The production and sale of shellfish for human consumption in WA is regulated by the Department of Health (DoH), through implementation of the Western Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program (WASQAP). As a result, testing for the presence of biotoxins is a mandatory requirement under the WASQAP. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Department) plays a supporting role in implementation of the program through liaison between shellfish growers and the DoH and other government agencies and coordination of research and development requirements.

Currently, there is no capacity to undertake biotoxin testing in WA using the contemporary method of 'Rapid Biotoxin Test Kits'. This often results in long delays, financial loss and market reduction for current shellfish growers.

The verification and subsequent use of these kits (consistent with DoH requirements) has potential to reduce such losses and assist the growth of shellfish aquaculture industry within WA. This is consistent with the State Government's approach of providing strong support for aquaculture development proposals and notably, the recently completed Albany Shellfish Hatchery which will produce high quality spat for both new and existing shellfish growers. The need for this facility is driven by an increasing demand in edible oyster production across the state.

In addition to the new hatchery facility, government has funded the South Coast Aquaculture Development Zone which will deliver large areas of water that have been granted the necessary environmental and regulatory approvals and deemed suitable for large-scale shellfish aquaculture on the south coast. There is an unprecedented level of growth being experienced in WA for bivalve mollusc aquaculture with two large projects likely to move from trial to approval and production within the next 2-4 years.

The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) is the only endemic species of Australian pinniped and is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act due to historical reduction in numbers, declining population trends, limited biological productivity and continued bycatch in various fisheries. Measures to mitigate sea lion mortality in the Commonwealth's Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery include extensive gillnet fishing closures that have led to significant displacement of fishing effort. Despite the measures to protect South Australian sea lion colonies, pup production has been estimated to have declined at most South Australian colonies and overall by 2.9% per year or 4.4% per breeding cycle between 2004-2008 and 2014-2015 (Goldsworthy et al., 2015).

Gillnet exclusion areas have also been proposed in the Western Australian Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fisheries, however these have not yet been implemented, in part due to uncertainties in the current status of most Western Australian sea lion colonies and risk of unintended consequences from displaced fishing effort. Despite the high level of conservation concern for this species and the severity of fishery management measures aimed at reducing their bycatch mortality, abundance has not been estimated for most WA colonies since the early-1990s (Gales 1993). Contemporary assessments of colony status are therefore required to identify the WA colonies that are most at risk from depletion (either through fisheries bycatch or other natural or anthropogenic processes) and guide effective conservation decisions.

Historically, monitoring has involved a 'boots-on-the-ground' approach to count the numbers of pups being born. However, this approach is expensive, logistically difficult, hazardous and entirely dependent on accurate estimation of the timing of colony-specific pupping seasons. It is therefore proposed to evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of remote camera methods to collect alternative sea lion abundance estimates.