23 results
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-034
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Effects of climate change and habitat degradation on Coral Trout

Fishes are at considerable risk from changing environmental conditions because they are, for most part, unable to regulate their body temperature. Exposure to high temperatures may therefore compromise critical biological functions, resulting in reduced performance, fitness and ultimately survival....
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-220
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Testing established methods of early prediction of genetic merit in abalone broodstock

This report provides an assessment of the utility of RNA/DNA ratio as a method for early prediction of high performing abalone broodstock. The study was carried out on farmed Greenlip Abalone (Haliotis laevigata) whereby families were produced and resulting progeny were reared using commercial...
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2014-022
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Developing a rapid molecular identification technique to improve egg production based fish biomass assessments

This project aimed to develop a rapid and affordable molecular method to identify fish eggs from plankton samples. The method selected was a multiplex bead array method where species-specific probes are developed and bound to beads which fluoresce when passed through a flow cytometer if bound to the...
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2013-009
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Shark Futures: A report card for Australia's sharks and rays

In response to increasing concerns for the status of shark and ray populations world-wide and increasing pressure to ensure Australia’s shark and ray species are effectively managed and conserved, this project synthesised the scattered information, assessed individual species’ status and...
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)

FRDC-DCCEE: management implications of climate change impacts on fisheries resources of northern Australia

Project number: 2010-565
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $400,000.00
Organisation: James Cook University (JCU)
Project start/end date: 29 Mar 2011 - 13 Mar 2014
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Climate change is a major environmental threat and there is a national imperative to establish likely impacts on fisheries in Australia. Northern Australia is predicted to be affected by changes in rainfall patterns and resultant increases in river flows to the marine environment, increased intensity of cyclones, increased water temperatures, increases in ocean acidification, and altered current patterns (CSIRO 2007). These changes in the marine environment will directly impact on fisheries including modified phenology and physiology, altered ranges and distributions, composition and interactions within communities, and fisheries catch rates (Hobday et al 2008, Munday et al 2008, Halliday et al, 2008, Balston 2009). Critically, most fisheries in northern Australia are deemed to be not well prepared at all for future climate impacts (Hobday et al 2008). For fishery sectors in northern Australia to be able to respond positively and adapt to climate-induced changes on fish stocks there is a need to determine which stocks, and where, when and how they are likely to be affected. Current fisheries management in northern Australia is jurisdiction-based. There is a need for a co-operative approach to developing management policy that can deal with future climate change scenarios. Development of such policy requires consultation with all stakeholder groups. This addresses one of the NCCARP high priority research needs for commercial and recreational fishing, two of FRDC's Strategic Priority R&D Areas (Themes 3 & 4), and priorities for Qld and NT management agencies.

There exists extensive northern Australia biophysical and fisheries data for regional assessment of likely climate change impacts. Data include temperature, salinity, pH, wind, rainfall, upwelling events and river flows. There is a critical need for the collation of existing data sets to determine and document the key environmental drivers for northern Australian fisheries; a key research priority for national, Qld and NT agencies.

Objectives

1. Describe the projected climate-driven changes that are relevant to northern Australian marine fisheries.
2. Assess the potential impacts of climate change on key fisheries and species in northern Australia.
3. Assess current management to identify approaches that are adaptive to potential climate change scenarios
Final Report • 2014-03-01 • 25.64 MB
2010-565-DLD Part 2.pdf

Summary

The species profiles herein are a selection of 23 of the some of the most important fishery species of northern Australia. Although there are many others that could have been included, the species were selected to be representative of the regions, fishery sectors and taxa, while also being identified as high priority species during consultations with stakeholders. As a companion report to Part 1: Vulnerability assessment and adaptation options, the information compiled here for each species provided the necessary baseline information for this project: (i) carry out further species sensitivity data analyses, (ii) conduct the species-based vulnerability assessments, and (iii) identify appropriate adaptation options and barriers. Each species profile covered the following aspects: fisheries, biology, ecology and life cycle, and environmental sensitivity and resilience in a climate change context. This content followed the template set by the similar project conducted in south-eastern Australia (Pecl et al. 2011) thereby ensuring consistency across projects.

Each profile involved comprehensive literature reviews so as to provide the most up-to-date, and therefore relevant, information to inform the major tasks of the project. Firstly, identifying the known sensitivity of each species to key environmental (climate) variables helped us to set up hypotheses for testing for the data analyses conducted for some species, determined the information gaps, and informed the development and scoring for the vulnerability assessments. Documenting the biology, ecology and life history also informed the development of the hypotheses as well as the vulnerability assessments. Information about the fisheries, including their management and operational characteristics, was important also in informing the vulnerability assessments, and particularly in identifying adaptation options for fisheries.

Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1994-087
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Application of ELISA/PCR tests developed in Japan to the detection of a barramundi Picorna-like virus in Australia

The history of BPLV in Australia is one in which mass mortalities have occurred repeatedly among cultured larvae almost completely without warning. There is no published data on where the virus comes from (i.e. its source or origin), or, in the case of stock being transferred interstate, the...
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)
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