PROJECT NUMBER
•
2020-073
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania
TAGS
7 results
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2018-067
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-100
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
Tasmania's coastal reefs: deep reef habitats and significance for finfish production and biodiversity
Project number:
2014-012
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$227,904.26
Principal Investigator:
Jeremy Lyle
Organisation:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date:
29 May 2014
-
29 Sep 2016
Contact:
FRDC
Reefs represent important habitats for commercially and recreationally exploited species under Tasmanian jurisdiction. In Tasmania, shallow reefs (25 m) are significant to commercial and recreational fisheries for scalefish and invertebrates. These include live-fish fisheries for banded morwong (gillnet) and wrasse (trap and line), as well as recreational and commercial gillnet fisheries for species such as bastard trumpeter, striped trumpeter and blue warehou. Other species including jackass morwong, various leatherjackets and boarfish, are also relatively commonly caught on shallow inshore reefs. Most of these species also occur at greater depths but as only striped trumpeter are subjected to a targeted (line) deepwater fishery; deep reefs are therefore assumed to be important refuges from fishing pressure. While recent research has improved our understanding of the population biology of some of these species, management of these fisheries is primarily based on characteristics observed from shallow reefs. The lack of quantitative information on the significance of deep reef habitats as refuges and/or their role in population structuring limits our ability to undertake informed risk assessments of the impacts of current fishing practices and evaluate alternative management options.
While the structure, composition and functioning of shallow-reefs (10m) and their associated fish communities has been studied extensively, the ecological importance of deeper reef ecosystems has not been investigated apart from recent baseline studies of offshore Commonwealth MPAs. Linkages and associations between fish communities in shallow and deeper reef areas remain a distinct knowledge gap.
1. Characterise reef fish communities on the east and south-east coasts of Tasmania by depth and habitat structure
2. Describe habitat associations for the key reef fish species and their links to life-history characteristics
3. Assess the potential to use habitat characteristics to describe and predict fish community structure
4. Assess the significance of reef habitats for fisheries production and fishery assessments
Final report
Assessing the impacts of gillnetting in Tasmania: implications for by-catch and biodiversity
Project number:
2010-016
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$390,623.79
Principal Investigator:
Jeremy Lyle
Organisation:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date:
22 Jun 2010
-
14 Feb 2013
Contact:
FRDC
Commercial and recreational fishers are permitted to use gillnets in Tasmania. There are several classes of gillnet distinguished by mesh size - commercial gillnets include, small mesh, graball and shark nets, while recreational gillnets include mullet and graball nets. During the past 5 years around 150 commercial operators each year have reported gillnet use, for an average catch of 200 tonnes of scalefish. Recent information for the recreational sector is limited though recreational netting remains popular, with over 10,000 net licences issued in 2009. Previous surveys indicate that recreational fishers target much the same species as commercial operators.
Over the past decade there have been several management initiatives, including a prohibition on night netting for most areas and, more recently, the introduction of maximum soak times. These initiatives have been designed to improve gillnetting practices, and reduce wastage and impacts on non-target species. Despite this, there have been conspicuous declines in the abundance of several key gillnet species along with increasing community concern about the ecological impacts of gillnetting. This concern has been particularly evident in the debate surrounding the introduction of marine protected areas, with gillnetting identified as a key threat to biodiversity. Furthermore, in the 2009 Scalefish Fishery review DPIPWE identified the need to develop strategic policy in relation to no-netting areas to address issues including resource sharing, wildlife interactions and stock management.
In view of the above, there is an urgent need to better understand how recent management initiatives have influenced netting practices, and to objectively assess the risks and impacts on target and non-target species. Ultimately such an understanding will be pivotal in informing the on-going debate over the future management of gillnetting in Tasmania.
1. Synthesise available gillnetting information, with particular reference to links between operational parameters and catch composition
2. Determine catch composition and levels of by-catch associated with the main commercial gillnet fisheries
3. Assess implications of recent management changes on recreational netting practices
4. Assess the relationships between gillnet soak times, capture condition and by-catch survival
5. Evaluate the impacts of gillnetting on the biodiversity of key inshore ecosystems and potential strategies to mitigate these impacts
Final report
ISBN:
978-1-86295-758-9
Spatial management of reef fisheries and ecosystems: understanding the importance of movement
Project number:
2004-002
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$384,083.00
Principal Investigator:
Colin Buxton
Organisation:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date:
30 Aug 2004
-
30 Aug 2008
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
Liitle is known of the movement patterns of most commercial reef species, an aspect that is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of spatial management and interpretation of local stock dynamics. By undertaking a broadly applicable movement study drawing on examples over an Australia wide scale and using model species representing differing life histories, we will address a key issue identified in several national strategic priorities (SCFA Research Priorites for Australian Fisheries and Aqauculture - Program 4). These priorities include understanding the ecosystem effects of fishing and the need to assess the merits and performance of spatial management. They were identified at the Aquatic Protected Areas R&D workshop (Cairns), and in a recent spatial management discussion paper by Smith et al. (2003).
In Tasmania, defining movements of commercial finfish species (e.g. banded morwong) between and within reefs, has been identified as an important research issue by the Scalefish RAG, and essential for understanding local stock dynamics and interpreting CPUE data. Current fishing practices target juvenile trumpeter species, and spatial ‘nursery area’ closures may be one option of ensuring a significant proportion of fish reach maturity before becoming vulnerable to the fishery.
In the Northern Territory the black jewfish is an important species for both commercial and recreational fisheries, yet it appears to be particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to a mix of aggregating behaviour and an increasing knowledge by fishers of the location of these aggregations. Understanding the nature of these aggregations and the threat posed by fishing has been identified as the number one priority for fisheries research and knowledge of fish movements with respect to these aggregations is an important component required for development of effective management plans.
Smith, D., Sainsbury, K., Buxton, C., Morris, L., Hough, D., Haddon, M. & Moore, M. 2003. Development of an R&D response to ecosystem based management: Spatioal management of fisheries and the role of MPAs. FRDC Final Report 2003/073. 51pp
1. To study the movement patterns of key reef associated fishes in Tasmania and the NT.
2. To link movement patterns with critical life history events and habitat utilisation.
3. To evaluate these results in the context of spatial management options for specific fisheries, including performance of closed areas.
Final report
Evaluating the effectiveness of marine protected areas as a fisheries management tool
Project number:
1999-162
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$409,168.00
Principal Investigator:
Colin Buxton
Organisation:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date:
29 Aug 1999
-
30 Aug 2007
Contact:
FRDC
In concert the establishment of MPAs around the world and the current push to increase the number an size of no-take areas it has been argued that these areas may be of benefit to fisheries management. Included are moving fisheries harvests towards more sustainable yield, rebuilding depleted stocks, an insurance against stock collapse and the protection of essential habitat.
But as with all management tools, potential and real benefits need to be rigorously assessed. This knowledge base is currently lacking.
The proposed project will make a major theoretical contribution to the general understanding of MPAs for fisheries management as it will incorporate several new parameters in the model, including:- effort displacement; existing management tools (input controls and TAC); larval dispersal where possible (research on larval dispersal of rock lobster has focused on Tasmania); fleet dynamics; and spatial variation in biological parameters.
The plan to establish a National System of Marine Protected Areas in Australia has been resisted by the fishing sector because of a percieved loss of yield proportional to the area of the closure and the lack of critical evidence to support the proposed benefit to fisheries (including insurance against stock collapse, sources of eggs and larvae and improvement in yield). To resolve this conflict we urgently need to model the potential impacts and provide the empirical ground-truthing of the effects of area closure on the fishery.
Given that most commercially-exploited reef species are long lived and that MPAs require several years for the effects of closure to manifest themselves, there is a need to provide baseline information on the status of proposed sites. This information can then be used to evaluate MPA objectives in the future.
Equally there is a need to maintain adequate assessment of the changes that occur once an area has been closed. Monitoring of existing reserve sites in Tasmania has been ongoing for a period of five years. It is important to continue this work because analysis after five years of initial survey provided no indication that population changes of exploited species had stabilised. The biomass of rock lobsters within reserves, for example, continued to increase throughout the five years of the study. Clearly there is a need to continue the survey in order to properly document longer term changes that occur as a result of closure. This information is fundamental to the evaluation of MPAs as a coastal management tool.
The project chooses to focus on relatively sedentary species for several reasons:
While intuitive benefits in terms of stock recovery of sedentary species have been demonstrated, other benefits are far from predictable and the scant information on this subject yields results that are species specific and dependent on the behaviour of the species. There is a growing awareness that generalised models are inappropriate and each case needs examination on its own merit. Furthermore, the size of the no-take areas under consideration mitigates against the study of the benefits for highly migratory species, which range freely between protected and unprotected sites. Finally, empirical confirmation of models based on sedentary species is most likely to be achievable (recognising that models for migratory species are not well advanced at this stage).
PRIORITISATION
To address possible funding constraints we have prioritised the tasks as follows:
1. Modelling the effects of closure on the fishery
2. Survey of the proposed reserve sites in Tasmania, including the industry proposed sites
3. Ongoing survey of established sites in Tasmania
4. Survey of proposed sites eslewhere Australia
5. Survey methods workshop
1. To model the effects of closure on the rock lobster and abalone fisheries, with particular reference to: the redirection of effort
potential benefit in terms of additional biomass and as a recruitment source
and location, size and number of the MPAs.
2. To quantify relative abundance of selected fish, invertebrates and plant populations at representative sites prior to establishment of MPAs, and to identify changes in relative abundance following reserve establishment.
3. To develop National guidelines for the assessment of MPAs in Australia, with particular reference to exploited species.
4. To provide specific management recommendations on the appropriate location, configuration and size of MPAs that will provide effective enhancement for coastal fisheries, and, to quantify the impacts of MPAs on local fisheries where they are proposed for reasons other than enhancing the fishery.
Final report
ISBN:
1-86295-161-6
Author:
Colin Buxton
Final Report
•
2007-04-11
•
8.26 MB
1999-162-DLD.pdf
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are being proclaimed around the world with the stated primary purposes of enhancing fisheries stocks and/or conserving marine biodiversity. In Australia, in response to a joint State/Commonwealth agreement to establish a National Representative System of MPAs (NRSMPA) to protect marine biodiversity, the focus is on their conservation role. However, fisheries enhancement is often suggested as an additional benefit of protection, potentially offsetting the cost of area closure in some cases.
This study aimed to contribute to the debate on the positive and negative effects of the establishment of MPAs, documenting changes that have occurred in reserves following establishment, and particularly, attempting to understand more about their role as a fisheries management tool. It builds on a program initiated following the establishment of Tasmania’s first ‘no-take’ MPAs a decade ago.
Changes within the MPAs over the period indicated that fishing has had a substantial influence on the demographic structure of many species, particularly those targeted by fishers. The magnitude of change detected appeared to be dependant on the susceptibility of species to capture, the remoteness of protected locations and to the MPA configuration itself. Changes within the more remote Maria Island reserve (the largest area studied), relative to fished reference sites, included increases in the abundance of lobsters and certain fish species and increases in the mean size of rock lobsters (responses typical of protected areas studied elsewhere in the world), as well as a decrease in the abundance of prey species such as urchins and abalone.
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