Knowledge of the summer spawning patterns of Jack Mackerel and Australian Sardine is needed to underpin future assessment of these stocks and to underpin the ecologically sustainable development of pelagic fish resources off the East Coast of Australia.

Methods for estimating the population size of Jack Mackerel and Australian Sardine need be established to address community concerns regarding the potential ecological and social impacts of large scale fishing for small pelagic fishes off the East Coast.

Sardines are an undervalued species in South Australia, with the majority of the catch going for tuna feed for an average price of $0.72/kg. The industry has recognised the need to increase the value of the fishery, and that more of the catch has to be turned into value-added products for human consumption. In order to achieve this aim, it has targeted to use at least 10% of the TACC for value-adding.

Three of the licence holders have invested in equipment and processes to produce value-added products. However, individually these businesses are having limited success, struggling to adopt the technical and operational practices that are required to deliver safe, profitable products for human consumption markets both domestically and abroad. This project will provide technical expertise and experimental support to assist them in optimising raw materials, labour and equipment and to develop new products specifically for these markets.

There has been limited success in value-adding sardine products for human consumption in sardine fisheries in Australia. As a result, research has focussed on increasing the value of sardines but has not resulted in products being successfully test marketed/commercialised and evaluated. This is perhaps due to a disconnect in the supply chain between consumers, markets, distribution and processing. We now have the consumer/market intelligence to understand the barriers to sardine acceptability. We can develop products that will overcome these barriers and with the businesses already supplying into the human consumption markets, we have an identified route to market to commercialise and evaluate the success of these new products.

The project offers the opportunity for the three businesses to work together to achieve more than could be individually. They will benefit from the economies of scale that business partnerships have to ultimately deliver safe, profitable products to market for human consumption.

This project will contribute toward Seafood CRC Program 1B:

Output 1.7 "Smart processing technologies and practices"

Milestone 1.7.2
Application of innovative technologies for controlling spoilage to enhance shelf-life and marketability

Milestone 1.7.6
Harvest, post-harvest and processing practices evaluated and enhanced to maximise and protect quality attributes

Milestone 1.7.8.
Technology and capability to support innovation of new seafood products developed

This project fits into the CRC “smart processing” theme

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Global economic factors and market forces warrant the need for a significant portion of the SASF harvest to diversify from the domestic tuna feed market into higher value markets. This need is in part driven by the strength of the Australian dollar. Over the last 24 months the volume of relatively cheap imported feed has forced a significant decrease in the beach price of locally caught sardines, necessary so local catch can maintain market share. The strength of the dollar is forecast to remain high.

The South Australian Sardine Industry needs to diversify its market base and increase the portion of the annual catch that is value-added to offset the issues described above, and the associated risks of sustained low returns.

The marketability of South Australian sardines is negatively affected by high volume of the nightly catch and the limited capacity of most sardine vessels to adequately chill fish on board. There is a need to trial technology that will remove heat from fish immediately postharvest more efficiently than current practices. This will reduce spoilage and extend the shelf-life for value-added grade fish.

The implementation of post-harvest technologies such as flow-ice at the point of capture will assist the production of a higher quality product which, in turn, should increase the GVP of the SASF.

On 25 August 2005, the SA Government closed the SASF in response to results from independent observer coverage in the fishery and concerns associated with encirclement and mortality rates of common dolphin.

The SASF TEPS Code of Practice developed prior to the fishery has been effective in reducing the encirclement and mortality rate initially reported but still requires improvement to ensure the fishery is operating sustainably.

Recent communication between PIRSA and SAMSSIA in relation to interim results from the observer program (July 2006 – June 2007) has highlighted that improvement of the SASF TEPS Code of Practice is an immediate priority.

Investigations by the SASF TEPS WG suggests there is scope to develop an acoustic mitigation signature that will further reduce the encirclement and mortality rate of common dolphins and improve the effectiveness of the TEPS Code of Practice.

Considering the importance the SA Government places on effective TEPS mitigation the development of underwater acoustic mitigation technology presents the greatest potential to improve the SASF’s TEPS Code of Practice.

This project will address FRDC’s strategic challenge to improve the management and use of aquatic natural resources to ensure their sustainability; has a high likelihood of success considering the success of acoustic behavioral modification on similar species(Leeney et al 2007) and in relation to the common dolphin (Morizur et al 2007) and has a high likelihood of adoption by industry as a successful outcome will be incorporated into the TEPS Code of Practice which is adhered to by 100% of the licence holders in the fishery.

The SASF is a key economic driver in the region and all efforts to maintain and secure access rights through the adoption of sustainable fishing practices are warranted.

Letters of support for this project from PIRSA Fisheries and SAMSSIA are attached to this application.

Provisions of the Commonwealth Environment and Biodiversity Conservation Act require strategic assessment and, if necessary, mitigation of the ecological effects of fishing, including trophic impacts.

The strategic assessment of the South Australian pilchard fishery identified the need to measure and minimize the impacts of the fishery
on the “broader ecosystem” and “to review the current ecological management objectives, management strategies and performance indicators”.

However, operational ecological performance indicators and mitigating strategies have not yet been established for any pelagic fishery in Australia, and there is no agreed scientific framework for establishing these tools.

In recognition of -
1) the high profile of the SA pilchard fishery (as Australia’s largest pelagic fishery);
2) the important ecological role of pilchards in the Flinders Current Ecosystem;
3) the high economic value and conservation significance of the region’s marine predators;
4) and the sophisticated (single-species) stock assessment procedures and management arrangements that have been established,
members of the South Australian pilchard fishery have identified the need to establish “world’s best practices” for managing the potential ecological impacts of the fishery. In response to this need, fishers have invested $620K to assess the role of pilchards in the Flinders Current Ecosystem and to begin to develop ecological performance indicators and reference points for their fishery.

Currently, there is no scientific framework to assess whether the management arrangements that have been established for the SA Pilchard Fishery are sufficiently conservative to ensure that fishery is managed according to the principles of ESD (i.e. that fishing does not significantly affect the status of other components of the ecosystem, Fletcher et al. 2002).

In recognition of the large data sets and extended timeframes that are needed to establish and assess ecological performance indicators and reference points for pelagic fisheries, members of the South Australian pilchard fishery have also agreed to invest a further $310K (cash) to support the additional ecological research that is outlined in this proposal.

This project addresses the pressing need to develop a scientific framework for establishing ecological performance indicators and reference points for pelagic fisheries. The focus on the SA pilchard fishery is necessary, as such a large and complex undertaking could only be contemplated in large and valuable fishery that has sophisticated stock assessment procedures and management arrangements in place, and can thus afford to allocate significant resources to support the establishment of an ecosystem-based management system.

This project is needed to refine the management plan for Australia’s largest fishery to include ecological perfomance indicators and reference points and to ensure that research and management systems for the fishery correspond with, or exceed, world’s best practice by incorporating scientifically-based approaches for assessing and, if necessary, mitigating, the fishery's potential trophic impacts.

Projects such as this are needed to maintain Australia’s position as the world leader in the ecosystem-based management of fisheries.