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Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2021-119
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Improving bycatch reduction strategies and escape vents in Queensland Mud Crab fisheries

The Queensland Crab Fishery is an iconic fishery, which encompasses the harvest of mud crabs (Scylla serrata, the Giant Mud Crab, and Scylla olivacea, the Orange Mud Crab) and Blue Swimmer Crabs (Portunus armatus and Portunus pelagicus), predominately using baited crab pots of various designs. The...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
SPECIES
Industry
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-062
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Knowledge to improve the assessment and management of Giant Mud Crabs (Scylla serrata) in Queensland

Researchers from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) Queensland, CQUniversity (CQU) and the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) NSW Fisheries are collaborating on a Fisheries Research and Development (FRDC) co-funded research project on mud crab populations in Queensland. The...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
SPECIES
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-177
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

'If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else' - Future proofing the Australian Mud Crab Industry through improved strategic direction

BACKGROUND Australian mud crab fisheries extend from northern Western Australia (WA) across the Northern Territory (NT) and Queensland (Qld) through to northern New South Wales (NSW) and are managed across the four jurisdictions. The product from each jurisdiction is sold into a...
ORGANISATION:
C-AID Consultants
SPECIES

Ecological modelling of the impacts of water development in the Gulf of Carpentaria with particular reference to impacts on the Northern Prawn Fishery

Project number: 2018-079
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $411,817.00
Principal Investigator: Eva Plaganyi-Lloyd
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Crawley
Project start/end date: 6 Jan 2019 - 28 Jan 2021
Contact:
FRDC

Need

River flow is crucial in the life cycle of prawns that support the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF), as well as iconic tropical species (e.g. mud crab, barramundi, grunter, and threadfin salmon) of importance to commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries, and species with high conservation (e.g. sawfish) and cultural value. Substantial interest in developing irrigated agriculture across northern Australia is reviewed in a recent FRDC report (Kenyon et al. 2018). Water extraction to support agriculture will modify natural flow regimes that support estuarine and coastal fisheries. The trade-offs associated with proposed water resource allocation are currently unknown and research is needed to support decision making related to alternative strategies for managing water resources effectively for both agriculture and marine production and biodiversity conservation. Quantifying these trade-offs entails evaluating how altered river flows might affect the fishery and ecological values. Most work to date has focused on the hydrological rather than ecological aspects (and particularly how to quantify aspects such as the minimum water requirements for ecological components) as managers otherwise need to make decisions without sufficient research and given limited timeframes. Although previous and recent projects such as NAWRA have evaluated the qualitative impacts of changes in river flows on ecological assets, there is a need to quantify impacts both for consideration by affected commercial, recreational, indigenous and other sectors, as well as to provide water resource managers with quantitative estimates such as the minimum water requirements to maintain ecosystem structure and functioning. Such analyses are also complicated by the fact that each catchment is different, and hence models and the associated recommendations need to be tailored to be specific to each catchment area, and there is currently no suitable ecosystem model at the appropriate scale and incorporating key relationships.

Objectives

1. Develop a MICE model that integrates existing data and understanding, and in consultation with stakeholders, to quantify the impacts on key marine species of alternative water extraction scenarios
2. Produce quantitative estimates of the impact of alternative flow regimes on the relative abundance of key fishery and other marine species in the Gulf of Carpentaria, as well as impacts on total fishery catches and value
3. Summarise findings in a technical report and non-technical reports to support sharing findings and engaging in other relevant broader management fora
Final Report • 2022-03-18 • 12.22 MB
2018-079-DLD.pdf

Summary

Using an ecosystem modelling approach, CSIRO in conjunction with colleagues from Northern Prawn Fishery Industry (NPFI), Griffith University and Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries have completed a FRDC study to quantify the impacts and risks to the Gulf of
Carpentaria (GoC) ecosystem of water resource developments (WRD ‐ anthropogenic alteration of freshwater discharge), applied in particular to the Mitchell, the Flinders and the Gilbert River catchments of northern Australia. Key model species include common banana prawns, barramundi, mud crabs, largetooth sawfish as well as mangrove and seagrass habitats
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