47 results
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1996-257
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Effects of Trawling Subprogram: ecological sustainability of bycatch and biodiversity in prawn trawl fisheries

Prawn trawl fisheries are under increasing public and legislative pressure to manage their bycatch sustainably. Although this is now explicit in the fisheries management acts and the new Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, there is little information on which to base sound...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart

Evaluation of selectivity in the south-east fishery to determine its sustainable aggregate yield

Project number: 1996-140
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $103,407.00
Principal Investigator: Nicholas Bax
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 8 Aug 1996 - 14 Jan 2005
Contact:
FRDC

Objectives

1. Determine size(age) at capture for the main commercial species in the SEF that would maximise their biologic and economic yield, especially for the quota species.
2. Determine selectivity of the major fisheries in the SEF, taking account of the mix of gear types and the areas fished.
3. Evaluate success of alternative gear mixes (type and configuration) in maximising overall biologic and economic yield for selected fisheries.
4. Identify fisheries that contain mixes of gear types and species that lead to a grossly undesirable selectivity of some species, and that could profit from the development of specialised selective techniques
5. Help to coordinate and present results at SEFAG workshop to assess the potential of adapting selectivity of the SEF to promote sustainabilty and economic returns.

Final report

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
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2014-024
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Estimating the abundance of School Shark in Australia using close kin genetic methods

Close kin mark recapture (CKMR) provides an estimate of absolute abundance that is independent of fishing behaviour. We present a first CKMR estimate of abundance for School Shark and discuss the management implications of our findings. We found 65 half sibling pairs (HSPs), 3...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart

Ecologically sustainable development of the fishery for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) around Macquarie Island: population parameters, population assessment and ecological interactions

Project number: 1997-122
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $771,327.00
Principal Investigator: Xi He
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 26 Jun 1997 - 30 Jun 2003
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The Patagonian toothfish fishery is expanding worldwide and it may play a pivotal role in the development of an Australian fishing industry in the Southern Ocean. The recommended TAC for toothfish in other Southern Ocean regions was revised upwards by the 1996 CCAMLR scientific committee. For example, in the CCAMLR area 58.5.2 (primarily the AFZ around Heard and McDonald Islands) a TAC of 3800 metric tonnes of toothfish was set. As a result considerable national and international interest in the fishery is expected.

Given the conservation value of Macquarie Island it is expected that operation of the fishery will be closely scrutinised -- the scrutiny is already clear at the national ( MACSAG, AFMA, DPIE and conservation groups) level. Development of the Macquarie Island fishery provides a great opportunity as a demonstration project to illustrate that fishery development can be achieved while protecting conservation values -- a demonstration of Ecologically Sustainable Development in action. Furthermore, much of what will be learnt will also be relevant to the emerging Heard Island toothfish fishery.

To date little research has been done to establish the basic biological parameters of the toothfish necessary to develop sound management policies. As recognised by both the Macquarie Island Fish Stock Assessment Group and the Sub-Antarctic Ecosystem Assessment Group there is a real need to develop a comprehensive program of research which not only addresses basic biological parameters such as age and stock structure, but also examines the distribution and abundance of this species so that effective management of the fishery can proceed. As the Macquarie Island area is likely to be sensitive to possible ecosystem changes brought about by a developing fishery, there is also a need to understand where toothfish 'fit into' the broader offshore Macquarie Island ecosystem, and likely ecosystem effects.

Objectives

1. Determine the key population parameters (age validation, growth, age of maturity, mortality of fished cohorts, and population structure after age validation), distribution, movements and relative abundance of the Patagonian toothfish around Macquarie Island.
2. Assess the usefulness of DNA micro satellite markers for determining stock structure.
3. Assess the biological and physical oceanographic effects on catch rates, toothfish availability, and interactions between the fishery and non-target species.
4. Assess the magnitude and composition of the fishery bycatch, and identify the food chain linkages between the fishery, the toothfish, the main bird and mammal species.
5. Develop population models for the Patagonian toothfish fishery and provide strategies for developing and managing the fishery.

Final report

ISBN: 0-643-06240-8
Author: Xi He and Dianne Furlani
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