91 results
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2007-038
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Study of ghost fishing in the NSW rock lobster fishery

This project concerns an assessment of the significance ghost fishing in the NSW Rock Lobster Fishery and potential modifications to fishing gears and practices that could minimise trap loss and consequent ghost fishing of the target species, Eastern Rock Lobster, Sagmariasus verreauxi. The...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
TAGS
Stakeholder
Rac Nsw
Mortality
Fishing Technology
Fishing Gear
SPECIES
Eastern Rock Lobster

Evaluation of nanobubble technology in aquaculture

Project number: 2019-139
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $294,869.00
Principal Investigator: Igor Pirozzi
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2021 - 29 Jun 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Rac Nsw

Need

In intensive aquaculture systems oxygen supplementation is necessary to prevent hypoxia; however, oversupply can hyper-saturate systems causing gas bubble disease. Oxygenation in aquaculture, fish holding and transport systems using standard technologies is extremely inefficient; standard oxygen transfer efficiencies (SOTE) are estimated at between 2 and 6% per m submergence for coarse and fine bubble diffusers, respectively, at standard conditions of 0 ppt salinity and 20 °C. Advances in the efficiency of gas–liquid phase processes has seen the emergence of nanobubble technologies producing ultrafine bubbles (⌀ 1 µm). The advantage of nanobubbles over larger micro/macrobubbles is that they are neutrally buoyant, negatively charged and can remain within the water column, potentially for weeks. Nanobubble technologies now have a demonstrated application across a broad variety of industries including wastewater treatment, biomedical engineering, gas and oil industry, agriculture, and the food industry. Surprisingly, outside of Japan, there has been little research on the application of nanobubble technology to the aquaculture sector. Nanobubble technology can potentially improve oxygen delivery systems for fish stock and water treatment in aquaculture systems, improving the nitrifying capacity of biofilters and efficiencies in fractionation units. However, there are currently no reliable studies demonstrating the efficacy of nanobubble technology, nor any assessment of the potential health impacts on fish in aquaculture systems. We have undertaken a preliminary pilot trial with encouraging results. Oxygenation was applied to a recirculating aquaculture system via nanobubble injectors for 10 days and fish (yellowtail kingfish) were observed to feed and behave normally when compared to a control group. Before this technology can be considered for broader adoption, a thorough long term investigation needs to be undertaken to assess the long term health effects on fish stock held in nanobubble oxygenated water and the suitability for application of this technology to the aquaculture industry.

Objectives

1. To demonstrate the efficacy of nanobubble technology for use in finfish aquaculture by:i) assessing the health, growth and feed conversion efficiencies of fish cultured in a recirculating aquaculture system at different temperatures, salinities and stocking densities exposed to nanobubblesii) determining the effect of nanobubble oxygenation on waste water treatment efficiencies in a recirculating aquaculture system.iii) providing a preliminary cost benefit analysis on the implementation of nanobubble aeration to an aquaculture system

Final report

Author: Igor Pirozzi
Final Report • 2025-02-21 • 2.76 MB
2019-039-DLD.pdf

Summary

Nanobubble (NB) technology, i.e. the production of ultrafine bubbles with diameters <1 µm, is an emerging field which has the potential to greatly improve oxygenation efficiencies in aquaculture production. Before this technology can be considered for adoption by the aquaculture industry, a thorough assessment of the health and growth effects on fish stock held in NB oxygenated water is required. Three trials were conducted to compare NB technology with conventional oxygenation setup (ceramic diffusers and air stones, oxygen gas and air) in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) under a number of different aquaculture scenarios testing i) stocking density, ii) salinity, and iii) temperature. 
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 1996-355
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Review of shellfish purification technology research and development

Depuration in the context of this report can be defined as the process by which harvested shellfish are placed in land based plants containing clean estuarine water to permit the purging of their gastrointestinal contents under controlled conditions. Depuration does not include the practice of...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
TAGS
Physiology
Marketing
Disease
Diagnostic
Contamination
Environment
Adoption
People

Integrating recreational fishing information into harvest strategies for multi-sector fisheries

Project number: 2019-021
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $444,676.00
Principal Investigator: Ashley Fowler
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
Project start/end date: 31 Oct 2019 - 31 Oct 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Stock Assessment
Software
Resource Sharing
Resource Sharing
Recreational Fishing

Need

Integration of recreational fishing (RF) into harvest strategies (HS) is necessary for many fisheries in Australia, to account for catches that can equal or exceed commercial catch for some key species and to address biological and experiential objectives of the RF sector. Both the Productivity Commission’s report Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture (2016) and the ICES Report from the Working Group Recreational Fishing Surveys (2018) recommend formal integration of RF into stock assessments and harvest strategies. Failure to do so puts sustainable management goals and legislated state and Commonwealth fisheries requirements at risk.

Equitable and quantitative inclusion of RF in harvest strategies is rare. This stems from a traditional focus on the commercial sector and budgetary challenges involved with representatively sampling RF. It is therefore unclear: 1) what types of RF data and monitoring best service stock assessments, (2) which data also track indicators of recreational objectives (often related to the fishing experience), and (3) how to integrate harvest strategy components for multiple sectors. The need to address these knowledge gaps was highlighted by the FRDC priority research call in 2018 - “Integrating recreational fishery data into harvest strategies for multi-sector fisheries in New South Wales”. NSW provides an important test case for addressing issues around RF integration that are faced by most jurisdictions.

Harvest strategy development for multi-sector fisheries requires a transparent and defensible process due to complexities in addressing diverse objectives and apprehension among stakeholder groups. Structured workshops that use easily-understandable, interactive decision support tools and involve independent experts and stakeholder representatives are likely to provide best outcomes. ‘FishPath’ is a leading harvest strategy decision support tool and “bottom up” engagement philosophy that allows experts and stakeholders to interactively contribute to harvest strategy development in a transparent workshop setting. However, it requires additional development in recreational and multi-sector contexts.

Objectives

1. Obtain information on recreational fishing objectives and facilitate improved understanding among recreational fishers of the role of harvest strategies.
2. Identify types of recreational fishing data and monitoring that provide reliable measures of both the biological and experiential performance of fished populations.
3. Interrogate and extend the FishPath decision support software tool to better characterise and integrate recreational fishing information into harvest strategy development for multi-sector fisheries.
4. Develop guidelines and recommendations for the integration of recreational fishing information into harvest strategies for multi-sector fisheries.
5. Develop draft harvest strategies for key multi-sector fisheries using outcomes from Objectives 1-4.

Report

Authors: Fowler AM Chick RC Bolton P Folpp H Harnwell J Lowry M Lyle JM Lynch TP McIlgorm A Nichols R Ochwada-Doyle FA Pepperell J Dowling NA.
Report • 2021-12-15 • 990.17 KB
2019-021 NSW Recreational Fishing Workshops_FRDC interim report_final.pdf

Summary

This interim report provides an update on workshops with recreational fishers, scientists and managers to investigate recreational fishing objectives for three stocks of recreational importance in NSW – Mulloway, Yellowtail Kingfish, and Snapper. The study forms part of a broader research project investigating the integration of recreational fishing into harvest strategies for multi-sector fisheries.
Final Report • 2024-08-20 • 5.66 MB
2019-021-DLD.pdf
Environment
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2004-220
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Aquafin CRC: feed technology for temperate fish species

The report is presented in two volumes Aquafin CRC &ndash; Feed Technology Temperature Fish Species: Volume 1: Feeding Strategies and Volume 2: Diet Development. The volumes share common background, need, overall objectives, benefits and adoption, further development, planned outcomes,...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
TAGS
Workshop
Nutrition
Husbandry
Diagnostic
Aquaculture
SPECIES
Mulloway
Yellowtail Kingfish
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1994-053
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

An assessment of the impact of offshore recreational fishing in NSW waters on the management of commercial fisheries

Conflict between the recreational and commercial sectors has long been a fisheries management problem. This conflict has been escalating in recent years as both sectors attempt to maximise catches. Consequently, there is increasing pressure being applied to fisheries managers to make appropriate...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
TAGS
Stock Assessment
Offshore
Fishing Effort
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