41 results

Stock assessment of the outer-shelf species in the Kimberley region of tropical Western Australia

Project number: 1997-136
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $343,428.00
Principal Investigator: Stephen J. Newman
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Project start/end date: 22 Jun 1997 - 16 Jul 2003
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The Kimberley Fishery is developing rapidly and is now a complex fishery producing a high quality product. The small amount of information available at present causes concern at the state of exploitation of the stocks. Information is required as soon as possible to enable effective management of the fishery. The tools available are controls on size at first capture and overall fishing mortality. It is more practical in the first instance to obtain the information which will enable control of size at first capture, and to follow this with the information needed to control fishing mortality.

The size selectivity of traps and lines needs to be examined to explore the possibility of using hook sizes and escape gaps in traps to reduce catches of smaller fish and hence increase long-term yields. Initial management controls can then be based on the outcome from size-at-first capture models. The size-at-first capture may be able to be controlled through the use of a mixture of fishing gear types (eg. fish traps in combination with lines and hooks of a specified size). The size-at-first capture of these fishes may also possibly be regulated through area controls, provided the distribution of adults and juveniles is known.

These preliminary management controls will need to be followed up with a broad area fish trawl survey to provide estimates of stock size for use in more complex stock assessment models, enabling subsequent management controls to be implemented with the aim of directly regulating fishing mortality. A trawl survey would add greatly to knowledge of distribution of adults and juveniles. Direct controls on fishing mortality by area can be applied by zoning of fishing effort, monitored through the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems. For logistic reasons the trawl survey is not included in the current proposal.

Specifically in this project there is a need to:

(i) determine the population parameters of goldband snapper, and other key demersal species to facilitate the development of fishery assessment models.

(ii) undertake a gear selectivity study (both traps and lines) to determine the feasibility of using gear controls such as hook size and escape gaps in traps.

There is a further critical need in future projects to obtain:
(1) direct stock size assessments via such methods as localised depletion experiments or broad area surveys;
(2) to obtain information about the interaction of the Australian and Indonesian fishery (assessment of catch and effort data) for these species;
(3) to obtain estimates of movement rates of the key species between regions and across borders (both national and international).

Objectives

1. Estimate essential population parameters of goldband snapper and other key demersal species.
2. Estimation, by yield-per-recruit and egg-per-recruit analyses, of optimum combinations for size-at-first capture and fishing mortality.
3. Comparison of the size selectivity of commercial trap and line gear and to investigate methods of altering selectivity to enable targeting of fish of a specific size.
4. Advise fishery managers and industry on the combinations of gear and effort controls to produce optimal sustainable yields.

Final report

ISBN: 0-7309-8460-5
Author: Stephen Newman
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2012-016
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

RAC WA: Demographic Performance of Brownlip Abalone: Exploration of Wild and Cultured Harvest Potential

The report provides a comprehensive evaluation of Brownlip Abalone biology and fisheries assessment to date. For wild populations, it has provided the most reliable estimates of natural and fishing mortality, size composition and the first to model growth throughout all stages of life. The project...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1998-152
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Demersal finfish resource assessment survey of the north-west slope of Western Australia

The nature and extent of demersal finfish resources in deep slope waters (>200m) off the northwest coast of Western Australia are poorly understood. Existing fish trawl, trap and line fishing effort is concentrated in shallower waters (<200m), while trawling in deep slope waters...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Environment
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2003-027
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Evaluating the recreational marron fishery against environmental change and human interactions

The distribution of marron in the southwest of Australia has seen many changes since European settlement. Reconstructions of their range from historical records suggested that marron inhabited the waters between the Harvey River and Denmark River. Due to translocation, their range has expanded as...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
SPECIES

Enhancing the availability of pearl oysters for pearl cultivation in WA

Project number: 1985-058
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $0.00
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Project start/end date: 28 Dec 1987 - 31 Dec 1987
Contact:
FRDC

Objectives

1. Husbandry techniques for nursery & ongrowing culture of hatchery-produced spat for pearl cultivation.
2. Build, evaluate on/offshore equip. Monitor environmental & biological conditions predisposing mortality on transfer to farms.
3. Develop husbandry protocol to prevent & contain mortality outbreak

Final report

Author: Robert A Rose
Final Report • 2017-09-29 • 14.16 MB
1985-058-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Western Australian Research Laboratories began investigating the feasibility of artificially propagating the silverlip or goldlip pearl oyster, Pinctada maxima, in 1982 and culminated its study by operating a pilot-scale, seasonal hatchery at the Broome Jetty, Broome, Western Australia from 1986 to 1989. This manual describes the hatchery facilities and husbandry techniques developed during this period for the spawning and culture of the larvae and newly settled spat.

Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1988-093
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

An assessment of stocks of the pearl oyster Pinctada maxima

A three year study of the pearl oyster Pinctada maxima in Western Australia was carried out to provide basic biological data and to develop an understanding of the status of the stock. Aspects examined were: The location of stocks within Western Australia, both geographically and by depth. ...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2011-762
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Seafood CRC: recovering a collapsed abalone stock through translocation

A Roe’s Abalone (Haliotis roei) fishery in Western Australia (Area 8) suffered catastrophic mortality (99.9%) due to an anomalous environmental event in the summer of 2011. During this extreme marine heatwave there was a sustained period of elevated sea surface temperatures that...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Industry
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