PROJECT NUMBER
•
2013-021
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
University of Melbourne
TAGS
SPECIES
311 results
Habitat and fisheries production in the South East Fishery ecosystem
Project number:
1994-040
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$568,549.00
Principal Investigator:
Nicholas Bax
Organisation:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
1. Survey the structure and broad definitions of habitat types and associated fish assemblages in the SEF shelf ecosystem
2. Assess the selectivity of different commercial gear types for quota species in different habitats
3. Assess the relative abundance, age composition, distribution and vulnerability to fishing gear of key commercial species, primarily redfish and warehous
4. Evaluate the importance of hard ground as a refuge for commercial fish species
5. Define the major trophic linkages of SEF quota species by habitat type and identify the relative importance of benthic, pelagic and inshore sources of production to quota fish species
6. Develop hierarchical models based on the fishery and on the fishery ecology
Final report
ISBN:
0 643 06217 3
Author:
Drs Nicholas J. Bax and Alan Williams
Final Report
•
2000-08-31
•
25.84 MB
1994-040-DLD.pdf
In 1994 CSIRO and FRDC started a 5-year ecosystem study of the southeastern Australian continental shelf. Fisheries management in this area is currently based on individual species. Our goal was to identify ecosystem features that could extend the data available to manage the fisheries in this area. We focused on the area of the shelf between Wilson's Promontory and Bermagui, where there are important fishing grounds. We were particularly interested in how habitat influences productivity of the fishery.
Management of marine ecosystems, rather than of individual fish species, is a frequently expressed goal of involved scientists and managers, but what does it really mean? In stressed ecosystems, ecosystem functions e.g. nutrient processing, may remain unchanged while the proportion of species and diversity in the ecosystem and even the health of individuals, can change dramatically. Species are more sensitive indicators of stress than is the system itself. Therefore, we did not try to study the marine ecosystem as a whole, but rather, concentrated on examining interactions of people and the particular ecosystem components that influence the quantity and quality of desired products. These particular interactions are known as 'leverage points'. Leverage is based on the notion that small, well-focussed actions can produce enduring improvements if they are directed at sensitive system components. We used the notion of leverage to direct our research.
Spencer Gulf Research Initiative: development of an ecosystem model for fisheries and aquaculture
Project number:
2011-205
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$215,918.80
Principal Investigator:
Bronwyn M. Gillanders
Organisation:
University of Adelaide
Spencer Gulf represents an area of significant economic significance to the fisheries and aquaculture sectors of South Australia. The region is also experiencing considerable industrial growth. This year alone in Spencer Gulf, there has been the release of BHP-Billiton’s supplementary Environmental Impact Statement for the massive Olympic Dam expansion including a coastal desalination plant, the State government has recently revived plans for a deep water port at Port Bonython (in Upper Spencer Gulf) which is predicted to be a major hub for the export of mineral resources, and IronClad mining has announced plans for a floating harbor south of Port Bonython. Given this level of proposed development it is imperative that the fisheries and aquaculture sectors have a better understanding of how future developments may impact their industries.
This project is needed to provide a whole of Spencer Gulf ecosystem model to the fisheries and aquaculture sectors with the capability to address “what if” scenarios. A suite of linked habitat, biophysical, trophodynamic and economic models will be developed that can be used to assess and optimize the future ecological and economic performance of the seafood industry in Spencer Gulf.
A Spencer Gulf Ecosystem model is needed for various scenario studies to provide fisheries and aquaculture managers with sound, evidenced-based information on the impacts of current and future developments in Spencer Gulf.
1. To conduct an ecosystem-based assessment of the fisheries and aquaculture industries in Spencer Gulf, which includes the establishment of performance indicators of ecosystem health.
2. To develop a suite of linked habitat, biophysical, trophodynamic and economic models that can be used to assess and optimize the future ecological and economic performance of the seafood industry in Spencer Gulf.
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2008-023
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
TAGS
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-175
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Linking ecosystem services to the profitability of prawn fisheries linked to 2017-188
The FRDC Project 2017-175 Linking ecosystem services to the profitability of prawn fisheries delivered new methods, data and indicators to a case study on prawn fisheries in a broader project entitled Lifting farm gate profits: the role of natural capital accounts (RnD4Profit-16-03-003). This FRDC...
ORGANISATION:
CSIRO Land and Water Canberra
TAGS
SPECIES
Marketing research priorities for fishery ecosystem protection
Project number:
1995-055.91
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$64,507.00
Principal Investigator:
Sandra Child
Organisation:
Australian Institute Of Marine Science (AIMS)
Project 95/055 has been completed and there is now a need to ensure that the results are widely dissemenated to fisheries management agencies, key fisheries organisations, researchers, Commonwealth and State funding bodies and Commonwealth and State Environment Protection Agencies. In addition to ensuring that these organisations receive outputs from the project, it is equally important to attempt to get them to agree to the R&D plan and for its national adoption.
1. To extend the results of 95/055 "Review and synthesis of Australian fisheries habitat research".
Final report
Author:
Dr Sandra Child
Final Report
•
1999-05-01
•
121.92 KB
1995-055.91-DLD.pdf
The publication A Review and Synthesis of Australian Fisheries Habitat Research, by Mike Cappo, resulted from a three-year review of fisheries habitat research. The report identified the stressors and responses that characterise fisheries habitats.
The FRDC requested AIMS to design a marketing strategy to optimise the results of the research and gain wide adoption and endorsement of the review.
The market target was all who have, or can have, an impact on the fisheries habitat: federal and state departments, agencies, industry organisations, Environment Australia, the National Heritage Commission, state environment agencies, research agencies, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, PISA, CSIRO, South Australia RDI, New South Wales FRI, New South Wales Fisheries, Northern Territories Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, TAFI, Western Australia Fisheries, universities, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Cooperative Research Councils, Queensland CFO, WAFIC, TFIC, SAFIC, NTFIC, VFIF, AFMA, QFMA, and other Research and Development Corporations.
Mike Cappo and AIMS Communications brainstormed strategies for marketing the review, and put a proposal to the FRDC which was accepted.
The marketing strategy consisted of a booklet, Research Priorities for Fisheries Ecosystems Protection, a poster, a CD-ROM, and web publication of the review, launched by the Hon. Mark Vaile, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on 4 November 1998 in Canberra.
Keywords: Fisheries ecosystem protection, marketing
Tactical Research Fund: a reporting framework for ecosystem based assessment of Australian prawn trawl fisheries
Project number:
2011-062
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$68,000.00
Principal Investigator:
Stephen Mayfield
Organisation:
SARDI Food Safety and Innovation
There is a growing need to establish fishing industries as environmentally sustainable within Australia and internationally. The needs stems from both an economic marketing aspect and a growing community expectation. It is also important for fishing industries to understand that they contribute to marine impacts on a broader ecological scale. Whilst the principles of Ecosystem Based Fishery Management (EBFM) have been established for over a decade, it is only in recent years that EBFM frameworks have begun to be developed and applied by Government agencies (e.g. Fletcher et al 2010, West Coast Bioregion of Western Australia).
The environmental impacts of benthic trawl fisheries require greater attention than most other fishing methodologies, primarily due to their impact on the benthic environment, by-catch species and associated communities. As a critical impactor on marine bioregions, it is important that future ecological research for benthic trawl fisheries is prioritised and conducted in a manner that fits within a broader EBFM framework.
Concomitantly, there is an increasing interest from fishing industries to seek third-party certification of environmental sustainability for eco-labelling of their products and subsequent market advantage. These Program's require fisheries to meet standards that are often higher than the levels required by the Commonwealth Government to meet conditions of the EPBC Act. Although such accreditations are accompanied by substantial documentation of management practices, it is difficult for non-accrediated fisheries to benchmark themselves against accredited "best practice" industries.
This project aims to develop a reporting framework for environmental assessment of prawn trawl fisheries in Australia. By using the Marine Stewardship Certification accredited Spencer Gulf Prawn Trawl Fishery as a case study, the report will provide other Australian prawn trawl fisheries 1) a benchmark of third party accredited environmental management, and 2) a tool for prioritising and conducting their own ecological research within an EBFM framework.
1. Develop a reporting framework for environmental assessment of Australian prawn trawl fisheries following the principles of Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management
2. Using the Spencer Gulf Prawn Trawl Fishery as a case study, collate and analyse existing data/information to address the environmental impacts of prawn trawling on: bycatch/byproduct, TEPs, benthic habitats, and trophodynamics
3. Using the Spencer Gulf Prawn Trawl Fishery as a case study, identify priorties for future research to underpin Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management
Final report
ISBN:
978-1-921563-70-6
Author:
Stephen Mayfield and Simon Clark
Final Report
•
2014-12-12
•
3.63 MB
2011-062-DLD.pdf
This Tactical Research Fund Project has been undertaken by SARDI Aquatic Sciences in response to the Spencer Gulf Prawn Fishery’s (SGPF) need for an ecosystem-based reporting framework to support ongoing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. We reviewed the relevant literature to identify an appropriate reporting framework, assessed the data available for the SGPF, and its suitability for use in ecological assessment, developed a conceptual ecosystem-based assessment framework for the fishery and highlighted the research required (i.e. knowledge gaps) for full implementation. The approach developed would be of use to other prawn trawl fisheries that were seeking a transition from target-species to ecosystem-based assessments to underpin ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and ecologically sustainable development (ESD).
There is worldwide recognition of the need to move beyond single-species fisheries management to a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts on the ecosystem in which fisheries operate. ESD concepts were expanded into a global action plan at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and ratified by countries including Australia, leading to the National Strategy for ESD and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999). EBFM facilitates ESD and has been recognised worldwide as having the potential to provide a mechanism for integration of ecosystem attributes into fisheries management. For EBFM to be effective, development of appropriate frameworks to integrate ecological and target species data are required.
Prawn fisheries are an important contributor to Australian fisheries production (17,000 t valued at $266 million in 2011/12; Skirtun et al. 2013). Given the evolving need to manage fisheries in a more ecologically sensitive manner, there has been increased environmental awareness of the biological impacts of trawling. Whilst these impacts are difficult to assess because of the complexity of the biological communities and frequent limited understanding of their variability, there is an opportunity to establish a framework for ecosystem-based assessment of the SGPF that could be broadly adopted across benthic prawn trawl fisheries in Australia.
The SGPF operates in Spencer Gulf in South Australia (SA), produces approximately 1,800 t of Western King prawns annually, and is the third most valuable prawn fishery in Australia ($30.3M in 2010/11) behind the Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery ($90M) and Commonwealth Northern Prawn Fishery ($62.2M).
The overall aim of this project was to develop an environmental reporting framework for Australian prawn trawl fisheries using the SGPF in SA as a case study. Our approach included (i) a review of relevant literature to identify an appropriate reporting framework; (ii) a review of data available for the SGPF, and its suitability for use in ecological assessment; (iii) development of an ecosystem-based assessment framework for the SGPF including identification and development of potential performance indicators; and (iv) the research required (i.e. knowledge gaps) to fully develop the necessary ecological performance indicators for full implementation.
Despite the substantial, diverse, often long-term data sets available for the SGPF, most of the data have been collected for stock assessment of the target species. This resulted in development of a conceptual, rather than a complete ecological assessment framework. Implementing ecological assessment in the SGPF requires further development of relevant performance indicators and reference points across each of the five key ecological components identified as important for fishery management – (i) habitats; (ii) ecosystems (ecological communities/trophodynamics); (iii) target species; (iv) non-target species including by-product and by-catch; and (v) threatened, endangered or protected species (TEPS) – and the development of a framework linking ecological and target species assessments (with decision rules to drive management decision making through the formal management plan for the fishery). While some potential performance indicators, reference points and decision rules have been developed through this project, successful implementation necessitates that these should be developed collaboratively. This process should include at least Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) Fisheries and Aquaculture, Spencer Gulf and West Coast Prawn Fishermen’s Association (SGWCPFA), SARDI and the Conservation Council of SA (CCSA) and needs to recognise the considerable spatial and temporal (both inter-annual and seasonal) variation evident in the five key components across Spencer Gulf and the numerous potential impacts on the Spencer Gulf environment (e.g. other fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, harbours and wharfs, pollutants, climate change).
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2006-040
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
Agriculture Victoria
TAGS
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2005-063
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Development of an ecosystem approach to the monitoring and management of Western Australian fisheries
Diversity and ecosystem-based indicators were calculated for commercial finfish fisheries from 1976 to 2005 for the West Coast, South Coast, Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley bioregions. The ecosystem-based indices, which detect changes in the species composition of the food web within the ecosystem,...
ORGANISATION:
Murdoch University
TAGS
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2013-031
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
SARDI Food Safety and Innovation
TAGS
SPECIES
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