76 results

Minor use permit for oxytetracycline in marine and freshwater crustaceans

Project number: 2021-101
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $75,000.00
Principal Investigator: Marty R. Deveney
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 30 Apr 2023 - 30 May 2024
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Disease
Animal Health
SPECIES
Marron
Redclaw
Yabbies
Prawns
Crabs

Need

This project will develop a Minor Use Permit application for oxytetracycline for use in crustacean aquaculture comprising:
- a human health assessment focusing on worker exposure to OTC through mixing and administration
- an environment assessment comprising use of existing trigger values with estimated release volumes of chemicals to understand environmental safety and to develop environmental release conditions
- an efficacy and safety summary based on published information
Assembly of these and all other relevant data into a Minor Use Permit application and submission to APVMA.

Objectives

1. Obtain a minor use permit for oxytetracycline use in crustacean aquaculture

Minor use permit to sedate finfish using APVMA registered products containing isoeugenol

Project number: 2021-071
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $68,513.00
Principal Investigator: Marty R. Deveney
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 31 Mar 2023 - 30 Nov 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Husbandry
Disease
Animal Health
SPECIES
Yellowtail Kingfish
Barramundi
Murray Cods

Need

Commercial in confidence. To know more about this project please contact FRDC.

Objectives

Commercial in confidence
Industry
Industry

Accelerating Greenlip Abalone stock recovery in South Australia using release of hatchery-reared juveniles: Phase 1 - genetics risk assessment and preliminary cost-benefit analysis

Project number: 2020-116
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $111,500.00
Principal Investigator: Stephen Mayfield
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 31 May 2021 - 29 Nov 2021
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Rac Sa
SPECIES
Greenlip Abalone

Need

There are areas of the Western Zone Abalone Fishery where Greenlip Abalone are depleting, with biomass levels well below carrying capacity and historical levels. Some areas may not recover quickly without intervention and recovery may be further impeded by climate change. Thus, the Western Zone wild-catch abalone industry is seeking to establish a commercial-scale stock release program to accelerate Greenlip Abalone stock recovery in South Australia using release of hatchery-reared juveniles. The Central Zone wild-catch abalone industry is seeking to establish a commercial-scale stock release program to re-build Greenlip Abalone stocks in depleted areas that will use hatchery-reared juveniles.
There are two key needs for commencing a stock recovery program using hatchery-reared juveniles. The key industry need is to test release of juvenile Greenlip Abalone in the Western and Central Zones to evaluate the long-term economic viability. To support this important industry goal, the key Government need is for data to underpin release policy. This includes knowledge of the geographic distribution of Greenlip Abalone genetic differentiation (after Miller et al. 2014, Sandoval-Castillo et al. 2017), to inform policy review.

References:
Miller et al. 2014 – Molecular genetics to inform spatial management in benthic invertebrate fisheries: a case study using the Australian Greenlip Abalone.
Sandoval-Castillo et al. 2017 – Seascape genomics reveals adaptive divergence in a connected and commercially important mollusc, the greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata), along a longitudinal environmental gradient.

Objectives

1. Use single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs
after Sandoval-Castillo et al. 2017) to compare the genetic diversity and population structure of wild Greenlip Abalone and FX abalone
2. Assess the genetic suitability of using FX abalone for release into wild populations at sites across the SA Western Zone Fishery, ensuring that the genetic structure and diversity of wild populations is maintained, including an expert-based, genetics risk assessment workshop
3. Undertake a preliminary cost-benefit analysis to inform 'stop/go’ decision

Model

Model • 2024-02-01 • 49.40 KB
2020-116-CBA.xlsx

Project products

Model • 2024-02-01 • 36.32 KB
2020-116-RiskMatrix.xlsx
Final Report • 2024-02-28 • 2.69 MB
2020-116-DLD.pdf

Summary

This project was undertaken to facilitate abalone stock recovery in South Australia. Three key activities were undertaken. These were (1) a comparison of genetic differences between wild and hatchery-reared Greenlip Abalone; (2) development of a genetic risk-assessment framework as a method for assessing genetic risks associated with release of abalone; and (3) a preliminary cost-benefit analysis of release of juvenile Greenlip Abalone with a user interface to aid use by industry members.

Improving the availability of safe and effective veterinary medicines for Australia's seafood industry

Project number: 2020-094
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $302,185.91
Principal Investigator: Matthew S. Bansemer
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 31 May 2021 - 27 Jun 2024
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Animal Welfare
Animal Health

Need

Globally, disease is the major limiting factor restricting growth in aquaculture (Stentiford et al 2012; Jennings et al 2016), with impact of aquatic diseases exceeding $6 billion per annum. Aquaculture is the fastest growing livestock industry in Australia, and is expected to double in value to $2 billion by 2027 to meet global seafood demand (National Aquaculture Strategic Plan). Therefore access to safe and effective veterinary medicines is critically import to support the current industry and its expansion.

Australia’s aquaculture industry must have access to safe and effective veterinary medicines for disease management, industry productivity and animal welfare. This need is highlighted in Australia’s national strategic plan (www.agriculture.gov.au/animal/aquatic/aquaplan) and FRDC’s strategic plan (2015-2020 and 2020-2025) including supporting the future sustainable expansion of aquaculture.

Veterinary medicines are required for prevention (for example, vaccines), therapeutic treatments (for example, antibiotics, anthelmintics and antimycotics) and husbandry (for example, hormones for reproduction and anaesthetics for animal handling). Currently there is a substantial lack of access to permitted or registered products.

There is a clear need for national coordination of applications for permits and registrations for aquatic veterinary medicines that replaces the duplication, disjointed efforts, poor permit applications and restrictive minor use permits and generally wasted resources occurring in the seafood industry.

There is a need to coordinate seafood industry prioritisation and application for access and use of agvet chemicals and to establish effective relationships between the seafood industry and APVMA to progress this important issue.

A model to support the resourcing of this service to industry and regulators needs to be devised to maintain this activity after completion of this project.

Objectives

1. Document a safe and effective process for the off-label use of veterinary medicines aimed at supporting fish health, welfare and production while managing environmental risks and enabling data generation.
2. Coordinate a national effort to facilitate the progress of priority aquatic veterinary medicines in the seafood industry through to permitting or registration with the APVMA
3. Determine options for a system, framework and / or business case to effectively coordinate national data generation and applications to the APVMA into the future, and maintain current permits and registrations in the seafood industry.
4. Develop and implement a communication and awareness strategy for industry on safe and effective veterinary medicine use

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-876007-55-3
Authors: Jessica Jamuna Buss Shane David Roberts Jo-Anne Ruscoe Marty Robert Deveney and Matthew Scott Bansemer
Final Report • 2024-09-30
2020-094-DLD

Summary

In this project we documented how off-label use in aquaculture can be efficiently and effectively regulated. We did this by describing South Australia’s off-label regulatory framework (the off-label framework) used by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA). PIRSA uses the off-label framework to assess aquaculture agvet product use requests (when no permitted agvet products exist), whilst considering risks to environment, aquatic animals and human health. Veterinarian authority to prescribe off-label products to treat animals (including aquaculture stock) provides aquaculture access to off-label treatments. The off-label framework is an additional regulatory tool to ensure off-label agvet product use in aquaculture is conducted responsibly and safely.

Evaluation of a smart-phone application to collect recreational fishing catch estimates, including an assessment against an independent probability based survey, using South Australia as a case study

Project number: 2020-056
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $1,000,000.00
Principal Investigator: Crystal Beckmann
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 4 Oct 2020 - 30 Sep 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Sustainability
Survey
Recreational Fishing
Rac Sa
Modelling

Need

There is need to collect accurate and robust information on recreational fishing levels to inform fisheries management. Recreational fishing estimates are critical to ensure sustainable harvest of community owned fisheries resources. In South Australia, established Fishery Management Plans are in place and recreational catch must be monitored to ensure that the sector is operating within its allocated shares of the resource. Recent changes to the availability of traditional sampling frames and shifts in the way the people communicate mean that it is becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive to undertake surveys using the established methodology. There is a need to re-evaluate how recreational fishing catch and effort is assessed and to develop revised survey methodologies using the latest survey tools and techniques.

Smartphone applications may provide a cost-effective method to collect information on recreational catch. However, as most apps are self-selected, sampling is non-probability based and it is not possible to calculate confidence intervals or margins of error. There is a need to compare app-based data with traditional phone-diary surveys to compare estimates and evaluate the accuracy of the results measured relative to independent population benchmarks. The outputs from this project will provide valuable information to other jurisdictions who have existing apps or are looking to implement an app.- based survey

Objectives

1. To design and implement a survey of South Australian recreational fishers to determine participation and catch and effort levels for key species.
2. To evaluate the differences and in recreational catch estimates from smart-phone applications and traditional phone diary surveys.
3. To explore whether smart-phone applications can be feasibility integrated into future recreational fishing surveys.
4. To measure the accuracy of catch estimates from smart-phone applications relative to independent population benchmarks.
5. To outline the policy and regulatory needs and implications of implementing a smart phone based reporting app.

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-876007-57-7
Authors: C.L. Beckmann L.M. Durante K. Stark and S. Tracey
Final Report • 2024-08-01 • 14.49 MB
2020-056-DLD.pdf

Summary

Information on recreational catch and effort is becoming increasingly important to inform fishery stock assessment and the sustainable management of fisheries resources. As smartphone applications ('apps') become more sophisticated and widely available, they are increasingly being used to record recreational fishing activity, presenting an opportunity to collect non-probability data. However, the self-selected nature of data collection through apps introduces potential biases, necessitating comparative studies with traditional probability-based surveys to assess these biases as well as the accuracy and precision of app-based data. This study aims to compare a traditional probability-based survey with app-based data collection to compare estimates, assess bias and utility, and provide guidance for the future development of app-based data collection methods. 
 
The lack of regularly collected data that can provide a precise estimate of catch and effort for a range of species caught by recreational fishing presents significant challenges for fishery stock assessment and management. Traditional probability-based methods, for example stratified phone surveys, are regarded as providing the most robust estimates of catch and effort for recreational fisheries. However, these surveys are often expensive, conducted infrequently, and may not provide the species-specific information at the spatial and temporal scales required to inform stock assessment and effective management. Smartphone apps offer a promising complementary option for data collection due to their ability to gather large volumes of information in real-time. However, challenges arise regarding representativeness of the data, low participation due to technological barriers, engagement issues, quality control, and privacy and security concerns. This study aims to explore the effectiveness and suitability of a smartphone application for collecting data on recreational catch and effort, offering an innovative approach while considering the associated advantages and disadvantages.

 

The review of existing technologies and knowledge assets highlighted some of the challenges faced by probability-based surveys due to changing communication practices and sampling limitations. Although smartphone apps are acknowledged for their potential to engage users and collect recreational fishing data, they have limitations such as participant non-response and possible unknown biases that may affect reported catch rates and data quality. It was acknowledged that recruiting participants without a license frame is challenging, requires substantial communication investment, and that private companies may be able to advance app technology for broader user appeal. While app-based data collection is likely to complement probability-based methods, successful implementation requires validation, bias control, user-friendly design, transparency, and measures to ensure adequate recruitment and retention. Key to this is addressing concerns around privacy, security, and representativeness to encourage app adoption, which has the potential to promote the collection of near real-time data to inform fisheries assessment and management.

 
The study's findings have several implications for fisheries managers, scientists, and policymakers:
- Firstly, the study highlights the potential for using a combination of app-based data and probability-based survey data to obtain reliable and comprehensive information about the recreational fishing community.
- Secondly, stakeholders should view app-based data collection as a complementary approach to probability-based surveys.
- Thirdly, there is a need to increase the number of participants in app-based data collection to improve the accuracy of results.
 
In conclusion, this study provides recommendations for further work to improve recreational fishing data collection methods. It emphasises the importance of ongoing collaboration between stakeholders and scientists to improve the tools and techniques used to collect data. By implementing these recommendations, stakeholders can strive for more accurate, representative, and reliable data, leading to better-informed decisions concerning the sustainable management of recreational fisheries resources.

Monitoring and mitigating interactions between small pelagic fisheries and dolphins: literature review and analysis of fishery data

Project number: 2020-049
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $60,000.00
Principal Investigator: Roger J. Kirkwood
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2020 - 16 Dec 2020
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Threatened Endangered Protected Species
Remote Sensing
Rac Sa
Policy
Fishing Gear
SPECIES
Pilchards

Need

To meet community expectations, address legislative obligations and fulfil specifications of the Wildlife CoP, the SASF needs to take all reasonable steps to prevent interactions with dolphins.

A comprehensive review of methods used to mitigate interactions with dolphins in purse-seine fisheries worldwide needs to be conducted to ensure that future strategies developed for the SASF are consistent with world's best practice. The review is critical because demonstrating that strategies for mitigating interactions with dolpins are consistent with world's best practice is a specific requirement of the Commonwealth Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

A structured data collection program needs to be established to obtain robust scientific information from industry trials of acoustic deterrants coducted in 2020. This analysis is needed to identify devices that may work and could tests in experimental trails.

Objectives

1. Undertake a comprehensive literature review of methods used to monitor and mitigate interactions between small pelagic fisheries and dolphins
2. Analyse data from industry trials to identify acoustic devices and deployment strategies that mitigate interactions with dolphins

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-876007-44-7
Authors: Tim M. Ward India Attwood-Henderson and Roger Kirkwood
Final Report • 616.96 KB
2020-049-DLD.pdf

Summary

This review compares approaches taken to monitor and mitigate common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) interactions with the South Australian Sardine Fishery (SASF) with those taken for protected species interactions with other fisheries for small pelagic species, including Australia’s Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF). The review informs ongoing refinement of approaches in the SASF to reduce encirclement and mortality rates of Common Dolphins and supports the SASF’s commitment to a “continuous process of review and improvement”. Ongoing refinement is a key element of the fishery’s Code of Practice (CoP) for mitigating interactions with wildlife (SASIA 2021).

 

This study was also needed to ensure that approaches taken in the SASF are “reviewed with consideration to international standards for mitigating interactions with marine mammals” (Commonwealth of Australia 2016), which is a requirement of the accreditation of the management regime for the SASF under Part 13 of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. 

Environment

Quantifying the exposure, protection and recovery of seafloor habitats in Spencer Gulf to prawn trawling

Project number: 2020-002
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $314,535.00
Principal Investigator: Gretchen L. Grammer
Organisation: University of Adelaide
Project start/end date: 10 Jan 2021 - 15 Dec 2022
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Sustainability
Stock Assessment
Rac Sa
Post Harvest
Habitat
SPECIES
King Prawns

Need

An independent review (FishListic Pty Ltd. 2019) identified knowledge gaps that need to be addressed for the SGPF to have a successful re-assessment of their MSC certification. The review found that detailed information was needed on the percentage of key seafloor habitat types within and outside the trawl footprint.

The review highlighted the need to visually monitor the SGPF’s associated habitats to address knowledge gaps of habitat extent, regeneration, detailed mapping, sensitivity and understanding of gear impacts. Specific knowledge gaps are: a) the presence/extent of sponge and rhodolith habitats currently in medium to high-intensity trawl areas; b) regeneration of sponge and rhodolith habitats previously subjected to high-intensity trawling; c) post-capture survivability of rhodolith pavement; and d) impact of gear on specific habitats.

The MSC Fisheries Standard for Habitats (PI 2.4) requires explicit assessment of the fishery’s impact on commonly encountered habitats, vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and minor habitats. While VMEs are not currently designated in Spencer Gulf, the common, sensitive and minor habitats associated with the SGPF need to be evaluated. Data are needed on the amount of exposure of these habitats to prawn trawling in Spencer Gulf, as well as on their protection and recovery, to determine their status.

In order for the SGPF to maintain its status as one of the world’s best managed prawn trawl fisheries and retain its social licence to operate, the requirements of MSC Principle 2: Habitat (2.4) need to be addressed. Seafloor habitat types found within the trawl grounds need to be visually monitored, described, quantified, and impacts from prawn trawling assessed.

New understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of key habitats and impacts from fishing in the context of the entire Spencer Gulf is needed to protect fisheries resources and the environment that supports them, and for integrated ecosystem-based management to be implemented in the future.

Objectives

1. Estimate the proportion of key seafloor habitats (namely sponge gardens, rhodolith pavements and seagrass) and selected by-catch species that occur inside and outside the SGPF trawl footprint
2. Quantify the spatial distribution of cumulative trawl intensity and time-since-trawled across Spencer Gulf
3. Quantify the exposure and protection of seafloor habitats and by-catch species to trawling
4. Estimate the potential regeneration timeframes of key seafloor habitats and assess their current status.
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