The Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Association (ASBTIA) operates in shelf and offshore waters of the Great Australian Bight (GAB). In recognition of the exposed nature of the offshore GAB environment, ASBTIA have requested information to better understand the climatology of the physical meteorological and oceanographic conditions which contribute to the ‘sea-state’ and ocean conditions at a deep water petroleum permit location in the Great Australian Bight.

This project will provide the oceanographic services required to identify, access and analyse long-time series of relevant met/ocean parameters and statistically describe their climatology in order to better understand the ‘sea state’ characteristics of the GAB and how they compare with sites located within other international oil production regions.

This proposal is a major part of initial research to be undertaken by the Aquafin CRC. This project has been jointly developed by the research agencies in close consultation with industry, Government regulators and FRDC.

Within the salmon component of the CRC Environment Program, local or on-site research needs are being addressed by an existing FRDC grant 2000/164 which is designed to determine the effects of fallowing on benthic fauna and biogeochemical processes.

The present proposal will examine the system-wide environmental issues facing finfish aquaculture with an initial focus on the salmonid industry. This project explicitly addresses the fact that further expansion of the salmonid industry will be limited by the industry’s contribution to nutrient loads in surrounding water bodies and possible effects on phytoplankton abundance, dissolved oxygen levels and other ecological changes. The Tasmanian State Government is proposing to limit nutrient release through the imposition of feed quotas for different regions. The quotas set are necessarily best estimates and may be overly conservative because of a lack of detailed knowledge of the effects of nutrient release on ecosystem functioning.

The modelling, laboratory and associated field work proposed here provides a mechanism to identify the minimum data needs for assessing environmental conditions, allows scenarios to be tested and key linkages in the ecology of the region to be identified. However, for these to function well we need to resolve uncertainties about the influence of waters from D’Entrecasteaux Channel on conditions in the Huon Estuary, the role of organic-rich sediments in the natural cycling of nutrients and consumption of oxygen in the estuary and the manner in which phytoplankton groups respond to elevated nutrient levels. The project will take advantage of the extensive set of environmental information, data and concepts generated by the FRDC-funded Huon Estuary Study - Environmental Research for Integrated Catchment Management and Aquaculture (Project No. 96/284; abbreviated to HES hereafter).

There is a demonstrable need for more effective monitoring of the environmental effects of finfish aquaculture. Predictive models can be used by industry and regulators to guide choices among alternative development strategies. For effective long-term management, it is also critical that effective monitoring programs are set in place, both to allow evaluation of the performance of environmental management strategies, and to assess model performance and reliability. This project will contribute to the design of long-term monitoring programs, by identifying cost-effective indicators and sampling designs which discriminate among alternative model assumptions and predictions, taking into account spatial and temporal variability. As well, the Program will seek advice and information from overseas agencies to take advantage of emerging technologies and approaches.