Assessment of the importance of different near-shore marine habitats to important fishery species in Victoria using standardised survey methods, and in temperate and sub-tropical Australia using stable isotope analysis
People development program: 2014 FRDC Visiting Expert Award- Dr Dan Gwinn
Dan Gwinn is an internationally renowned quantitative ecologist with technical expertise in several key areas that will benefit the management of Australia’s fisheries. Of particular interest to FRDC are his expertise in parameter estimation, monitoring design, and fisheries modeling. Dr Gwinn is experienced in developing innovative estimation methods to specifically deal with the inherent issues with imperfect data as is the case for fisheries and ecological research. Dr Gwinn’s work in this area has focused on the customization of statistical models to account for the specific idiosyncrasies of data sets to best extract biological information and inform the management decision process. Often, this work had included developing innovative analyses of existing data sets to answer new questions. Dr Gwinn also has expertise in use of analysis tools including the application of stochastic simulations for evaluating and optimizing experimental and monitoring designs, which are particularly useful for determining the most fiscally efficient sampling designs for meeting monitoring objectives.
We propose to facilitate a study tour for Dr Gwinn to enable him to meet with fisheries researchers and managers from several jurisdictions to review and discuss key freshwater and marine projects, present to the research and management community on innovative methods being employed in the United States to address common issues, and workshop strategies to enhance adoption of R&D outputs.
We believe that this visit will deliver significant benefit to the future management of Australia's fisheries resources.
Value adding to fish processing waste through aquafeed development
Final report
The management and disposal of solid wastes from seafood processing, food manufacturing and allied industries is a major economic and environmental issue for Australian industry. Large quantities of wet waste of this nature are routinely disposed of to landfill at considerable cost to industry. Some companies have developed markets or alternative uses for their wastes (such as petfood, bait, pig food or fertilisers) to avoid or offset the costs of disposal, but generally the wastes are supplied free of charge to secondary users and there is limited opportunity for downstream value-adding.
The utilisation of seafood, aquatic and other food processing wastes as a replacement for imported fishmeal in aquafeed production is the main focus of this project. The availability of locally-produced formulated feeds using these otherwise wasted resources would provide a firm base to underpin current and future aquaculture production in Victoria and indeed Australia.
The study emphasised the need for a multi-pronged approach to determine the suitability of ingredients for incorporation into fish diets. In all cases, the findings have to be confirmed through growth trials, prior to possible commercialisation.