Captive-reared Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) exhibit high survival in natural conditions using in situ enclosures.

Conservation of endangered fishes commonly includes captive breeding, applied research, and management. Since 1996, a captive breeding program has existed for the federally threatened and California endangered Delta Smelt Hypomesus transpacificus, an osmerid fish endemic to the upper San Francisco Estuary. Although this program serves as a captive refuge population, with experimental releases being initiated to supplement the wild population, it was uncertain how individuals would survive, feed, and maintain condition outside hatchery conditions. We evaluated this and the effects of three enclosure designs (41% open, 63% open, and 63% open with partial outer mesh wrap) on growth, survival, and feeding efficacy of cultured Delta Smelt at two locations (Sacramento River near Rio Vista, CA and in Sacramento River Deepwater Ship Channel) in the wild. Enclosures exposed fish to semi-natural conditions (ambient environmental fluctuations and wild food resources) but prevented escape and predation. After four weeks, survival was high for all enclosure types (94-100%) at both locations. The change in condition and weight was variable between sites, increasing at the first location but decreasing at the second location. Gut content analysis showed that fish consumed wild zooplankton that came into the enclosures. Cumulatively, results show that captive-reared Delta Smelt can survive and forage successfully when housed in enclosures under semi-natural conditions in the wild. When comparing enclosure types, we observed no significant difference in fish weight changes (p = 0.58-0.81 across sites). The success of housing captive-reared Delta Smelt in enclosures in the wild provides preliminary evidence that these fish may be suitable to supplement the wild population in the San Francisco Estuary. Furthermore, these enclosures are a new tool to test the efficacy of habitat management actions or to acclimate fish to wild conditions as a soft release strategy for recently initiated supplementation efforts.

Components of community rehabilitation programme for adults with chronic conditions: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Health services for individuals with chronic conditions often include a disease specific community rehabilitation programme to assist these individuals to maintain physical function and develop self-management skills. Nurses are often involved in the delivery of such programmes. Many individuals however live with more than one chronic condition and find it difficult to manage the rehabilitation demands for their different diagnoses. OBJECTIVE: To identify core programme components and clinically meaningful measures for a generic rehabilitation programme. DATA SOURCES: Full text English language journal articles identified from CINAHL, MEDLINE (Ovid), AMED and PubMed, plus reference lists of included articles. REVIEW METHOD: A systematic search of databases using keywords and MeSH terms for randomised controlled trials detailing a group based community programme for adults with chronic conditions. Study quality was appraised using the Cochrane Collaboration Tool for assessing risk of bias for randomised controlled trials. Data summarising characteristics of the studies such as participant numbers, programme components and the questionnaires, scales and measures were extracted and tabulated. An additional search of wider literature was undertaken to identify the minimal clinically important difference for each questionnaire, scale or measure used within the included studies. RESULTS: Fifteen good quality studies were identified. At baseline, there were 3856 participants (age range 42-84 years), with 642 participants lost to follow-up. Programmes were led by health professionals and/or lay leaders. Programme duration ranged from four to 12 weeks and included educational components targeting symptom management, and development of self-efficacy. Only three programmes included a supervised exercise component. Although many of the 64 outcomes measured across the programmes demonstrated statistically significant results, only three measures demonstrated clinically meaningful change for study participants and these measures were used in only two studies. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The findings suggest community rehabilitation programmes for individuals with chronic conditions be a minimum of 4-6 weeks to cover necessary education for management of symptoms, be led by a health professional/s in combination with lay leaders, and include development of self-management skills. We recommend consideration be given to health literacy level of the programme, and that because of the known positive benefit of exercise on physical functioning, quality of life and in slowing progression of chronic conditions, an exercise time should be included. Lastly, we recommend that reporting and interpreting effect sizes of interventions within studies would facilitate more useful choice of outcome measures to be able to demonstrate clinically meaningful change.