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National atlas of fishing activities and coastal communities

Project number: 2002-223
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $629,047.50
Principal Investigator: James Larcombe
Organisation: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
Project start/end date: 30 Jan 2003 - 1 Jul 2007
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Stock Assessment
Social Science
Social Science
Resource Sharing
Resource Sharing

Need

The proposal addresses a number of specific needs, as expressed in the FRDC research and development plan:

- Effects of fishing activities on fish and their ecosystems (Program 1, Strategy 3) - information on the spatial distribution and intensity of catch of species and effort is fundamental to assessing the effects of fishing on the environment. It is also very useful in assessment of individual stocks.
- Access to fisheries resources (Program 1, Strategy 8) - the distribution and value of fishing, as well as the potential social and economic impacts, is a vital consideration in multiple use planning (eg. Marine Protected Area planning).
- Fisheries and ecosystems management (Program 1, Strategy 10) - the proposal would make a significant contribution to ecosystem based and multiple use planning under the Regional Marine Planning process.
- Economic and social values of the industry and its impacts (Program 2, Strategy 2) - the proposal specifically aims to investigate socio-economic aspects of fisheries and connect these to marine resources. This will also assist in fulfilling ESD requirements.
- Community education (Program 3, Strategy 4) - the two major outputs (paper and web) will be widely available and comprise a valuable information resource for all Australians.

A tight schedule has been set for the development of Regional Marine Plans across Australia. Planning will require detailed information on the nature and extent of marine fishing activities. Nowhere has this information been drawn together to provide a body of data for use in regional marine planning. To ensure that the interests of the fishing industry are appropriately represented in the planning process it is important that accurate information is presented in a form that will be useful.

Similarly, the socio-economic nature of coastal communities and their degree of dependence on marine fisheries resources is poorly understood. The proposed research will provide a basis for identifying the social impacts of proposed changes to fisheries management arrangement and developing strategies for appropriate government interventions to reduce adverse impacts.

Objectives

1. To develop a strategy for the management of national fisheries data. The strategy will focus on partnership arrangements and agreements with custodian agencies, scheduled data maintenance and updating and systems of data distribution. The strategy will refer to marine and estuarine commercial fishing and aquaculture specifically but will also consider recreational and indigenous fishing.
2. To develop a strategy for collection and collation of social data on an ongoing basis for future resource management use.
3. To undertake a one off fisheries national fisheries data collection, within the context of the National Fisheries Data Strategy development. These data will focus on catch, effort, method, location and port of landing collected from logbooks and fishery returns.
4. To derive social, demographic and economic profiles of coastal communities from existing data (1991, 1996 and 2001 ABS census data
BRS, AFMA and ABARE data
state and local government and other data sources such as consultants reports etc.)
5. To relate mapped fisheries resource usage to coastal communities.

Final report

ISBN: 1-921192-01-1
Author: James Larcombe
Final Report • 2007-11-15 • 37.97 MB
2002-223-DLD.pdf

Project products

Publication • 2006-01-01 • 37.04 MB
2002-223-Marine Matters- Atlas of Australian Marine Fishing and Costal Communities.pdf

Summary

The Atlas of Australian Marine Fishing and Coastal Communities is the first Australia-wide, comprehensive and authoritative mapping initiative presenting an overview of Australian fishing activities and coastal communities.

The Atlas shows where fish are caught in Australia’s oceans, the value of those catches, where different fishing gears are used and the species that are taken. It also provides information on the socio-economic characteristics of coastal communities in eight Marine Regions around Australia.

This information has not previously been readily available at regional and national levels and therefore difficult to take into consideration when planning. The Atlas is comprised of two products, this document, Marine Matters National and a companion website featuring an interactive online mapping system (www.brs.gov.au/fishcoast).

Marine Matters National has been produced to inform decision makers responsible for the management of activities in Australia’s marine waters, and to aid the Australian and State/Territory Governments in developing and implementing policy initiatives. It is also a flexible and readily accessible information source for anyone with an interest in the management of Australia’s marine estate.

Publication • 2002-01-01 • 170.39 MB
Marine Matters- Atlas of marine activities and costal communities in Australia's South-East Marine Region.pdf

Summary

Marine Matters provides decision makers with a credible scientific resource for informing current and future marine and coastal planning initiatives.

It is the first comprehensive and authoritative description of the range and extent of human activities in the South-East Marine Region and their relationship to coastal communities. For the first time readers can see where fish are caught in Australia's oceans, the value of those catches, and find information on a wide range of industrial, recreational and other uses.

This Atlas also describes coastal communities in the Region, identifies those that depend on commercial fishing and gauges the potential social impacts of changing access to resources. It is a powerful platform to inform debate and decision making.

Industry
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2001-309
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Community perceptions of fishing: implications for industry image, marketing and sustainability

A pioneering national study of Australian public perceptions, knowledge and attitudes towards the fishing industry, has been completed. It covers the commercial, recreational and traditional fishing sectors, and also examines seafood consumption and factors likely to affect future consumption....
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
TAGS
Values & Ethics
Sustainability
Stakeholder
Marketing
Consumer
Industry
Adoption

Assessment of seal fishery interactions in the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF) and the development of fishing practices and seal exclusion devices (SEDs) in the winter blue grenadier fishery to mitigate seal bycatch by SETF trawlers

Project number: 2001-008
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $287,245.00
Principal Investigator: Richard Tilzey
Organisation: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
Project start/end date: 30 Jan 2001 - 30 Jun 2005
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Stakeholder
Individual Transferable Quota
Analytics
Ageing

Need

With the continuing recovery in the size of Australian-based fur seal populations post-sealing, a corresponding increase in seal interactions with domestic fishing vessels is occurring and will continue. There is an urgent need to develop effective seal bycatch prevention procedures to prevent fishing operations from being severely curtailed, or closed down, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Following the 1999 winter blue grenadier season, incidental seal mortalities emerged as a major issue that threatened the continuation of this fishery; at least that part of the fishery harvested by factory trawlers. These trawlers had successfully developed the fishery, increasing the total grenadier catch from about 3000 t in 1996 to over 9000 t in 1999. The processed value of the factory trawler catch is now around $20 million per year (ASIC 2003) at first sale. The seal deaths in 1999 resulted in significant pressure from some environmental groups to prevent factory trawlers access to this fishery in 2000. This action would have caused significant loss of income in this sector and possibly jeopardised the future participation of factory trawlers in the fishery. There is a strong need for such vessels to demonstrate that seal bycatch can be reduced by adopting appropriate fishing procedures and gears.

It is also likely that pressures will be brought to bear on the ‘wet boats’ fishing for blue grenadier and possibly the rest of the SEF trawl fleet to take measures to reduce incidental seal captures. The study by Knuckey et al. (2002) indicated seal bycatch to occur virtually across the whole multi-species trawl fishery. Some of the results of the development and testing of SEDs and other mitigation measures by the factory trawlers in the targeted ‘single-species’ fishery under this project may be transferable to other vessel operators in the wider multi-species fishery, helping them to avoid many potential operational problems and costs. Increasing the effectiveness of SEDs in both reducing seal mortalities and minimising fish losses would be an important step in helping to gain wider industry acceptance of the potential use of these devices.

Objectives

1. To improve the effectiveness of Seal Exclusion Devices (SEDs) in blue grenadier trawl nets in reducing seal mortalities and minimising losses of fish.
2. To assess the effectiveness of fishing techniques aimed at minimising seal bycatch.
3. To gather full biological information from all seal fatalities.
4. To achieve full observer coverage of freezer-trawler activities during the 2001 and 2002 winter grenadier fishery and monitor seal numbers around vessels and all seal-trawl interactions.
5. To gather information on seal movements/residence time in the winter grenadier fishery.

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-925983-05-0
Author: Richard Tilzey
Final Report • 2007-04-30 • 2.06 MB
2001-008-DLD.pdf

Summary

Introducing a Code of Fishing Practice aimed at avoiding seals appeared to halve the incidence of seal bycatch in this fishery. In SED trials, the problems of fish-loss via the SED escape hatch and net blockage via the SED grid were solved by changes in SED design. Although the effectiveness of most SED designs in reducing seal bycatch could not be quantified, the forward facing, ‘top-hatch’ SED design used in 2002 significantly lowered the incidence of seal bycatch in midwater trawl nets. Trials with this design are continuing. Some of the major factors that influence the probability of seal bycatch occurring in this fishery were delineated. Biological sampling of seal fatalities showed the dominant seal bycatch to be sub-adult male Australian fur seals habituated to foraging from trawl nets. Seal tracking studies developed a novel method of tagging seals at sea and indicated that a comparatively small and intransient sub-set of their population interacted with this fishery.

The following recommendations were made in the winter grenadier fishery: use open, forward-facing, ‘top-hatch’ SEDs (or a more effective design if one is developed) in all midwater net shots (or as directed for research purposes); continue the Code of Fishing Practice; continue the shot-by-shot recording of seal bycatch in the SEF1 logbook and maintain a level of scientific observer coverage and biological data collection; and, continue trials of the ‘top-hatch’ SED and gather more information by using underwater filming on the timing and depth–frequency of net entry by seals, and the circumstances of net entry that place seals at risk. 

The following recommendations were made in the rest of the SEF trawl fleet: Priority should be given to assessing the nature and extent of seal-fishery activities across the fishery; The Code of Fishing Practice should be followed where practicable; and, At this juncture, SED use should be confined to large midwater trawl nets in areas where seals are known to be common, as more assessment of SED effectiveness is needed before extending their usage.

Project results also assisted the goal of obtaining accreditation for the SEF under a Section 33 determination under this Act.

Keywords: Blue grenadier trawl fishery, seal bycatch mitigation, Seal Exclusion Devices, Australian fur seal biology.

Project products

Brochure
Adoption
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1998-202
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Monitoring the catch of turtles in the Northern Prawn Fishery

Bycatch, the catch of non-target species, is a significant issue in many of the world's fisheries. Sea turtles are of particular concern given their endangered status and the considerable numbers caught, and occasionally killed, worldwide in commercial fishery operations. Trawl fisheries, in...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) ABARES
TAGS
Fishing Gear
Fisheries Management
Bycatch
Adoption
Environment
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