The Victorian abalone fishery is currently the subject of several research programs which address aspects of the spatial management of the fishery (eg. FRDC 1996/116 and FRDC 2002/083). The “Research Needs and Priorities for Fisheries in Victoria 2001/02-2005/06” also identifies the need for research programs and data to assist the spatial management of the industry. The recent closure of fishing areas following the declaration of new Victorian Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries has also highlighted the need for accurate spatial habitat information in the management of the fishery.

An original objective of the Victorian abalone management zones and quota system was to achieve a spread of fishing effort consistent with the spatial distribution of abalone, and this is now reflected by separate total allowable catch (TAC) allocations for each management zone. The current Victorian Abalone Management Plan (2002) identifies the preferred option for achieving an optimal spread of fishing effort at the local level in the future will be sub-zonal TAC setting. It is noted in the management plan that management at this more refined spatial scale will require information that enables a better understanding and modelling of the spatial aspects of the fishery. Understanding the spatial distribution of habitat will help determine the appropriate scale for management and assessment.

The success of future reef mapping programs will be dependent on application of effective mapping methodologies that are consistent with habitat classification techniques within the southern Australian region. Validating the TAFI mapping approach and enhancing the methodology in Victorian marine environments will provide an extension of this approach.

As few major disease incidents have occurred in Australian aquaculture, State/Territory departments have relatively little experience in incident management for emergency aquatic animal diseases. No jurisdiction, to date, has conducted a large scale response to eradicate exotic disease in aquaculture and thus expertise in these areas is limited. In the absence of real-life emergency events, simulation exercises provide a practical alternative to expose staff to aspects of emergency management.
The development of the AQUAVETPLAN Control Centre Manual and a Victorian Control Centre Manual will establish new roles and responsibilities for NRE staff, however, implementation success will require extensive training and discussion. Simulation exercises will improve staff awareness and ownership, capacity and communication.
The need for these exercises can be summarised as follows:
1. Both Government and Industries have relatively little experience with real emergencies
2. In Victoria, there is a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of various individuals and departments especially where fisheries are managed separately from terrestrial animal industries
3. The ability to develop effective State/Territory Control Centre Manuals will be enhanced by testing under simulated disease management conditions
4. Lack of experience with emergency management will invariably lead to a delayed response to a disease emergency, and that in turn may lead to a greater spread of disease, loss of Australia's disease free status and severe impacts on export industries.
All simulation exercises are initiated by requests from clients. NRE has requested the proposed exercise and actively supports the proposal. NRE proposed the simulation exercise as a priority to the ABG and the sub-committee of the FHMC who approved the proposal.

The 1998 survey indicated that the biomass of C. mosaicus in Port Phillip Bay was not large enough to supply the 1500 tonnes wet weight required by the Australian Company. Biomass estimates for some strata were as little as 0.6% of the estimates during 1997 (Hudson and Walker 1998). However, anecdotal reports indicated that large aggregations of C. mosaicus occurred in Corner Inlet during 1998 and a survey during March 1999 indicates a very high biomass present during 1999. This highlights the high inter-annual variability in abundance of jellyfish and need for flexibility to harvest jellyfish from different regions, depending on size and distribution of the stocks. Stock Assessments are needed for the various regions before harvesting begins. This information is essential to assure investors of the viability of the resource.

The 1997, 1998 and 1999 surveys indicate that new sampling methods are required for providing more efficient field survey work and more robust estimates of abundance. The current method has the major limitations that the setting of sampling strata boundaries and counting of jellyfish depend on being able to see the jellyfish in the water column from the surface. Because the vertical distribution of C. mosaicus varies with weather condition and time of day (Hudson et al. 1997), there is a need to develop a sampling unit where sampling depth within the water column can be carefully controlled.

To provide for more reliable biomass estimates and for development of harvest strategies, there is a need for morphological, fecundity and size at maturity data of C. mosaicus. Also, there is a need to establish whether or not C. mosaicus harvested from Port Phillip Bay meet Australian national health standards. Other fish and shellfish harvested from Port Phillip Bay have been shown to be contaminated with various toxicants (Phillips 1976, Walker 1982, Walker et al. 1982, Fabris et al. 1995, Wu and Groves 1995, Walker et al. 1998). There is a need to test C. mosaicus for heavy metals, organochlorines, hydrocarbons and tributyltins in localities in Port Phillip Bay where these contaminants are known to occur.

Funding for the jellyfish research during 1997, 1998 and 1999 is from several sources. The 1997 survey and the harvesting, processing and export trials were funded by the National Seafood Centre ($15,000), Fisheries Victoria ($10,000), Business Victoria ($10,000), and Beijian Gaizhou Aquatic Products Industrial Corporation ($15,000), and the 1998 surveys of Port Phillip Bay and Westernport Bay were funded by Business Victoria ($10,000). The 1999 surveys of Port Phillip Bay, Westernport Bay and Corner Inlet are being funded by FRDC ($15,000) and Fisheries Victoria ($10,000).

This FRDC application for funds covers development of a 'jellyfish sampling unit' during 1999, and survey and collection of biological samples in Port Phillip Bay, Westernport Bay and Corner Inlet during 2000, 2001 and 2002. It is proposed that Fisheries Victoria meet the cost of the chemical laboratory analyses ($97,500) and FRDC meet the other costs ($322,832).

References
Anon. (1997). Fishery Statistics- catches and landings. FAO Yearbook 80 1995.
Fabris, G. J., Monahan, C.A., Werner, G. F., and Theodoropoulos, T.(1995). Impact of Shipping and Dredging on Toxicants in Port Phillip Bay. CSIRO Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study. 30 pp.

Hudson, R. J., Bridge, N. F., and Walker, T. I. (1997). Feasibility Study for Development of a Commercial Jellyfish Fishery in Victoria. Final Report to Fisheries Research Development Corporation, 40pp (Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute: Queenscliff).

Hudson, R.J.,and Walker, T.I. (1998). Distribution and abundance of the jellyfish Catostylus mosaicus in Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. Report to Business Victoria and Fisheries Victoria, 16pp (Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute: Queenscliff).

Kingsford, M. J., and Gillanders, B. M. (1995). Fishery and research priorities for Catostylus mosaicus Report for the Australian Nature Conservation Agency. 25 pp. (University of Sydney: Sydney).

Phillips, D. J. H. (1976). The common mussel Mytilus edulis as an indicator of pollution by zinc, cadmium, lead and copper. I. Relationships of metals in the mussel to those discharged by industry. Marine Biology 38, 71-80

Walker, T. I. (1982). Effects of Length and Locality on the Mercury Content of Blacklip Abalone, Blue Mussel Sand Flathead and Long nose Flathead from Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Australian Journal Marine and Freshwater Research. 33, 553-560.

Walker, T. I., Glover, J. W. and Powell, D. G. M. (1982). Effect of Length Locality and Tissue Type on Mercury and Cadmium content of the Commercial scallop Pecten alba Tate from Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Australian Journal Marine and Freshwater Research. 33, 547-552.

Walker, T. I., Fabris, G. J., Knuckey, I. A., Hudson, R. J. and Sporcic, M. I. (1998). Webb Dock Marine Ecology Study. Final Report to Melbourne Port Corporation. 99 pp. (Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute: Queenscliff).

Wu, R., and Groves, A. (1995). Cadmium and lead in tissues of scallops from Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Water Science Technology 31, 479-483