Shark Futures: Sustainable management of the NSW whaler shark fishery
Understanding recruitment variation (including the collapse) of Saucer Scallop stocks in Western Australia and assessing the feasibility of assisted recovery measures for improved management in a changing environment
Opportunities and impacts of range extending scalefish species: understanding population dynamics, ecosystem impacts and management needs
Validating a defensible and robust method for data collection, species composition and reporting the harvest of protected coral species from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
Application of tracking technologies to understand space-time explicit patterns of movement, residency and habitat use of pelagic sharks in Spencer Gulf: resolving overlaps with key community activities and marine industries
Developing a fishery independent estimate of biomass for snapper
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:
Staying Healthy: Industry organisations’ influence on behaviours and services used by fishers
Research has found that fishers are subject to a multitude of stressors, including those relating to government policies and co-management challenges, a fluctuating market place, crew cohesion and on-shore social relationships, and the pressures of working in a dangerous workplace. Compounding the well-known physical dangers associated with the fishing industry, these factors all place pressure on fisher mental wellbeing, which in turn contributes to issues such as clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders, poor eating habits and substance abuse, eg, evidence from around the world suggests that the particular stresses of fishing contribute to higher than average rates of smoking among fishers.
Findings from the RIRDC-funded project Staying Healthy: Behaviours and services used by farmers and fishers indicate that while participants from certain farming industry areas have benefited from industry involvement in health and wellbeing, including in relation to mental health, fishers are less likely to report that industry associations have helped them access health and wellbeing information or programs. Some farmers described significant lifestyle changes after participating in programs that were promoted, sponsored or facilitated by trusted industry organisations. As well, recent research (Brooks, 2011, Health and Safety in the Australian Fishing Industry, RIRDC, Canberra) has found a lack of awareness of occupational health and safety among fishers. The Research Audit of Social Sciences Fisheries Research (Clarke, 2009) noted research findings that social wellbeing is related to financial wellbeing, and that social networking is negatively affected by working hours, suggesting a place for an industry specific approach to social connection and mental health. There appears to be a broking role for industry groups and organisations in enhancing the health of the fishing workforce. This project will identify strategies for industry and fishing community organisations to take on this role in effective, but cost and resource efficient, ways.