A better understanding of the impacts of environmental drivers on the population dynamics and abundance of key fishery species can inform flexible management decisions that pre-empt both risks of overfishing under adverse environmental conditions and opportunities for increased harvest under favourable conditions. This is increasingly important as shifting environmental dynamics drive geographical shifts in fish stocks.

This project will identify environmental variables influencing the abundance of three priority fishery species, quantify those relationships to enhance their stock assessment models, and develop a forward projection tool to inform adaptive management of each fishery. Target species - Spanner Crabs, Snapper and Pearl Perch – were selected based on key interest to management of fisheries in Queensland and NSW. Some associations between these species and certain abiotic environmental factors are already known, but there is yet to be a rigorous and comprehensive approach to this work, with the explicit goal of incorporating abiotic influences into Queensland and NSW stock assessments.

The project has three key objectives: (1) Find indices of association between measures of abundance and key environmental drivers; (2) Use these indices to enhance the existing stock assessment model for each species; and (3) Enable forecasting of environmentally driven fluctuations in targeted species’ abundance, including enhancing Management Strategy Evaluations (MSEs).

In particular, environmental correlates will be valuable to fisheries managers by: (a) reducing the uncertainty in biomass estimates, (b) explaining fluctuations in abundance, and (c) characterising what is a “bad year” for each species. Such information can be incorporated into MSEs.

The “Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017-2027” identifies several challenges to fulfilling its mission of ensuring the sustainability of fisheries and the economic viability of fishing sectors. The first of these is “gaps in monitoring and research, which limit the ability to make timely, evidence-based decisions”. This project will close some of these gaps and assist in formulating measures for promoting stock recovery and adaptive management.

The Eyre Peninsula seafood industry formed Brand Eyre Peninsula in 2006, a collaborative market development program aimed to increase sales and market position in the domestic and export market. Integral to the brand is the education of the species’ attributes to all key stakeholders of the value chain including seafood wholesalers, retailers, food service and media. The results of market development initiatives have been communicated to the owner, head buyer or executive chef of businesses, however, the program failed to support training for key staff such as restaurant front of house and retail counter staff. There is a need for a simple, cost effective training tool due to the high turnover of these positions.

Australian and export clients have consistently requested a “Seafood Flavour Wheel” to assist in menu planning and tasting notes for chefs and sommeliers. Once developed, this tool would be distributed to an initial 500 existing clients to support immediate industry and consumer education. The development of the “Seafood Flavour Wheel” has an extensive level of support from its current client base.

The proposed “Seafood Flavour Wheel” will be a training guide benchmark and has the potential to expand to an Australian guide, inclusive of all seafood species. Specifically, the development of the Eyre Peninsula “Seafood Flavour Wheel” will assist the lack of knowledge and appreciation for the flavours of a target group of seafood species specific to that region.

Equipped with this knowledge, a united industry marketing approach will effectively connect customers with an experience of the unique regional flavour qualities of Eyre Peninsula’s premium seafood. Through this experience, customers will learn to recognise the sensory attributes of Eyre Peninsula seafood and distinguish these products from those originating from other Australian and international regions.

The overseas speakers have agreed to come, speak at the Congress and speak to at least one other group while in Australia providing there is some assistance with their travel expenses. This is a great opportunity for members of the fishing and aquaculture industry to hear about latest developments in disease research. The proposed presence of these speakers at the Congress has already attracted other experts in marine disease to come to Australia for the Congress and these also will be meeting with special interest groups while here.