PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-033
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
SPECIES
10 results
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
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.
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.
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2018-104
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-018
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Improving survival and quality of crabs and lobsters in transportation from first point of sale to market.
Eastern rock lobsters, spanner crabs and mud crabs command a high price when supplied to the market as live product. Being aquatic animals, the demands to retain maximum quality and liveliness through the supply chain are challenging. Once taken from water, these crustaceans are subject to...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2022-075
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
National Workshop to develop a regional collaborative plan to control the invasive Longspined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii)
The 2023 National Centrostephanus Workshop was convened by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. The workshop brought together 130 representatives from industry, government, research, Aboriginal communities, recreational fishing groups, and the community to:
• Identify...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE TAS)
SPECIES
Identifying population connectivity of shark bycatch species in NT waters
Project number:
2020-036
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$66,430.00
Principal Investigator:
Sam Banks
Organisation:
Charles Darwin University (CDU)
Project start/end date:
3 Dec 2020
-
9 Dec 2021
Contact:
FRDC
This project is needed for three main reasons:
1. It directly addresses a NT RAC priority in the 2019 call for funding applications relating to improving sustainable yield estimates to inform stock assessment programs for undefined target species and protected species in the Offshore Net and Line Fishery. The project will support sustainable fishing practices for important commercial fisheries in the NT and the development of new commercial opportunities within these fisheries: The impacts of fishery activities on these species, either through bycatch or targeted harvest, are difficult to assess in the absence of information on population connectivity and stock structure.
2. The project will develop capacity for fisheries research and monitoring in NT waters. Genetics methods are widely applied to fisheries research and monitoring and training of an early career fisheries scientist in the application and interpretation of genetic data will be a key outcome of this project.
3. The project will provide key information to support the transition of these species from bycatch to a harvested byproduct species, including an evaluation of leading-edge genetic techniques in fisheries assessment and monitoring.
1. To develop population connectivity model for Whitecheek and Milk Shark
2. To develop capacity for research and monitoring of shark species within the Northern Territory
3. To evaluate the utility of genetic techniques in fisheries monitoring
Final report
ISBN:
978-1-922684-78-3 (Print), 978-1-922684-79-0 (Web)
Authors:
Sam Banks
Amy Kirke
Fernanda Alves
Grant Johnson and David Crook
Final Report
•
2024-10-01
•
1.08 MB
2020-036-DLD.pdf
Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory (NT) Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT) Fisheries Division used genetic data to investigate the population structure of two small tropical shark species (Milk Shark [Rhizoprionodon acutus] and Australian Blackspot Shark [Carcharhinus coatesi]), which are caught as bycatch from commercial fisheries in the NT.
The aim of this study was to gain information on the genetic stock structure to inform the future management of these two species in the NT. This project was conducted in parallel with a PhD project investigating the biology and ecology of both species for applications to fisheries management. There is motivation by the NT Government to develop these two shark species into a commercial product. This project used genetic analysis to understand the patterns of connectivity of populations of these two shark species in NT waters and adjacent regions, including northern Western Australia and Papua New Guinea.
These two shark species that are captured as bycatch in the NT Demersal Fishery have the potential to be developed into a byproduct to add value to that fishery. A sustainable commercial harvest of these two species could greatly reduce the waste from fisheries, where they are currently abundant and caught in relatively large numbers. We address current knowledge gaps in biological information about populations of R. acutus and C. coatesi to inform the potential development of a byproduct fishery for these two species in the NT.
Genetic data from R. acutus and C. coatesi strongly suggest that each species exists as a single, highly connected population in the NT. Genetic differentiation among the sampling locations for each species was low, and genetic clustering analyses provided strong support for a single population of each species in the region. Sharks of both species captured within a single location (within 50 km of one another) were more genetically related than those further apart; however, this does not constitute evidence for multiple, spatially discrete populations of either species in NT waters. Preliminary applications of effective population size estimators were used, but further work is needed to determine if these can be used to indicate trends in abundance.
The immediate implications of our research are for fisheries scientists and managers. Our results indicate that these two shark species can be monitored and managed in the NT under the assumption that each species occurs as a single population in this region. Parasite and vertebral chemistry data collected as part of a PhD project conducted in parallel with this project suggest that, for C. coatesi, individuals may be resident within certain regions (eastern versus western NT waters) but the genetic data collected here suggest that, on a generational timescale, both species occur as highly-connected populations across in the NT region.
Our research has potential implications for commercial fishers, particularly from the NT Demersal Fishery. The information from our research will flow through to the industry by contributing to the information required to develop a byproduct fishery for the two species, by utilising bycatch and increasing economic return.
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2015-024
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
Managing ecosystem interactions across differing environments: building flexibility and risk assurance into environmental management strategies
Summary
The overarching aim of this research was to provide an improved understanding of the environmental interactions of Atlantic Salmon farming and to provide recommendations to both government and industry on monitoring and management strategies that are appropriate to the level of risk...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-109
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Development of Fish Health Indicators for the Gladstone Harbour Report Card
As the link between land and sea environments, estuaries are complex ecosystems vulnerable to human impacts, which directly and indirectly affect plants and animals, including fish. Fish are key biological indicators of environmental contamination, as they are water breathers, common in aquatic...
ORGANISATION:
CQUniversity (CQU) Gladstone
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-215
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Storm Bay Biogeochemical Modelling & Information System Supporting sustainable aquaculture expansion in Tasmania
This project delivers a hindcast and near real time Storm Bay Modelling and Information System that is fit for the purpose of simulating water quality and characterising nutrients in Storm Bay from ocean currents, sediment resuspension, river and anthropogenic (including fish farm) inputs. The...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-170
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Real time monitoring of water quality and mechanisation of pond management to boost productivity and increase profit
Maintenance of adequate levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) are critical for the health and production of aquaculture species. In barramundi (Lates calcarifer) pond aquaculture the use of 24 hr/7 day mechanical aeration via paddlewheels represents a significant energy cost to companies,...
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)
SPECIES
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