Do commercial fishery data reflect stock status in South Australia's Southern Garfish fisheries?
Seafood CRC: Sydney rock oysters: overcoming constraints to commercial scale hatchery and nursery production
A systematic program of research and development is needed to enable reliable cost-effective hatchery production of Sydney rock oyster (SRO) seed to allow demonstrated benefits of triploid oysters and advances in SRO selection for growth and disease resistance. This R&D program incorporates relevant recommendations of the recent “Review of Hatchery Production Technology and Breeding Program for Sydney Rock Oysters (“Benzie et al., FRDC 2001/213). This review acknowledged that the potential benefits of solving SRO hatchery production problems far outweigh the likely costs. The R&D program also incorporates and integrates recommendations the of the NSW Fisheries – FRDC “Sydney Rock Oyster Hatchery and Nursery Health Workshop” held on the 8 th and 9th of August 2002 at Nelson Bay. Central among these recommendations were:
1 The need for a revision of hatchery procedures and the assessment/adoption of alternate algal, larval and spat rearing technology.
2 The need to elucidate the fundamental autecological (temperature and salinity) and nutritional requirements of SRO during early ontogeny, that have not yet been addressed and will be central to the production of the species.
3 The need for systematic and appropriate sampling procedures for the diagnosis of potential disease occurrences.
Independent of the species involved, there is a need to document the processes involved in developing techniques and strategies to culture otherwise intransigent species. This research will provide a unique opportunity to document the history of problems with SRO, the consultation undertaken, the strategies developed for SRO and the techniques for their implementation. This document, the FRDC final report for this research, would provide a reference for dealing systematically with hatchery based problems and will provide an array of monitoring and assessment protocols for other molluscs.
Final report
Objectives:
As a function of the early success of this program in overcoming hatchery production problems, two additional milestones were added with the objective:
Tactical Research Fund: Information to support management options for upper slope gulper sharks (including Harrison's dogfish and southern dogfish).
The ecological risk assessment process recently undertaken jointly by AFMA and CSIRO has identified that sharks generally, are high priority species which require focussed management attention. In the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) this is particularly the case for upper slope Southern and Eastern gulper sharks (including Harrison’s dogfish and Southern dogfish) which have been found to be severely depleted and have been nominated as threatened species under the EPBC Act. AFMA is now developing management responses to address these identified ecological risks, and there are a number of complimentary processes currently underway. These include the bycatch working group in the SESSF, which is currently preparing a bycatch work plan to be developed and implemented during 2008. AFMA is also establishing an expert shark and ray (Chondrichthyan) working group to develop appropriate management responses for these species across all fisheries. There is also a small working group in the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF) which is looking closely at the deepwater shark species of the lower slope and additional work is being undertaken to provide immediate management recommendations in relation to Harrison’s dogfish in particular. However, despite these various initiatives, there is a need to review available information on the upper slope gulper sharks (including species other than just Harrison’s dogfish) to improve understanding of levels of interaction and to provide advice on future management options.
Final report
Indices of recruitment and effective spawning for tiger prawns stocks in the Northern Prawn Fishery
Where did the Snapper go? Determining factors influencing the recovery of Snapper stocks on the west coast of Australia
Tactical Research Fund: Shark futures - a synthesis of available data on Mako and Porbeagle sharks in Australasian waters - current status and future directions
The shortfin mako, longfin mako and porbeagle sharks have widespread distributions in temperate and tropical waters of all the world’s oceans. Makos are bycatch and by-product species of pelagic longline and gillnet fisheries where they are taken for their meat and high-value fins. They are also highly-prized recreational species in many regions. Makos have low productivity, typical of sharks that do not mature until reaching a large size, producing few young and where individuals are unlikely to reproduce annually. Risk assessments both nationally and in the Atlantic concluded that mako sharks are at the highest risk of all pelagic sharks. These species are listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable globally and Critically Endangered in the Mediterranean. Significant population declines in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic resulted in these species being listed under Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) in 2008 and concomitant listing under Australia’s EPBC Act in January 2010. This effectively meant that the target commercial or recreational fishing for these species was prohibited in Australian waters. In May 2010 the National Recreational Mako Shark Fishery - Management Forum identified the need for a study to identify and propose cost effective ways to fill key gaps in the collective knowledge of these species. In July 2010, after considerable debate, a legislative amendment was made to allow for the recreational fishing of mako and porbeagle sharks in Commonwealth areas despite the offence provisions under the EPBC Act. Commercial targeting of these species remains an offence, however, there are exemptions where they are taken as bycatch under accredited management plans. The Federal Environment Minister also directed DEWHA/SEWPaC to work with Fisheries Managers to provide a “more comprehensive information base on mako and porbeagle sharks for the future”. This project is a direct result of these needs.
Final report
The workshop provided a highly successful construct to discuss data-sets and current research as well as facilitating collaborative partnerships between researchers, management agencies and
stakeholders. It compiled a comprehensive information base on mako and porbeagle sharks in Australasian waters to support management and inform policy decisions into the future. These elements combined to form a useful framework from which not only to guide nationally coordinated initiatives for mako and porbeagle shark research, but also offer a model for addressing similar issues for other species with international cross-jurisdictional links that require a nationally coordinated approach to research and management.