139 results
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2014-021
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Developing innovative approaches to improve CPUE standardisation for Australia's multi-species pelagic longline fisheries

This project was undertaken by a collaboration of senior fishery scientists at CSIRO and from New Zealand, together with a former fisheries manager now with the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in Canberra, on the development of methods to construct indices of stock...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart

Investigation of school and gummy shark nursery areas in south-eastern Australia

Project number: 1993-061
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $288,203.00
Principal Investigator: John Stevens
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 29 Sep 1993 - 16 Sep 1997
Contact:
FRDC

Objectives

1. To identify pupping and nursery grounds for school and gummy sharks in southern Australia
2. Determine the distribution size structure duration time and movements of newborn and juvenile sharks in nursery areas
3. Attempt to develop recruitment indices for school and gummy sharks
4. Determine pre-recruit mortality from tagging experiments
5. Determine relative catch rates of juveniles by commercial and recreational fishers
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1995-015
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Estimation of population parameters for Australian prawn fisheries

One of the main objectives of fisheries management is to ensure the sustainability of fished stocks. To reach this objective scientists have to adequately assess the status of fished populations with quantitative models of the fishery systems. Most of these models require estimates of population...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart

Development of acoustic methods to survey orange roughy in the eastern and southern zones

Project number: 1995-031
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $144,588.00
Principal Investigator: Tony Koslow
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 20 Sep 1995 - 5 May 1999
Contact:
FRDC

Objectives

1. Conduct 2-3 acoustic surveys of orange roughy spawning ground off St Helens, TAS during the peak spawning period 1995
2. Determine the species composition of acoustic marks through trawl sampling of the acoustic marks and the ensonification of targets with several frequencies
3. Determin the relative biomass and spawning condition of orange roughy in the Eastern and Southern zones during the spawining period based upon a survey of selected hills in the Southern Zone that contain the principal concentration of orange roughy
4. Assess the biomass of orange roughy in the area between St. Helens and the Southern Hills through a series of zig-zag transects between 700-1200m and to assess their spawning condition

Final report

ISBN: 0643 06191 6
Author: Tony Koslow
Final Report • 1999-04-09 • 9.30 MB
1995-031-DLD.pdf

Summary

Three acoustic surveys were carried out between 17 and 20 July 1996 on the orange roughy spawning ground off St. Helens, Tasmania. A combination of 22 demersal trawls and ensonification with three frequencies (12, 38 and 120 kHz) was used to assess the species composition around the spawning hill. Both methods showed that orange roughy were aggregated on only the north/northwestern half of the hill. Acoustic marks on the south/southwestern sector of the hill were composed predominantly of macrourids (rattails) and deepwater cods. This was the first successful use of multi-frequency acoustics to discriminate among species groups in a deepwater environment and should greatly enhance the resolution of deepwater acoustic surveys. Acoustic estimates of orange roughy biomass on the spawning hill ranged from 5649 - 9706 tonnes, down from 16,777 tonnes in 1993. A survey of the trawl ground off St. Patrick's Head noted a single moderate-sized aggregation on a single transect.
 
If the school as assumed to be spherical in cross-section, its biomass was 6% the biomass of the largest orange roughy school observed at St. Helens. The biomass at St. Patrick's Head thus appears to have been a small proportion of the biomass around St. Helens Hill during the survey, but the data were insufficient to derive a biomass estimate from this area with confidence. Acoustic surveys were also carried out on a small hill just north of St. Helens and on the seamounts in the Southern Zone but no significant acoustic marks associated with orange roughy were observed in these areas.
 
Several changes were made to the methods of analysis. First, the area of the strata comprising the St. Helens hill were re-calculated based on improved bathymetric and GPS data,. Secondly, we changed the method used to account for targets within the deep scattering layers (DSL) that extend across the survey area. A constant fraction of the ensonified targets were previously assumed to belong to the DSL, but this assumption was no longer tenable considering both the decline in orange roughy abundance on the hill and the ~2-fold variation in the abundance of midwater scatterers between surveys in 1996. Acoustic backscattering from areas outside the survey area were now measured for each survey and subtracted from the backscattering observed around the hill itself. These changes were applied retrospectively to biomass estimate from previous orange roughy surveys.
 

Tactical research fund: Industry based size-monitoring and data collection program for albacore tuna in the ETBF

Project number: 2008-075
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $39,009.00
Principal Investigator: Jessica H. Farley
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 30 Nov 2008 - 29 Jun 2009
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Dramatic increases in the catch of albacore occurred in the ETBF in 2006 as several domestic longliners switched from targeting broadbill swordfish to albacore tuna landing the catch in Mooloolaba. These high catches were maintained in 2007, and given that localised depletion of albacore has been observed in several Pacific island nations, it raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of the fishery and highlighted the pressing need to implement a Harvest Strategy. Industry have stated that albacore is now an important component of the economic viability of the fleet.

To determine target reference levels for albacore consistent with the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy, data are required on the size composition of the catch, size/age-at-maturity, growth rates, fecundity and mortality (Campbell et al., 2007). A feasibility study (AFMA 2006-826) specifically identified “the need to revise the size monitoring protocols for albacore, and potentially other target species, to ensure that this important input data stream for the ETBF harvest strategy is providing a consistent and unbiased sample of the size structure of the commercial catch over time”. In addition, the study identified the need to collect substantially more biological samples and undertake research on direct ageing and reproduction to address key biological uncertainties for albacore in the region. In August 2007, the WCPFC Scientific Committee re-iterated the priority for biological information on albacore and noted that this work has "strong assessment implications with wide-spread benefits to a number of fisheries active in the WCPO".

Acknowledging this, the ETMAC identified the collection and analysis of data (including size, sex composition and biological data) for the ETBF as its highest priority. In addition, the ETMAC explicitly identified the determination of life-history parameters and improved stock assessments for albacore tuna as a High Priority project. This proposal addresses both these high priority research areas.

Objectives

1. Design and implement, in consultation with Industry, a practical, cost-effective industry-based monitoring program for obtaining representative sized data for albacore in the ETBF.
2. In collaboration with SPC, develop a biological sampling program to ensure that unbiased estimates of biological parameters for albacore are also obtained for the southwest Pacific region.
3. Collect biological samples (otoliths, spines, gonads & muscle tissue) from at least 500 albacore caught in the ETBF in 2008/09.

Final report

ISBN: 9781921605123
Author: Jessica Farley
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-215
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Storm Bay Biogeochemical Modelling & Information System Supporting sustainable aquaculture expansion in Tasmania

This project delivers a hindcast and near real time Storm Bay Modelling and Information System that is fit for the purpose of simulating water quality and characterising nutrients in Storm Bay from ocean currents, sediment resuspension, river and anthropogenic (including fish farm) inputs. The...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2015-203
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Best practice guidelines for Australian fisheries management agencies

The project was developed in consultation with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and State/Territory fisheries agencies. The idea of a publicly available set of standards or guidelines for marine fishery management agencies has been under discussion within fisheries agencies for some...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
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