Three new ICES publications are now available in ICES online library: a Cooperative Research Report (CRR) no. 318 – ICES Zooplankton Status Report 2010–11; Techniques in Marine Environmental Sciences (TIMES) no. 54 – Oyster embryo-larval bioassay; and a TIMES no. 55 – Protocol for measuring dioxin-like activity in environmental samples using in vitro reporter gene DR-Luc assays.
The Zooplankton Report CRR 318 is the ninth ICES summary report of zooplankton monitoring and is based similarly on analyses of time-series from national monitoring programmes across the ICES area by the Working Group on Zooplankton Ecology (WGZE). This latest report includes twenty-two new survey sites spanning from the Labrador Basin to the western Mediterranean Sea and summarizes the North Atlantic Basin and its major subregions using 62 zooplankton monitoring sites as well as 40 Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) standard areas. Whilst the graphic visualization of some data and information might differ somewhat from previous publications, the basic analysis remains consistent.
TIMES no. 54 is a comprehensive update of a 1991 ICES TIMES series publication in which the oyster embryo bioassay technique was first described. The new document includes, amongst other things, more detailed references of the methodology and how it can be used for water monitoring purposes and direct toxicity assessment. TIMES no. 55, meanwhile, focuses on the DR-Luc assay tool, and the publication includes sections on the extraction of sediment or biota samples, the DR-Luc detection technique, and the analytical quality control and assurance.
