Revisiting biological parameters and information used in the assessment of Commonwealth fisheries: a reality check and work plan for future proofing
Southern Ocean IPA - Science to support Australia’s Southern Ocean Fisheries 2018-2020
Seafood CRC: Spatial management of southern rock lobster fisheries to improve yield, value and sustainability
Adapt or Fail: Risk management and business resilience in Queensland commercial fisheries
Change is inevitable, whether it be management, environmental, or economic change. Improving how industries cope with and adapt to change becomes increasingly important as rates and cumulative impacts of change escalate. Some commercial fishing operators are better able to cope with, and adapt to change than others. In part this is due to the inherent capabilities of some individuals to cope with change, learn, plan, and manage risk – elements we can measure through resilience frameworks (Marshall and Marshall, 2007). Other differences relate to access to adaptation options, which may rely on factors such as business structure, diversity of operation, access to information and financial capacity. We do not yet know the specific role such factors play in improving adaption options and hence resilience.
What we do know is that more resilient operators are better able to cope with change and adapt to it, and that these operators are less likely to seek compensation when change occurs (Sutton and Tobin 2012). Given these findings, it is vital that we identify factors that improve access to and uptake of adaption options, and that factors constraining uptake of these options are identified. We need to develop appropriate communication tools that relate to the nature of risks faced by fishing operations depending on their current behaviour and business structure, options for change, and access to / uptake of information. We also need to assess possible management options which could reduce some constraints on adaptation and hence increase resilience.
This proposal meets QFRAB priority #2 (business models in relation to resilience), and FRDC’s “Resilient and supportive communities” Strategic Challenge.
Final report
This study sought to explore how different types of fishing businesses adapted to different types of change within Queensland’s east coast fisheries. The project team first sought to classify fishing businesses into ‘types’, exploring the industry structure in a new and innovative way, given the diversity of business capacity and mobility, and the overlap between fishery types on Queensland’s east coast. Through surveys of just over 200 fishing businesses, they then explored what types of change and challenges different business types were exposed to and / or constrained by, whether businesses were able to successfully adapt to these changes or challenges, and if there were any specific driving characteristics that improved the likelihood of success. The aim was to identify common challenges and constraints, and ideally to lead to recommendations of what different fishing business types could do to adapt their business in the face of ongoing environmental, economic and management change.
Vulnerability of the endangered Maugean Skate population to degraded environmental conditions in Macquarie Harbour
Tactical Research Fund: forecasting spatial distribution of SBT habitat in the GAB
This project is needed to support improved operational planning in the SBT purse-seine fishery in response to recently observed changes in fish distribution. A historical baseline of fish and ‘optimal’ habitat distribution is first needed to assess future changes. An understanding of likely fish location is important in planning fishing operations and will also be of benefit to the aerial survey (AS) design and data interpretation. The AS juvenile abundance index is used in the adopted management procedure for SBT to set global quotas (within the CCSBT).
In the 2012 fishing season, SBT movement through the Great Australian Bight (GAB) seemed very rapid, and with SBT distribution further to the east, resulting in less than 15% of purse-seine catches being taken from fishing grounds commonly used in the previous 20 years. Rapid movements of surface schools and the presence of fish in unusual locations make fishing operations costly and unpredictable; the pontoon towing speed precludes rapid vessel response, so vessels need to be positioned prior to SBT arrival. Improved understanding of fish distribution/movement in the GAB will allow evaluation of the adequacy of the current AS design, and inform improvements to the design/analysis if required.
Forecasts of environmental conditions (lead times 4 months) will allow operators to use their existing knowledge of fish behaviour to better plan fishing operations in any year, not just unusual years. Forecasts of fish habitat (if successful) will further aid this planning and improve strategic fishing skills, leading to increased efficiency/profitability. Seasonal forecasts are also a stepping stone to understanding longer term climate change, but at a business-relevant time-scale.
The project aims to use existing data and modelling techniques from previous projects funded under broader public good research programs; however, previous projects have not developed the tactical forecast products proposed here.
Final report
This was a collaborative project between the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association, the CSIRO, and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, co-funded by the FRDC. It aimed to investigate habitat preferences of Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) in the Great Australian Bight and to provide forecasts of habitat distribution to industry members to aid in planning their fishing operations. An industry-targeted website was developed to deliver the forecasts, and feedback from industry members indicates the success of the project, with overall satisfaction with the content and delivery of information on the website being rated from 8 to 10 out of 10.
More information: Alistair Hobday Alistair.Hobday@csiro.au