Fish and crustacean stocks are under pressure from a range of sources, such as a growing population, increased fishing pressure and anthropogenic changes. These pressures, and the small-scale nature of many fisheries in terms of their economic return, highlight the need to develop cost-effective tools for assessing and valuing these fisheries. Such tools should be able to estimate the social and economic contribution of commercial and recreational fisheries to communities (FRDC 2014/008). However, FRDC 2012/214 has highlighted that ‘poor quality data’ on the economic value of recreational and indigenous fishing limits the development of optimal policies for these fisheries. Advances in aquaculture provide ‘new’ options for managers and the ability to restore or enhance target populations by releasing cultured individuals. Increasing interest from recreational fishers in enhancing fishing experiences and the development of government policies for release programs in WA, NSW and Victoria, combined with the creation of Recreational Fishing Initiatives Funds (RFIF), have focussed attention on restocking/stock enhancement as a potential management option. To maximise the likelihood for success, tools are needed to evaluate the potential effectiveness of any release program in increasing target populations. Combining the results of release program bioeconomic models with social and economic data, such as the increased catch (revenue) generation for commercial fishers and the economic returns and social values of recreational fishing, provides managers with improved decision making abilities based on an understanding of the social and economic implications of those decisions. The ability to assess the social values and economic contributions of fisheries to communities also provides much needed information, particularly on the catch, effort and motivations of recreational fishers, which are currently lacking in WA and can be used in the harvest strategy component of the Marine Stewardship Council certification process and to develop social and economic performance indicators for fisheries (FRDC 2014/008). Recfishwest has committed $100,000 from the WA RFIF to this proposal in recognition of the need for this research.

This application is developed following the first detection of the bacterium, Edwardsiella ictaluri, in Australian native catfish species. This bacterium is known to cause significant economic losses in aquaculture catfish industries in the USA and south-east Asia. The bacterium is listed in the reportable aquatic disease lists in Australia and regionally in OIE/NACA (Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-pacific). Previous bacterial detections in Australia have been sporadic and limited to imported exotic aquarium fish species. The susceptibility of Australian native fish species to the bacterial infection was unknown prior to 2010, and Biosecurity Australia’s last Import Risk Analysis in 1999 on live ornamental finfish did not consider the bacterium would have significant impact on native Australian species. However, it is now established that Australian native catfish species are susceptible to the bacterial infection. It is desirable to conduct a well-designed targeted survey to look for the bacterium in wild fish populations, and to provide evidence to support Australian’s wild fish populations are free from the disease.

Western Australia has a great potential for increased aquaculture activities. According to the Aquaculture Council of WA, the main concern of her members has been lack of easy access to fish health veterinary services. Disease is a major limiting factor in aquaculture of both established as well as potentially important aquaculture fish species in WA, e.g. barramundi, kingfish. Aquaculture will provide an alternate source of food fish amidst reports of declining wild fish stocks. There is the potential of further growing an industry that will provide jobs directly as well as indirectly in downstream activities in seafood processing.

Histopathology has been recognized as an invaluable tool in fish disease diagnosis. The Australian College of Veterinary Scientists recently added aquatic animal health as a new fellowship program in 2010 and there is currently only one person enrolled. This program involves a very intensive professional training program with approved experts amounting to 25 hours a week over 154 weeks, and attendance at relevant workshops and conferences, which will need dedicated funding. This endeavour will not only benefit the local aquaculture industry directly by making available a specialist fish health veterinarian, but also provide better trained veterinarians and farm staff through her teaching activities at the tertiary and postgraduate levels. PI's research into significant diseases in collaboration with her colleagues at Murdoch University and Fish Health Laboratory, Dept. of Fisheries WA will also benefit the industry via better understanding of disease and control strategies.

Implementation of ecosystem-based fishery management requires sound knowledge of food webs if the indirect effects of fishing on trophic structure are to be understood. There is an urgent need to construct a quantitative food web so that we can understand the ways in which the marked declines in the abundances of important fish species off the lower west coast of Australia, which led to the recent closure of the metropolitan commercial fishery, are likely to have impacted on the ecosystem. While there are sound dietary data for most of the more abundant and important species in this region, no such data are available for Snapper (Pagrus auratus) and Silver Trevally (Pseudocaranx dentex). Snapper was a primary target species for commercial fishers, and Snapper and Silver Trevally both continue to be of great importance to recreational fishers. Sound dietary data for these species, which take into account the ways in which their diets change with body size and season, are essential for the construction of a reliable food web. There is a need to combine the new dietary data for these species with those that were collated in the database developed in FRDC 2002/016 and with the results from more recent studies, converting them into common dietary categories, size categories and a common format before they can be used to construct a reliable food web. The opportunity exists, while Ian Potter remains actively involved in research, to apply the experience and knowledge that he and Margaret Platell possess (noting that these two biologists have been involved in collecting much of the available dietary data for the demersal fish species of south-western Australia) to bring together the results of approximately 15 years of research to create a food web for this region that will be invaluable for future research and management.

Coastal development, marine park reservation and population growth, coupled with use of remote sensing technologies, require a range of complex analyses, covering stock assessments and evaluation of ecosystem-wide impacts on fish communities and fisheries. Independent advice relating to compensation and marine park planning and reservation, with triple bottom line reporting needs, is also required. The demand for fisheries scientists with strong quantitative ability has been driven even further by the increasing use of detailed spatial data relating to fish, fisheries and the environment.

Currently, the PhD program in Quantitative Marine Science offered by CSIRO Marine and the University of Tasmania appears to be the only facility established specifically to produce fisheries scientists with the necessary quantitative skills. However, the demand cannot be met by this program alone. There is an urgent need for another university facility within Australia, particularly on the western side of the continent, to complement the training offered by the University of Tasmania in developing the skills in fisheries and ecosystem modelling, stock assessment, multivariate analysis and data management that are now required.

Short courses need to be delivered, on an ongoing basis, to upgrade the skills of existing fisheries scientists, empowering them to deliver answers to the range of policy questions now posed.

Postgraduate and in-service training need to be adaptive, but capable in the short term of delivery on-line throughout Australia, targeted to the specific needs of fisheries scientists, marine ecologists and the fishing industry. With the emergence of new technologies, ongoing course development, the application and use of very large databases using super computers, and implementation of new modelling tools, are essential requirements of this proposed facility.

Seed funding will be required to attract an appropriately qualified scientist to lead the development and ensure the establishment of such an ongoing training facility for Australia.