20 results

Developing and validating novel methods to estimate age- and size-at-maturity in South Eastern Australian fisheries

Project number: 2022-047
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $348,420.00
Principal Investigator: John R. Morrongiello
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 29 Oct 2023 - 27 Sep 2026
Contact:
FRDC

Need

We submit this EOI to the priority ‘Biological parameters for stock assessments in South Eastern Australia – a information and capacity uplift’

Empirical observations from around the world have shown that intense fisheries harvest and oceanic warming can both lead to individuals reaching sexual maturity at younger ages and smaller sizes (Waples and Audzijonyte 2016). We know that younger and smaller mothers produce fewer eggs that may be of poorer quality than those from older and larger mothers (Barneche et al. 2018). Further, young mothers often need to build up their energy reserves before spawning each year, meaning that they experience a constrained spawning season. A shorter spawning window reduces the likelihood that their offspring will encounter an environment favourable for growth and survival (Wright and Gibb 2005). Harvest-induced declines in age and size at maturity have, for example, been implicated as one of the main drivers underpinning the collapse of Canadian Atlantic cod stocks (Hutchings and Rangeley 2011).

Environmental stress can also lead to poorer conditioned fish that lack the resources to spawn at all. The prevalence of ‘skip spawning’, as it is known, is hard to ascertain in wild populations but could be as high as 30% of the sexually mature biomass in some years (Rideout and Tomkiewicz 2011). Earlier maturity and skip spawning both have the potential to significantly impact on the biomass of sexually mature individuals in a stock and overall levels of recruitment success. Failure to properly account for these reproductive phenomena can lead to significant under- or over-estimation of SSB, which in turn leads to ineffective management advice that may heighten the risk of stock decline, unnecessarily limit catches, or impede stock recovery.

The rapid warming of southeast Australian waters has already been implicated in driving significant increases in the juvenile growth rates of harvested species, including tiger flathead, redfish and jackass morwong (Thresher et al. 2007, Morrongiello and Thresher 2015). It is plausible that these growth changes (predicted by eco-physiological theory, Atkinson 1994) are linked to commensurate, yet unknown, declines in age and size at maturity. Further, warmer waters may be stressing spawning adults (Portner and Farrell 2008), leading to an increased prevalence of skip spawning in southeast Australian fishes. Importantly, in recent times the biomass of several SESSF species has failed to recover despite significant management intervention. There is a real and pressing need to update the maturity parameters used in assessment models to reduce uncertainty in stock projections.

Our two-part project will refine and validate novel otolith-based methods to estimate an individual’s age at maturity and spawning dynamics from information naturally recorded in its otolith, and then apply this to existing otolith collections. AFMA already invests significant resources into the routine collection of otoliths for ageing purposes. In Part One of our project, we propose to value-add to these existing monitoring programs by developing new maturity and spawning assays that can be readily integrated into stock assessments to reduce model uncertainty and improve harvest strategies (FRDC strategic outcome 2 & 4), in turn bolstering community trust in projections (FRDC strategic outcome 5). In Part Two of our project, we will develop unprecedented insight into the reproductive history of SESSF stocks by recreating time series of maturity using archived otoliths that are currently sitting idle in storage.

Postgraduate students and early career researchers will play a central role in the development and delivery of our project. This experience will help provide a clear pathway for graduates into fisheries science. Our project will bolster the capacity and capability of fish ageing laboratories across Australia to deliver improved monitoring services to fisheries managers (FRDC enabling strategy IV).

More generally, we believe that our novel maturity and spawning assays have the potential to impact on fisheries assessment in other jurisdictions across the world that experience the same time and cost impediments we face here in Australia. Perhaps most excitingly, our assays have the potential to provide much needed maturity information to data poor and emerging fisheries across the Info-Pacific region using information in already collected otoliths.

References
Atkinson, D. 1994. Temperature and organism size: a biological law for ectotherms? Advances in ecological research 25:1-58.
Barneche, D. R., D. R. Robertson, C. R. White, and D. J. Marshall. 2018. Fish reproductive-energy output increases disproportionately with body size. Science 360:642-645.
Hutchings, J. A., and R. W. Rangeley. 2011. Correlates of recovery for Canadian Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Canadian Journal of Zoology 89:386-400.
Morrongiello, J. R., and R. E. Thresher. 2015. A statistical framework to explore ontogenetic growth variation among individuals and populations: a marine fish example. Ecological Monographs 85:93-115.
Portner, H. O., and A. P. Farrell. 2008. Physiology and climate change. Science 322:690-692.
Rideout, R. M., and J. Tomkiewicz. 2011. Skipped spawning in fishes: more common than you might think. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 3:176-189.
Thresher, R. E., J. A. Koslow, A. K. Morison, and D. C. Smith. 2007. Depth-mediated reversal of the effects of climate change on long-term growth rates of exploited marine fish. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104:7461-7465.
Waples, R. S., and A. Audzijonyte. 2016. Fishery-induced evolution provides insights into adaptive responses of marine species to climate change. Front. Ecol. Environ. 14:217-224.
Wright, P. J., and F. M. Gibb. 2005. Selection for birth date in North Sea haddock and its relation to maternal age. Journal of Animal Ecology 74:303-312.

Objectives

1. Refinement and validation of three methods to estimate the maturity and spawning history of SESSF species, using information naturally archived in fish otoliths
2. Identification of an accurate and cost-effective method to estimate fish age at maturity and spawning history from their otoliths
3. Recreation of the maturity and spawning history of a SESSF species using one of our three novel assays
4. Quantification of how rapid ocean warming and harvest have affected the expression of age at maturity and the propensity of a SESSF species to skip spawn

TSGA IPA: HAC: Identifying the nature, extent and duration of critical production periods for Atlantic salmon in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, during summer

Project number: 2016-229
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $99,800.00
Principal Investigator: Tim Dempster
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 17 Jan 2016 - 31 May 2016
Contact:
FRDC

Need

For several years, Huon has been monitoring temperature, salinity and DO conditions at its Maq harbour sites to understand the spatial and seasonal variability in the environment. This pre-existing, long-term data set has clearly identified the summer months as a critical production period given the combination of high temperatures and low dissolved oxygen at production depths within the cages. Monitoring of the environment in MH in late 2015 and early 2016 shows that dissolved oxygen levels at cage production depths are the poorest on record over the past 5 years. This pre-existing work has identified a clear need to understand the coping strategies of salmon under summer conditions.

High-resolution data on salmon swimming depths and schooling densities in relation to temperature and dissolved oxygen, in particular, will enable determination of how it can best manage current and future production in MH. This includes implementing cage management strategies to minimise negative impacts upon production, timing harvests to avoid compromising the production potential of its farms, and setting appropriate stocking densities for each cage.

In March 2016, the Tasmanian government will re-visit production limits for Macquarie Harbour. Detailed information from this project is needed for inclusion in Huon’s submission as part of this process.

Objectives

1. Document the swimming depths and densities of Atlantic salmon in production cages in Macquarie harbour during the critical summer production period
2. Measure the cage environment (temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen) and how it varies with depth during the critical summer production period
3. Combine the environmental and group-based salmon data to determine if salmon have coping strategies to select depths which confer optimal temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels
4. Make recommendations for management strategies to optimise summer production, improve fish welfare and production performance

Final report

ISBN: 978 0 7340 5302 2
Author: Tim Dempster

Development of management recommendations to assist in advisories around seafood safety during toxic bloom events in Gippsland Lakes

Project number: 2013-217
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $200,000.00
Principal Investigator: Vincent Pettigrove
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 31 Aug 2013 - 23 Oct 2015
Contact:
FRDC

Need

In recent years there have been extensive blooms of the blue-green alga Nodularia spumigena, prompting advisories regarding the sale and consumption of fish and shellfish. In 2011-12 these advisories lasted up to 6 months in order to protect human health from consumption of contaminated seafood, and led to large economic losses to the commercial fishery and tourism in the region. The inability to accurately predict occurrence of blooms and closures before they occur, are detrimental to businesses in the region.

The increased occurrence of N. spumigena in the Gippsland Lakes has also led to increasing stress on government agencies responsible for protecting public health and providing timely, accurate information to citizens, policymakers and local businesses. Increased monitoring during blooms has significantly raised costs; with agencies under pressure to act on limited information and funding.

Black bream currently act as a sentinel species to provide early warning. However there is no information on the elimination of nodularin in this species or other key species. These are needed to provide better focus and economy to monitoring efforts. Regulatory sampling could benefit greatly if toxin elimination kinetics were known so that temporal sampling regimes could be designed and further confidence provided surrounding advisories and parts of the fish that remain marketable during blooms.

The lack of understanding of nodularin elimination and tissue distribution in fish from the Gippsland Lakes are significant stumbling blocks to the provision of management strategies to deal with seafood contamination during blooms. Clearly, there is a strong need for strategies that will enable local-, and state agencies to work together in developing early warning systems to detect and monitor seafood contamination and potential closures, which makes it possible to develop realistic mitigation strategies that minimize the risks to human health and reduce the economic impacts to government and industry.

Objectives

1. Determine uptake, elimination and tissue distribution of nodularin in commercially and recreationally relevant species under laboratory and field conditions.
2. Review current algal bloom response plan for the Gippsland Lakes and those used in monitoring programs in Australia and around the world.
3. Provide sampling and risk management recommendations, based on scientific and research findings from objectives 1 & 2, to deal with fishing closures and re-opening during bloom events.

Report

ISBN: Not provided
Author: Jackie Myers and Vincent Pettigrove
Report • 2018-01-01 • 5.17 MB
2013-217-DLD.pdf

Summary

Over the last 4 years, scientists from the Centre for Aquatic Pollution Identification and Management (CAPIM) have been leading a research program to better understand the risks to seafood safety during toxic cyanobacterial blooms in the Gippsland Lakes and best practices for monitoring and managing these risks. The program has successfully generated a number of recommendations to assist in providing advice around seafood safety and to deal with restrictions around harvesting during blooms not only in the Gippsland Lakes, but on a national scale
 
Based on the outcomes from the experimental research and Gippsland Lakes response plan review, a number of recommendations are provided which would assist in advisories and monitoring and management of seafood safety in the Gippsland Lakes during toxic blooms. These include:
• Develop and implement a comprehensive response plan that is based on internationally respected risk assessment principles and a scientifically sound management framework.
• Develop an appropriate cost sharing agreement so as funding will be available each year in the event of a bloom. Funding needs to be available to be deployed for sampling and toxin analysis.
• Undertake further research into uptake, tissue distribution and elimination of nodularin under field conditions in a greater number of finfish species of commercial and recreational significance to better understand risks and select an appropriate sentinel species
• Undertake further laboratory and field assessment for other toxins to fully evaluate food safety risks.
• Investigate other methods which could help in monitoring of toxins during blooms

Spawning sources, movement patterns, and nursery area replenishment of spawning populations of King George whiting in south-eastern Australia - closing the life history loop

Project number: 2011-017
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $741,161.00
Principal Investigator: Gregory Jenkins
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 31 Oct 2011 - 29 Nov 2014
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Fisheries that have populations/stocks straddling cross-jurisdictional boundaries face particular challenges in terms of sustainable management. This is particularly the case when aspects of the species' life history are poorly understood. Fisheries managers require a clear understanding of stock-structure and life history of key species for sustainable management, particularly where the fishery is cross-jurisdictional and requires co-operation between different management agencies.

The King George whiting (KGW) fishery is an extremely important recreational and commercial fishery in southern Australia, especially in bays and inlets of Victoria and South Australia. There is some evidence that much of the Victorian fishery for KGW is dependent on spawning in South Australia and extensive larval drift through Bass Strait. There is more limited evidence that spawning may also occur in eastern Victorian waters. The degree to which adult whiting from Victorian juvenile nursery areas migrate to South Australia for spawning is unknown, with previous research suggesting a possible migration of adult fish from central Victoria to the west. The degree to which juveniles move between nursery areas is also unknown, with no previous research in Victoria. There is a need to understand the present relationship between Victorian and South Australian KGW stocks; are they strongly dependent or are they independent? The management of this species would be greatly improved if we understood the stock structure. For example, the species is presently managed independently by Victoria and South Australia but we do not understand how the populations in the two States relate to each other.

Objectives

1. To determine whether King George whiting in juvenile nursery areas of Victoria and South Australia are derived from the same or different spawning sources
2. To understand the movement patterns of juvenile King George whiting between different nursery areas
3. To determine the relative importance of juvenile King George whiting from different nursery areas to the replenishment of the known spawning populations in South Australia
4. Based on a full understanding of the life history and stock structure of the species to provide information informing decision making by managers in both States relating to the need for cross-jurisdictional management

Final report

ISBN: 978 0 7340 5270 4
Author: Gregory Jenkins

Tackling a critical industry bottleneck: developing methods to avoid, prevent and treat biofouling on mussel farms

Project number: 2010-202
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $299,998.30
Principal Investigator: Michael J. Keough
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 31 Dec 2010 - 8 Sep 2014
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Biofouling has emerged as the main bottleneck to production in the mussel farming industry. For example, since 2003, mussel production has declined by approximately 50% in Victoria. Concurrent with this decline has been the rise of several problematic biofouling species, including the invasive hydroid (Ectopleura crocea), the invasive sea star (Asterias amurensis), and several ascidian and algal species. Many of these biofouling taxa are common across Victorian, South Australian, Western Australian, Tasmanian and New South Wales mussel farms. Combined, these biofouling species are believed to have had a range of effects on production, including: 1) reducing natural mussel spat settlement rates; 2) preying upon mussel spat and juveniles; 3) competing for food with mussels; and 4) smothering established mussels.

A clear need exists to develop methods to avoid, prevent and treat biofouling to reduce costs and improve production. Typically, biofouling management accounts for 30-40% of production costs. Current biofouling removal methods (stripping of lines or fresh-water baths) are time consuming and labour-intensive. As a consequence, biofouling often develops to damaging levels before farmers are able to remove it.

Farmers require knowledge of the timing, location and depth of key fouling species so biofouling outbreaks can be avoided. Further, there is a need to test whether the type of equipment used (e.g., rope type and colour) or its arrangement (dropper spacing and dropper depth) may reduce biofouling. As some biofouling will inevitably develop on mussel lines, new biofouling treatments that are cheap, easy to use and effective must be tested. These include acetic acid, hot water baths, high pressure hot air and their combinations. Acetic acid has proved promising against many biofouling species in the New Zealand mussel industry, but has not been trialled on key biofouling species in southern Australian waters (e.g. hydroids).

Objectives

1. Measure the effects of key biofouling species on mussel spat survival and grow-out.
2. Test farm management methods that will discourage and/or avoid biofouling episodes.
3. Test the effectiveness of existing and new biofouling treatment methods to develop cost-efficient, implementable, on-farm treatments.
4. Measure the effects of key biofouling species on mussel spat survival and grow-out.

Final report

ISBN: 978 0 7340 5016 8
Author: Michael Keough
Final Report • 2014-08-01 • 25.78 MB
2010-202-DLD.pdf

Summary

Biofouling negatively affects shellfish production through several pathways, including: 1) reducing natural mussel spat settlement rates; 2) preying upon mussel spat and juveniles; 3) competing for food with mussels; and 4) smothering established mussels. These problems are well documented in the culture of other bivalves such as oysters and scallops, where water flow is restricted to such an extent by fouling organisms that the availability of food and growth of stock are impeded (Claereboudt et al. 1994; Taylor et al. 1997). However, the effects of fouling organisms in long-line mussel culture remain poorly known (LeBlanc et al. 2003). Various native ascidians, hydroids, tunicates, macroalgae and seastars are common biofoulers across the mussel farming industry in Australia’s southern waters. In Victoria, as in other parts of the world, introduced species are also emerging as key pests. 

At present, Australian farmers deal with biofouling reactively, with treatment strategies implemented only after outbreaks have occurred. Current treatment protocols are largely based on a 2001 study in Victoria investigating measures to reduce the risk of moving noxious aquatic species via aquaculture stock or equipment (Gunthorpe 2001). Individual farmers have tried several methods on an ad-hoc basis to try to manage their fouling loads but they do not have the time or resources to carry out rigorous scientific testing and trials. Similarly, they are not aware of the basic biology or life history of the fouling species they are dealing with, and have no documented monitoring program in place to assess when fouling episodes are to be expected, and what species to be on the lookout for. Effective strategies to control biofouling must integrate information over the complex of biofouling species and their various effects. As fouling will always develop on mussel lines, it is important to develop and test cheap, easy to implement on-farm treatments that are effective against a range of biofouling species that do not affect mussel production.

Project products

Guide • 8.65 MB
Biofouling Management Guidelines for Mussel Culture Handbook.pdf

Summary

This guide was written utilising information from FRDC project 2010-202: Tackling a critical industry bottleneck - developing methods to avoid, prevent and treat biofouling on mussel farms.

The research was funded by the FRDC on behalf of the Australian Government.

Tactical Research Fund: Rapid response to abalone virus depletion in western Victoria: information acquisition and reefcode assessment models

Project number: 2007-066
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $70,000.00
Principal Investigator: Harry Gorfine
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 28 Feb 2008 - 1 Oct 2008
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The workshop review concluded that (1) there are significant gaps and limitations in the existing information on the status of the abalone populations across reefs in western Victoria (West and Central zones) and exposure of these populations to the virus and (2) that the current regional model was inadequate to represent the current situation in the western zone or to evaluate management options.

In relation to the information needs, it was concluded that there was an urgent need for a repeat of the scientific surveys at all the standard monitoring sites in the western zone, and far enough into the central zone to be ahead of the virus outbreaks, during July-August 2007. The standard sampling should be augmented by genetic sampling and broad survey of aggregations on the reefs.

The current quantitative regional model is not adequate to represent the current situation in the western zone or to evaluate management options. This is because the current situation in the western zone provides both a form of depletion that is very different from fishing, in terms of the size classes affected and extent of depletion. Reefs are affected differently and the management options are also likely to vary by reef, but the existing regional model does not represent reefs. Because the current situation is unique, there is no longer a basis for assuming that the previously-used industry-based semi-quantitative assessment of reef codes will continue to be reliable.

Thus there is a need to develop and apply a quantitative model that is spatially resolved to at least the reef-code level, and to use this for assessment of population status and examination of management options at the reef-code level.

Objectives

1. Conduct the scientific surveys at the DPIR reef-code sites, using the Victorian survey methods, augmented by genetic sampling and extended survey of the extent of aggregations.
2. Develop a long-term monitoring strategy for continued assessment of reef-stock status and management options.
3. Use existing models to broadly illustrate the likely impacts of the outbreaks.
4. Compile existing information on the outbreaks in an accessible, informative form, develop reef-code growth, maturity and abundance trajectories, and agreed catch histories.
5. Develop and apply a quantitative model that is spatially resolved to the scale of reef-codes, and use this to assess the status of populations and inform the Total Allowable Catch setting process.

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-9806389-0-5
Author: Harry Gorfine

Abalone Industry Development: local assessment and management by industry

Project number: 2005-024
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $525,531.00
Principal Investigator: Robert W. Day
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 29 Jun 2005 - 29 Jul 2009
Contact:
FRDC

Need

There is abundant scientific evidence that micro-management of abalone fisheries is needed (see B2) and state management plans, R&D priorities, etc. (e.g. NSW FMP, Newman & Smith 2001, Victoria’s ENRIC 2002) and FRDC’s Needs Review (MacArthur Agribusness 1999) recognize this. State financial resources are - and under cost recovery in each state will remain - insufficient to support assessment and management of individual reef-stocks. This project proposes the alternative: to empower industry stakeholders with assessment tools and processes for collaboration to achieve management outcomes. Collaboration between industry and management agencies, and tools to monitor and evaluate the industry management process are also needed. This project also addresses national R&D priorities for people development to create an innovative industry culture and for “collective industry strategic thinking and cohesion” (Needs Review)

Empowerment of industry will also address the strategic priority for more participatory co-management of the resource (e.g. SA 2002-7 R&D plan) and inclusive ownership of management decisions. Industry participation is a priority in most states (e.g. Newman & Smith 2001). Industry associations have committed to addressing reef-stock management (see B2), but we must underpin industry initiatives with the required biological information, modeling and collaboration tools, so reef-scale assessment and management processes can be accepted by state and federal management agencies as a secure basis for sustainable management, in accordance with the provisions of the EPBC Act 1999. FRDC’s Needs Review identified the “lack of spatial methodologies and modeling tools” as a substantial risk to the industry. We can build on extensive previous research (see B2) to progressively understand and model the relationship between fishing and reef-stock production. This will encourage future integration of state zonal management processes with the industry reef-scale process.

This addresses FRDC Program 1, Strategies 1, 6, 7, 9; Program 3, Strategies 1, 2; and the FRDC concern for “end-user” involvement.

Objectives

1. Develop, evaluate and document the Reef Assessment approach in Victoria, South Australia and NSW.
2. Test and validate the biological assumptions underlying the Reef Assessment Workshops.
3. Establish base-line (Year 0) measurements that provide a basis for predictions, and will provide the basis for a powerful long term (10-20 year) study of the level of parental breeding stock required to optimize long term production
4. Specify an Internet site template that provides industry with a facility for timely access to information and an avenue for feedback that reduces the delay between observations of reef-scale events and required adjustments in management strategy.
5. Build a simulation framework based on selected reef stocks, which will facilitate consistency in the synthesis and analysis of the performance of individual reefs
6. Facilitate, develop and document local scale co-management by industry organizations through collaborative workshop processes.
7. Develop and test a training syllabus for abalone divers, covering abalone biology and stock dynamics, the use of indicators, and how they relate to stock assessment.

Final report

Abalone Aquaculture Subprogram: investigating the immunology of stressed abalone (Haliotis species)

Project number: 2004-233
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $61,950.00
Principal Investigator: Robert W. Day
Organisation: University of Melbourne
Project start/end date: 29 Jun 2005 - 1 Dec 2009
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Disease is a significant issue for abalone aquaculture: significant mortalities result in substantial financial setbacks on some farms (Fleming, 2003). In South Australia, mass mortalities due to summer high temperatures are of serious concern. In all Australian farms some mortalities result during handling and transportation. Health is identified as a strategic research area required to develop a profitable industry in the Abalone Aquaculture Subprogram Strategic Plan. Particular needs identified were to “increase and apply knowledge of programs to survey the health status of stock on farms” and to “increase and apply knowledge of stress, its effect on production performance and strategies to minimise stress during production”. This project will contribute directly towards these aims, first by establishing normal ranges for many immunological parameters in abalone. This will allow future health monitoring programs to use these parameters. Second, we will assess the value of adding immunological parameters to the histological assessment used in the South African abalone monitoring program. Third, we will determine how stressors, nominated by farm managers as occurring in normal abalone farm processes affect the immune system. This should lead to specific recommendations for minimizing stress or maximizing health under stressful conditions.

This research will pave the way to improve health and productivity in Australian abalone aquaculture. By trialing various physiological and immunological assays we can find the most efficient and reliable set of parameters for future studies. We will also establish the natural variation in these, and thus provide the controls needed when investigating any aspect of abalone husbandry. Another goal of the FRDC subprogram strategic plan is “To improve the profitability of production”, through increased growth and survivorship. By testing the effects of genetics, environmental requirements, husbandry and nutrition on abalone immunity, we should be able to make recommendations for maximizing survivorship and productivity. Currently husbandry practices are monitored via mortality and poor growth. These are very crude measures of problems on the farm, and occur well after the event, which prevents any proactive response.

Reference:
Fleming, A. 2003. Final report of FRDC project no. 2000/200: Abalone Aquaculture Subprogram: Facilitation, administration and promotion. Appendix 1 in Proceedings of the 10th Annual Abalone Aquaculture Workshop, 19-21st November, 2003, Port Lincoln, Australia. Fleming, A.E. (Editor). Abalone Aquaculture Subprogram, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra, Australia.

Objectives

1. Establish the normal range of variation in abalone hemolymph immunological parameters
including hemocyte counts, phagocytic ability, migratory activity, serum antibacterial activity, agglutination, intracellular and extracellular reactive oxygen species (superoxide anion production), lysozyme activity, and prophenoloxidase activity, as well as serum biochemistry tests which have been very effective in assessing health in other species
including levels of protein, glucose, iron, calcium, potassium, LDH, HCO3, sodium and chloride.
2. Determine the effects of a series of controlled stresses monitoring the immunologic and histologic changes. The stresses will include
temperature changes, anaesthetics of different concentrations, mechanical stress and time out of water.
3. Establish a list of repeatable laboratory tests on abalone hemolymph and see if these clinical pathology indices correlate with the development of histologic changes which have already been observed (Mouton's work).

Final report

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