The establishment of a new native oyster and/or western rock oyster aquaculture sectors in SA and the former in Tasmania will not only diversify the business risk of the existing Pacific oyster sector, but has the potential to become a multi-million dollar industry itself. As native oysters would be more suited to subtidal or low intertidal culture while western rock oysters are an ideal alternative species to mitigate POMS, the successful development of these aquaculture sectors will strengthen the confidence of existing/new growers and investors in Pacific, western rock and native oysters; thereby encouraging further expansion of the industry. In addition, supporting species diversification is one of the high strategic priorities in the Oysters Australia Strategic Plan 2014-2019.

This project is a case study that addresses science needs identified in the National Marine Science Plan 2015, relating to:

i) systematic collection of environmental, social and economic baseline data;
ii) establishing a monitoring program to support effective management and conservation;
iii) incorporating social, economic and cultural data into marine assessments.

This socio-ecological assessment of Spencer Gulf is needed to evaluate and support future management of the gulfs ecosystems, industries and communities.

It will: i) improve current understanding of the web of interactions that drive patterns and trends in the Gulfs key ecological, economic and social feature and ii) help ensure that ecological, economic and social benefits from future use of the Gulf’s assets are balanced and maximised.

This assessment of Spencer Gulf is needed to build on progress towards 1) ecosystem-based management of the fishing and aquaculture sectors achieved through previous FRDC projects (see references in Goyder application attached) and 2) ecosystem-based management of the gulfs ecosystems, industries and communities (especially stakeholder engagement) achieved as part of the $2.5M industry-funded SGEDI.

Funding provided by FRDC and the Goyder Institute for Water Research are needed to ensure that momentum towards ecosystem-based management achieved through SGEDI previous projects is maintained during a period where the availability of additional industry funds is limited.

Industry have recently developed a number of alternative SLED designs, since the use of a “spike” SLED became mandatory in lobster pots fished in waters less than 100 m in the South Australian commercial Northern Zone Rock Lobster Fishery. The impetus for developing alternative SLED designs was to see if the practicability and operational safety of fishing lobster pots with SLEDs could be improved. A number of alternative SLEDs were trialled by industry over the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 fishing seasons. Up to four of these alternative SLED designs have been put forward as practical alternatives to the “spike” SLED design.

These now require robust experimental testing to assess their effectiveness at preventing ASLs from entering lobster pots.

Additional management action is needed to ensure that the King George Whiting stocks of Spencer Gulf and Gulf St. Vincent/Kangaroo Island regions return to a sustainable status and to manage recreational catches within the allocated catch shares in the Management Plan for the South Australian Marine Scalefish Fishery. Although spawning spatial closures have been identified as a management option for the fishery, the relative benefit of their proposed locations (i.e. Corny Point and Tapley Shoal) in protecting spawning productivity is unknown. Similarly it is not understood how key spawning grounds south of the gulf support the regional stocks. There is, therefore, a fundamental need to characterise these spawning aggregations from an ecological, economic and social perspective to ensure that they are designed and implemented appropriately.

The current ‘transitional-depleting’ status assigned to the gulf stocks is predominantly based on commercial catch and effort data integrated with limited information from the recreational and charter boat sectors. Given the recent changes in the fishing fleet dynamics which includes an increase in the allocation of catch by the recreational sector (by ~ 10%) (see Giri & Hall, 2015) and the increased pressure on spawning fish, there is a need to develop a fishery-independent means of assessing biomass to enhance future assessments of stock status.

Given the multi-sectorial use of the resource and South Australia’s government commitment in maintaining quality recreational fishing opportunities; ensuring the continued supply of commercially harvested premium seafood; and to uphold allocated shares among the sectors, there is a need to develop and foster a representative steering committee that is committed to achieving the objectives, outcomes, adoption and extension of this project.