To apply, your funding proposal must address priorities in an industry development plan. If an appropriate plan doesn’t exist, the Seafood Industry Development Fund can provide up to $5000 to develop one.

For more information go to www.seaood.net.au/sidf/

Pre-proposals go live

The two page pre-proposals (PRP), the pre cursor to the full application, can now be submitted online. This enables applicants to develop applications from the initial concept through to the full application using the one system. The full application can be expanded from the pre proposal, saving time in the preparation of the full application. Visit http://www.frdc.com.au/research/applicants/

Flexible funding benefits

A more flexible funding framework for fisheries R&D was outlined to industry last month by FRDC Executive Director Patrick Hone.

He presented the framework in an options paper to FRDC’s biennial Fisheries Research Advisory  Bodies (FRAB) and Stakeholders Workshop, where key issues associated with the proposed change were discussed by FRAB members and industry and government representatives from all jurisdictions.

Explaining the need for greater flexibility, Patrick Hone said FRDC’s previous practice of allocating most of its new project funds on an annual basis could constrain its ability to respond when urgent issues such as the recent marine protected area proposals arose mid-cycle.

As well, species seasonality meant that some annually-allocated funds could lie idle for most of the following year.

Also at the workshop, Anwen Lovett of Land and Water Australia outlined ways to invest in fisheries R&D using alternative funding channels.

Wes Ford, Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum listed national R&D priorities identified by the forum and the issues driving them. Richard Stevens, R&D Manager of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council outlined additional funding options for FRDC consideration.

The workshop also discussed a revised agreement on FRAB roles and responsibilities.

MORE: Patrick Hone, phone 02 6285 0400, email Patrick.hone@frdc.com.au.

Key FRAB dates

FRAB contacts

Subprogram contacts

SEA breaks the ice

The board of Seafood Experience Australia (SEA) is assessing priorities for its first year of promoting Australian seafood at home and abroad.

At their meeting in March directors decided that the first objective would be to increase membership and build a generic platform for the Australian domestic market. A board subcommittee has prepared a draft outline of potential initiatives to be ratified and made available to industry this month.

A start has also been made on overseas promotion, with SEA agreeing to work with the National Food Industry Strategy Ltd and FRDC on two projects targeting United States markets.

SEA is also considering options for an Australian seafood logo to be test-marketed at this year’s European Seafood Expo in Brussels. Logo options will be posted at www.seafoodpromotion.com later this month.

SEA says its overriding aim remains to maximise the wealth of its members through coordinated promotion.

MORE: Bob Cox sea@pecserv.com.au or 03 6231 6762

FRDC summary

AN easy-to-read summary of Nick Ruello’s Melbourne consumption study is available from FRDC. This booklet was launched by Australian Government Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz, who said the study showed that consumers buying seafood knew exactly what they wanted – and retailers should take note.

“Consumers are looking for attractive shop fronts, inviting counters and knowledgeable staff,” he said.

“Correct labelling and simple information on seafood safety are major issues for all consumers and retailers.

“Retailers can make real gains just by taking time to talk to customers and offer them some simple information on how to handle and cook seafood.”

Eric Abetz said that by better informing seafood retailers about the needs of consumers the Melbourne study paved the way for increased sales.

The summary of the Retail Sale and Consumption of Seafood in Melbourne report is available at www.frdc.com.au. For hard copies, phone 02 6285 0400, or email frdc@frdc.com.au.

FRDC Research Online

Our R&D programs benefit the commercial, recreational and customary sectors of the fishing industry and Australias economic, environmental and social resources. Through making available the latest research we are working towards a well-informed industry and community supportive of the industry and natural resources from which it depends.

Accessing our final reports and publications has never been easier with our new  online facilities. This means that you can now view and purchase electronic copies of final reports or you can place an order for a hard copy. Our new bookshop is also equipped with a secure payment facility so you can shop with confidence.

www.frdc.com.au/bookshop

Final reports

FINAL reports on these recently-completed R&D projects are available from FRDC, or the other source named. Principal Investigators’ summaries may be downloaded free from www.frdc.com.au.

Projects are available from FRDC, or the other sources named.

Point-of-sale opportunity

Most seafood retailers don’t know how to improve business through point-of-sale (POS) promotion and industry as a whole has failed to collaboratively develop the necessary strategies, says Principal Investigator Norman Grant, publisher of the trade magazine Seafood Australia. After visiting 47 retailers in five states, he says retailers first have to be shown how good POS material can boost their sales. Then, in developing this material, the production sector – companies and institutions – must discuss the mutual benefit of marketing plans and proposed messages with retailers and seek their input into the creation of effective POS promotion.

2002/433, from Seafood Services Australia, phone 1300 130 321

More than EMS

For the catching sector, integrated management systems that go beyond EMS are the most logical and cost-effective way of dealing with the full range of business issues, says Principal Investigator Samara Miller of the Seafood Council (SA) Ltd. She has led the development of an independently-audited environmental management system for South Australia’s rocklobster and prawn fisheries that also covers occupational health and safety, resource sustainability, food safety and quality and animal welfare. Fisher participation in the training courses was 76 per cent. A technical reference panel of stakeholders outside the fishing industry ensured that the standards adopted matched the expectations of the wider community.

2003/064

Rocklobster food safety

Identifying the gaps in work practices on boats and in processing plants was the first step in developing Clean Green food safety improvements - that exceed Australian Seafood Standard requirements - for the southern rocklobster supply chain. So far, more than 200 fishers in South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria have qualified through voluntary training for independent audit and certification. This response, says Principal Investigator Paul McShane of the Australian Maritime College, reflects southern rocklobster fishers’ pride in performance and determination to be good environmental managers.

2002/434

Better larval diets

Australian finfish and crustacean aquaculture is no longer dependent on imports of the brine shrimp Artemia as an essential, live component of larval diets. This project has developed an alternative micro-diet that promises better growth and survival and has also laid the foundation for a follow-up project (FRDC 2004/258). Principal Investigator Sagiv Kolkovski of Western Australia’s Mariculture Research and Advisory Group says validated feeding protocols allow 90 per cent of the live food currently used to be replaced with minimal or nil effect.

2001/220

Habitat controls abundance

Reinforcing the concept ‘you are what you eat’, Victorian and Queensland researchers have used stable isotope analysis to determine the relative importance of individual near-shore marine plants as food for fish around much of Australia. Some results may surprise: King George whiting’s major food changes from Western Australia to Victoria and food webs based on seagrass support many species in South Australia and Queensland, including SA’s yellowfin whiting, which spends little time there. Principal Investigator Gregory Jenkins of Primary Industries Research Victoria says this demonstrated dependence points to a need for better protection of seagrass meadows. The researchers also surveyed fish use of Victorian under-studied inshore habitats such as mangroves, mudflats and salt marshes.

2001/036

SESSF snapshot

Continuing poor recruitment will probably see the spawning biomass of blue grenadier in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery fall below 40 per cent of its reference point, says the CSIRO. Safe catch levels for blue warehou west of Bass Strait are unpredictable, but increases east of the strait may be sustainable. Gummy shark recruitment appears to be above estimates in Bass Strait, but below expectations off South Australia. Sawshark and elephant fish appear to be depleted to below 40 per cent of 1950 pup production. A lower TAC is advised for jackass morwong and recent catch levels of tiger flathead from NSW to Bass Strait are rated as unsustainable. Current pink ling catch rates may also be unsustainable, say Principal Investigators Geoffrey Tuck and Tony Smith, but two assessment methods showed that a 25 per cent cut to 1200t would be sustainable.

2001/005

Robin Hood alternative

Stock assessment in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) requires a Robin Hood approach – taking information on data-rich species to make inferences for those that are data-poor. So says Principal Investigator David Smith of Primary Industries Research Victoria in describing two ways of doing this. Together, he says, they form an analytical tool that will probably provide better results than CPUE or age structure alone and, ultimately, will be a cost-effective means of making more formal assessments of the many SESSF species currently unmeasured.

2002/094

Sardine stock assessment

The South Australian Research and Development Institute will continue using the daily egg production method to estimate the spawning biomass of sardines, because of uncertainties associated with age-structured stock assessment. Principal Investigator Tim Ward says SARDI’s otolith age and growth analysis showed sardines in the fishery catch were aged between one and six years, but those collected independently from the offshore shelf were aged from two to seven, with most approaching three. With an annual catch of more than 20,000t the SA fishery is Australia’s biggest by volume. Most is fed to southern bluefin tuna caged off Port Lincoln.

2000/125  

Estuary ecosystem audit

Results of a 2002 audit of the ecological health of Australia’s 979 estuaries are at www.ozestuaries.org as a searchable geoscientifc database. A plain-English illustrated book Where river meets sea: Exploring Australia’s estuaries is in bookshops. Principal Investigator Lynne Turner, formerly of the Coastal Cooperative Research Centre, says the audit and these publications have increased awareness of the estuaries’ individual processes, functions and conditions and the need to manage human impacts.

1999/230

Kingfish disease identification

South Australia’s fast-growing yellowtail kingfish aquaculture sector now has a 64 page diagnostic guidebook to help farm staff and health specialists identify specific diseases, plus guidelines to manage fish health. Principal Investigator Mark Sheppard of Canada’s Sakana Veterinary Services Ltd says a trawl of the literature and interviews in Australia and Japan identified 14 plausible health hazards, three of them high-risk and 11 rated as moderate. With 10 of these already reported in South Australia, the immediate R&D priority, he says, is to develop prevention and control measures for all fourteen.

2003/216

Investigating fish kills

Draft national protocols that would ensure swift, uniform reporting and investigation of significant wild fish kills have been endorsed by representatives of federal, state and territory government agencies at a national workshop. Principal Investigator Barbara Nowak of the University of Tasmania says a consistent national approach is needed to: properly detect and identify exotic diseases, major pollution and poisoning that creates human health risks; address legal issues that will permit successful prosecutions, protect fisheries; and contribute to Australia’s biosecurity.

2005/620

Prawn farm HACCP

Adoption of a  HACCP food safety program by the Australian prawn farming sector has resulted in all operators using a uniform grading system and working to the new, auditable Australian Seafood Standard. Independent audits have allowed participating producers to achieve certification under the Woolworth Quality Assurance system, thus meeting the requirements of supermarkets and other major retailers. Principal Investigator Brad Hutchings of Seafarmers Consulting says some farmers have reported better profits and Safe Food Queensland is considering using the prawn program as a model code for other food sectors.

2002/426

Sex for profit

This project has established that whether a penaeid prawn develops as male or female is determined by either one or a few genetic loci – the positions of genes on chromosomes – rather than fully differentiated sex chromosomes. This knowledge can now be used to attempt to manipulate sex ratios of farmed prawns in favour of females, which grow faster and more economically than males. Principal Investigator Ken Reed of the Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre says his team located only three genetic markers for males and one for females in kuruma prawns – good news because fewer genes means manipulation will be less complex.

1994/070

Sex as bait

Could some of the 20 sex-specific compounds in the urine of female Australian penaeid prawns lead to the development of a pheromone bait that would allow trawls to be replaced by pots or traps? This project has established that prawns have a well-developed sense of smell and that males at sexual maturity develop a smelling ability several times better than females – and devote much bigger areas of their brain to processing the incoming information. Early days, says Principal Investigator Mike Hall of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, but these male abilities suggest females use reproductive pheromones to attract mates.

2000/256

NPF integrated monitoring

A relative spawning index established in the Northern Prawn Fishery has the potential to deliver an annual estimate of tiger and endeavour prawn abundance, says Principal Investigator Yimin Ye of the CSIRO. He says the index can also be used to independently assess these species’ spatial extent and provide good maps of distribution and abundance. It is part of an integrated monitoring program that includes a regional recruitment index for all five commercial species.

2003/075

Prawn catch triggers

Researchers have quantified the increased fishing power of Queensland and Torres Strait prawn trawlers during the 40 years to 2000 to establish annual catch trigger points that will reduce the likelihood of overfishing. Principal Investigators Tony Courtney and Michael O’Neill of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland say their subsequent modelling suggests that reference points set at two-thirds or three-quarters of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) will improve catches while maintaining stocks of prawns and scallops slightly above the size that supports MSY. They say the greatest increase in fishing power has been in the shallow water eastern king prawn sector – an annual average growth of 27 per cent between 1989 and 1999 – and in Torres Strait, which recorded an annual average of 24 per cent between 1982 and 2002.

1999/120

Measuring prawn recruitment

An independent recruitment survey method developed and tested in this project for northern Queensland’s east coast prawn trawl fishery has proved a robust and cost-effective way to provide the data needed in such a multi-species fishery. Principal Investigator Clive Turnbull of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland says the resulting recruitment indices compare well with trends in commercial harvest data, particularly for tiger prawns, which are considered particularly susceptible to over-fishing.

1997/146

Better Pacific oysters

Five generations of Pacific oysters selectively bred in this project and its predecessor for faster growth, higher weight and better shape were tested on farms in Tasmania and South Australia. Then the project was handed to Australian Seafood Industries Pty Ltd, a company established by growers in both states to continue the work and transfer the benefits to industry. Already, says Principal Investigator Bob Ward of the CSIRO, the selectively bred lines are being used for about 20 per cent of commercial output and the industry is more productive.

2000/206

SBT cell lines

An attempt to establish continuous cell lines of southern bluefin tuna tissue to use in establishing diagnostic procedures for viral diseases has failed, apparently because the fish from which the tissue was taken were too old. Principal Investigators Mark Crane and Lynette Williams of CSIRO Livestock Industries say their methods and support materials were good enough to establish primary cell cultures, but it was likely young SBT would be required as starting material for cell lines that would live indefinitely.

2001/200, from  the Aquafin CRC, phone 08 8207 5303

Hypertension kills salmon

Hypertension – high blood pressure – appears to be the major killer of Atlantic salmon infected with amoebic gill disease (AGD). It causes circulatory failure, reports Principal Investigator Mark Powell of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute. The study showed that softening fresh water improved its ability to kill the AGD parasite and that seawater spiked with the disinfectant chloramine-T might be a faster and more economic treatment.

2001/205, from the Aquafin CRC, phone 08 8207 5303

Abalone diet development

Australia’s abalone farmers are able to grow their products faster and cheaper than ever before, thanks to efficient manufactured diets developed and refined through FRDC’s Abalone Aquaculture Subprogram. So says Principal Investigator Meegan Vandepeer of the South Australian Research and Development Institute. In 1993, she says, a farmer paid $5.50 a kg for feed that delivered an average daily growth rate of 30-85mm. Today the cost is $2.95/kg – 55 per cent less – and average growth is 70-100mm a day.

1996/385

Tuna handling manual

The philosophy underpinning the Australian Tuna Handling Manual is to improve product quality on longliners by making sure skippers and crews understand the principles behind recommended processes. The ultimate aim, says Principal Investigator Cheryl Hughes of Facts on Food, Western Australia, is to help fishers understand the nature of the fish, plus optimal handling, quality and safe food practices – and thus have a clear grasp of what they can control to improve market access and profit.

2003/414, from Seafood Services Australia, phone
1300 130 321

Ornate lobster management

The annual maximum sustainable yield of north-east Queensland’s ornate lobster fishery appears to be about 170t, says Principal Investigator Roland Pitcher of the CSIRO. This follows a study of the species’ biology, modelling of larval movement and an assessment of commercial catch data. The researchers recommend validation of catch data, a maximum size limit, establishment of a developmental southern fishery, plus further biological and oceanographic research.

2002/008, includes video animation of larval movement

Lobsters, researchers stunned

Cold water stunning reduces post harvest leg loss from western rocklobsters, but the effects on survival rates of lobsters returned to the sea remain unclear. Principal Investigator Glen Davidson of the Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-op says that off the southern Abrolhos Islands stunned lobsters were recaptured at a lower rate than unstunned ones, but inshore between Dongara and Geraldton the rates were the same. A bigger study is underway over a wider area in an attempt to relate recapture rates to time spent in stun tanks at 5°C-10°C.

2002/239

Recherche Archipelago habitats

More than 1000 square kilometres of fish habitat at Western Australia’s Recherche Archipelago has been mapped with a combination of sidescan sonar and towed video cameras. Fish assemblies were sampled with baited stero video and single camera setups. Initially, says Principal Investigator Gary Kendrick of the University of WA, habitats were classified into five broad types. Low profile reef accounted for 33.4 per cent of the area mapped, sand 28.3 per cent, seagrass 20.1 per cent, rhodoliths 13.6 per cent and high profile reef 4.6 per cent.

2001/060

Farmed barramundi quality

Minimum quality standards adopted by the farmed barramundi sector for fresh whole fish have improved product quality, buyer confidence and, possibly, helped maintain a buoyant price, says Principal Investigator Carl Young, former Executive Officer of the Australian Barramundi Farmers’ Association. The standards cover size, grade, flavour, packing and labelling.

2002/404

Using fish waste

Australian Seafood Co-products (ASCo), a company formed through FRDC’s South East Fishery Industry Development Subprogram, is awaiting the outcome of commercial trials of Fish-P, an organic fertiliser utilising what formerly was fish processing waste. The trials are part of a joint venture with Incitec Pivot, Australia’s biggest fertiliser company. In the meantime, says Principal Investigator Ian Knuckey of Fishwell Consulting, ASCo members are considering options to direct-sell their processing residues to agricultural companies and cooperatives.

2002/405

Clam aquaculture assessment

Useful information on diet, genetics, predation, parasites, densities and diseases has flowed from an unsuccessful attempt to develop technology for hatchery production and growout of the inter-tidal clam Katelysia scalarina in Tasmania. Principal Investigator Greg Maguire, now of the WA Department of Fisheries, said the subtidal species Ruditapes largillierti (Venerupis) showed more promise, but protecting a subtidal clam from predators would be a major technical challenge.

1993/232

Dried seafood markets

An update of the publication Evaluation of the Market for Dried Seafood 1993-96 is available from Seafood Services Australia Ltd. Principal Investigators Stephen Thrower and Andrew Forrest of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland have concentrated on three main markets: Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.

2003/418, from SSA, phone 1300 130 321

AFMA R&D plan

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s (AFMA’s) 2005-2010 R&D plan establishes priorities within four research programs. Principal Investigator Dave Alden of AFMA says it will be used by the Commonwealth Fisheries Research Advisory Body and AFMA’s research committee as a basis for planning and undertaking R&D.

2003/319

Sales potential            2004/249

Annual sales of fresh seafood in Melbourne can be increased by about $27m, suggests Principal Investigator Nick Ruello, following a study of consumption patterns there. He says the study identified five market segments with individual demographic and consumption patterns and most could be targeted profitably. In local aquaculture, mussels had the greatest potential for increased sales. About one in three people seemed willing to pay up to 10 per cent more for seafood if they were assured it came from a well-managed, ecologically sustainable source. Melbourne’s total retail sales of fresh seafood were estimated at $270m in 2004-05. Supermarkets had doubled their share – to 32 per cent – since the previous study in 1991. This two-volume report runs to 300-plus pages. See stories elsewhere in this issue.           

Scallop genetics            2003/033

Genetic studies of Queensland and Western Australian saucer scallops have given a green light for sea ranching in both states. Principal Investigator Elizabeth O’Brien of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries says scallops from the two locations are genetically different, but Queensland scallops can be treated as a single stock, meaning hatchery broodstock may be taken from any location. Results point to a single stock in the west too, but she says the WA scallops sampled did not represent the species’ full range there. Baseline data and microsatellite markers developed in the study will allow sea ranchers in both states to monitor genetic diversity from hatchery to harvest.                                                Translocation risk            2005/640

With unique fish species – and their unique viruses – Australia’s consequent lack of information on aquatic animal disease makes it difficult to minimise the risks associated with translocation or restocking. Participants at a national workshop in Melbourne last year acknowledged this problem when formulating surveillance and translocation protocols for live finfish. Principal Investigator Brian Jones of the Western Australian Department of Fisheries said the emphasis was on viral encephalopathy and retinopathy in barramundi, but the outcomes applied to most significant finfish diseases.

Octopus efficiency            2004/248

Small craft octopus fishing is easier, safer and more efficient using a pot retrieval and setting system developed in this project. Principal Investigator and long-time octopus fisher Bob Alexander of Green Head, Western Australia says the prototype he and son Glenn have developed pulls the double refuge pots mechanically, racks them for quick and efficient retrieval of octopuses, then guides them back into the water. See also Bob puts new spin on old ways, R&D News volume 13 number 4.           

Mulloway sustainability            2002/005

New South Wales is considering ways to reverse a decline in mulloway stocks following a recommendation from this study that the minimum legal length should be increased from 45cm to at least 70cm. Principal Investigator Charles Gray of the NSW Department of Primary Industries says the commercial catch is dominated by two-year-olds – a disturbing statistic for a fish that can grow to 175cm and live for more than 40 years. He says adoption of bycatch reduction devices by estuary prawn trawlers should reduce an unintentional juvenile kill, but seasonal and area closures may be necessary to protect adults that predominantly spawn in oceanic waters between November and March.           

Shark sustainability            2000/134

Western Australia has acted to ensure the sustainability of its sandbar (thickskin) shark fisheries after this project showed the species, a demersal whaler, has little ability to counter fishing mortality, with males maturing at about 14 and females at 16 years. Principal Investigator Rod Lenanton of the WA Department of Fisheries estimated potential population growth in the absence of fishing at only 2.5 per cent per year and recommended either a major overall catch reduction, or the closure of one of the state’s two fisheries. The study indicated dusky shark stocks also were declining. See Saving sandbar sharks elsewhere in this issue.           

Shark fingerprinting            2003/067

Western Australia is using a DNA database  to crack down on an illegal trade in protected sharks. The legally robust test allows nine important species to be identified from processed body parts. Principal Investigator Rory McAuley of the WA Department of Fisheries says the so-called fingerprint tests will also shed light on the bycatch of commercially important species in non-target fisheries.           

Rocklobster unity            2005/222

Representatives of Australian and New Zealand rocklobster fisheries meeting at their fourth national congress in Hobart decided to put their heads together to develop new markets and re-establish profitability. Executive officers of the individual state and NZ fisheries will meet at least six-monthly to pursue priorities identified at the congress, says Principal Investigator Roger Edwards of tri-state Southern Rocklobster Limited.           

QX strategy            2001/214

New South Wales and Queensland have re-drawn the battle lines to protect the Sydney rock oyster sector against QX disease after this project established that the responsible pathogen Marteilia sydneyi is present in most oyster-growing areas along Australia’s east coast. Principal Investigator Robert Adlard of the Queensland Museum says that in many non-QX locations its low level has not seriously harmed host oysters. He advocates more research to determine the pathogen’s biology, in a parallel with existing attempts to develop QX-resistant stock. In the meantime, he says, estuaries subject to QX outbreaks should remain quarantined and their high risk periods should be identified precisely, to allow production to be maximised at other times.           

SA oysters            2000/257

South Australia’s Pacific oyster growers can now get test results for human faecal contamination in 24 hours, rather than five days. This project has also delivered sensitive polymerase chain reaction tests for viruses affecting humans, including hepatitis A, Norovirus, Astrovirus and Adenovirus. So sensitive, suggests Principal Investigator Richard Bentham of Flinders University, that pre-market screening is now capable of detecting a single infectious virus particle in an individual oyster.           

R&D providers            2002/321

Western Australia now has an interactive online database of local R&D providers that mirrors the FRDC model. It vets and accepts entries and delivers information on institutions, units within them and their personnel, plus non-institutional providers. There are four skill categories for individuals: pre-harvest, harvest, post-harvest and economics and marketing. The database responds to searches by category or keyword. Find it at www.wafic.org.au, under Research and Development.           

Some recs getting it wrong

Recreational fishers in north Queensland who blame unsatisfactory catches on commercial fishers have got it wrong, according to a study by James Cook University PhD student Renae Tobin.

And, she says, recreational-only fishing areas aren’t necessarily the answer either.

After  interviewing about 30 commercial barramundi fishers and almost 400 recreational ones between Ayr and Cardwell she found most of the recreational fishers believed east coast commercial barramundi gill netting was unsustainable.

She told Australasian Science that many rec fishers called the nets ‘walls of death’ and some believed their commercial users took a lot of undersized and oversized fish.

In reality, she said, commercial barramundi netting was quite selective, according to research by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Bycatch species made up only six per cent of the commercial catch, undersized barramundi totalled nine per cent and oversized ones just 0.06 per cent.

And scientific stock assessments indicated the annual commercial marine and estuarine catch was sustainable.

In 1999 it was put at 211t, compared to a recreational fresh and saltwater catch of 270t.

Commercial fishers she interviewed believed recreational fishers had a bad attitude toward them, as evidenced by verbal abuse and vandalised equipment; and a poor understanding of the commercial fishery.

Renae Tobin said recreational fishers wanted less commercial fishing and more recreational-only zones, although the study showed they didn’t use the ones they already had.

Fewer than five per cent said the presence of commercial fishing influenced their choice of fishing location, 70 per cent said they didn’t avoid estuaries open to commercial fishing and there was no evidence of improved catches in recreational-only areas.

She recommended more education to end mutual misperceptions and the delivery of more information from fishery managers and researchers to ‘the general fishing public’ about the barramundi fishery and the location of recreational-only areas.

Further recreational-only areas should be considered only if and when participants became better-informed, she said.

The question of how to resolve such conflicts to deliver the best economic, environmental and social returns is dealt with by Tor Hundloe, Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Queensland, in a snappy 32-page book  Is My Fish Worth More Than Yours?

In short, Tor Hundloe says let s/he who values the fish most buy the right to catch it.

There is nothing intrinsically unsound, he says, in letting both commercial and recreational fishers buy individual, tradable catch quotas.

Funded by FRDC, Is My Fish Worth More Than Yours? is available in hard copy and as a download from www.frdc.com.au/bookshop.

MORE: Renae Tobin, email  Renae.Tobin@jcu.edu.au

Rec restocking road map

National guidelines to improve fish stocks targeted by recreational fishers have been set at a workshop in Brisbane.

Participants representing governments and the recreational sector nominated methods and R&D priorities in three categories:

Freshwater issues

They decided that local communities should help set outcomes for freshwater stock enhancement - and the strategies to achieve them.

In doing so, the social and economic effects of creating new fisheries should be weighed and consensus should be reached on whether an enhanced fishery would be managed for angler satisfaction, economic gain, or other benefits. The type of fishery – trophy, family, multi-species – should also be determined in advance.

Participants said this process would require a predictive R&D tool that identified the inputs needed to achieve the desired results.

Marine guidelines

In saltwater, the emphasis was put on Australia-wide protocols for finfish and invertebrates in estuaries and other semi-enclosed environments, with a possible flow-on of benefits to commercial fisheries.

Here, the process should begin by identifying and then tackling the reasons for stock decline, from environmental degradation and recruitment bottlenecks to over-fishing. Enhancement risk assessments should consider:

Potential beneficiaries and funding sources should be identified in advance, along with criteria for success or failure.

Threatened species

For individual threatened species, the workshop called for an R&D mechanism to identify and overcome gaps in knowledge and stipulated that all activities should be integrated with regional Natural Resource Management objectives.

Habitat rehabilitation was seen as an initial consideration, particularly for highly modified inland waters, along with cost-benefit analyses of species reintroduction.

The immediate risks facing individual populations should be assessed, community and commercial partnerships should be considered and existing socio-economic and legislative frameworks should be examined to determine if they would permit the desired outcomes.

The Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage lists two fish species as critically endangered, 16 as endangered and 20 as vulnerable.

The workshop was hosted by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries and funded by FRDC, the Murray Darling Basin Commission and Recfish Australia.

FRDC Executive Director Patrick Hone said that although stock enhancement decisions ultimately were the responsibility of state and territory agencies, the uniform approach adopted by workshop participants had created a foundation to build world class sustainable fisheries that would appeal to all types of recreational fishers.

Workshop proceedings are at www.frdc.com.au.

MORE: Matt Barwick, FRDC, phone 02 6285 0419; email matt.barwick@frdc.com.au

Pirate fishing action

Australia has signed on for nine multilateral initiatives to accelerate the global fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

It will work with other nations to implement a better international monitoring, control and surveillance network and to strengthen high-seas governance and regional fisheries management organisations.

It will also join New Zealand for a scoping study to develop a global information system for high-seas fishing vessels.

“Cooperation is a significant weapon. Our joint patrols with France have helped curtail illegal fishing in our Southern Ocean waters,” the Australian Government’s Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said.

Australia will also provide funds to beef up the efforts of developing nations that lack the capacity to control fishing vessels in their own waters, the waters of other countries and on the high seas.

The latest initiatives flow from an international task force on IUU fishing  that held its final meeting in Paris in March and launched its report - Closing the Net: Stopping Illegal Fishing on the High Seas.

MORE: www.high-seas.org

Tsunami toll

At least 60,000 fishers died and 110,000 boats were destroyed when the  tsunami of December 2004 devastated coastal communities in Asia and Africa, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

FAO says the impact on world production will be clear when it releases 2005 figures next year.

Didymo is at our door

RECFISH Australia  has asked Customs Minister Chris Ellison to ensure anglers entering Australia from New Zealand are screened for a damaging freshwater alga recently discovered across the Tasman.

Didymosphenia geminata, known as didymo or rock snot, is a cool-temperate freshwater growth from the northern hemisphere that can form massive blooms on the bottom of streams, adversely affecting fish, plant and invertebrate species. Transporting a single cell to another waterway can start an infestation.

It is now established in several streams in New Zealand’s South Island.

In reality, he said, a single careless angler could wipe out Australia’s blue ribbon trout streams, plus the habitat of native species in these streams.

MORE: John Harrison, phone 07 3356 1111; email ceo@recfish.com.au

Meeting estuaries’ needs

THE R&D needed to help deliver environmentally-adequate water flows to the nation’s estuaries is being defined as a result of a workshop held in Canberra in March.

The key questions posed by representatives of state and Commonwealth government departments, universities and other research providers included:

The workshop was planned and managed by the Coastal Cooperative Research Centre at the request of the FRDC Board, with funding from FRDC and Land and Water Australia.

The completed list of R&D priorities will be delivered to FRDC as a final report and will be posted at www.frdc.com.au.

FRDC Programs Manager Crispian Ashby said the R&D projects that flowed from it would help managers make better-informed water allocations, to the benefit of ecosystems and the industries that depended on them.

MORE: Crispian Ashby, phone 02 6285 0400; email crispian.ashby@frdc.com.au

Globally, some optimism

Fisheries management is especially about people and tens of thousands of them depend on fisheries agencies to get it right, keynote speaker Ray Hilborn told the international Sharing the Fish 06 conference in Fremantle.

Agencies and fishers should not be put off by a litany of so-called fisheries disasters, the Professor of Fisheries Management at the University of Washington said, summing up three days of discussions between 90 presenters and more than 300 delegates from 40 countries.

“The scenario that fishers have wiped out the biggest is not true except in the North Atlantic. We are just fishing the middle trophic fish faster than the big fish.”

While fishing could change ecosystems dramatically, Ray Hilborn said it did not necessarily affect their productivity and “we should ask ourselves whether we are willing to accept a transformed ecosystem that is still productive.

In depleted jurisdictions, he said, “the litany says fisheries management is like the Titanic – it’s too late to save the ship and the only solution is marine protected areas. 

“We are not the Titanic – we are a fleet under different captains – although North Sea cod is perhaps the Titanic.”

Nations such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand had successfully put an emphasis on the allocation of fishing rights to stop ‘the race to fish’, but they represented only a small part of the world’s fisheries.

While effective allocation contributed to effective science and compliance, he said there was a tool box of other approaches and almost all successful solutions were local and case-specific.

In her summing up keynote speaker Susan Hanna, Professor of Marine Economics at Oregon State University, said the two strong conference themes had been the context in which resource allocations were made and how resources should be allocated
in future.

The inclusion of tourism and ecological interests made the process more complex than before.

She said although management agencies might have a complete vision for a fishery, “our inability to clarify our objectives means we spend lots of time talking at cross purposes”.

Efficiency was not the only objective, Susan Hanna said. “We need well-written property rights that balance equity against efficiency.”

FRDC was a major sponsor of Sharing the Fish 06, with contributions from FAO, DAFF and WA Fisheries.

MORE: Conference abstracts and most papers are at www.fishallocation.com.au.
Final proceedings will be added later.

Tathra tops champions

A Sydney rock oyster operation has won an inaugural champion of champions award at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

The President’s medal and $10,000 were presented to Gary and Joanne Rodely, owner of Tathra Oysters at Tathra, near Bega, on the New South Wales south coast.

Tathra beat a national field of prizewinners from the NSW Royal Agricultural Society’s wine, dairy and fine food shows who had all excelled in their fields.

The triple-bottom-line judging assessed each finalist’s financial, social and environmental performance.

Their products were then rated on price, saleability and the human factors involved in producing them and judges visited each  operation to watch them in action and gather additional information.

“I believe our oyster faming is environmentally sustainable and we have very little adverse impact on our community. Our estuaries are completely self-sustaining, we don’t have to import any oysters to grow here and overall it’s a very organic process,” Gary Rodely said.

“In fact, the only waste we produce is oyster shells and these actually go towards fixing local roads.”

Turtle video release

A video showing how best to handle accidentally hooked sea turtles is being distributed to Australia’s pelagic longline fishers.

The video was produced in FRDC project 2003/013 that is working with fishers to determine the best ways to reduce turtle hook-ups – and to reduce deaths in those that are hooked.

Fishers now have a logbook, covered in the video, in which  for every turtle captured they can record the hook and baiting style used, depth and position of hook, design and colour of lightstick, gear configuration, time of set and environmental factors.

They are also testing gear modifications suggested by United States studies, including circle hooks and alternative hook spacing on their mainlines.

To improve survival, they are testing dip-nets, line-cutters and de-hookers and recommending approaches and designs that deliver the best results. Besides reducing mortality in an endangered species, the project aims to pre-empt any move by the United States to ban imports from fisheries that do not take mitigation measures.

It also will help Australia comply with its obligations under a memorandum of understanding on the conservation and management of marine turtles and their Indian Ocean and South-East Asian habitats.

MORE: Principal Investigator Carolyn Robins, phone 07 5442 8575; email robins.eumundi@bigpond.com

Engines stressing fish?

Fishers: Are the fish you’re targeting stressed by the noise of your engine?

Experiments by Lidia Wysocki and colleagues at the University of Vienna suggest it’s likely.

They recorded underwater ship noise from the River Danube and two Austrian lakes and played it back in the lab at similar volume - 153 decibels -  to carp, European perch and gudgeon.

Half an hour later they measured the cortisol, a stress marker, that had been released into the water from the fishes’ gills.  Then they repeated the experiment twice, replacing engine noise with silence, then with constant hissing white noise at 156 decibels.

Fish exposed to engine noise secreted significantly more cortisol. Those exposed to no noise and to white noise produced normal cortisol levels.

The researchers suggest that fish probably can adapt to constant white noise but are stressed by engine noise because its volume and timing are unpredictable. Their results showed no apparent differences between species possessing excellent hearing, in this case carp and gudgeon; and those with poor hearing, such as perch.

High cortisol levels are harmful to fish growth, maturation, immunology and overall survival and, they say, ‘underwater noise pollution is a growing environmental problem’.

They point out that naval architects have reduced onboard noise to increase passenger comfort and say similar efforts should be made to reduce noise underwater.

For vessels on Europe’s inland waterways they recommend a compulsory  reduction in line with that prescribed for marine research vessels under ICES CRR 209, even if this means installing different propulsion systems.

MORE: www.sciencedirect.com

Chefs’ sponsor

FRDC is again helping sponsor a national Young Chef of the Year Award, set up by Sydney chef Luke Mangan and business partner Lucy Allon to recognise and encourage new talent.

“It’s crucial that we as an industry inspire young people and give them confidence. It’s also important that we continually look for ways to improve our industry, raise standards and strengthen Australia’s food reputation,” Luke Mangan says.

Professional chefs under 30 are invited  to submit a seasonal three course menu. Finalists from each state will be flown to Sydney for a cook-off during which knowledge, ability and ambition will be tested and assessed competitively. FRDC says the award is also an opportunity to get a seafood message across to a new generation of opinion leaders on food. To begin this process FRDC staff will accompany the finalists on fact-finding visits to wild-harvest and aquaculture operations in Tasmania next month.

MORE: www.youngchef.com.au, or Peter Horvat 02 6285 0414, email: peter.horvat@frdc.com.au

Some trout cod are movers

Radio-tracking has shed new light on the behaviour of trout cod introduced to the Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales, with fish that travel for tens of kilometres returning with absolute accuracy to their home base.

The endangered trout cod Maccullochelia macquariensis, also known as bluenose cod, is a cousin of the Murray cod and persists as a natural population in the Murray below Yarrawonga and as a relocated population in Sevens Creek, Victoria.

In the past, trout cod raised in hatcheries have been released in the Murrumbidgee River as fingerlings, to try to restore the species there, but this has not always resulted in self-sustaining populations. So a new FRDC-funded project run by Environment ACT with support from the CRC for Freshwater Ecology has been testing the success of releasing older fish instead. Fifty-eight young trout cod fitted with radio- transmitters, then released 5km upstream of Narrandera, NSW, were radio-tracked for 12 months.

Contributing scientist Jason Thiem says 27 of the cod came as two-year olds - 300mm to 430mm and 500g to 1550g - from Victoria’s Snobs Creek Hatchery. The other 31 were ‘wild’ sub-adults, 370mm to 630mm and 600g to 3700g, that previously had been stocked as fingerlings in the Murrumbidgee and were recaptured by electro-fishing for this project, with the help of staff from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

In the reach of the river studied, between Yanco weir and Berembed weir, the two-year old hatchery trout cod dispersed much further than the wild fish. The wild fish mostly stayed within 5km of the release site, but the hatchery fish gradually moved downstream.

Four weeks after release, both river and hatchery fish had set up home sites that they returned to regularly - usually a pile of in-stream wood or an individual log or hollow. The home-sites of 13 of the 31 wild fish were within 50m of the locations from which they had been captured originally. Several returned to their pre-capture log or log pile.

During late spring and early summer, the researchers examined the fishes’ home ranges and daily activity over several 24-hour periods and found that most individuals had a home range no more than 272m long.

They appeared to be relatively sedentary during the day and more active at night. However, remote telemetry loggers stationed at Berembed and Yanco weirs revealed that five individuals had made  round trips of 20km to 60km during the year. Manual tracking confirmed that after each journey these travellers returned to exactly the same log, indicating that some trout cod movement may not be detected by conventional monthly tracking.

Other types of movement were also noted: The two biggest fish were nomadic - no fixed address - and one individual relocated to a new home site 35km away for four months, then returned to its original one.

Jason Thiem says the project has contributed information useful for managing stocking densities and for understanding the ways individual restocked fish use home-sites.

The focus now has moved to smaller streams, with two year old hatchery trout cod being tracked in the Australian Capital Territory’s Cotter River and the ACT section of the Murrumbidgee.

MORE: Jason Thiem or Brendan Ebner, phone 02 6207 2119; email

Jason.Thiem@act.gov.au; Brendan.Ebner@act.gov.au

Tending the abalone turf?

An evolutionary process is needed in Australasian abalone fisheries to change divers from hunters to gardeners, says abalone biologist Jeremy Prince.

He reminded the Sharing the Fish 06 conference in Fremantle that abalone comprised many independent populations that varied widely in their size at sexual maturity.

Yet fisheries in Australia and New Zealand were managed at scales of hundreds of kilometres with zonal legal minimum lengths (LML) and individual transferable quotas (ITQ), for commercial divers; and short fishing seasons, trip and possession limits for the recreational sector.

As a result, local populations that matured at a big size had relatively little of their breeding stock protected by a zonal LML and thus were prone to extinction.

He said gradual adoption of a gardening approach would let cultivators learn the optimal shell sizes and harvest rates for individual reefs while allowing management agencies to withdraw into the role of regulator and adviser.

Under this system, production would be optimised following a change in commercial property rights from an ITQ allocation of zonal catch to a right to harvest a defined area in what then would be a territorial user rights fishery (TURF).

He said for the commercial sector the property rights changeover would not be easy, but the will to find solutions was bound to increase as the resource continued to decline. Equity, transparency and independence from outside influence would be  the critical factors.

The second major issue would be sharing access between the commercial sector, recreational and traditional harvesters and non-extractive users.

Current management generally avoided explicitly allocating shares between these sectors, but TURF management would require these allocations to be explicit, he said.

MORE: Jeremy Prince, Biospherics P/L, email biospherics@ozemail.com.au

Project No. 2005/024.

In the know

Know something we should know? Tell Tara – 02 6285 0415, comms@frdc.com.au