117 results
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2021-117
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

A global review on implications of plastic in seafood

Microplastics are commonly consumed by seafood species however, there is still limited understanding of the effects and implications that microplastics may have on the fishing and aquaculture industry. This project summarises research on the effects that microplastic may be having on seafood...
ORGANISATION:
University of Adelaide
TAGS
Pollution
Marine Plastics
Consumer Health
Animal Health
People
People
People
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-020
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Cumulative impacts across fisheries in Australia's marine environment

The world is changing more rapidly than any one individual can track. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (1999) (EPBC Act) requires for all human activities, such as fisheries, to be sustainable not only in isolation but in combination with other anthropogenic...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
TAGS
Sustainability
Rac Cmwth
Marine Park
Habitat
Fishing Effort
People
PROJECT NUMBER • 2023-102
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Capability & Capacity: 2024 Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo North America and Conference

I believe the value that bursary recipients received from attending the Electric and Hybrid Expo was valuable in a number of ways. The networking opportunity for the younger members was valuable as they all shared experiences and were a little removed from what was happening on a global stage for...
ORGANISATION:
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
TAGS
Innovation
Climate Resilience
Capacity Building
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-212
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Compilation of information for the US Marine Mammal Protection Act Comparability Finding process

Recent changes to legislation in the United States (US) requires that nations importing seafood must demonstrate that they have a regulatory program for reducing marine mammal bycatch that is comparable in effectiveness to the US standards under the ‘Fish and Fish Product Import...
ORGANISATION:
Alice Ilona Mackay
TAGS
Resource Rehabilitation
Population Dynamics
Mortality
Market Opportunities
Fisheries Management

Informing the structural reform of South Australia's Marine Scalefish Fishery

Project number: 2017-014
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $496,836.00
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Smart
Organisation: SARDI Food Safety and Innovation
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2017 - 29 Jun 2020
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Wild Catch
Sustainability
Resource Access And Allocation
Recreational Fishing
Rac Sa

Need

South Australia’s Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) is currently undergoing a strategic review with the principal aim of restructuring the fishery in order to ensure its long-term sustainability and economic viability. The heterogeneous mixture of participants, fishing devices, licence conditions and regulations associated with this fishery makes the tasks of administering and managing it extremely challenging. These complexities intertwined within a highly dynamic fleet that is capable of shifting fishing effort amongst species and regions often alters the emphasis of its overarching management. Industry and Government are working collaboratively to address the inherent complexities of the fishery through firstly developing a mechanism to rationalise the fleet, then reforming its overall structure, and ultimately refining its future management. In order to optimise this structural reform, it is necessary to disentangle and understand the fleet dynamics of this extremely complex fishery. This project aims to explore the implications of strategic management options (e.g. regionalisation, licensing, ITQ’s and ITE’s) on the future structure and viability of the MSF, from resource sustainability, economic and social perspectives.

Objectives

1. To review the structure and function of multi-species, multi-gear fisheries around the world.
2. To disentangle the complexities of the South Australian commercial Marine Scalefish Fishery to describe long-term spatio-temporal trends in the composition, dynamics and socio-economic performance of the fishing fleet
3. To evaluate the possible strategic management options such as regionalisation, licensing, ITQs and ITEs on the future structure and viability of South Australia’s MSF
4. To determine the biological, economic and social 'carrying capacity' of the MSF across key regions of the fishery.

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-876007-43-0
Authors: Jonathan Smart Mike Steer Fred Bailleul David Hall Ian Knuckey Anders Magnusson Julian Morison Jon Presser and Jacki Schirmer
Final Report • 2022-09-27 • 29.96 MB
2017-014-DLD.pdf

Summary

This study was undertaken by the South Australia Research and Development Institute (SARDI) in collaboration with PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture, BDO EconSearch, the Marine Fishers Association (MFA), Fishwell Consulting and University of Canberra. This project guided the reform of South Australia’s commercial Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) by providing scientific advice and analyses to underpin its implementation. The MSF is a multi-sector, multi-gear and multi-species fishery, making any management reform a complex and difficult process. Both the sustainability of key stocks and commercial fishery’s economic performance have been deteriorating over a 20-year period; significantly influenced by fishery overcapitalisation. Simply put, there were too many fishers and not enough fish to support a vibrant and sustainable commercial fishery. This was addressed through the three ‘pillars’ of the reform: regionalisation, unitisation and rationalisation. These pillars were reflected in the reform with: 1) the creation of four new zones of management; 2) implementation of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) for appropriate ‘Tier 1’ stocks; and 3) rationalisation of the commercial MSF fleet by removing one third of licences through a voluntary licence surrender program (VLSP). These pillars were supported by research on the biological, economic and social carrying capacity of the fishery. The reform was implemented on 1 July 2021 resulting in a fishery that has regional management with appropriate output controls and a reduced fleet size.

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
Wild Catch
Recreational Fishing
Rac Wa
Marine Plastics
Environmental Impact

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.
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2023-205
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Role of marine reserves in sustainable management of Australia's ocean estate - review of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands bioregion

The statutory requirement to undertake a 10-year review of the Heard and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Marine Reserve led to a proposal to expand the HIMI marine reserve and include new National Park Zones (IUCN II) and Habitat Protection Zone (IUCN IV) arrangements. Subsequently, the total...
ORGANISATION:
TJB Management Pty Ltd
SPECIES
Patagonian Toothfish
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