of creating value-added products rich in omega-3 compounds that consumers identify as being both healthful and tasty. In particular, albacore tuna is considered to have large...
Three case studies were included in a study on fishing vessels, most of which use trawl gear in demersal
fisheries. The case studies include the French Bay of Biscay bottom-trawlers, the English beam trawlers
fishing in the English Channel, Celtic Sea and North Sea, and the Basque trawlers fishing in...
Recent increases in the volume of canning grade tuna caught in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has led to concern about the increasing catching capacity of the fleet of purse seine vessels operating in the fishery. In this paper Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to examine the...
Japan is both the largest producer and consumer of tuna in the world. However, Taiwan has been a major exporter to Japan of Thunnus albacares and Thunnus obesus recently. For example, the market shares of Taiwan's supply are 20% for T. albacares, and 44% for T. obesus in 1992. Hence,...
Closed areas are often used as either temporary or permanent measures to reduce fishing pressure on stocks. A major concern, however, is what happens to the effort that was previously employed in these areas. When modelling the potential impacts of the closed areas, it is necessary to model changes in...
Seafood is a staple for most Sri Lankans and the country is a net importer of seafood, because of the
heavy consumption. Tsunami has had crippled the Sri Lanka’s main protein supply system and
thousands of others in marketing chain lost their jobs. The main focus of the study was...
This paper presents a critical analysis of the provisions of the WTO agreements and jurisprudence as they relate to the use of trade-related measures in support of cooperative fisheries management arrangements. The interpretation given to WTO agreements by successive Panels and Appellate Bodies has provided guidance regarding how such measures...
The geoduck fishery in British Columbia has been managed by individual quotas since 1989. Individual
quotas have fostered a co-operative management approach in the fishery, which is implemented through a
non-profit society with membership made up of licence holders in the fishery. This non-profit society, the
Underwater Harvesters Association (UHA),...
A community based sea urchin (Tripneustes gratilla) culture was chosen as an alternative livelihood by
fisherfolks of Nalvo, a fishing village along the South China Sea in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, Philippines.
The sea urchin culture was adopted among fishermen to augment their rapidly declining income from
fishing. The said...
A two-stage, distributionally neutral and efficient rationalization policy design—one that preserves the ex
ante wealth distribution—is developed by blending elements of a cooperative and a partnership. It is
formally proven that there is no impediment to win-win rationalization using only IFQs allocated only to
harvesters. The design creates a bilateral...
Fisheries worldwide continue to suffer from the negative consequences of open access. In 1986, New Zealand responded by establishing an individual transferable quota (ITQ) system that by 1998 included 33 species and more than 150 markets for fishing quotas. We assess these markets in terms of trends in market activity,...
A dynamic game model is used to predict the strategic behavior of harvesters engaged in a non-cooperative fishery on a common property resource. The model predicts that an increase in the current number of harvesters in a common property fishery will reduce both the equilibrium harvest level and the current...
In the Philippines, the current licensing policy for commercial fishing does not significantly contribute to the general goals of fisheries management. It is a failure as a monitoring tool as evidenced by the absence of a comprehensive information system on fish catches, effort and area of operation. Fisheries licensing does...
A number of simulations have been carried out to study different management scenarios in the Barents Sea cod fisheries when implementing physical and biological effects of global warming. A regional representation of the IPCC SPRES B2 scenario (world region OECD90) has been obtained through the REMO5.1 model. Water temperatures and...
Dans le cadre de la coopération Franco-Brésilienne, l'IFREMER, l'Etat de Bahia et la société Littoral Sul Maricultura ont développé une nouvelle technique d'élevage de crevettes pénéides (Penaeus vannamei) en utilisant des cages flottantes. Après trois années de mise au point, cette technique s'est avérée intéressante sur plusieurs aspects. La productivité...
Fisheries management is characterised by multiple objectives. However, seldomly do bioeconomic models incorporate more than one or possibly two key objectives, typically profit and employment, into an analysis. There are both practical and technical reasons for this. This study considers the incorporation of eight key objectives into a bioeconomic analysis...
There is great concern at present that fish stocks are being depleted by over-fishing. Part of the problem of over-fishing is caused by the common property nature of the fishery resources. In particular, high seas fishery resources, such as highly migratory fish stocks (HMFS) and straddling fish stocks, suffer from...
The government in Taiwan has recently instituted a comprehensive program to give fishermen the incentive to reduce fishing effort voluntarily. In this study, we conducted a survey to investigate fishermen's behavior and used the ANOVA analysis and the Probit model to identify factors that affect fishermen's willingness to accept the...
This study reviews patterns of consumption and expenditure of fish at home at disaggregate level and analyzes demand for nine different fish species/species group. The analysis is based on the household consumption survey in inland provinces of Thailand conducted during 1998-1999. Result shows that the annual per capita fish consumption...
With the expansion of transport, increasing car ownership, rapid increase in outbound travel and new interests in nature based eco-tourism, and the adoption of 5 work days, marine eco-tourism is expected to have a very promising future and need more detailed preparation and planning. While marine eco-tourism occupies 30% of...
Recently, there has been an increasing interest among researchers on efficiency in fisheries. They have not just been focused on the analysis of the efficiency itself but also for other purposes as measures of capacity utilisation. However, often, efficiency analyses do not offer clear results regarding the sources of the...
The success or failure of aquaculture heavily depends on how effectively to manage aquatic animal
diseases. In order to analyze the economic effects of aquatic animal disease control, the specific factors
and magnitudes of benefits and costs are identified with and without the proposed project for the disease
control. These...
Series of financial crises arose in Taiwan since 1997 Asia financial crises, and it starts happened to the community financial institutions since then. In general, damages and impacts to the community and industry are always far more serious than that caused economy by the bankruptcy of a company. Thus, a...
Fisheries management involves considering several biological, economic and political objectives. They are often contradictory. For this reason, it is almost impossible to reach them simultaneously. Andalusian regional government collaborates with the national government to establish fishing plans for local fisheries. The objectives of these plans verify the aforementioned statement. For...
Auparavant le secteur des pêches ne s’intéressait guère qu’aux ressources et aux captures. Nos spécialités étaient des biologistes, des techniciens des pêches ; nos administrations de tutelle étaient celles des marins pêcheurs, nos recherches étaient essentiellement orientées vers la biologie des espèces, l’environnement de leur habitat, les modèles de gestion...
Fishmeal prices have increased sharply since the mid-2005 and the relationship between the prices of animal and vegetable proteins have become weaker, at least temporarily. This can be explained by a relatively constant fishmeal supply, which have varied around 6-7 million metric tons the last two decades, and an increasing...
Aquaculture worldwide has grown rapidly, and while this has brought socio-economic benefits to particular regions there is persistent concern over its environmental impact and sustainability. Within Europe there are quite marked regional variations in the intensity of marine aquaculture, and the fact that this occurs in areas where there is...
The experiences on reproductive management of native specie such as Petenia splendida (Tenhuayaca) in the last four years in Tabasco, Mexico has generated enough information to allow the development of a technological package for supporting sustainable rural production, particularly in areas where most of the population belongs to ethnical groups....
Assuming externalities from aquaculture to fisheries, we use a Verhulst-Schaefer model of fish
population-dynamics and production, coupled with an aquaculture production model, to investigate
effects on open-access and rent-maximising fisheries. Externalities are modelled by letting carrying
capacity, intrinsic growth rate or catchability coefficient in the fishery depend on aquaculture production....
The direct economic values of aquatic resources used in various livelihood activities by
households in selected rural villages of Cambodia were estimated using the net economic value
approach. Data utilized were from 540 aquatic resources dependent households from 3 provinces
gathered using household survey, longitudinal monitoring and participatory rural appraisal...
There is much talk on recycling organic effluents, closing nutrient cycles, maximising energetic efficiency, and maintaining
equilibriums between humans and nature, etc., even for lakes and estuaries. Aquatic systems provide us (humans)
the service of recycling decomposable organics and deliver fish at the same time, notably, as long as the...
The result of changes in regulation or monitoring and enforcement of commercial fisheries are highly dependent on fishers’ supply response decisions. One central determinant of fishers’ reactions to such changes is their risk preferences. Empirical studies of fishers’ preferences have found that most fishers are risk averse. In this paper,...
The animal protein intake in Nigeria is grossly insufficient yet the retail price of fish is rising. Market intermediaries, alleged to charge excessive and unjustifiable marketing margins (MM), are often blamed for this. This study examines this allegation using data from 225 sun-dried fish traders classified into three groups. Data...
The main purpose of this study is to answer a question, "Are the Japanese Fisheries Responsible?" The author tries to find the answer by analyzing a historical trend of the Japanese fisheries policies, recent legislation such as "Fisheries Basic Law" and "Sustainable Aquaculture Production Assurance Law", and example cases of...
In many salt-water recreational settings an imprecise measure of site choice is often collected based upon the individual's launch-point. For anglers who continue on from the launch-point in a boat, this imprecise measure of site choice is likely missing important on-water trade-offs thereby affecting the accuracy of recreational benefit measures...
The use of artificial reefs in the creation of commercial and recreational fisheries has received growing attention in recent years, and artificial reef development programs are now being undertaken by a number of countries worldwide. Despite a substantial volume of scientific information on the technical and biological aspects of artificial...
El Archipielago de Colon, more commonly known as the Galapagos Islands, is a province of Ecuador located about 600 miles off the coast of South America. It consists of approximately 45 volcanic islands (15 major and 30 minor) plus scores of smaller islets and rocks. The total land area is...
Indicators of the economic performance of fishing vessels are frequently computed in many countries. Usually, measures of economic performance are based on the return on capital invested. However, several measures of capital value exist, according to the economic information available. In this paper, we use different types of information to...
In this paper, we examine the sustainability of fisheries system in Yoron Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan using participatory flag modeling approach. The main purpose of flag model is to analyze whether one or more policy alternatives can be classified as acceptable or not in the light of an a priori...
The paper presents a spreadsheet based benefit-cost framework for assessing the net benefits of domestic
tuna processing to the resource-owning nation. The framework has a number of advantages including
transparency, flexibility, and a check on internal consistency. The case study examines the effects of a
range of tax, access fee...
Shrimp farming in Iran is one of the fast growing segments of the economy. In 1994, around 1%
of Iranian shrimp production was farmed and by 2003 the share of shrimp farming increased to
60%. In spite of the fact that shrimp culture had relatively rapid growth in last decade,...
This paper studies the consequences of creating a marine protected area (MPA) on a recreational non-extractive use of the ecosystem (scuba diving), and draws a parallel with the impact of MPAs on
commercial fishing. The first part of the paper presents some preliminary results of a field survey of scuba...
An economic assessment of the commercial harvesting sector, seafood processing and distribution
sectors, charter boats for hire, livebait boats and dealer houses, marinas, support facilities, and
recreational boats was undertaken in Mississippi to determine the level of damage sustained as a
result of Hurricane Katrina. The devastation by this hurricane...
A recent study in agricultural products has brought out evidence of asymmetrical transmission of price changes according to the sign (positive or negative) of past variation. Interestingly, asymmetry was more commonplace for products with a lower elasticity of supply due to the perishable nature of products. A similar study based...
Atlantic salmon aquaculture is a growing industry in the Bay of Fundy on Canada’s Atlantic coast. The vast majority of aquaculture sites are concentrated in a relatively small coastal region of the province of New Brunswick (NB) where the industry is viewed as a major component of regional economic development....
New Zealand marine recreational fisher’s attitudes to their fisheries and fisheries management are discussed in the light of the findings from two studies. The first study, a national telephone survey of more than 600 fishers, investigated why fishers seek to go recreational fishing and their attitudes towards the fisheries management....
When several new species are introduced into the New Zealand Quota Management System in the near future, some of the quota, or single-year annual catch entitlement (ACE), will be tendered through competitive auctions rather than allocated based on historical catch. This study uses a laboratory experiment calibrated to a representative...
The open access nature of fisheries resources had caused application of excessive fishing effort to most World fisheries. Proper
management of fisheries resources is vital for sustainability and its safe future utilisation. Most attempts to salvage fisheries resources
had so far succeeded but have also created one or more problems....
In multispecies fisheries managed with individual fishery quotas (IFQs), fishers targeting certain species often have
insufficient quota to cover other jointly caught species. New Zealand employs a unique dual price-quantity system to
address this problem. In lieu of acquiring quota, fishers can opt to pay a fee per unit of...
Pla Tubtim (Oreochromis sp.) was a new fish species for aquaculture in Thailand. It was an improved breeding from tilapia and expected to be a common fish dish for the Thais while being an important source of income earning for fish farmers in this country. Logit model was applied to...
The CHARM Project is a 5-years project (2002-2007) of the Royal Thai Government supported by the European Union. Its focus on developing coastal habitats and resources co-management processes is based on the assumption that the most important aspect of inefficient use of coastal resources lies at the institutional level. Among...
Enhancement of British-Columbia-to-Alaska Transboundary Rivers is a vast potential prize to all concerned. However, despite funding commitments in the Pacific Salmon Treaty, that program is at great risk of always being more potential than real. The cooperation needed to make this program work has been and continues to be grievously...
Early in 2002, members of two Producer Organisations (POs), the North Sea Fishermen’s
Organisation in Britain, and the Dutch Cooperative Producentenorganisatie Oost Nederland,
realised that their quotas of plaice and sole were insufficient to last until the end of the quota
period. Vessels have in the order of 70-80% of...
This paper provides a working definition of bioeconometrics and a taxonomy of model types. A bioeconometric model is an empirical model of a bioeconomic system in which quantitative changes in one or more parameters can affect the qualitative behavior of the dynamical system. Bioeconometric model types include equilibrium, dynamically decoupled,...