Giant Australian cuttlefish, the largest cuttlefish species in the world, is widely distributed across southern Australian waters. Through most of its range it breeds on inshore rocky reefs, but it is renowned for forming the single largest known breeding aggregation of any cuttlefish species in the world. Each winter thousands of cuttlefish aggregate at Point Lowly in Upper Spencer Gulf (USG) to spawn. Estimates of abundance and biomass of spawning cuttlefish have indicated that population density at the aggregation site has declined through time with the most dramatic decreases occurring in 2011 and 2012. The magnitude of this decline has raised concerns about the sustainability of cuttlefish and highlighted the paucity of information relating to the fine-scale population structure and dispersal of this species within USG, as most studies have concentrated on the adult component of the population. The dispersal of hatchlings away from the spawning site and residence as sub-adults is currently unknown. Recent research investigating the broader-scale population structure suggested that the USG population was genetically isolated from the rest of the State, and may constitute a separate species (Gillanders and Donnellan, ARC Linkage project). This degree of isolation imparts a greater conservation focus on the species and highlights the importance of identifying the ecological/environmental factors that are driving the observed population decline and whether certain life-history stages are more vulnerable than others.

The first veterinary medicine program in South Australia was recently developed at the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (SAVS), The University of Adelaide. An objective of the school is to foster strong diagnostics, research and training opportunities in aquatic health to support the local and national aquaculture industry. As such, a fully equipped veterinary diagnostic laboratory and a state of the art Marine Biosecurity facility are being completed. A cross-disciplinary team of 10 veterinary academics including diagnostic, pathology, immunology and production experts comprise the Aquatic Special Interest Group (AquaSIG) at SAVS.
As those with the capacity to support the industry, AquaSIG members and local industry/government alike will benefit from further training opportunities in aquatic disease surveillance. AquaSIG members, field veterinarians, government scientists and aquaculturist all identified epidemiological concepts and practices to sample and measure disease in large aquatic populations as priorities. Proper surveillance methodology is paramount to the prevention and control of aquatic diseases.
A 3-day workshop on aquaculture epidemiology is offered sporadically by the University of Tasmania. Sending a suitable number of SA representatives to this course would be cost prohibitive. The organisation of a workshop locally would be cost-effective and would reach a larger audience beyond AquaSIG including: Biosecurity SA veterinarians (responsible for regulatory aquatic disease surveillance); graduate students and research colleagues from SARDI and other local universities; and high-level industry managers. The South Australia community responsible for aquatic health would therefore benefit and support the organisation of a workshop tailored to the region’s specific needs.

The International Otolith Symposium is only held every five years and is possibly the most important conference I could attend during my four-year post-doctoral appointment at The University of Adelaide. The Symposium will provide a platform for the exchange of information and promote the development of novel techniques and applications for otolith-based analysis in ecology and fisheries management. My research, under the direction of Prof Bronwyn Gillanders, is focussed on examining long-term changes in fish populations, associated with climatic variability and human impacts, through the use of otolith microchemistry and sclerochronology (growth pattern analysis). I also supervise multiple Honours and PhD student projects related to fish otoliths and other calcified tissues. The Symposium is thus highly relevant to my key field of research.

The Mediterranean Fisheries Science Laboratory in Sète, France, is Europe’s leading research group in ecosystem focussed fisheries management. The group develops innovative tools to assess global change impacts to marine ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on the resistance and resilience of exploited populations. This complements the research strengths of Prof Gillanders research group at The University of Adelaide. Visiting the laboratories in Sète will thus provide a further opportunity to foster international collaboration and exchange research skills and expertise in fish and fisheries research.

Funding opportunities for travel are limited for early career researchers and the International Travel Bursary will provide necessary financial support to undertake the proposed objectives. I will maximise the funding and benefit of the bursary by combining conference attendance with a laboratory visit.

The nominated ISC far exceeds any fish biology/fisheries meeting held in Australia (e.g. ASFB conferences generally attract ~150 attendees versus ~500 attendees expected at the upcoming ISC2013). Given the ISCs tri-annular occurrence, this is a unique opportunity to present my research to those relevant international peers and leaders in the fields of fish biology, fisheries science and sclerochronology.

As an early career researcher (ECR), attending and presenting at an international conference provides me with an exciting opportunity to develop professionally, by broadening my knowledge base within the field, as well as in assisting in identifying gaps for future research. Most of all it will enable me to meet fellow fish enthusiasts and to forge new collaborative ties with world leading researchers in the fields of invertebrate and vertebrate fisheries science and climate research.

For ECRs there are few opportunities available to attain financial support to attend meetings. By combining this conference attendance with a laboratory placement/visit and attendance at the field week, I aim to maximise this funding opportunity provided by the FRDC. Integrating these events in this one overseas trip will provided a means of having access to innovative research groups in order to develop research skill sets that are novel within the Australian fisheries science community. This will no doubt be of great benefit to my professional development as an ECR and provides an opportunity to bring new skill sets back to Australia.

Levels and presence of pathogenic Vibrio spp. associated with oysters do not correlate with the presence of faecal indicator organisms currently used to monitor presence of enteric viruses and bacteria. Consequently, marine vibrios represent a risk to public health that has not been rigorously assessed and is currently not monitored.

Presence of marine vibrios may affect foreign market access. Japan and Denmark specify levels of V. parahaemolyticus in oysters of 100 organisms/gram. In some European countries, raw seafood is rejected if Vibrio spp. are detected. California has banned raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico as part of a strategy to minimise V. vulnificus related illness (Food Safety Network 6/1/05 see archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/fsnet/2005/1-2005/fsnet_jan_6.htm#story). Currently, the SA industry has little systematic data to satisfy foreign inspection requirements, despite the fact that a recent small-scale survey of SA oysters indicated levels of pathogenic vibrios exceeded 100 per gram (see Lewis etal, 2002. FRDC project 2002/409 report). Whether these levels persist to retail under current industry cool-chain practices is not known.

Analysis of numbers of marine vibrios and their potential to cause disease will allow:
1. Evaluation of risk and development of an appropriate monitoring systems (i.e. frequency, intensity of sampling, temporal variation etc.).
2. Minimisation of risk through development of recommendations for harvest and post-harvest handling processes.
3. Provision of defensible data for foreign food inspection agencies.
4. Support of programs that aim to improve consumer confidence.

Government and industry development priorities addressed include:
1. SA Fisheries and Aquaculture R&D Strategy (2002-2007). The SA Food Act (2001) will leverage the seafood industry towards higher quality control and food safety procedures. Through an enhanced capability to satisfy local and overseas market demands, a premium product may attract a higher commodity prices.
2. Food safety issues identified by this project also fall well within the current and future SAORC and the FRDC strategic and R&D plans. Specifically, SAORC has identified the need to determine optimum storage temperature regimes for post harvest oyster product that enhance food safety. Understanding the impact of storage on numbers and viability of marine vibrios associated with oysters is one aspect of this overall aim.
3. The SA Seafood Industry Development Board aims to maximize industry growth by encouraging whole-of-chain management practices to ensure ultimate market access and success.