Enhancement offers a mechanism to increase production of rock lobsters, both by increasing production from coastal reef and by providing a mechanism for biologically neutrality in the harvest of puerulus (and thus overcomes a barrier to ongrowing). Additional benefits include the ability to increase biomass and egg production in regions considered depleted, which enhances resource sustainability.

While the potential benefits of enhancement are broad, the value of the concept is critically affected by the survival of juveniles after release. Low survival would reduce the economic benefit and also nullify assumptions on the biologically neutrality of the harvest of puerulus.

The proposed project addresses the need for information on how to release juveniles (or condition juveniles prior to release) so that survival is optimised. Future release efforts will be assisted by information on habitat choice, so that return from enhancement is maximised, in terms of animals surviving through to harvest size. Large scale experiments tracking the cohorts of released juveniles will evaluate enhancement on a pilot-scale - patterns apparent in small scale experiments may not hold true in larger releases so larger scale experimental releases are considered vital.

There is little information about the affect of ghost fishing in Australia’s fisheries and more importantly in one of Australia’s most economically important seafood resources, the rock lobsters- yet, preliminary research would suggest that ghost fishing is significant in the NSW rock lobster fishery. The environmental assessment process of the FMS for the NSW rock lobster fishery identified the need to quantify ghost fishing and find methods to alleviate this impact if necessary (Objective 1.1b of the FMS for the NSW rock lobster fishery). Information about the impact of ghost fishing is important in the FRDC Research and Development Plan (2005-2010) under strategy challenge #1 Natural Resource Sustainability

Results of the small scale pilot study in mid-shelf waters off the NSW south coast (Attachment 1) have shown that ghost fishing does occur in at least one part of the fishery. Considering the variability in water chemistry, bottom topography, oceanographic conditions and fishing operations across the fishery, there may be differences in rates of survival of lobsters and in times taken for traps to degrade among areas. Further investigations of ghost fishing and time taken for traps to break down and allow escape of contained lobsters are required across a broader spatial scale. In particular, investigations are required on the north coast of NSW, where the presence of larger lobsters and higher water temperatures likely result in greater metabolic rates, nutritional requirements and different behaviour of lobsters.

Investigation of ways to reduce losses of head-gear, traps and subsequent unaccounted fishing mortalities associated with ghost fishing and theft of lobsters is also indicated. Experiments concerning the effectiveness of scarificial panels in traps and the cost-effectiveness of acoustic releases for "at call" access to sunken head-gear will address these issues.