Media Release

For immediate use - 13th August 2002

NT FISHERIES TO RECEIVE R&D FUNDING SUPPORT

The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation has announced funding of $522,392 for two new R&D projects in the Northern Territory. FRDC Chairman, Mr Denis Byrne, announced details of the FRDC's 2002-2003 funding round today.

"Projects funded reflect the industry and governments' commitment to ensuring the sustainability of Australia's fisheries resources, developing leadership within industry and building on previous success to deliver benefits to the NT.

"Among these is a groundbreaking project to develop a genetic fingerprinting method to improve the accuracy of fishery harvest monitoring, which underpins stock sustainability, catch rates, incomes and recreational values," Mr Byrne said.

"The genetic fingerprinting project aims to develop a genetic tag that improves the accuracy of harvest monitoring.

"The technique allows for a small amount of tissue to be taken from the fish which will be analysed providing the genetic fingerprint of the fish tissue. Samples will be stored in a database and will allow caught fish to be matched with any previously gene-tagged.

"This information will be extremely useful to determine recapture rates. The improved accuracy of harvest monitoring will underpin stock sustainability, catch rates, incomes and recreational values. If successful this method will complement conventional tagging and largely overcome its major problems of post-release mortality, tag shedding and non-reporting of tags.

"A study will also be conducted to discover how catch and release affects the survival and physiology of barramundi. A prized fish like a barramundi may be caught and released several times annually.

"This research will determine if the continued catch, release and re-capture of a fish reduces its ability to grow and reproduce and, if so, to what degree?

"This study is part of FRDC's larger Survival of Released Line-caught Fish initiative designed to increase the survival of released fish, acquire knowledge about the consequences that will improve stock assessment and to work with fishers to improve the survival of fish after they are released.

"It is estimated that 25%-30% of all Australians fish recreationally and spend about $2.9 billion annually doing so. It is an important industry from a social, economic and environmental perspective and FRDC is strongly committed to working with the industry to ensure its sustainability for the future," he said.

The FRDC is responsible for planning, investing in and overseeing fisheries R&D and facilitating the dissemination, adoption and commercialisation of the results. The FRDC is a statutory authority of the Commonwealth Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia.
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Contact: Kylie Paulsen, Communications Manager - Extension, Ph 0438 630 491
GENETAG Rik Buckworth, NTDBIRD, ph 08 8999 2144
Post-release survival of barramundi. Roland Griffin, NTDBIRD, ph 08 8999 2144

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