R&D News

R&D News

  Volume 13, Edition 1 

FINAL REPORTS

FINAL reports on these recently-completed R&D  projects are available from FRDC, or other sources named. Those with an asterisk (*) were funded under the Australian Government Federal Budget Initiative for Aquatic Animal Health.

 Resource allocation framework

Resource allocation decisions should be based on the comparative benefits to society of competing uses, rather than by weighing the financial value of recreational expenditure against the value of a commercial catch. So says Principal Investigator John Nicholls of Economic Research Associates Pty Ltd, outlining a theoretical framework for evaluating resource allocation and its successful testing in three WA fisheries. He says the framework gives fisheries managers a starting point for a structured and disciplined allocation policy and a better informed decision-making process.

2001/065

Factoring profit into ESD

This project shows how logbook and licensing data can be used to track economic performance in any complex, multi-species or multi-gear fishery. Principal Investigator Noel Taylor-Moore of the South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Resources and co-investigator Tor Hundloe measured the 1999 economic performance of almost 2000 Queensland commercial fishers, determining their individual profitability and the consequent State, regional and local port flow-on. The aim was to highlight a need to build an economic component into ecological sustainable development management principles – and to provide a framework for the development of the necessary economic performance indicators.

1998/137

Countering oyster stress

A blood test to measure stress levels in Pacific oysters has been developed by the South Australian Research and Development Institute as a preliminary to identifying and modifying the farm practices that create stress. Principal Investigator Xiaoxu Li said the test could also be useful in breeding stress-resistant lines. The next step is to determine an optimal time for blood sampling, because the response times of the hormonal indicators noradrenaline and dopamine vary according to the nature of the stress. The assessment of farm stressors will be made in FRDC project 2003/208.

2002/414, from Seafood Services Australia Ltd, phone 1300 130 321

Pearls and the environment

The Australian Pearl Producers’ Association will determine if pearl farming creates detectable changes in the benthic environment as a first step towards developing environmental management systems and codes of practice. A previous risk assessment indicated the affect was negligible. Principal Investigator Jeremy Prince of Biospherics Pty Ltd says long-term research will underpin the development and application of practices that will enhance Australia’s reputation for producing high quality pearls by using the best ecologically-sustainable development principles.

2001/099

Sponge farm progress

Pilot farms growing bath sponges have been established alongside remote Aboriginal communities at two of four sites identified in this project as having excellent growout potential. The farms at Warruwi on Goulburn Island and Maningrida, both in Arnhem Land, were set up in consultation with traditional owners and with the support of the Northern Territory Government, which has put a high priority on developing such community-run ventures.  Principal Investigator Richard Sellers of the  NT Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development said a seabed survey had found 37 sponge species suitable to culture for an under-supplied world market worth $80m a year.

2003/248

Better floodplain management

Frequent and regular opening of floodgates on the acid sulfate coastal plains of eastern Australia will improve water quality and significantly increase the number and diversity of marine species, this project has shown. As well, water courses should be fenced, streamside vegetation restored and fertilisers used more sparingly or more efficiently to reduce   nitrogen inflows, says Principal Investigator Frederieke Kroon of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. Full management guidelines are in Restoring the Balance, published in collaboration with NSW Agriculture and available from FRDC.

1998/215

Broadbill fishery warning

Banning longliners from spawning grounds may be necessary to sustain Australia’s broadbill swordfish fisheries, this CSIRO age and growth study suggests. The researchers aged 1511 swordfish caught commercially in the eastern fishery in the 46 months to March 2003 and found that 90 per cent of the females that dominated the catch were less than 10 years old and 50 per cent were no more than five. Principal Investigators Jock Young and Anita Drake say half the population becomes reproductive at two metres long and 10 years old. They estimate that in the four years to 2001, the predominant age of the eastern catch declined from 4-6 year olds to 2-4 year olds. A smaller study  showed the southwestern fishery catch also comprised mainly immature females, but without any trend evident in median age.

2001/014

Selective salmon breeding

The Tasmanian Atlantic salmon sector may soon have its first pedigreed bloodlines. Broodstock have been genotyped with microsatellite markers to allow their progeny to be identified and assessed, giving aqua-culturists the option of starting a selective breeding program.  Principal Investigator Nick Elliott of the CSIRO said DNA from 30 year old dried scales of wild Canadian Atlantic salmon was used as a baseline to assess genetic drift and it pointed to a significant loss of alternative gene forms in some base pairs of hatchery fish.  Researchers found evidence that resistance to the amoebic gill disease that plagues the Tasmanian sector may be developed through selective breeding.

2000/224

Barramundi nodavirus defence

The barramundi hatchery sector will research ways to produce fry free of nodavirus, following confirmation in this project that the disease may lethally infect other native freshwater fish. Principal Investigator Ian Anderson of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries says it is now clear that barramundi nodavirus can spread through the body of freshwater species and possibly from fish to fish – a particular concern where barramundi are farmed outside their natural range. A molecular detection test used successfully in this project is being further validated as a standard diagnostic procedure in FRDC project 2001/626. It is also being used in FRDC 2002/043 to detect nodavirus in wild freshwater fish in northern Queensland and to identify breeding barramundi carrying the disease in hatcheries, so they can be removed to possibly prevent further outbreaks of viral nervous necrosis in larvae and fry.

1999/205

Beating abalone mudworms

Mudworms that burrow into the shells of farm abalone can be countered in two ways, says Principal Investigator Judith Handlinger of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute. The first, in susceptible areas, is to put abalone into the water after December, because the annual settlement stage of the two major Tasmanian mudworms is largely over by then. The second is to kill worms that have burrowed into shell as soon as possible by air-drying the abalone, using the report’s guidelines, for two to four hours - a single treatment generally being sufficient for growout to market size.

1997/201

Combating crayfish plague

In a big aquatic disease outbreak, industry should set up and run a website providing up-to-date information, according to a team that tested Western Australia’s response to an emergency. The exercise simulated an outbreak of crayfish plague, a fungal disease that has devastated some European freshwater populations but is unreported in Australia. Some yabby and marron farmers were surprised to find that they probably would be immediately and severely affected by an outbreak some distance from their operations, said Principal Investigator Frances Stephens of the Department of Fisheries WA.

2003/671*

SA aquaculture training

Workshops have been held along the South Australian coast from Ceduna to Robe to show aquaculture employers and employees how to identify, report and deal with aquatic health emergencies. A further 38 operations unable to attend have been given written information. Aquaculturists taking part now want better disease identification manuals and training in basic sampling. Principal Investigator Melanie Ryan of Seafood Training SA says these will be part of a follow-up program leading to the development of species-specific and sectorial emergency plans.

2002/664

Oyster disease response

15 recommendations to NSW Fisheries and an information pack for growers have resulted from a two-day training exercise held to improve the ability of New South Wales and Queensland government agencies to deal with an oyster disease emergency. However Principal Investigator Matt Landos said participants overwhelmingly concluded it would be impractical to attempt to eradicate an infectious disease in an open estuary and a genuine emergency should be tackled with that in mind.

2002/661*

Tropical resource assessment

The Gulf of Carpentaria fishing community now leads Australia in sustainable management of tropical fisheries, says Principal Investigator Neil Gribble of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, reporting on the model application and validation phase of a tropical resource assessment project. He says the effectiveness of fisheries observers has been accepted by both fishers and fishery managers and observers are now being considered for all Queensland fisheries. Logbook data  have been collated in two parallel 22-year time series – a pivotal management tool in tropical fisheries, where small but regular annual increases in biomass can be lost against annual fluctuations of 20 per cent in commercial catch. Project stock assessments have been built into a Gulf set-net bycatch plan, a national action plan for shark, an Environment and Heritage Department ecological assessment and a National Oceans Office area planning process.

1999/125

Optimising SEF yield

At current catch rates, using a significantly bigger codend mesh would  increase the yield per fish by up to 25 per cent for some individual otter trawl species in the South East Fishery, according to CSIRO researchers. Principal Investigator Nic Bax said this applied particularly to ling, gemfish, jackass morwong, ocean perch, blue warehou and spotted warehou. For Danish seiners, similar results could be achieved with eastern school whiting – and in all cases bigger mesh reduced the risk of over-fishing. In multi-species targeting, increases of up to 10 per cent in weight and landed value could be expected if codend mesh was enlarged from 90mm to 128mm, he said, with the proviso that many other factors had to be considered  in determining optimal harvest strategies. Economic benefits would not be immediate, but longer term gains could be expected to follow an initial short term loss.

1996/140

Top end trip was a pearler

THE FRDC Board’s November meeting in Darwin gave Directors the opportunity to examine elements of northern Australia’s $400m cultured pearl sector, from seeding and growout to the grading of pearls and their incorporation in jewellery.

Hosted by the Paspaley Pearling Company, Directors travelled by seaplane north-west from Darwin to a company farm at Port Bremer, where they were introduced to the delicacies of pearl meat- see recipe elsewhere in this issue – and inspected longline operations, including mechanised shell cleaning.

Oysters were opened to demonstrate the intricacies of inserting pearl seed, with guide David Mills explaining the high risks involved – and confirming that several of the oysters opened contained natural pearls, called kes-hi.

From Port Bremer they flew to the Tiwi

Islands to inspect one of Australia’s latest and most progressive barramundi farms, operated by Marine Harvest.

Marine Harvest’s Craig Foster explained the company’s strategy of using its barramundi venture as a case study for further tropical aquaculture – and the involvement of Tiwi Islanders in the development.

Later that day at Paspaley’s jewellery manufacturing workshop, craftsmen outlined to the Board the process of creating a themed collection, from initial planning to sales.

The craftsmen showed how a current collection, Embrace the Sea, is being developed. Inspired by the beachcombing exploits of Ros Paspaley, it features pearls, gold and diamonds in intricate pieces depicting starfish, coral and seashells.

The following day the Board was guided through retail showrooms to see the final product. Directors were told that with pearl matching requiring perfection, some strands took up to nine years to complete.

In Darwin, Directors also discussed R&D issues with Northern Territory Fisheries Minister Kon Vatskalis and with industry members and research providers.

Rec hook and release improves

SURVEY results indicate that 35 per cent of recreational fishers have improved their hook and release practices following a television, print and internet campaign funded as part of FRDC’s National Strategy for the Survival of Released Fish.

 In an initial survey before the launch of the Gently Does It campaign, Roy Morgan Research found that 79 per cent of fishing respondents believed that using a barbless hook increased survival, but only five per cent had used one on their most recent fishing trip. In the follow-up 2004 survey 81 per cent said barbless hooks improved survival and 13 per cent said they had used them on their most recent fishing trip.

”The number using barbless hooks is still reasonably small, but the increase in usage -160 per cent – is significant,” said Principal Investigator Bill Sawynok. In the second survey the number who knew what a circle hook was had increased from 38 per cent to 57 per cent.

This improvement in recreational knowledge and practice was cross-checked in a separate online survey of tackle wholesalers and retailers who are members of the Australian Fishing Tackle Association, to see if demand had increased for products that supported best practice.  The tackle items checked in the survey were circle hooks, knotless landing nets, hookouts, barbless treble hooks and fish grips. Results indicated that demand had risen for all, with more than 50 per cent of suppliers reporting higher sales of circle hooks.

With the exception of barbless trebles more than  60 per cent of respondents said they stocked at least one of the surveyed items and 81 per cent stocked hook removers known as hookouts.

“Barbless trebles were stocked by only 27 per cent, but this is not surprising as most fishers squash barbs to make their own hooks barbless,” Bill Sawynok said.

 “The campaign has proven very effective, resulting in improved practices by fishers and an increase in sales of fish-friendly tackle to support these changes.”

In the current phase of the campaign members of the Australian National Sportfishing Association are collecting data on the locations in fish  where hooks lodge. To date over 9,000 records have been collected. To encourage data collection the National Strategy for the Survival of Released Fish is offering a free Gently Does It  T-shirt to individual fishers  who supply 100 or more records of hooking points. T-shirts are also offered to those who have made a significant contribution to the national strategy in other ways.

Reports on these surveys and on research into released fish survival are available at www.info-fish.net/releasefish.

MORE: Bill Sawynok, phone 07 4928 6133; email infofish@zbcom.net

Chris, Ian for leader course

A  FISHING company administration manager and a consulting scientist will be FRDC-sponsored participants in the 12^th Australia Rural Leadership Program.

Christine Tucker, Administration Manager of Marlyne Trading Pty Ltd at Geraldton, Western Australia is involved in many marine and industry-oriented organisations, including the Particularly Sensitive
Sea Areas Working Group and the Women’s Industry Network Seafood Community. She is also completing a bachelor of science degree at Edith Cowan University.

Victorian-based marine scientist Ian Knuckey operates the Fishwell Consultancy, providing services to encourage sustainable commercial fishing.

He has a PhD in fisheries population dynamics and 20 years’ involvement in temperate and tropical fisheries, including extensive experience with invertebrate fisheries and both inshore and deepwater scalefish and shark fisheries. He leads FRDC’s South  East Trawl Industry Development Subprogram.

In May they will  join other potential rural leaders from across the nation for the 20 month, part-time program of personal growth designed to help participants develop the skills, knowledge and networks needed to become effective in regional, state, national and international arenas.

MORE: Amanda Hanks, phone 02 6281 0680; email amanda@arlp.net.au; www.rural-leaders.com.au

AFMA curbs and cuts effort

EFFORT in the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery is to be curbed to achieve sustainability under a new management plan approved by the Board of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.

AFMA says the plan also paves the way to replace annual fishing permits with statutory fishing rights. It is awaiting advice on the plan’s acceptability for accreditation under the Australian Government’s Environment Biodiversity and Conservation Act, but hopes to introduce it in the first quarter of this year.

The ecological effects of the longline fishery are being investigated in a project funded by FRDC, with further voluntary contributions by fishery operators.

Fishing gear in the Northern Prawn Fishery will be reduced by 25 per cent next season in an attempt to improve profitability.

There are too many boats and too many nets competing for the available prawns,” said AFMA Chair Tony Rundle. AFMA will maintain a freeze on boat entry in its Small Pelagic Fishery until it receives advice from an independent panel on the allocation of statutory fishing rights.

Managing Director Richard McLoughlin said AFMA was concerned that speculation over the possible entry of big boats could lead to rapid over-capitalisation.

MORE: Broadbill fishery warning, Final reports, elsewhere in this issue; Michael Parolin, phone 02 6272 4844.

Eradication by eating?

EATING the enemy, once widely-practiced, is now largely taboo. But not when the enemy’s European carp.

Indeed, when the New South Wales Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources floated the idea of a cookbook, people across eastern Australia responded with hundreds of recipes.

As a result, A Mouthful of Ideas for Better Rivers has been written by people who like fishing, eating fish and helping the environment, say compilers Colin Easton and Justine Elder.

Their catalogue of carp cuisine is $14.20, from the department.

MORE: NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, phone  02 9762 8044; email information@dipnr.nsw.gov.au; web, www.dipnr.nsw.gov.au/information.html

VMS for legal Antarctic fishing

AN international system to track fishing vessel movements in Antarctic waters has been set
up in Hobart.

All 24 member nations of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agreed to the establishment of the
satellite-enabled vessel monitoring system (VMS), which monitors all vessels authorised to fish in the Antarctic. VMS reports go directly from each vessel to CCAMLR, or to a vessel’s flag nation, which passes them to the commission.

The monitoring will allow CCAMLR to cross-check its voluntary catch documentation system, which tracks the transport and landing of all legally-caught Patagonian toothfish.  CCAMLR says the four year old documentation system has made it tougher for illegal fishers to find a market for their catch and this, combined with better surveillance, has reduced pirate fishing.  Supporting these moves, Australian Government Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald said Australia would pressure countries that knowingly harbour illegal fishers to stop doing so.

CCAMLR says besides damaging toothfish stocks, illegal longlining has significantly reduced seabird numbers, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

MORE: CCAMLR, phone 03 6231 0366; www.ccamlr.org

No more us versus them?

HOSTILE rivalry between commercial and recreational fishers of Victoria’s bays and inlets is being replaced by a cooperative approach to resource allocation, according to the State’s Fisheries Co-Management Council (FCC).

In the first edition of its newsletter Tomorrow’s Catch the FCC says its Recreational Marine Fishery Committee and its Commercial Bays and Inlets Fishery Committee (CBIFC) are working together on the drafting of a framework that will set the ground rules for resource access.

“It needs to be done thoroughly and collectively, said fifth generation commercial fisher and
CBIFC member Arthur Allen, “and we’re doing just that.

“In the past we would have shouted aimlessly at each other from afar.”

Consensus outcomes that improve fisheries are the objective of the FCC, a statutory body
with eight committees, set up to promote co-management. Its newsletter is available at
www.fcc.vic.gov.auphone 03 9347 9299.

New projects manager

MATT BARWICK has joined FRDC as a project manager. He previously worked in the Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s fisheries branch, dealing with management issues in the South East Trawl and Great Australian Bight Trawl fisheries. 

Before that, in the NSW Fisheries Office of Conservation, he was involved in assessing and minimising the impacts on aquatic habitats and fish communities of acid sulfate soil drainage, drainage barriers to fish passage, alteration of environmental flows and other influences.

Health Subprogram continues

FRDC has decided to continue its Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram.

This follows the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry agreeing to co-invest in the Subprogram through the Australian Government initiative Securing the Future - protecting our industries from biological, chemical and physical risk.

Although a budget has yet to be set for the aquatic components of this four year initiative, projects are already being developed to begin in the first year.

Their objectives are establishment of a diagnostic network for aquatic animal health, translocation
guidelines for live aquatic animals, national
investigation and reporting of major fish kills,
aquatic animal health training and systems for merit-based accreditation and competency assessments.

Under new leader Mark Crane of the CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory the Subprogram’s 2002-2007 strategic plan will be reviewed and updated. 

Mark Crane said new projects would continue to be developed in consultation with stakeholders and progress would be monitored and managed with advice from a broad-based steering committee, assisted by a scientific advisory committee.

MORE: Mark Crane, phone 03 52 27 5118; email mark.crane@csiro.au

Scaling fishes’ lost diversity

Lachlan Farrington of the University of Canberra won the FRDC prize in the 2004 BRS Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Aquaculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

He believes his examination of fish scales will provide historical genetic information that will enable fisheries managers to estimate the subsequent loss of genetic diversity in freshwater systems.

“This will help them decide if present fish stocking, fishing and habitat management practices are capable of maintaining remaining genetic diversity in the long term,” Lachlan Farrington said.

The information would be useful for conservation and in ensuring the sustainability of recreational and commercial fishing.

MORE: Lachlan Farrington, phone 02 6201 2874; email farrington@aerg.canberra.edu.au

SENSATIONAL SEAFOOD - Oysters make pearl of a meal

QUESTION: When pearls are harvested, what becomes of the pearl meat?

ANSWER: It’s sold as a delicacy to some of the world’s finest restaurants.

FRDC Directors  are converts. They sampled it served in several ways while inspecting pearling operations in the Northern Territory and returned with this recipe.

Ingredients

Method

Marinate pearl meat for  8 hours, or overnight. Drain, combine with other ingredients and fry lightly in a hot wok.

Pearl meat is available from Paspaley Pearls, contact Andrew Christianson achristianson@paspaley.com.au, phone 08 8982 5577.

SBT quotas

AUSTRALIA’S total allowable catch of southern bluefin tuna next season will be 5265 tonnes.

This follows the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna in South Korea, where participating nations agreed to maintain their combined TAC at the current limit of 14,030 tonnes.

MORE: AFMA SBT Fishery Manager Andy Bodsworth, phone 1300 723 621.

Movers and...

Geelong-born Peter Appleford, 38,  is the new Executive Director of Fisheries Victoria.
Before joining the department in 2001 he was a lecturer at James Cook University’s School of Marine Aquaculture and Biology. He replaces Richard McLoughlin, now Managing Director of AFMA.

Peter Neville has returned as Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum and as Director of Queensland Fisheries.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has appointed Steve Kennelly Chief Scientist and Director, Systems Research.

Former DAFF staffer Matthew Dadswell is now adviser to Australian Government Fisheries Minister  Ian Macdonald. He replaces Vanessa Findlay who has moved to AFMA.

In Tasmania, Grant Pullen is acting as Manager, Wild Fisheries for the next 12 months following the secondment of Dennis Witt to DPIWE’s resource management and conservation division. Other new faces in Wild Fisheries are  John Adams (scalefish) and  James Parkinson  (developmental fisheries), both ex-AFMA; and Tristan Richards (recreational fishing).

Nutritional expert Robert van Barneveld, leader of FRDC’s Rock Lobster Enhancement and Aquaculture Subprogram, has been appointed a director of Australian Pork Limited, the pork industry’s peak body, responsible for R&D, promotion and industry advocacy.

Dave Alden, formerly manager of the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery, is now AFMA’s Research Manager, replacing Sam Nelson.

National Oceans Office project officer Carol (Cas) Smith is the new coordinator of OPSAG - the Ocean Policy Scientific Advisory Group advising the Australian Government’s inter-departmental Oceans Board of Management which coordinates national marine science.

MOVERS we’ve missed? Up-to-date info please to comms@frdc.com.au, phone 02 6285 0415.