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Cracking the code on captive breeding of Macquarie Perch

Project number: 2022-116
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $1,303,630.00
Principal Investigator: Taylor Hunt
Organisation: Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) Queenscliff
Project start/end date: 2 Apr 2023 - 1 Mar 2026
:

Need

Currently, the inability to consistently produce Macquarie perch from captive held broodstock is severely constraining its recovery. Being able to captively breed Macquarie perch will firstly save the species from extinction from a conservation standpoint and secondly, re-establish recreational fisheries for Macquarie perch across its former range in Victoria, NSW and ACT. Establishing captive breeding may also provide new and unique opportunities for aquaculture in Australia for the commercial production of Macquarie perch, suitable for the restaurant industry, akin to Murray cod.

This proposal details four key focus areas of research and development to achieve captive breeding of Macquarie perch within three years, such that Government and in the future, private aquaculture hatcheries, can adopt commercial production of the species. The project seeks $698,630 of investment from FRDC and is supported with over $3 million of co-investment (including matching $605,000 cash and $2.41 million in-kind) from 9 partners across Victoria, NSW, Qld, and ACT. The project aligns with the FRDC R&D Plan 2020-2025, as well as priorities, actions and outcomes in other key national and state plans (Table 4).

Objectives

1. Develop and optimise artificial diets to meet the nutritional requirements of captive Macquarie perch broodstock and larvae.
2. Optimise the hormonal treatment and explore environmental manipulation to improve spawning of captive held Macquarie perch broodstock.
3. Review, refine and develop breeding strategies and husbandry practices in the hatchery to maximise fish production and fish stocking outcomes with learnings incorporated into Macquarie perch captive breeding hatchery manual.
4. Monitor and evaluate the success of stocked Macquarie perch fingerlings into rivers in northeast Victoria and, where research numbers permit, conduct genetic analyses to inform dietary treatment and genetic management of the species in ongoing captive breeding and stocking of the species.
5. Build community awareness and support by sharing information and encouraging participation in fish stocking and population monitoring events.

Media release

Media release • 2023-07-26

Summary

Read the joint media release from Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Murray Watt and Victorian Minister for Planning and Outdoor Recreation, Hon Sonya Kilkenny.

https://minister.agriculture.gov.au/watt/media-releases/fisheries-collaboration-to-crack-code-on-endangered-fish

 

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Environment

Utilisation of boat ramp cameras to estimate recreational fishing catch and effort in key Victorian fisheries

Project number: 2021-008
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $142,200.00
Principal Investigator: Justin D. Bell
Organisation: Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) Queenscliff
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2021 - 29 Aug 2024
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Need

There is no current information on total recreational fishing effort or landings for Victorian fisheries and therefore no continuous time series on these variables, as is the case in most jurisdictions. This represent a key knowledge gap, and hence risk, for fisheries sustainability in the state and has resulted in several fisheries (i.e. those with significant recreational catch) being assessed as ‘Undefined’ in the most recent SAFS round.
In addition to the above, the Victorian Government has brought out several bay and inlet fisheries over the last two decades, meaning recreational catch is the most significant harvest component for most species/stocks. This also means that there is no longer commercial logbook data being obtained on which to base assessment of these species/stocks. As such, having recreational catch and effort information will enable more sophisticated population dynamic stock assessment models to be used for assessment purposes. Victoria possesses such a model that is parameterised for the Western Victorian Snapper Stock (WVSS), complete with management strategy evaluation, that cannot be used to inform decision making at present because the landings from the largest fleet (i.e. boat based recreational fishers) are currently unknown.
Recreational catch and effort information will be used for ongoing stock assessment to inform management advice to inform the following immediate, direct priorities: 1) WVSS harvest strategy, 2) rebuilding of the Gippsland Lakes black bream stock, 3) Corner Inlet Management Plan, and 4) assessment of the eastern Victorian snapper stock.

Objectives

1. Calibration of boat ramp camera infrastructure
2. Extrapolation of fishing effort to boat ramps that do not have cameras using Google Earth imagery
3. Combining fishing effort information derived from boat ramp cameras and Google Earth with creel survey data to estimate the fishing effort and landings of snapper in Port Phillip Bay, the total boat based recreational landings in Corner Inlet and landings of black bream in the Gippsland Lakes
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