10 results

Investigative tour to World Fisheries Congress, Boston Seafood Show and Electric and Hybrid Maritime Expo (2024)

Project number: 2023-067
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $28,500.00
Principal Investigator: Clayton M. Nelson
Organisation: Austral Fisheries Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 20 Dec 2023 - 25 Apr 2024
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Commercial in confidence. To know more about this project please contact FRDC.

Objectives

Commercial in confidence

Tropical fish traps – addressing ghost fishing impacts and refinements to catch reporting/sampling

Project number: 2022-164
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $150,000.00
Principal Investigator: John Wakeford
Organisation: Austral Fisheries Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 31 May 2023 - 31 May 2025
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The negative impacts of lost fish traps ghost fishing are well documented and of concern to all parties involved with the sustainable harvest of seafood from the aquatic environment (Macfadyen et al 2009; Newman et al 2011; Vadziutsina & Rodrigo 2020). Essentially, lost fishing gears that continue to kill/harm fish represent an inefficiency in the fish production process, and in essence are a form of waste associated with the harvesting process, that ultimately reduces the yield and casts a bad light on the fishery itself. This project does not meet any specific FRDC priority in the current round, hence the lodgment under (Other), although because of what it attempts to address and minimise, it is likely to gain strong support from those concerned with appropriate management of fisheries i.e., minimising the wasteful use of renewable food resources at a time when there is a food crisis in the world, with parties including the FRDC, AFMA, ENGO's and the fishing industry.

Objectives

1. Quantification of fish trap (various designs) loss rates, both in the distant past and more recently, together with the main factors influencing the loss rate.
2. Quantification of how well “dumped” or unattended traps catch fish, together with the main factors affecting the performance (including the presence of trap disabling mechanisms).
3. Apply refinements* to fishing practices/gear to address loss rates and ghost fishing and assess performance (*utilising observations made in the first year of project).
4. Apply refinements to fishing activity reporting to assist with the management of effort creep, trap loss, and ascertaining appropriate harvest levels for the target species.
Environment
Environment

People Development Program: FRDC emerging leader governance scholarship - Martin Exel

Project number: 2008-322.11
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $5,914.55
Principal Investigator: Martin Exel
Organisation: Austral Fisheries Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 14 Jun 2011 - 14 Jul 2012
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Industry organisations need to build their capacity to meet future challenges and opportunities. Building the skills and confidence for industry to influence is one aspect of capacity that the people development program aims to address through this project, providing opportunity to influence is another.

There is a need for coordinated delivery of opportunities to develop governance capability in the fishing
industry and and to promote opportunitites to foster diversity through succession planning within industry committees and boards. There is also a need to provide additional opportunities for those people who participate in the AICD program to observe effective boards in action.

Objectives

1. To provide one annual scholarship for an emerging leader to the AICD company directors course
2. To provide opportunity for the scholarship winner to attend a board meeting as an observer
View Filter

Species

Organisation