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Tactical Research Fund: managing inshore stocks of southern rock lobster for a sustainable fishery

Project number: 2009-058
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $75,000.00
Principal Investigator: Bridget Green
Organisation: University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date: 29 Nov 2009 - 14 May 2011
Contact:
FRDC

Need

There is clearly a concern in the Tasmanian lobster industry about the status of inshore component of the stock. Catch has declined in a number of areas, despite improvements in catch rates. In the Northeast, catch is at record lows, but CPUE has remained stable, which is a possible indicator of hyper-stability or false stability. The apparent stability in catch rates occurs because aggregations containing a major proportion of the population are fished down, as the fleet moves from one area of good catch rates to the next, resulting in a serial depletion of the aggregations, which is masked by the apparent stability in the fishing block. This can result in a very sudden decline in biomass once the entire block is depleted, posing a serious and immediate risk to the inshore component of the stock. There are two potential sources of this problem. Firstly, the scale of the current assessment model, of eight inshore areas (64m) and three offshore areas (>64m) is not be fine enough to detect localised changes in the CPUE or biomass. Secondly there are changes in fishing practices that have increased effort on inshore stocks, and it is unclear whether the extra effort in these practices is adequately recorded in estimates of CPUE. There has been a recent increase in potting effort, commonly referred to as double night fishing, whereby fishers set and haul their pots twice a night, compared to the standard practice of emptying pots once at dusk and/or once during the day. Currently we have no data on the composition of the catch in double night shots, and what proportion of captured lobsters are handled and released, and in fact what consequence this handling has on the overall health of the fishery.

Objectives

1. Determine the extent of declines in the inshore stock by changing the current stock assessment model to assess stocks at a finer scale (&lt
30m and &gt
30m).
2. Assess whether increased effort in double night shots is adequately recorded in estimates of CPUE
include the differences in catch composition, size structure and the effects of handling on growth in assessments.
3. Assess the cost-effectiveness of double night fishing and compare short and long-term benefits.
4. Develop a management strategy evaluation, presenting options based on the results of the study.
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-149
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Planning for a Blue Future Salmon - informing R&D, regulation and industry development

The Tasmanian salmon industry is seeking to grow production safely and sustainably in the next two decades, further increasing the tangible benefits to the Tasmanian community. Our aim, through the Tasmanian Global Salmon Symposium partnership, is to deliver this by being the most environmentally...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2014-032
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Improved understanding of Tasmanian harmful algal blooms and biotoxin events to support seafood risk management

The 2012 Tasmanian biotoxin event represents a paradigm shift for seafood risk management in Tasmania and Australia as a whole. The causative dinoflagellates are extremely difficult to identify by routine plankton monitoring, and are toxic at very low cell concentrations (50-100 cells/L). Sampling...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2001-253
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Aquafin CRC - SBT Aquaculture Subprogram: a risk assessment of factors influencing the health of farmed southern bluefin

The rapidly developing international tuna aquaculture industry started with a joint Japan/ Australia experiment in 1991. Since then it has grown into the largest finfish aquaculture in Australia with an export value of $290 million. It is based on the capture of wild fish and subsequent fattening of...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2014-025
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Developing cost-effective industry based techniques for monitoring puerulus settlement in all conditions: Phase 2

Outcomes achieved to date The outputs from this second phase of the project have led to the following outcomes: 1. A refined puerulus collector design that: • Collects puerulus as effectively as traditional diver-serviced inshore collector systems • Collects puerulus...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2009-067
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Tactical Research Fund: Nutrient and phytoplankton data from Storm Bay to support sustainable resource planning

This project has provided preliminary data on environmental conditions in Storm Bay that is assisting managers and marine industries to better understand effects of climate change and climate variability on fisheries and aquaculture in the region, including changing currents and primary...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2011-039
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

FRDC-DCCEE: preparing fisheries for climate change: identifying adaptation options for four key fisheries in South Eastern Australia

Over the next century, the marine ecosystems of south-eastern Australia are expected to exhibit some of the largest climate-driven changes in the Southern Hemisphere. The effects of these changes on communities and businesses will depend, in part, on how well fishing industries and resource managers...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
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