The rock lobster industry of Australia has no vehicle for formal information exchange. The 3rd International Lobster Congress in 1999 brought the industry together for the first truly national meeting. That event demonstrated the need to meet regularly on matters to do with policy, marketing, management, research, aquaculture and development. A showcase for the scientific and management community involved in the rock lobster industry is also required to convert research and management outcomes into value in the industry.

Currently, melanosis is prevented by increasing cooking time, which results in reduced weight recoveries. At present, cooked weight recoveries average between 93-95% of landed beach weight. An average increase of 1% over the entire industry would result in an increased return of $1-2 million per season (see B2: Background). Thus there is significant scope for improvement. In addition, prevention of melanosis would result in further savings of approximately $1 million per season (see B2: Background).

For the industry to consistently achieve maximum cooked weight recoveries, whilst reliably controlling melanosis, a systematic investigation of the impact of processing on these factors is essential. The information generated by this study will be used to define best processing practices in order to increase overall quality of the product and profitability of the industry.

A number of species, mainly whole fish and fish heads are imported as western rock lobster bait. These imports (chiefly from New Zealand, The Netherlands and Scotland), valued at about $12 million dollars in 1994-95, supplied about 65-70% of the rock lobster bait market. Thus, the rock lobster industry is very vulnerable to quarantine policy changes which might restrict bait supply. In addition an artificial bait with a long shelf life will be of considerable benefit to the operation of the rock lobster fishery. There is pressure from recreational fishing interests to reduce the use of important recreational fin-fish, such as Australian salmon and herring, as bait for western rock lobster. The exploitation rate on these important recreational species by commercial fishers could be relieved by the availability of an artificial bait that could result from the combination of the results from this study and those from FRDC 96/337. The need for research into chemoattractants in the western rock lobster becomes more pressing given the ambiguous results of the bait trials conducted under FRDC Project 99/372.

It appears that a range of chemical substances may attract western rock lobsters. Identification of these substances could lead to the application of this information in lobster (and perhaps other crustacean) fisheries across Australia and in other countries. The identification of the attractants is seen as fundamental to the provision of an effective artificial lobster bait. In addition, a cost effective bait could lead to a reduction in the fixed costs associated with fishing and increase thus generate greater profits from the export of product from Australia's most valuable fishery.

At the 1998 FRDC Rock Lobster Post-Harvest Sub-program annual workshop (Hillary's Boat Harbour, Perth, W.A.), fishers, processors and scientists identified post-harvest leg loss as a major problem.

Industry incurs losses due to post-harvest leg loss in several ways:

1) Loss of weight.
2) Loss of value/restricted marketing opportunity.
3) Increased mortality of returned undersized animals and reproductive females.
4) Reduced growth of damaged undersized animals.
5) Reduced reproductive success of returned, damaged, breeding females.

NEED FOR REQUESTED EARLY START DATE (MAY 1, 2000)

Experiments addressing Objectives 2 & 4 are contingent upon the outcome of the experiments for Objective 1 (see B11 Methods). Therefore work on Objectives 2 & 4 cannot begin until Objective 1 is met. If the project were to start on 1 May 2000, there would be sufficient time left in 1999/2000 fishing season to identify preferred cold-stunning treatments for at least 2 of the 3 proposed acclimation temperatures (see B11 Methods). The preferred cold-stunnning treatment at the third acclimation temperature could then be tested early in the 2000/2001 season and work on Objectives 2 & 4 could be completed by the end of this season, in preparation for discussion at the 2001 annual subprogram workshop. Based on the outcomes of Objectives 2 & 4, the sub-program management will decide whether to continue the research and address Objectives 5 & 6. Should the research begin after May 1, 2000, experimenatal work could not begin until November, when the season starts. The desired acclimation temperatures to be used in Objective 1 occur in the wild over the course of an entire season, therefore work on Objectives 2 & 4 could not start until the following season (2001/2002) and work on Objectives 5 & 6 could not start until after discussion of results at the 2002 Sub-Program workshop in September. Thus by starting 2 months early, approximately 12 months advantage will be gained.