Journal of the Persian Gulf (Marine Science)
Volume:6 Issue: 20, Summer 2015

Usage of the new and alternative clean fuel is becoming a hot topic in marine transportation in accordance with environmental regulations of I.M.O. Using L.N.G as the ship fuel is a reliable and long term solution for environmental issues. Iran owing to its large number of natural gas fields and unique geographical position, has adequate potential to provide services to shipping fleets. Finding and choosing the best location for establishing L.N.G fuelling stations in the Persian Gulf ports of Iran, is the main purpose of this study. In order to achieve this goal, first potential ports and locations were screened. Then, ten suitable comparative criteria were revealed with the help of distributed questionnaires. Based on method of Analytic Hierarchy Process, the most likely and best location for providing refuelling to ships was selected to be Shahid Rajaee port (in Hormozgan Province) in northern coast of the Persian Gulf.

Gelatin and oil from three species of tuna fish, Thunnus albacares (yellow-fin tuna), Thunnus tonggol (long-tail tuna), and Katsuwonus pelamis (skipjack tuna) were extracted to study the factors affecting yield. Factors studied included organ (fin or skin), catch location (Chah bahar, Bushehr, Bandar-e abbas), season (summer or winter) and species (the three species). To extract gelatin and oil, an alkali treatment and a solvent method, were used. respectively, The highest amount of gelatin extracted from the skin of K. pelamis was 17.5 ± 0.3% and the lowest from the fin of T. tonggol, 7.9 ± 0.4%. The highest and lowest amount of oil extracted were from skin of T. tonggol (7.5 ± 0.3%) and its fin (3.7 ± 0.8%), respectively. The organ and species showed significant effects on gelatin and oil extracted (p 0.05).

Samples of Zooplankton of Bardestan Creek and its offshore waters were collected using a 100 cm long (30 cm diam.) mesh net of a 110 µm pore size in March (winter) and August, 2014 (summer) on a fishing boat; preserved in 5% formalin, identified and population abundances per cubic meter counted. Eighteen stations (9 stations each in the creek and offshore waters) were sampled. |Mean zooplankton abundances for the Creek and its offshore waters significantly differed (p0.05) between zooplankton abundance and temperature or salinity.

This paper reports on the results of a trawls survey in 2011 to assess the amount of biomass and Catch Per Unit of Area (CPUA) as well as to determine the distribution pattern of Synodontidae family of demersal fishes (with emphasize on great lizardfish, Saurida tumbil) as one of the most important and commercial fish species in the northwest of the Persian Gulf. Samples were collected from 65 trawl stations selected at stratified random procedure. The study area was stratified to five strata (A to E) covering the depth layers of 10-20, 20-30 and 30-50 m. The catch rates of CPUA and biomass of lizardfishes were estimated 316.20 kg/nm2, and 2902.1 tons, respectively. The highest value of biomass for synodontids was recorded in Bordkhoon to Dayer (D and E strata, 1310.6 tones) and in depth layer of 30-50 m in the east of the study area, and the lowest value was estimated for stratum A (west of Khuzestan province) and in depth layer of 10-20 m. On the other hand, the highest CPUA was recorded in stratum D and depth layer of 20-30 m; and the lowest CPUA was recorded in stratum A and depth layer of 10-20 m. It was concluded that stratum D (namely from Bordkhoon to Dayer) harbors the best fishing area as per higher density and distribution of Synodontidae and depth of distribution deeper than 30 m.

The water quality of the Persian Gulf is influenced by various industrial and urban discharges. The study area is a small linked estuary with the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. This study was conducted to evaluate anthropogenic assessment, pollution status and potential ecological risk of some heavy metals (Pb,Ni, Zn, and Fe) in intertidal surface sediments of a mangrove estuary in the Persian Gulf. Metals concentrations were analyzed using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentration of metals (all in μg⁄g, except for Fe in %) were as following: 2-9 Pb; 58.9-94.3 Ni; 111.9-185.6 Zn; 1.4- 2.2 Fe. The following contamination indices were also employed: Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), Pollution Load Index (PLI), effective range low (ERL), and effective range medium (ERM). The results indicated that Zn and Ni were mainly from anthropogenic discharge, while a significant portion of Pb and Fe were likely from natural inputs. Overall, frequent adverse effects were expected for Ni and occasional adverse biological effects were expected for Zn. Likewise, for Pb and Fe rare adverse biological effects were expected. Finally, this baseline contamination assessment study will contribute to establishing interim sediment quality guideline (ISQGs) for Iran.

This study investigates the importance of selecting an appropriate cut-off frequency in the SWAN model when it is applied to areas with limited fetches. In SWAN, the cut-off frequency is a constant value set by user in the model, and its appropriate selection plays an important role in the accuracy and optimization of the wave model; very high value increases the computational cost and might lead to increase of approximations in the nonlinear wave-wave interaction term. On the other hand, very low value affects the wave growth dynamics due to inaccurate nonlinear wave interactions. In this study SWAN was applied to the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico as a semi-enclosed basin and to the Lake Ijssell as a closed basin. The results showed that as wind fetch decreases, a higher value for the cut-off frequency is required to determine the prognostic region of the wave spectrum in the model. Based on the outputs, in coastal areas such as the northern Gulf of Mexico, 0.6 Hz is proposed for the cut-off frequency, while in small areas such as Lake Ijssel,0.9 Hz is a good choice.

Macroalgae are considered as primary producers in ecosystem food chain. This study investigated spatial and temporal variation of three species of macroalgae namely, Laurencia caspica (red macroalga) Enteromorpha intestinalis and Cladophora glomerata (green macroalgae) on the hard substrates of the southern Caspian Sea coasts and their relation with environmental factors. Seasonal sampling preformed through 8 sites from spring to winter 2014. According to BIO-ENV analysis salinity, pH and silicate were the best subset variables for explaining changes in the abundance over time of the hard-substrates macroalgae fauna under study. Result showed heterogenous distribution of macroalgae.with C. glomerata having dominant role and playing the most contribution to dissimilarities between sampling sites. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) plot revealed that L. caspica associated with temperature, E. intestinalis with pH and C. glomerata with phosphate and silicate contents in water.