22 results
Industry
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2001-060
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Characterising the fish habitats in the Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia

This project is a joint Esperance community (through the Recherche Advisory Group - RAG), research scientist and resource management project. The commitment of RAG has allowed the researchers to efficiently transfer scientific information to the general public of Esperance and the South Coast of...
ORGANISATION:
University of Western Australia (UWA)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-260
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Assess causes and implications of anomalous low lobster catch rates in the shallow water areas near the centre of the Western Rock Lobster fishery

Current and former West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (WCRLMF) fishers have anecdotally observed a trend of low catch rates since the 1990’s in the near-shore shallow water areas (<8 m) near the centre of the fishery (Dongara-Leeman). Since the atypically low puerulus counts of...
ORGANISATION:
University of Western Australia (UWA)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2000-251
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Rock Lobster Post Harvest Subprogram: development of a method for alleviating leg loss during post-harvest handling of rock lobsters

A novel brief application of cold-stunning was identified as a practical method for preventing post-harvest leg loss at several points in the post-harvest handling chain. Using this method, there is potential for the western rock lobster industry to save in excess of $2 million per season in lost...
ORGANISATION:
University of Western Australia (UWA)

The biological oceanography of Western Rock Lobster larvae

Project number: 2010-047
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $614,243.87
Principal Investigator: Anya Waite
Organisation: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Project start/end date: 14 May 2010 - 29 Jun 2012
:

Need

Lack of knowledge of Western Australia’s fisheries oceanography fundamentally limits understanding of the recruitment of Western Rock Lobster, Panulirus cygnus, in a fishery worth $200-300 million/year to Australia. The life cycle of P. cygnus includes a planktonic “phyllosoma” larval stage that can be transported ~1500 km offshore, via ocean currents. Development then continues at sea for up to 11 months, before juveniles (“puerulus”) cross the shelf to recruit to coastal reef areas. Critical to improving management of this fishery is an understanding of oceanographic mechanisms driving coastal recruitment. The last three years of puerulus settlement have been low, with the latest (2008/09) the lowest in 40 years. This recent low settlement remains unexplained by environmental drivers previously identified as important, so its cause represents a key unknown for managers assessing the fishery’s sustainability. We will test the hypothesis that variation in settlement is driven by variation in food availability during the open-ocean stage of the phyllosoma larvae. We suggest that ocean productivity, particularly the nitrate-driven classic food chain supporting diatoms, and copepods, (as the ultimate prey of phyllosoma), limits phyllosoma growth and survival in their oceanic phase. Our work targets the peak autumn/winter plankton bloom in the Leeuwin Current, quantifying oceanographic parameters crucial to modelling rock lobster larval dynamics and attempting to link these directly to the food chain on which the phyllosoma as active predators, rely very heavily upon for survival.

Objectives

1. Analyze phyllosoma densities, sizes, genetics at four latitudes (Rottnest-Shark Bay, WA)
2. Analyze offshore food web structures supporting phyllosoma growth at sea
3. Assess potential for Leeuwin Current autumn/winter bloom to support phyllosoma growth
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1990-006
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Behavioural and physiological studies on phyllosoma larvae of the Western Rock Lobster

The Western Rock Lobster (Panulirus cygnus George) is the most valuable single species fishery in Australia with an annual value in excess of $250 000 000. Consequently, there has been a substantial research effort geared towards gaining a better understanding of the basic biology of this species...
ORGANISATION:
University of Western Australia (UWA)
Environment
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2004-236
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Aquaculture Nutrition Subprogram: evaluation of value-added grain protein products for Atlantic salmon and black tiger prawns

This program represents a major collaborative initiative between the Grains and Fisheries Research and Development Corporations. It has engaged seven different research providers and three industrial collaborators in achieving its outcomes. Numerous findings were encountered through this program,...
ORGANISATION:
University of Western Australia (UWA)
Industry
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