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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.

PROJECT NUMBER • 2022-007

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Trials of oceanographic data collection on commercial fishing vessels in SE Australia

ORGANISATION:

Fishwell Consulting Pty Ltd

TAGS

PROJECT NUMBER • 2023-072

PROJECT STATUS:

CURRENT

Educational travel trip for Ocean Trap and Line industry development to explore alternative fishing practices which help prevent TEP species interactions and ghost fishing

ORGANISATION:

OceanWatch Australia Ltd

TAGS

SPECIES

Establishing a national end of life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia

Project number: 2023-124

Project Status:

Current

Budget expenditure: $273,080.00

Principal Investigator: Anissa Lawrence

Organisation: TierraMar Ltd trading as Ocean Earth Foundation

Project start/end date: 29 Sep 2024 - 29 Jun 2026

Contact:

FRDC

TAGS

Need

Building on the circularity discussions and work being undertaken by FRDC and the industry, this project seeks to undertake the legwork required to establish a nationwide on-demand End of life (EOL) fishing gear recovery system for Australia and pilot it in key locations. The materials that many nets and ropes are made of are highly valuable and recyclable and in fact in many other countries, is already being recycled or remanufactured. Until now, having a national system has been cost prohibitive due to the large distances and need for economies of scale and limited local buyer interest. As a part of the national targets set by the Australian Government relating to plastics use and recycling, commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors have been exploring how to move to a circular economy model and reduce plastic inputs through a variety of projects run by FRDC and others. However, with fishing gear the biggest plastic polymer input, and contamination challenges, there has yet to be a suitable system established.

This project seeks to enable the opportunities that addressing EOL gear provides in Australia to the commercial fishing and aquaculture sector through the establishment of an effective EOL fishing gear recovery system for the country to reduce the landfill costs to industry. It seeks to build on the learnings from previous projects as well as the ten years of experience of our partner Bureo has in in operating an EOL fishing gear recovery program. Bureo currently have an EOL gear recovery system active in 9 countries.

The key objectives are:
● By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system implemented across key fishing ports, and key aquaculture centres benefiting regional communities and fisheries conservation and assisting the Australian Government to address plastic recovery/recycling targets.
● By the end of 2024, the enabling environment for an effective and fit for purpose EOL fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system is in place within Australia, with commencement of recycling underway in key pilot locations.

Objectives

1. By March 2025 the feasibility of and logistical requirements are understood to establish a national end of life recovery system for commercial fishing and aquaculture gear in Australia and an enabling pathway for roll out created.

2. By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia implemented across at least 5 key fishing ports, with measurable benefits being delivered to regional communities, industry, conservation, while contributing towards the Australian Government’s recycling targets.

PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-012

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Investigating social acceptance for the wild catch commercial fishing industry of Southeast Queensland

This research project aimed to develop an engagement strategy that would assist the Southeast Queensland (SEQ) wild catch commercial fishing industry to gain social acceptance, or a Social Licence to Operate (SLO). SLO is needed to maintain access to the resource and market confidence. A scan of...

ORGANISATION:

University of the Sunshine Coast (USC)

TAGS

Wild Catch

Survey

Stakeholder

Resource Access And Allocation

SPECIES