11 results
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-181
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

The End of an Era: Acknowledging the socio-cultural history and contribution of Australian small-scale fisheries

With little fanfare or attention, commercial fishing in the Gippsland Lakes in eastern Victoria ceased on 1 April 2020. The small-scale commercial fishery, which was crucial to the establishment of the town of Lakes Entrance roughly 150 years ago, was closed by the Victorian State...
ORGANISATION:
A Twigg

Aboriginal fisheries in New South Wales: determining catch, cultural significance of species and traditional fishing knowledge needs

Project number: 2009-038
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $84,916.00
Principal Investigator: Stephan B. Schnierer
Organisation: Southern Cross University (SCU) Lismore Campus
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2009 - 29 Nov 2011
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Sustainable fishing is based in part on management strategies that deliver an equitable share of the total catch to all users including indigenous fishers. Historically fisheries management agencies have ignored indigenous fishing rights which has resulted in restrictions on cultural practices which have contributed not only to a loss of access to traditional target species but a loss of traditional fisheries knowledge (TFK). In some cases indigenous people have been made to feel like criminals when accessing traditional target species for food or cultural purposes. Restrictions preventing cultural fishing can result in conflict, potential ‘non-compliance’ and a loss of TFK. There is strong international and national support for the protection of TFK (see UN Convention on Biological Diversity Article 8(j) and 10 (c), and the EPBC Act 1999.) The N.S.W. Indigenous Fisheries Strategy clearly articulates the need for research into indigenous fisheries as does the N.S.W. DPI.

The establishment of marine protected areas has often proceeded in N.S.W. without knowledge of customary fishing areas nor necessarily a willingness to accommodate cultural fishing. This will build a better picture of where and how much is being taken. Access to traditional foods is essential in insuring a healthier life style. Aboriginal people still assert a desire to procure a regular supply of fresh fish for personal and community consumption yet management regimes put in place to deal with ‘overfishing’ and/or dwindling stock sizes have yet to accommodate the need of indigenous communities to have access to traditional target species for food.

There are large information gaps in relation to;
(i) the size and location of the indigenous take of aquatic organisms in N.S.W.,
(ii) present day cultural associations with various target species (particularly freshwater species) and
(iii) the status of traditional fishing knowledge.

This project will begin to address these information gaps.

Objectives

1. Determine what aquatic organisms (fish) are of specific cultural relevance to Traditional owner groups (identify species and their location)
2. Seek to quantify the indigenous catch (species, numbers, weight, frequency of fishing) at the level of Traditional Owner groups.
3. Develop an ongoing research partnership with Traditional Owner groups based on trust to be able to move to the documentation on traditional fishing knowledge and the establishment of community owned and control data base.
4. Build capacity of indigenous people to conduct fisheries related research.

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-646-56829-4
Author: Stephan Schnierer
Final Report • 2012-05-04 • 2.45 MB
2009-038-DLD.pdf

Summary

This report presents the results of a Fisheries Research Development Corporation (FRDC) funded study of Aboriginal fisheries in New South Wales. A key objective of the study was to address information gaps in relation to catch, cultural significance of species and traditional fishing knowledge (TFK) needs. Due to project resources, the scope of this study was limited to a single site in far north New South Wales, the Tweed River Catchment, in partnership with the site’s Traditional Owners, the Minjungbal people. An important outcome of this project was the development of a culturally appropriate methodology to collect Indigenous cultural fishing data, which it is hoped will form the basis of further research into cultural fishing across New South Wales.

Stable isotope tracing of the contribution of seagrass production to subtropical fisheries species occurring outside seagrass areas

Project number: 1999-217
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $90,100.00
Principal Investigator: Rod Connolly
Organisation: Griffith University Nathan Campus
Project start/end date: 12 Jul 1999 - 30 Jul 2003
Contact:
FRDC

Need

An examination of which fisheries species are sustained by seagrass plant production has been highlighted as a major research priority in the recent reviews of fisheries habitat research gaps by Cappo et al. (1997) and Butler & Jernakoff (draft report to FRDC). The recommended method in Butler & Jernakoff for tracing seagrass production to fisheries species is stable isotope analysis. Coastal and fisheries managers currently consider seagrass to be valuable, nevertheless there are many seagrass meadows under threat and still being lost. An argument can be developed, supported by current scientific evidence, that many important fisheries species are not reliant on seagrass and that their numbers actually increase upon the decline of seagrass. Estuarine and offshore fisheries species that do not appear to be dependent on seagrass might actually be so, but indirectly; they may be deriving their food from animals in a trophic web that is sustained by energy (carbon) and nutrients (e.g. nitrogen) transported from seagrass meadows. Another estuarine habitat, mangrove forest, has previously been touted as generating plant production that drives food webs elsewhere in estuaries and offshore. Recent evidence from Australia and Asia suggests this is not so; mangroves seem to sustain only species living in mangrove areas. The question whether seagrass production is the major source of primary production sustaining fisheries production needs answering. The best method for tracing where fisheries species gain their nutrition is stable isotope analysis.

The proposed research will be done in Moreton Bay and Hervey Bay. These bays are of extraordinary importance to Queensland fisheries, with Moreton Bay alone comprising up to 30% of the total Queensland catch of inshore recreational and commercial species (Tibbetts & Connolly 1998). There are also important fisheries in deeper waters adjacent to these bays. Both bays have extensive areas of seagrass, but also mangroves, saltmarsh and occasional reefs offshore. They are also suffering ongoing seagrass loss.

Objectives

1. Determine the ultimate source of primary (plant) production sustaining fisheries production of several key species of fish and crustaceans in subtropical Australian waters.
2. Quantify the contribution of seagrass meadows to fisheries species found outside seagrass areas, either elsewhere in estuaries or offshore.
3. Ensure that information about the relative importance of seagrass to production in different fisheries is taken to fisheries and other coastal managers to influence future management decisions.

Final report

ISBN: 0-909291-73-X
Author: Rod Connolly
Final Report • 2003-07-16 • 1.33 MB
1999-217-DLD.pdf

Summary

Results from this project affect the relative importance coastal managers will place on different estuarine habitats.  Until now primary production from mangrove forests has been ranked highly for its presumed contribution to fisheries species occurring seaward of mangroves.  This project has shown, however, that in subtropical Australian estuaries and bays, fish and crustaceans caught over shallow mudflats are much more likely to obtain substantial nutrition from seagrass meadows and in situ production of microalgae.  Mudflats lacking conspicuous vegetation not only provide habitat for certain key fish and crustacean species but also seem to play an important trophic role.  The project also developed quantitative techniques for analysing stable isotope data.  These have already been taken up by other scientists, and will help them answer big picture questions about fisheries foodwebs that have appeared intractable.

Effects of trawling subprogram: prawn fishery bycatch and discards - fates and consequences for a marine ecosystem

Project number: 1998-225
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $419,638.24
Principal Investigator: Ib Svane
Organisation: SARDI Food Safety and Innovation
Project start/end date: 28 Jun 1998 - 21 May 2004
Contact:
FRDC

Need

*Public perceptions
Commercial fisheries, in particular prawn fisheries, conjour negative perceptions of environmental impact by the general community. This stems as much from the negative imagery of capture of species of intrinsic public e.g. dolphins, as it does from notions that commercial fisheries irreversibly deplete stocks.

*Adverse consumer response
Public perceptions have been shown to translate into adverse consumer response. In addition, domestic perception and political pressure threatens the actual conduct of fisheries rather than the market for the product. There is a clear need to better inform the Australian public on the environmental performance of commercial fisheries by identifying environmental impacts and promoting responsible work practices.

*Improved promotion of commercial fishing
The proposal addresses a major need for more effective promotion of commercial fisheries linked to domestic perceptions and market opportunities.

*The ecosytem effects of fishing need to be understood.
Most of Australia's major fisheries are undertaken in nearshore habitats yet relatively little is known of the effects of fishing on coastal ecosystems. This project seeks to address this question for a major coastal fishery. The objectives of the project are consistent with the aims of modern fisheries management and have been identified as an information need by FRDC.

Objectives

1. To determine which scavengers exploit material from prawn trawlers.
2. To determine the relative contribution this material makes to their diet and the population level consequences of prawn by-catch discarding for scavenger species.
3. To determine the population level consequences of prawn by-catch for the by-catch species themselves.
4. To quantify the rates and relative importance of nutrient regeneration by natural processes (winds and currents) and by prawn trawling activities in Spencer Gulf.
5. To integrate the information that has been collected from both this study and previous work to develop a trophodynamic model that quantitatively describes the influence of prawn trawling in a coastal ecosystem.
6. To complete a comprehensive written assessment of the ecological impact of prawn trawling in Spencer Gulf, consistent with the need to adopt principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development.
7. To identify and promote environmentally favourable work practices.

Final report

Assessment of the impacts associated with the harvesting of marine benthic invertebrates for use as bait by recreational anglers

Project number: 1998-224
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $346,425.89
Principal Investigator: Greg A. Skilleter
Organisation: University of Queensland (UQ)
Project start/end date: 10 Aug 1998 - 29 Jun 2004
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Coastal areas of Australia, especially those close to urban areas, are under increasing pressure from industrial and tourism developments, and the associated infrastructure to support them. These shallow-water coastal and estuarine areas will also continue to be the focus of attention by the recreational and commercial fishing sectors. An understanding of the impacts of damage to key intertidal habitats will allow managers to minimise the adverse impacts and developmental degradation on Australia's fisheries resources.

There is currently no detailed information available on the specific effects of loss or damage to intertidal estuarine habitats on the animal assemblages that utilise these habitats, despite the recognised importance of the habitats and the benthic invertebrates to fisheries resources. Studies which have examined the effects of damage to subtidal habitats have shown important links to fisheries utilising these habitats (e.g. Sainsbury et al., 1993). Similar studies should be a priority for critical intertidal estuarine habitats. Although this project focuses on damage to intertidal habitats caused by bait-harvesting, the results of this work will be applicable to other sources of damage to these habitats, providing an important database establishing causal relationships between effects on the physical structure of the habitat and impacts on the associated animals.

Objectives

1. Assess the ecological impacts of commercial and recreational harvesting of yabbies and bloodworms on other components of the ecosystem.
2. Assess the impacts of bait-harvesting activities on the sustainability of populations of yabbies (Trypaea australiensis) and bloodworms (Marphysa sp.).
3. Develop a population assessment technique for yabbies and bloodworms.
4. Determine levels of recruitment of these species and assess whether harvesting affects recruitment.
5. Obtain estimates of the recreational harvest of these species.

Development of discard-reducing gears and practices in the estuarine prawn and fish haul fisheries of NSW

Project number: 1997-207
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $546,034.00
Principal Investigator: Charles A. Gray
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)
Project start/end date: 22 Jun 1997 - 13 Aug 2002
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Whilst public consternation may be sufficient reason for fisheries managers and scientists to seek solutions to this issue, there are also many biological and economic reasons for doing so. Firstly, there is a clear need to determine the real (not just perceived) level of the problem and how it varies in space and time and among particular fishing methods. If the anecdotal reports of large quantities of juvenile fish being discarded prove correct (addressed in the first stage of the proposed project), and if we can ameliorate such discarding (addressed in the second stage), there would be obvious large and long-term benefits to all interacting recreational and commercial fisheries targetting these species. Further, reducing discards from prawn and fish hauling will improve the efficiencies of these operations and could improve the quality (and even the quantity) of the product - especially in the case of prawn hauling.

The consequences of not completing this study could be substantial. It is possible that in the absence of information, a ban may be inevitable.

Objectives

1. To identify and quantify the by-catch, discards and landed catches from prawn and fish hauling at a variety of locations throughout NSW using a stratified, randomized observer-based survey
these data will be used to determine key gears, methods, areas and times of discarding that will be addressed in Objective 2.
2. To develop, test and implement modifications to current hauling gears and fishing practices that will decrease the identified problematic discards.

Fish in the shallows of NSW south coast estuaries: variability and diversity of fish communities and the development of biological indicators for sustainability and biodiversity

Project number: 1997-204
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $280,358.00
Principal Investigator: Ron J. West
Organisation: University of Wollongong
Project start/end date: 20 Jul 1997 - 31 May 2001
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Major structural changes are occurring in several natural resource industries as the
principles of Ecological Sustainable Development (ESD), Biodiversity Conservation and
National Competition Policy are implemented. These principles are beginning to have a
significant and fundamental impact on natural resource management, at all levels of
Government and in several primary industry areas, such as forestry, agriculture and the
water industry.

The forestry industry, which bears closest parallels with the fishing industry, has
been in the forefront of these policy changes. In NSW forests: implementation of
Biodiversity Conservation principles has led to the reservation of areas traditionally
harvested by industry; implementation of ESD principles has led to the need to prepare
forestry management plans, incorporating indicators of sustainability; and, National
Competition Policies have led to the imminent corporatisation of the NSW forestry
management agency and restriction of its activities to commercial harvesting (as
opposed to other forestry management activities which will be carried out by other
departments and local community management groups).

A major problem in reforming NSW forestry has been the lack of useful forestry data
relating to biodiversity and overall sustainability (eg. faunal components of forests).
This resulted from management agencies not giving priority to collecting data on
biodiversity and has led to somewhat arbitrary decision making and eventual
confrontation. A parallel situation now exists in fisheries where, in general, very
little data has been collected on diversity of fish communities in the vast majority of
areas that are presently being fished.

In NSW, estuary management is the responsibility of many players, such as Catchment
Management Committees, River Trusts, the Department of Land and Water Conservation
(DLWC), National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), as well as NSW Fisheries. For
example: the majority of estuary restoration projects in NSW are carried out by Local
Councils and Catchment Committees; DLWC is implementing "State of the Catchment"
reporting; and, "new" players, such as DLWC and NPWS, are beginning to impose
"external" constraints on fishing activities, with the objective of conserving
biodiversity. Yet very little data exist on variability and diversity of estuarine fish
communities in NSW.

While a number of agencies and groups have a role to play in estuary management,
none are likely to fund a major fisheries project at this stage. This proposed project
is a large-scale fisheries research project, relating directly to fisheries and the health of
fish communities. Every opportunity to involve other external collaborators in this project
will be explored, however only small-scale funding is likely to be achieved, leading to
a fragmented approach to this important collection of data. For example, the applicant has
already been successful in obtaining $5,000 from the Illawarra Catchment Management
Committee (ICMC) with a $10,000 extension of the project from FishCare, but none of the
sampling sites chosen by the ICMC are in areas fished extensively.

During the course of the project, the applicant will be in contact with all the relevant
agencies, such as NSW Fisheries, NSW Dept. Land and WaterConservation, NSW
National Parks and Wildlife, Local Councils and catchment groups, to ensure full
consultation takes place and that maximum collaboration is obtained.

The information to be collected during the course of this proposed FRDC project
is likely to be used widely in various management plans and reports prepared by both
community groups and Government, including:

* fisheries management plans,
* estuary management plans,
* catchment management plans, and,
* state of the environment reporting.

The inclusion of fisheries information in these reporting mechanisms would: raise the
profile of fisheries issues; encourage such data to become an established part of the
estuary health indicators; and, in so doing, help in future funding of on-going "monitoring"
programs, based on this research project. All of the above reports will be vital to the future
of the fishing industry in NSW. The NSW Fishing Industry Research Advisory Committee
(NSW FIRAC) has acknowledged the importance of the type of data collected from
this proposed project and, as a result, considered it to be amongst their highest priorities
for FRDC funding.

This project will provide data on shallow water fish communities in a wide range of estuaries
throughout southern NSW and will examine the usefulness of these data as indicators of
sustainability and biodiversity. Data on these shallow water fish communities are
comparatively easy to collect, but offer several advantages over other possible
sampling methods (see Appendix 2). The collection of environmental data at each
of the sampling sites will also provide useful information in itself, as well as important data
for the interpretation of changes in the shallow water fish populations.

Objectives

1. To examine variability in the diversity and abundance of fishes within and between selected estuaries, coastal lakes and lagoons in southern NSW, including fished and non-fished areas.
2. To provide the first set of comparative data for the south coast region of NSW on the recruitment intensity for a large selection of economically important estuarine fish species.
3. To investigate the usefulness of these data as indicators of biodiversity and sustainability, and possible inclusion as performance indicators in management of estuaries.
4. To provide a comprehensive set of environmental data relating to each sampling location, including water quality and habitat quality parameters.
View Filter

Species