8 results

Synthesis of industry information on fishing patterns, technological change and the influence of oceanographic effects on fish stocks in the South East Fishery

Project number: 1997-114
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $121,250.00
Principal Investigator: Jeremy D. Prince
Organisation: Biospherics Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 19 May 1997 - 21 Oct 1998
Contact:
FRDC

Need

In its 1995-2000 research plan the Research Sub-committee of SETMAC identified as high priorities:
- understanding shifts in fishing effort and practices, and
- understanding the effect of climate on fish and fishing practices, together with
- increased colloborative work and communication with industry.

This proposal addresses these priorities and consequently the Research Sub-committee has given it the highest priority for the 1997/98 funding round.

Objectives

1. Synthesise and formalise SEF industry information about factors influencing fishing power, including construct a time series documenting the introduction of new technology.
2. Synthesise and formalise industry information about trends in fishing practices, targeting, by-catch and discarding rates, and influences on fishing practices.
3. Synthesise and formalise SEF industry information about oceanographic factors influencing catches and catch rates of SEF species.
4. Generate ordinal time series for incorporation in General Linear Modelling of catch rate trends within the SEF1 database by SEFAG.
5. Generate hypotheses about trends in SEF catch rates that can be tested through targeted analysis of the SEF1 database by SEFAG.
6. Improve SEFAG stock assessments and government/industry relations in the SEF.

Final report

Environment

Industry survey of the 1997 eastern gemfish season

Project number: 1997-147
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $144,564.00
Principal Investigator: Jeremy D. Prince
Organisation: Biospherics Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 22 Jun 1997 - 1 Oct 1998
Contact:
FRDC

Need

In 1997 1,000t will be allocated amongst the South East Trawl fishery, individual allocations will vary from over 100t down to 100s of kg. These allocations will allow some targeted fishing for gemfish but operators will also have to manage their individual allocations to cover their anticipated bycatch of gemfish as they fill quotas for other species. This management of bycatch will bias reported commercial catch rates in 1997 preventing comparison with historic trends and the updating of the stock assessment developed by EGAG during 1996.

Consequently EGAG considered that another Industry Survey in 1997 is needed for two principal reasons:
1. To provide catch rate data which is representative of targeted gemfish fishing.
2. To ensure timely provision of high quality data for stock assessment during September and October 1997.

However having decided on the need for the 1997 survey EGAG considered that two other lesser needs could be addressed for little additional expense. These are:
A. to understand targeting patterns in the SEF and their impact on stock assessment and
B. the influence of oceanographic factors on the South East Fishery.

Objectives

1. Catch and effort and length-frequency data for targeted eastern gemfish fishing during the 1997 season will supplied in Excel spreadsheets will be supplied to EGAG before 1 September 1997.
2. The targeting practices of four survey vessels
Charissa, Marina Star, Illawara Star and Santa Rosa II during the 1997 season will be documented and analysed in relationship to previously reported targeting patterns.
3. The relationship between gemfish aggregations and oceanographic features during 1997 will be documented and analysed.
4. The feasibility of using multi-frequency acoustics to measure the size of gemfish aggregations will be analysed.

Industry survey of the 1996 eastern gemfish season

Project number: 1996-157
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $211,271.00
Principal Investigator: Jeremy D. Prince
Organisation: Biospherics Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 17 Jun 1996 - 29 Jun 2000
Contact:
FRDC

Objectives

1. The primary objective of this proposal is to carry out a trawl survey which will provide an index of abundance of spawning eastern gemfish. This index will be compared directly to earlier data allowing current assessments to be updated. This survey and the index it derives may form a central part in an ongoing gemfish monitoring programme. The survey should be practical, cost-effective, have wide industry acceptance, and be capable of implementation during the 1996 winter spawning season.
2. A subsidiary and minor objective of this proposal is to collect calibrated digital acoustic data concurrently with the surveys. These acoustic data will be provided to Tony Koslow of CSIRO to assist in the design of a feasibility study of acoustic surveys of the gemfish run. If the research approach recommended by the workshop on gemfish research and stock assessment, held at AFMA during April 1996, is successful, these acoustic data may eventually be analysed to become the first in a new time series of acoustic indices of gemfish stock abundance. This second objective adds $26,694 to the cost of the project. It is not central to the proposal and funding bodies could choose to delete this segment of the proposal without threatening the integrity of the first objective. The aim of this second objective is to cost effectively support CSIRO in developing a proposal to investigate the feasibility of developing acoustic surveying techniques for gemfish.
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