14 results

Opportunities and impacts of range extending scalefish species: understanding population dynamics, ecosystem impacts and management needs

Project number: 2018-070
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $249,587.00
Principal Investigator: Sean Tracey
Organisation: University of Tasmania
Project start/end date: 31 May 2019 - 30 Nov 2020
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Species-level responses to ocean warming is a priority research area as they underpin the structure and function of marine ecosystems and the productivity of fisheries that operate within them.
There are a number of range extending species that have become increasingly abundant in Tasmanian waters, providing new fishing opportunities for recreational and, to a lesser extent, commercial fishers. Species in this group include Pink Snapper, King George Whiting and Yellowtail Kingfish. While King George Whiting are known to spawn off the north coast it is unclear as to whether the other species have or are likely to become established as self-sustaining populations in Tasmanian waters or simply persist as spill-over from populations that are centered off mainland Australia. If the former is the case, it will be especially important to consider population attributes such as growth, mortality and reproductive dynamics relevant to the Tasmanian populations when developing and refining management arrangements to maximise the opportunities these 'new' species bring.

In addition, the broader ecosystem impacts of such range extending species, including competition with resident species at similar trophic levels, are unknown but could have consequences for other recreationally and commercially important species. Understanding these relationships will have benefits for the assessment and management of the Tasmanian recreational fishery more generally.

Objectives

1. Develop a program for ongoing collection of biological samples and data of key range-shifting fish species using citizen science initiatives engaging with the recreational fishing community.
2. Develop geographically discrete life-history parameters for key range-shifting fish species in Tasmania to inform management decisions.
3. Determine the diet composition of key range-shifting fish species to refine parameterisation of an ecosystem model.
4. Utilise the Atlantis ecosystem model framework to predict ecological impacts of increasing abundance of key range-shifting fish species in Tasmania.
5. Develop species distribution models that utilise oceanographic climate change projections to predict the future presence and persistence of the key target species in Tasmania.

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-922708-28-1
Author: Alexia Graba-Landry
Final Report • 2022-05-12 • 13.57 MB
2018-070-DLD.pdf

Summary

This work set out to quantify the biology and diet of three key range-shifting species in Tasmania with both recreational and commercial fishery value. The project was heavily reliant on engagement from the recreational fishing community and multiple citizen science initiatives, as well as historical data.

The information collected was used in modelling to predict how suitable habitats for each species may shift under future climate change projections. The work also indicated the potential changes to the ecosystem (such as food web) if these species’ ranges were to move.

A South Australian gulfs and coastal ecosystem model to optimise multi-species fisheries management in a changing environment

Project number: 2018-011
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $218,932.00
Principal Investigator: Simon D. Goldsworthy
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 3 Jun 2019 - 17 Dec 2020
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The SA State Government has made a commitment to reform the Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) that aims to provide long-term sustainability of key stocks for both recreational and commercial fisheries, and unlock the industries economic potential. The key reforms include a voluntary buy-back scheme targeting the removal of at least 30% of commercial licences and the introduction of new zoning and quota management regulations. The timeframe for the reforms will be determined in consultation with the industry. Details on the implementation strategy have yet to be developed, but will need to be underpinned by extensive stakeholder consultation and backed by research that provides confidence that among the approaches considered, those chosen will best deliver the intent of the reforms.

This project aims to develop an SA Gulfs and Coastal ecosystem model to provide a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) tool to assess and optimise a range of reform scenarios. The project will link in closely with FRDC 2017/014 (Informing structural reform in the MSF), utilising many of its key outputs, including time series of spatial distribution of catch and effort, social-economic performance, and reform implementation scenarios. This project also will extend the investigation by integrating environmental time-series data to evaluate changes in productivity over time, identified as a potential factor in declining fisheries catches in the GSV ecosystem (FRDC 2013/031). Identifying the causes of productivity loss and its impact on fish production are important to resolve, especially in the context of the MSF reforms. Ultimately, the project aims to provide decision support tools to assess and evaluate the performance of diverse fisheries management strategies, and how these may perform under varying production regimes. Such an approach will provide a platform to evaluate and optimise the effectiveness of management strategies, and help ensure the fishery reforms achieve their key objectives.

Objectives

1. Develop an SA Gulfs and Coastal Ecosystem model to provide a MSE tool to inform and optimise multi-regional management, quotas for multi-species fisheries and multi-sector harvest strategies
2. Use the model to run scenarios to assess, evaluate and optimise Marine Scalefish Fishery reform options
3. Assess potential production loss issues, and evaluate how different MSF reform options may perform under different future production scenarios
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2015-024
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Managing ecosystem interactions across differing environments: building flexibility and risk assurance into environmental management strategies

Summary The overarching aim of this research was to provide an improved understanding of the environmental interactions of Atlantic Salmon farming and to provide recommendations to both government and industry on monitoring and management strategies that are appropriate to the level of risk...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
People
Environment
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2021-114
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Water abstraction impacts on flow dependent fisheries species of the Northern Territory, Australia - a synthesis of current knowledge and future research needs

This project synthesised information that could be used to help guide decision making around the protection of fisheries species that may be impacted by water abstraction. This review was led by Griffith University and conducted in collaboration with the University of Western...
ORGANISATION:
Griffith University Nathan Campus

Completing Australia’s First National Bycatch Report

Project number: 2018-114
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $165,000.00
Principal Investigator: Steve J. Kennelly
Organisation: IC Independent Consulting Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 31 Dec 2018 - 30 Dec 2019
Contact:
FRDC

Need

In the recently completed project 2015/208 “Developing a National Bycatch Reporting System”, we derived estimates of bycatch and discards for 4 case-study jurisdictions (with associated variances) as well as metrics regarding the quality of the data used. The jurisdictions done were New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory. But that work completed only half the story. This present project is to complete the task by applying the methodology developed in the previous project to the remaining 4 jurisdictions: The Commonwealth, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. By adding estimates from these jurisdictions to those derived earlier, this current project will produce the first complete, national bycatch report for the country. An advantage with this approach is that the new project will only cost a fraction of that of the previous project because most of the development work is complete. The result will be Australia's First National Bycatch Report and a process by which Australia's (and the world's) stakeholders can monitor and track Australia's management of bycatch. This should improve the standing of our fisheries internationally, to various eco-labelling organisations and the general public.

Objectives

1. Collect, synthesis and analyse catch, effort and bycatch data from the Commonwealth, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia
2. Derive bycatch estimates for general discards and ETP species, with associated variances and quality metrics for each jurisdiction
3. Combine the estimates from 2 above with those from the previous project to produce Australia's first National Bycatch Report

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-9924930-9-7
Author: Steven J Kennelly
Final Report • 2020-11-30 • 378.05 KB
2018-114-DLD.pdf

Summary

Bycatch (non-targeted organisms that are unintentionally caught when fishing for particular species or sizes of species) remains an important issue concerning the world’s fisheries. Discards are considered the most important component of bycatch because they represent a perceived wastage of seafood resources as well as the potential to include Threatened, Endangered and Protected Species (TEPS), attracting significant interest and controversy from many stakeholders. There is now growing acceptance and international, regional and national agreements and instruments that encourage and/or require governments to report on the status of bycatches.

This report that arose from this project and its precursor “Developing a National Bycatch Reporting System” (FRDC Project 2015-208) constitutes Australia’s first national attempt to report on bycatch from its commercial fisheries. It is the result of the application of a 5-step methodology developed in the first project.
This project has yielded: (i) a baseline to be used by Australia in the future to track performance in managing discards, TEPS interactions and the quality of its bycatch information; (ii) the identification of key gaps in information where future work to monitor and reduce discards should focus; and (iii) a methodology that may be used by other countries and jurisdictions to estimate and report on bycatch to various entities and processes including stock assessments, Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management initiatives, FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, assessments by eco-labelling organisations, the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy and its Landing Obligation, as well as the most important stakeholders of all – the perpetual owners of all fisheries discards and TEPS – the general public.

Project products

Report • 2020-11-30 • 2.36 MB
2018-114 Australia's First National Bycatch Report.pdf

Summary

This report constitutes Australia’s first national attempt to report on bycatch from its commercial fisheries. It is the result of the application of the following 5-step methodology:
1. Identify all individual fisheries (and the fishing methods used in them) for each jurisdiction and the annual landings for each. Express these data as averages with associated standard errors (SEs).
2. Gather all available papers, reports and datasets on fisheries discards and TEPS interactions in each jurisdiction. From these, derive retained:discard ratios for each fishery/method and express these as averages (if multiple ratios exist) with associated SEs.
3. For those fisheries/methods that lack ratios in Step 2, identify and include any substitute ratios from similar fisheries/methods from other jurisdictions.
4. Multiply the average ratios from Steps 2 and 3 by the average landings data from Step 1 to obtain total estimated annual discards for each fishery/method and add these together to get jurisdictional totals with appropriate SEs.
5. Apply the steps in the USA’s Tier Classification Scheme 
 
This report has yielded: (i) a baseline to be used by Australia’s jurisdictions in the future to track performance in managing discards, TEPS interactions and the quality of bycatch information; (ii) the identification of key gaps in information where future work to monitor and reduce discards should focus; and (iii) a methodology that may be used by other countries and jurisdictions to estimate and report on bycatch to various entities and processes including stock assessments, Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management initiatives, FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, assessments by eco-labelling organisations, the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy and its Landing Obligation, as well as the most important stakeholders of all – the perpetual owners of all fisheries discards and TEPS – the general public. 
Environment