76 results
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2000-252
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Rock Lobster Post Harvest Subprogram: optimising water quality in rock lobster post-harvest processes

Rock lobsters can be exposed to poor water quality during all stages of handling and holding prior to going to market. Poor water quality reduces the time a lobster can be held alive and how many animals can be held in a system and thus may reduce profit. The quality of water can be assessed using...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Blank
PROJECT NUMBER • 2011-773
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

SCRC: SCRC Abalone Research Forum

The main aim of this project was to engage with national and international industry members, researchers and managers, working on topics similar to CRC projects elsewhere in the world. The CRC Abalone Forum was run in Hobart in May 2012, in conjunction the 8th International Abalone Symposium in...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Blank

People development program: 2014 FRDC International travel award - Ruth Eriksen

Project number: 2008-314.42
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $5,983.67
Principal Investigator: Ruth Eriksen
Organisation: University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2014 - 27 Nov 2014
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Harmful algae pose a serious threat to human health, with significant economic implications for aquaculture and wild-harvest sectors. The IOC Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (2013) identified “likely intensification of problems associated with eutrophication and stress on coastal marine ecosystems”. Priorities identified included “developing and enhancing expertise for monitoring purposes”, and ”the pivotal role of taxonomy in scientific research, monitoring and management activities” related to HAB events.

Recent Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PST) events in Tasmania affected many seafood sectors (wild harvest and aquaculture), resulting in an estimated wider economic loss of $25 million, and on-going risks to trade. Industry and regulators highlighted the need for timely and accurate identification of potentially harmful species, and the value of phytoplankton testing as a cost-effective predictive early-warning tool. Identifying the presence of HAB species typically triggers further levels of testing, and/or active management strategies to reduce risk. The PST Review (FRDC 2012/060) defined international best practice, including access to “technically competent laboratories, and laboratory scientists and taxonomists.” The review specifically identified the IOC training course, and the importance of proficiency testing programs for analysts and laboratories involved in phytoplankton identification and research. Taxonomists need to be familiar with all potentially toxic species, especially in light of changing environmental conditions, and range expansions of marine species.

SafeFish have indicated that contemporary information on IOC standards and protocols are urgently needed to develop standardised methods for counting and identification, and ASQAAC ranked this as the highest priority at its recent meeting (April 2014).

Objectives

1. Attend IOC training course at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, in August 2104.
2. Report to SafeFish and ASQAAC on best practice techniques for identification and enumeration.
3. Contribute information to the development of national standard protocols for phytoplankton monitoring, and inform NATA accreditation and proficiency testing program protocols.
4. Communicate any new initiatives or methods presented at the IOC to all interested stakeholders in Tasmania (e.g through Shellfish Futures), especially those supportive of this application.
5. Apply taxonomic knowledge to current FRDC projects at IMAS.

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.
View Filter

Organisation