SafeFish - research to support food safety, trade and market access
Oysters Australia IPA: the use of FRNA bacteriophages for rapid re-opening of growing areas after sewage spills
Critical knowledge gaps: estimating potential maximum cumulative anthropogenic mortality limits of key marine mammal species to inform management
Management and mitigation of the bycatch of protected species is required under the EPBC Act and the Fisheries Act. Bycatch trigger limits provide a framework to manage marine mammal bycatch rates and are used by AFMA in the management of the SPF and in the gillnet sector of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF). The setting of trigger limits requires quantitative information on population size to ensure that the impact of fishing mortality does not negatively affect population status.
Robust population estimates do not exist for most marine mammal species in Australian waters and are particularly limited for cetaceans and there is also limited to no information on the distribution and population structure of these species. Bycatch trigger limits need to consider the smallest population unit to ensure that levels of anthropogenic mortality are sustainable.
Where data are sparse, it can be difficult to reach consensus between different stakeholder groups on the validity of management measures, particularly in relation to trigger limits. By eliciting expert knowledge through a formally structured system, a transparent process of evaluating and synthesising current data and quantifying the uncertainty around proposed bycatch trigger limits is available for managers and can be used to build industry and stakeholder support. This is particularly important when considering the management of bycatch impacts on populations that interact with a number of different jurisdictions.
Final report
Refining a Nordmøre grid to minimise the incidental catch of cuttlefish and crabs in the Spencer Gulf Prawn Fishery
Do commercial fishery data reflect stock status in South Australia's Southern Garfish fisheries?
Maximise yield or minimise risk in the Blacklip Abalone fishery: using biological data to direct harvest strategies
SCRC: RTG: Visit to Dr Maria DeRosa, Carlton University, Canada laboratory
Final report
A major focus of Seafood CRC funded project (2011/726: Wanted Dead or Alive - Novel Technologies for Measuring Infectious Norovirus Particles) is the development of sensitive biosensors for the detection and discrimination of infective human norovirus (NoV). A critical step in achieving this is the biological functionalisation of the sensor platform.
Dr Torok spent two weeks during 2014 in the laboratory of Dr Maria DeRosa undertaking experiments to generate specific bioreceptors (aptamers) for human norovirus (NoV). The De Rosa Laboratory is actively involved in the development of biosensors and ‘smart’ materials based on DNA aptamers. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that fold into distinct three-dimensional conformations, capable of binding strongly and selectively to a target molecule and have several advantages over antibody based approaches. The DeRosa group is developing aptamers to various targets including neurotransmitters, viruses, disease biomarkers and toxins, as well as utilising these in the development of electrochemical and optical biosensors.