CGG has NOPSEMA approval for a 3D seismic survey in the Gippsland Basin to commence in early 2020. This survey overlaps the Victorian shelter-pot octopus fishery off Lakes Entrance. This overlap has raised concerns from the fishing industry about the potential impacts to octopus and the fishers. Tank-based experiments simulating seismic exposure have resulted in high levels of damage in several species of octopus, however, it is unclear how experiments conducted in tanks translate into the field. Field-based seismic experiments have rarely been conducted on invertebrates, with no such studies conducted on octopus. However, the benthic and relatively sessile habit of octopus leaves them potentially vulnerable to impacts, as they have limited capacity to avoid the waterborne and ground-borne energy of seismic signals. CCG has agreed to provide funds to fill the knowledge gap surrounding the potential impact of seismic surveying on octopus and to do this in conjunction with a commercial scale seismic survey, with the lack of a full array often a perceived limitation of seismic research. CGG has also agreed to value add to the work around octopus. This opportunity allows for the potential impact of seismic surveying on larval forms to be examined, with some concerns around localised depletion of larvae of commercially and ecologically important species, such as southern rock lobster and commercial scallops. This project will use a field and laboratory experimental approach to provide a thorough assessment of the potential impacts of seismic surveys on octopus pallidus and its catches, along with rock lobster larvae and other important larvae. These approaches may assist fisheries and petroleum regulators to make informed decisions on the timing and manner in which future surveys are performed. Importantly, along with that of CGG, it has the support of the Victorian Fisheries Authority, who have also offered in-kind support, the two octopus fishers in the region, the Lakes Entrance Fishermen’s co-op, the sustainable shark fishing association and Southern Rock Lobster Inc.

Octopus aff. tetricus or the Western Australian common octopus is an endemic species of the temperate waters of Western Australia. It is closely related to the cosmopolitan O. vulgaris species complex, and the ‘gloomy octopus’, O. tetricus on the east coast of Australia and New Zealand, but has been conclusively identified as a separate species through genetic and morphometric studies (Guzik et al., 2005; Amor et al., 2014). Currently, the common octopus supports the largest single-species octopus fishery in Australia, however the animal caught is an unnamed species, and carries the species affinis “Octopus aff. tetricus” instead. This is not an ideal situation for two reasons. First, it hinders a proper assessment of its significant contribution to the Australian cephalopod fisheries harvest. For example there is no dedicated SAFs report for this species, despite the catch levels harvest being three times greater than the 'Pale Octopus' (Octopus pallidus) from Tasmania, which does have its own SAFs assessment report. Secondly, there is an industry impetus to differentiate the product in the marketplace in order to create a distinct branding of the Western Australian octopus fishery into the future. Thus there is both a scientific/administrative need and a marketing need to formalise the correct species name, and its associated common name.