People development program: 2014 FRDC International travel award - Ruth Eriksen
Harmful algae pose a serious threat to human health, with significant economic implications for aquaculture and wild-harvest sectors. The IOC Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (2013) identified “likely intensification of problems associated with eutrophication and stress on coastal marine ecosystems”. Priorities identified included “developing and enhancing expertise for monitoring purposes”, and ”the pivotal role of taxonomy in scientific research, monitoring and management activities” related to HAB events.
Recent Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PST) events in Tasmania affected many seafood sectors (wild harvest and aquaculture), resulting in an estimated wider economic loss of $25 million, and on-going risks to trade. Industry and regulators highlighted the need for timely and accurate identification of potentially harmful species, and the value of phytoplankton testing as a cost-effective predictive early-warning tool. Identifying the presence of HAB species typically triggers further levels of testing, and/or active management strategies to reduce risk. The PST Review (FRDC 2012/060) defined international best practice, including access to “technically competent laboratories, and laboratory scientists and taxonomists.” The review specifically identified the IOC training course, and the importance of proficiency testing programs for analysts and laboratories involved in phytoplankton identification and research. Taxonomists need to be familiar with all potentially toxic species, especially in light of changing environmental conditions, and range expansions of marine species.
SafeFish have indicated that contemporary information on IOC standards and protocols are urgently needed to develop standardised methods for counting and identification, and ASQAAC ranked this as the highest priority at its recent meeting (April 2014).
Making the most of the catch: a forum for Industry
Final report
The papers published in this book were all presented at the Symposium "Making the Most of the Catch..." held in Brisbane, Australia, 25-27 July 1996.
The contributors came from many countries and from many different institutions. They were selected in an endeavour to present a broad spectrum of information at a range of levels such that there would be topics of vital interest to each of the participants, whether they were involved in research, industry or regulation. The topics also represent many of the issues which are of current and future concern to the Australian industry, whose export markets are mostly in Asia, particularly Japan. Domestic issues were not neglected and presentations concerned aquaculture as well as the capture fisheries.
This Symposium was organised deliberately to immediately precede the Second World Fisheries Congress which was being held in Brisbane to cover regulation, biology, stock assessment and political issues in fisheries. In view of the fact that the world's fishery resources are fully exploited, the theme of "Making the Most of the Catch..." was considered to be highly appropriate to the current situation.
The funding investment in, and conduct of, research and how best to ensure transfer of results and information, and to effect improvements in communication and training added to the theme. The influence that different practices in feeding, harvesting and transportation may have on live and aquacultured species and how these practices can be controlled to result in a better product broadened the theme. The latest in safety issues, the challenges of inspection, HACCP, better techniques for the development of new products and the influence of process variables extended matters. A notable inclusion was in the example of the integration of catch data with complex process information thus creating a nexus of pre- and post-catch information to optimise yields and to plan fishing operations, a concept not yet employed, and probably unheard of, in fisheries management.
The Symposium was solely organised through the Centre for Food Technology, a unit of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries which also organised an international seafood conference in 1991. However, apart from a conference organised by FAQ and held in Melbourne in 1984, "Making the Most of the Catch..." is the first international symposium of Australian origin in the field of seafood technology from which written papers have been submitted and published as a proceedings. The Symposium attracted many of the workers from the major institutions around Australia who have involvement in some aspect of seafood research. Probably more important was the fact that it was attended by many scientists from overseas. That result and these proceedings amount to an injection of intellectual capital into the Australian scene facilitating the forging of personal links between scientists working on a similar problem in different situations. It is not just the exchange of knowledge and the continuing value of the material in the written proceedings, but, it is these ongoing personal links from which new and important contacts are made which provide overwhelming justification for meetings such as this.
Development of Southeast Deepwater Trawl
Final report
The age, growth, reproductive biology and stock assessment of grass emperor, Lethrinus laticaudis in Shark Bay, WA
Black snapper stocks in the inner gulfs of Shark Bay are under increasing pressure by the recreational fishing sector. This is a result of both the increasing number of recreational anglers fishing in the Shark Bay area and the reduction in the stock size of pink snapper. Current management for the recreational sector consists of a bag limit of 8 fish and size limit of 28 cm. However, there are no validated or reliable biological data on the age, growth and reproductive biology on this species in order to develop stock assessment models and evaluate current management regulations.
Final report
ASBTIA: SBT Research Program - Coordination, facilitation and administration
This Project is essential for the development of a cohesive research and development approach aimed at meeting the priority needs of the SBT
Ranching Industry. The industry has developed rapidly since its initiation in 1990 and has the opportunity to continue to do so; however targeted research and development is needed to underpin this development and to assure the long-term sustainability of the industry in an increasingly competitive international market.This project provides the basis for the reinvigorated SBT Research Program.
The SBT Research Programincludes a management structure to oversee the active research projects and ensure they
1. achieve the desired outcomes;
2. provides a focused strategy for disseminating research results to industry and obtaining feedback;
3. define research priorities
4. ensures that the minimum level of duplication occurs in the provision of research services;
5. provide a focus for SBT ranched research and sucessional planning of key persons;
6. addresses industry priorities by establishing a mechanism to empower industry's involvement in their research;
7. establishes a framework to ensure that SBT ranched research is orderly and targeted;
8. disseminates, where appropriate, research information to stakeholders.
Opportunities also exist for the development of further research proposals targeted at other research and development funding agencies (eg.
ARC Linkage, AusIndustry and DAFF 9Program to replace Food Processing Regional Australia Program ). These research proposals will address research priorities as defined in the FRDC SBT Aquaculture (Wild- Capture) Strategic R&D Plan – Towards 2012: Striving for a Profitable and Sustainable Future.
Final report
Development of sector-specific biosecurity plan templates and guidance documents for the Australian farmed barramundi industry
Enhanced biosecurity has been identified as a priority area in the ABFA 2015 – 2020 Strategic Plan.
Although the farmed barramundi industry and relevant jurisdictions have implemented a range of measures to mitigate the risks of major diseases of concern (i.e. individual on farm biosecurity procedures and engagement and sponsorship of a number of specific projects), this industry sector does not have a nationally consistent, agreed approach to biosecurity.
The development of a sector-specific national biosecurity plan for the farmed barramundi industry would ensure a common level of biosecurity risk management to support specific enterprise and whole-of industry productivity.
Furthermore, work is underway to develop industry-government emergency aquatic animal disease response arrangements. These arrangements should be underpinned by amongst other measures an industry biosecurity plan.
The industry feel that they are at a high risk to diseases introduction through the importation of fish that require processing from high risk regions that have very potent diseases such as pot belly and scale drop syndrome. As such enhanced Industry biosecurity measures are considered critical to the growth of barramundi farming in Australia.
Report
These guidelines have been developed to assist Australian Barramundi farms with the tools and templates to create basic through to comprehensive, and fully auditable, biosecurity plans.
Project products
Predicting the impacts of shifting recreational fishing effort towards inshore species
Recreational exploitation of inshore, marine fishes near Perth, WA, including King George Whiting, some other whiting species and Silver Trevally, is likely to increase markedly because of effort transfer from offshore to inshore species, due to new fishing regulations to protect offshore demersal species. No reliable stock assessment information is currently available for any of these species, which may already be overexploited. Furthermore, for King George Whiting and Silver Trevally, current assessment methods are inadequate because offshore movements with increasing body size, combined with different catchabilities and fishing pressures in nearshore and offshore habitats, make it impossible to obtain a representative age composition sample for an overall stock of these species. This problem can be addressed through developing a new stock assessment approach for such species, which is also applicable to other recreational, and commercial species, e.g. Estuary Cod.
The biological information published in reports and papers on commercial and recreational fish species in south-western Australia is often inaccessible to fishers and researchers may not be aware of all available information for those species. A book explaining the basics of fisheries science and outlining key information for important temperate WA fish species would be invaluable for engaging fishers and a valuable reference for researchers and managers.
The proposed project directly addresses an urgent need of the Department of Fisheries, WA, and the recreational sector, to assess likely impacts of recreational effort transfer from offshore to important inshore species. The assessment approach and guide is also very relevant to the commercial sector.
Final report
The project outputs have led to the following outcomes:
1. A model has been developed enabling reliable estimation of mortality of fish species that undertake size-related, unidirectional, offshore movements from age and length data. This new modelling approach is likely to be applicable to stocks of a number of fish species with this life history attribute, for which current stock status information may be very limited due to the difficulty of obtaining a representative sample for an overall stock.
2. Current age and length composition data and estimates of key stock assessment parameters, including selectivity, movement and fishing mortality, are now available for Silver Trevally and King George Whiting in coastal waters near Perth in Western Australia. Managers are aware that the study results have provided preliminary evidence that Silver Trevally and King George Whiting in waters near Perth are not currently experiencing overfishing.
3. This project has provided managers with information about the relative extents to which the stocks of Silver Trevally and King George Whiting in coastal waters near Perth might be expected to be impacted if fishing pressure were to increase by specified amounts. Managers are thus aware that King George Whiting stocks are likely to be more vulnerable than Silver Trevally to increases in fishing pressure in inshore waters.
4. Detailed summaries of the biology, stock assessment and management for 30 of Western Australia’s most important and/or well-known temperate fish species are now accessible to fishery stakeholders in the form of a species guide (published separately as Fisheries Research Report No. 242 by the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia). The guide provides a comprehensive “go to” source of information for anyone who wishes to find key facts and/or literature relating to these species.
Keywords: Silver Trevally, King George Whiting, size-related movement, fishing mortality, uncertainty, model assumptions
Offshore Reefs - Best practice study
Large scale artificial reef construction, other than scuttling vessels, has not previously been attempted in Australia; consequently there is a significant knowledge gap. During the development stage of the NSW offshore artificial reefs project and the EA the Project Managers need a thorough understanding of the practical elements of reef manufacture, deployment, monitoring and subsequent management to deliver the best possible outcomes. The best way to ensure DPI and Australia adopt state-of-the-art management is by conducting site visits and in-depth discussion with experienced artificial reef manufacturers, installers, managers and researchers. This will allow better planning and management of artificial reefs in NSW with broader applications Australia wide.
This project addresses the FRDC strategic challenges of ‘Natural Resources Sustainability’ (NRP-1 & RRDP-2) by developing tools to assist in broader scale assessments of the impacts of the recreational fishing sector. It also meets the challenges of ‘Resource Access and Resource Allocation’ (NRP-1 & RRDP-1) by developing methods to examine economic, social and ecological impacts of planning policies; developing processes to inform and define inter-sectoral resource allocation; developing methods to determine allocation between different recreational activities. It also addresses ‘Response to Demand; Profitability’ (NRP-3 & RRDP–4) by increasing the profitability of businesses supporting recreational fishing; developing the capacity to produce more fish for the recreational fishing sector; increasing the quality and enjoyment of recreational fishing experiences and taking advantage of expanding fishing tourism opportunities by providing sustainable quality fishing opportunities within the recreational fishing sector. The addresses ‘People Development’ (NRP-4 & RRDP-7) by enhancing opportunities for information and technology transfer; promoting best-practice training, developing industry experts to bridge the gap between Australian and overseas countries and enhancing scientific skills. It meets the challenges of ‘Community and Consumer Support’ (NRP-4 & RRDP-7) by communicating the benefits of government and industry investment in R&D.
Final report
People Development Program: 2008/2009 Trade and Market Bursary
The trade and market bursaries allow individuals to undertake an international study tour to learn about the major drivers in local seafood industries and gain a perspective of the global seafood industry