Enhancement of ship-board survivorship of coral trout destined for the live fish market
The live Coral Trout fishery is currently conservatively valued at $3.5 million. Demand for live Coral Trout is not being met and it is clear that the market could accept additional product. Anecdotal information also indicates that competing countries supplying the 14000T live tropical fish market in Hong Kong are suffering from over-fishing and demand is expected to further increase as a result.
A major limitation preventing the live Coral Trout industry expanding to fill the available market is the mortality due to injury and disease. Although developments in technology and skill level have occurred in the last 12 months, these developments are not industry wide and are generally specific to particular (eg very large) vessels. Most boats are presently restricted to a maximum of 5 to 6 days at sea as they are unable to hold the fish live for longer. In addition, although mortality of live fish may be as low as 2% from processor to market, mortality between capture and transfer to processors may reach 50% at some times of the year. Whilst current practice means that fish showing imminent sign of death are sacrificed to obtain fillet, this results in significant devaluing of the product. This leakage of product from the high value live market (@ $35+/kg) to the fillet market (+ $14+/kg) results in significant loss of value in this fishery with loss of income to all sectors of the industry.
The adoption of strategies to target the live trout, rather than the fresh frozen fillet, market also results in reduced total catch per boat due to the significant price advantage and larger on-board facilities required to hold the product. By providing information that will allow a code of practice to achieve World Best Practice, information that is not currently available for coral trout, this project that will facilitate the movement of boats into the live fishery. It is likely that the total catch will be reduced and the long-term sustainability of the fishery will be enhanced.
Final report
A Better Way to Fish: testing the feasibility of tunnel net ‘fish trap’ gear in North Queensland
Description of the stock structure of Queensland’s east coast shark populations
The International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks) was developed in 1999 in response to global concerns about the status of shark stocks. The Australian Government ratified the IPOA-Sharks in 2004 and developed a national Shark-Plan with an overall objective to ensure the conservation and management of sharks and their long-term sustainable use in Australia.
Queensland fisheries legislation requires sustainable harvest of fish resources and their optimal use. Reliable and robust assessments of the status of fished resources are central to achieving such outcomes. Currently in Queensland, sharks are managed as a single stock with uniform management arrangements throughout the state. The lack of information on stock structure, however, means that the appropriate scale of management is not known. As well, fishers have no guidelines to encourage investment and long-term involvement in a fishery that supplies lucrative overseas markets. These management- and fisher-unfriendly circumstances must be viewed in the context of dramatic increases in catches of sharks on the Queensland east coast and the potentially high vulnerability of sharks to fishing pressure. Such a scenario highlights the urgent need for information on the stock structure of exploited shark species.
Final report
Seaweed National Hatchery Network (NHN) – Tropical Research Hub for Asparagopsis taxiformis
This project provides the resources for JCU to establish and operate the Tropical Research Hub for the National Hatchery Network in collaboration with ASSA researchers for 18 months (until 31 March 2025) which is the stipulated grant duration.
This FRDC project will provide the funding for JCU to engage key technical capability needed to support the Hub and establish the facilities for exclusive and continuous use for the project over the grant period, as well as provide the facilities and services of the ASSA employees (~2) working at this Hub.
The core objectives of the Research Hub will be to:
1. Establish facilities and equipment required for the development of the Tropical Seaweed Research Hub
2. Deliver a focused research program to close the life cycle, of Asparagopsis taxiformis, with the goal of being able to produce spores and seedlings.
3. Develop biological contamination management techniques for seed production.
4. Collect and maintain a clean broodstock culture collection.
5. Develop hatchery technology and equipment needs through experimentation.
6. Contribute to the development of a Hatchery Manual and knowledge sharing and dissemination.
The establishment of foundational seaweed hatchery capabilities at a strategic location in the Tropics, alongside the accelerated availability of seedstock and the provision of guidance in hatchery design and techniques marks a pivotal advancement in the journey of the seaweed industry in Australia. The Tropical Research Hub at JCU will help ensure sustainable industry growth by addressing the emerging R&D challenges surrounding hatchery techniques, strain selection, and seed production of Asparagopsis taxifomis. Moreover, it will foster a collaborative relationship between industry stakeholders, governments, and research institutions, promoting the development and progress of seaweed cultivation.
Estimating fishing mortality of major target species and species of conservation interest in the Queensland east coast shark fishery
Driving innovation in environmental performance in the Queensland fishing industry
Application of ELISA/PCR tests developed in Japan to the detection of a barramundi Picorna-like virus in Australia
Final report
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 prevalence of asymptomatic carriers. Current methods of detection rely on light and electron microscope techniques only.
Because of inadequate health certification, mass mortalities have now occurred in South Australia on two occasions (March and April 1994), as well as in the north of the continent. In addition, healthy carrier fish were detected by electron microscopy at Robe in South Australia in 1993, resulting in 26,000 fish being destroyed (P. Durham, pers. comm.). There is now a serious risk of exposing native freshwater finfish in the Murray Darling River system to the virus because of the establishment of growout facilities in the region. Until recently, no bath exposure trials have been carried out on species native to Australia's largest river system. In a separate piece of work carried out for the Murray Darling Basin Commission and the Victorian Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Macquarie Perch, Silver Perch, Murray Cod were shown to be susceptible to BPLV, and two farmed species, viz. Rainbow trout and Brown trout, seemed to be capable of harbouring the virus asymptomatically.
My reason for going to Japan was to see whether immunological and molecular tests developed for the detection of the closely related Striped Jack nervous necrosis virus (SJNNV) in marine finfish could be applied to BPLV in Australia.