129 results
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2014-029
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Establishing baselines and assessing vulnerability of commercially harvested corals across northern Australia

The objectives and outcomes of this project were three-fold. Firstly, we established the abundance and turnover of select, commercially important coral species in areas of concentrated fishing across northern Australia. Improved understanding of the biology and ecology of harvested corals is...
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
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2000-135
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Regrowth of pilchard (Sardinops sagax) stocks off southern WA following the mass mortality event of 1998/1999

This project produced time series of estimates of spawning biomass for pilchards in four purse seine management zones in Western Australia, three on the south coast and one on the west coast. The pilchard stocks in Western Australia have recovered strongly since the 1998/99 mass mortality. This...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
SPECIES
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 • 2003-005
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Investigating reproductive biology issues relevant to managing the western rock lobster brood stock

Increases in efficiency due to modem electronic equipment, improved fishing vessels and knowledge about the grounds and lobster behaviour, have all led to western rock lobster fishers becoming more efficient at catching western rock lobsters in Western Australia. One of the outcomes of these...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Industry
People

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
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