PROJECT NUMBER
•
2024-027
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) Queenscliff
SPECIES
146 results
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2023-133
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
AusVet Pty Ltd
TAGS
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2023-060
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
Pursuing Marine Stewardship Council Certification for the Australian Southern Rock Lobster fisheries
ORGANISATION:
Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2023-026
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Biosecurity threats and vulnerabilities of the Southern Rock Lobster Fishery
Ausvet undertook an assessment of biosecurity threats and vulnerabilities of the Southern Rock Lobster Fishery on behalf of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) for Southern Rocklobster Limited. This report identifies key biosecurity threats, barriers/impediments and solutions...
ORGANISATION:
AusVet Pty Ltd
TAGS
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2022-175
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) Hobart
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2022-071
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
Flinders University
TAGS
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2021-096
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
SPECIES
Can novel seismic survey sources mitigate potential impacts to fisheries?
Project number:
2021-028
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure:
$998,608.00
Principal Investigator:
Ryan Day
Organisation:
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) Hobart
Project start/end date:
23 Sep 2021
-
22 Sep 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
3D Marine seismic surveys (MSS) are typically used by the petroleum industry to locate potential oil and gas deposits. In Australia, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) requires an Environmental Plan (EP) be developed to demonstrate that the MSS will be carried out in a manner that is consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development, and that the environmental impacts and risks associated with the MSS will be reduced to as low as reasonably practicable. However, during the public consultation phase of the EP, there is often a perceived conflict between the proponents of the survey and the fishing industry, with the later party often concerned that the survey will harm the fishery stocks and their livelihoods. As such, there is a need to break the continual cycle where each EP seemingly triggers the same ill feeling and distrust from the fishing industry. One possible way to do this is to introduce new seismic sources or ways of using current sources, such that some or all of the potential impacts are mitigated. While there are new seismic sources and source designs that should lessen any impact on animals, these have not been tested with animals anywhere in the world and have never been tested or used in Australia in general and only sparsely overseas. As such there is an urgent need to compare a current industry standard seismic array to arrays using alternate sources of seismic signals or different source designs to determine the relative impact of each on marine animals, while also comparing the quality of the geophysical records obtained from each source. This approach would put Australian fisheries management, NOPSEMA, Australian Oil and Gas, the fishing industry, etc. ahead of the game of determining what alternate sources will reduce conflict between two key industries. It would also move us into a position to start mitigating the impacts of seismic surveys, rather than the situation we currently have, where each individual seismic survey causes a large amount of angst between a large number of stake holders.
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2021-020
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Stable isotopes: a rapid method to determine lobster diet and trace lobster origin?
Scientists at IMAS conducted a stable isotope study on Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) collected from Southern Australian sites to determine whether or not capture site could be determined post-harvest.
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2019-183
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Options to effectively monitor and regulate recreational catch in the Tasmanian rock lobster fishery
This project was initiated to investigate alternative options to effectively monitor and constrain the recreational rock lobster catch, particularly in the East Coast Stock Rebuilding Zone.
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2019-153
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
ORGANISATION:
Future Fisheries Veterinary Service Pty Ltd (FFVS)
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2019-130
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
Larval dispersal for Southern Rock Lobster and Longspined sea urchin to support management decisions
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2019-075
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Recreational Southern Rock Lobster tagging program – assessing current data and modelling assumptions and approaches to establish a robust estimate
This project assesses options for streamlining and improving the current electronic reporting process (VicRLTag app) based on an evaluation of the first three years of the Victorian Recreational Rock Lobster Tagging Program.
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2019-051
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT
Examining the potential impacts of seismic surveys on Octopus and larval stages of Southern Rock Lobster
This report details the portion of FRDC 2019-051: Examining the potential impacts of seismic surveys on Octopus and larval stages of Southern Rock Lobster focusing on the impacts of exposure to a full-scale seismic survey on the early life stages of the Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii),...
ORGANISATION:
University of Tasmania
SPECIES
Improving Southern Rock Lobster on-vessel handling practices, data collection and industry tools for lobster quality assessment
Project number:
2019-028
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure:
$538,604.00
Principal Investigator:
Quinn P. Fitzgibbon
Organisation:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date:
31 Dec 2019
-
30 Dec 2022
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
The export of Southern Rock Lobster (SRL) from Southern Australia to international markets is one of Australia's most valuable fisheries. There are increasing trends in post-harvest mortality of SRL confirmed by the recent Fisheries Research and Development Corporation project (FRDC 2016-235). This is costing the industry millions due to stock losses, decreased consumer confidence in product quality and reputational damage to the SRL market brand. The causes of this increased post-harvest mortality are inconsistent across the industry sector with a range of factors implicated including environmental stressors, novel health conditions, and sub-optimal post-harvest practices. Results from (FRDC2016-235) indicate a need to optimise live lobster management processes across the entire post-harvest chain of custody in-order to minimize lobster mortality and enhance the economics of the SRL fishing and processing industry sectors.
The FRDC SRL live holding project (2016-235) conducted an analysis of the processing industry sector practices and provided guidance for best practices. These recommendations have been welcomed by the industry and further consultation has identified a critical need to extend this approach to the fishing component of the industry.
This project will address these key industry priorities and conduct an analysis of on-vessel live lobster handling and holding practices, quantify the impact of systems and practices on lobster quality and provide recommendations on improving on-vessel post-harvest practices. The current FRDC traceability project (FRDC 2016-177) is trialing a range of traceability technologies that this proposed new project will extend and enhance on-vessels to strengthen the capture, monitoring, and analysis of post-harvest data on lobster welfare, quality, and handling practices.
This project will also extend the development of practical and easy to use tools for the evaluation of lobster health including the handheld lactate meter and refractive index. Building evidenced-based approaches to measuring health and stress will provide all industry sectors with improved measurement of quality, animal welfare, and sustainability at all points in the supply chain.
1. Investigate the impacts of on-vessel handling and maintenance practices on live SRL post-harvest performance
2. Develop practical tools for the improved management of SRL industry live lobster operations (ie hand-held lactate meter and refractive index including thresholds for poor lobster performance)
3. Extend findings to the SRL industry (best practice guides and workshops) and incorporation of results into the SRL Clean green program.
Bursaries for emerging leaders in the Southern Rock Lobster industry to attend the 2019 Trans-Tasman Lobster Congress.
Project number:
2018-207
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$21,225.38
Principal Investigator:
Tom T. Cosentino
Organisation:
Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date:
31 May 2019
-
30 Oct 2019
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
SPECIES
Informing strategies, policies and options supporting owner-operated fishing businesses in fisheries experiencing corporatisation
Project number:
2018-205
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$14,023.89
Principal Investigator:
Tom T. Cosentino
Organisation:
Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date:
31 May 2019
-
30 Dec 2019
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
Southern rock lobster fishers have expressed concerns about trends in ownership of the fishery, including issues like concentration of ownership, foreign ownership and loss of regional economic benefits. Fisheries managers and industry leaders have expressed interest in attending a workshop that is aimed to conceptualise small-scale fisheries, the role of the state in facilitating or limiting corporatisation, and the extent that corporations are involved in conservation.
1. Plan for and adapt to corporatisation in the southern rock lobster fishery and summarise concerns and identify possible solutions.
2. Identify ways that fishers can become better organized and better able to protect their interests.
3. Identify comparisons with fisheries that exist within ITQ managed systems.
Final report
ISBN:
978-1-925983-56-2
Author:
Thomas Cosentino
Final Report
•
2020-11-13
•
10.09 MB
2018-205-DLD.pdf
The Australian wild caught Southern rock lobster industry operates in the South Eastern part of Australia and spans three distinct jurisdictional areas - South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. The industry comprises a fleet of vessels run by a mix of family owned and operated business and vertically integrated export businesses. Some industry participants consider that the ownership structure has an impact on the culture of the industry which extends to benefits to regional communities, employment and job satisfaction. Southern Rocklobster Limited (SRL) recognised there is diversity in the composition of the industry’s structure and the receipt of benefits from the fishery varies between user types.
A workshop hosted by Southern Rocklobster Limited was held in Melbourne in October 2019, to allow industry stakeholders, managers and investors the opportunity to discuss the current industry structure and determine any paths of action. The purpose of the workshop was not to consult with industry on various options, but to lead thought and inform strategies, policies and options on what areas industry could improve, and how it could implement change to achieve those improvements.
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2018-176
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Refine the Southern Rock Lobster Cold Chain
What the report is about?
The report aims to assist the Southern Rock Lobster (SRL) industry with refining the live export supply chain to China. Research has identified issues relating to the cold chain, particularly at the domestic air freight stage, and practical solutions have then been...
ORGANISATION:
KPMG Australia Melbourne
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2018-128
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
Honey and Fox Pty Ltd
China digital marketing strategy for Southern Rock Lobster
Project number:
2018-123
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$7,000.00
Principal Investigator:
Tom T. Cosentino
Organisation:
Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date:
29 Sep 2018
-
30 Oct 2018
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2018-016
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
Improving data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander marine resource use to inform decision-making
Through two national workshops, Indigenous community and agency representatives and researchers discussed issues around collecting, sharing and ownership of Indigenous fishing data. Challenges and opportunities were shared from all perspectives and expertise, knowledge and information came together...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA)
Southern Rock Lobster Clean Green program, revision, digitisation & extension across the supply chain
Project number:
2017-224
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$705,117.00
Principal Investigator:
Ross J. Hodge
Organisation:
Southern Rocklobster Ltd (SRL)
Project start/end date:
29 Apr 2018
-
14 Feb 2020
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
Currently more vessels are participating in the Clean Green program than at any stage since first introduced in 2004. Re-aligning Clean Green to address new and changing legislative requirements has been the key driver for the increased support from industry. The process of revising the program content and on-going dialogue with regulators has identified that Clean Green must / will continue to be an evolving program to address regulatory changes and update the program content. Therefore a project is required to deliver a digitised operationally focussed, benchmark responsible fishing standard including support and auditing materials for the Australian seafood industry that will:
• Improve ongoing program administration (as regulators e.g. SWSA, AMSA and DAWR, continue to change and update relevant legislative requirements, the maintenance of a paper-based program will become unsustainable.
• Extend the Clean Green program into the post-harvest sector of the supply chain and provide a medium for SRL to ‘extend’ relevant outputs from other R&D in which the industry has invested to interested businesses e.g. traceability and ‘lobster health’.
• Improve communications and audit procedures with / for the Clean Green Auditor to streamline and reduce cost of independent third-party auditing processes
• Generate usable data for relevant regulators and seek their recognition / accreditation of the program and further opportunities for Clean Green to serve as a tool for industry self-regulation.
• Streamline program management and financial control of the program e.g. invoicing, scheduling of auditing, raising and closing out of Corrective Action Requests (CARs), physical auditing of vessels, communication with members, improved efficiency and effectiveness of Clean Green training and refresher training.
• Increase the transferability of the Clean Green ‘product’ to other catching sectors. This may aid with generating greater economies of scale and assist the Clean Green Program, and its management, to become financially self-sustaining to a greater degree.
1. Revise and update Clean Green Program Material (catching sector) to meet stakeholder requirements and formatted for digitisation
2. Review and revise existing and develop new Clean Green Program material for exporter / post harvest operations and formatted for digitisation
3. Digitise the revised Clean Green Program so it can be implemented in a device application (app) software format (2 Apps: 1 Catching 1 Exporter)
4. Launch and Roll Out the Revised and Digitised Clean Green Program
Final report
ISBN:
978-0-9803977-5-8
Author:
Ross Hodge and Justin Phillips
Final Report
•
2023-05-05
•
2.86 MB
2017-224-DLD.pdf
First introduced in 2004, the Southern Rocklobster Limited Clean Green Program was developed as an integrated pot-to-plate Product Standard with independent third-party auditing of practices. During the period 2013 to 2015 the Clean Green Program was considerably updated for the first time to address the introduction of AMSA’s National Standard for Commercial Vessels, resulting in greater industry adoption with approx. 60% increase in vessel use across the 3-year period. The re-alignment of the Clean Green Program to address new and changing legislative requirements e.g. the introduction of the National Standard Commercial Vessels by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and new Work, Health & Safety requirements, had been the key driver for the increased support from industry. This highlighted the need for the Clean Green Program to continue to evolve to address regulatory changes and, accordingly, the required updating of program content (in consultation with Regulators). This project was required to adapt 21st century technology to deliver a digitised, operationally focussed, Clean Green Program that can be more efficiently updated and disseminated to industry.
Modification of fishery assessment and modelling processes to better take account of changes in population structure, specifically animal size, on catch rate data
Project number:
2017-101
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$0.00
Principal Investigator:
Klaas Hartmann
Organisation:
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date:
28 Feb 2019
-
29 Feb 2020
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
Size selectivity is an important aspect of southern rock lobster stock assessment models and has been estimated for different fleets, pot types, and areas. Temporal changes in size selectivity can lead to biased model results and can bias parameter estimates, such as pre-recruit indices (PRIs). These biases can manifest as trends that are unrelated to changes in the population characteristic they are designed to monitor. Several mechanisms for changes to size selectivity have created particular concern due to their potential to influence management decisions.
Firstly, in some areas southern rock lobster stocks are increasing significantly and are expected to continue to do so. One way in which these elevated densities may affect selectivity is if large lobsters deter small lobsters from entering pots, thus lowering the estimated PRI (an index used in TACC setting in Victoria)
Secondly, increased price differential between lobster size classes coupled with high CPUE is creating substantial incentives for high grading, both through discards and through changing fishing practices targeting different sized lobsters.
Lastly, seasonal changes in size selectivity have been observed in South Australia and may occur elsewhere. These have not been quantified and may occur in other regions.
Understanding these changes in size selectivity and mitigating the impact on the ongoing stock assessment modelling and harvest strategies will ensure robust assessments and avoid future management bias.
1. Determine lobster density and size structure impacts on selectivity
2. Develop a method for adjusting PRI for lobster density / size structure changes
3. Develop an understanding of intra seasonal size selectivity changes
4. Develop methods for quantifying the impacts of high grading on selectivity changes on an ongoing basis
5. Adapt the rock lobster stock assessment model to include selectivity changes
PROJECT NUMBER
•
2017-100
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED
ORGANISATION:
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
Improved risk management of paralytic shellfish toxins in Southern Rock Lobster
Project number:
2017-086
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$885,500.00
Principal Investigator:
Gustaaf Hallegraeff
Organisation:
University of Tasmania
Project start/end date:
14 Mar 2018
-
7 Jul 2021
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
The $84 M lobster industry has been impacted by seasonal Tasmanian closures (up to 5+ months) due to PST contamination of hepatopancreas (HP) notably in the St Helens and Maria Island regions (up to 4 mg STX.diHCl/kg), and up to Flinders Island, with an estimated lost revenue cost of 780k (Campbell et al 2013). While only trace levels of PSTs have been detected to date in lobster tail meat, HP contamination poses significant trade barriers for key markets such as China and Hong Kong. While cooking of lobsters did not release biotoxins into the cooking water, HP is a sought after foodstuff (mainly used as a dipping sauce for tail meat) and consumed by 16% of fishers on the Tasmanian east coast and 22% on the west coast, but this has since decreased due to public health warnings. Limited evidence suggests that PST contamination of lobsters may also occasionally occur in South Australia and Victoria.
The monitoring, management and mitigation approaches for biotoxin risks in crustaceans (as spelled out in the DPIPWE Rock Lobster Biotoxin Plan and Decision Protocol) remain poorly developed. The current approach uses bivalve PST monitoring as a trigger for lobster testing, with a very limited number (5) animals tested at a prohibitive cost of 5k, which if positive (>0.8 mg/kg STX eq) leads to lengthy closures of large fishing zones.
The proposed work will refine monitoring tools to reduce the costs associated with PST biotoxin risk management of Southern Rock Lobster, including the application of cheaper and faster (and hence more frequent and more reliable) PST testing and also explore whether tests can be conducted in a non-destructive manner using haemolymph as a proxy.
In addition, tank studies of PST in lobster and field studies on the variation in toxicity, and the validation of a rapid test kit will help to inform the effectiveness of the current geographical zones in the management plan.
Potential impact of PST on lobster vigour will also be investigated using a combination of tank exposure and blood biomarker studies, the latter once calibrated also applied to Tasmanian field surveys.
1. Assess the applicability of Neogen PST test kits for lobster viscera
2. Exploration of Neogen PST tests on lobster haemolymph as a proxy for lobster viscera PST contamination
3. Determination of the impact of PST accumulation on lobster vigour
4. Improved definition of East Coast Tasmanian lobster management zones, based on improved understanding of dietary origin of PST (from tank studies), and improved understanding of variability ( from field studies ).
Final report
ISBN:
978-1-922708-32-8
978-1-922708-31-1
Authors:
Gustaaf Hallegraeff
Alison Turnbull
Andreas Seger
Juan Dorantes-Aranda
Caleb
Gardner
Quinn Fitzgibbon and Hillary Revill
Final Report
•
2023-04-01
•
8.04 MB
2017-086-DLD.pdf
To examine toxicokinetics of PST in Southern Rock Lobster, an experimental study was undertaken in a biosecure aquaculture facility in South Australia. Adult male lobsters were fed highly toxic mussels (6 mg STX.2HCl equiv. kg−1) sourced from the Tasmanian east coast for 4 weeks, then allowed to depurate for a further 5 weeks. Control (fed non-toxic mussels) and exposed lobster were harvested at regular intervals, tissues dissected and analysed for PST. The lobsters rapidly accumulated PST in the hepatopancreas (exponential rate of 6% per day), exceeding the bivalve ML within one week, and reaching a maximum of 9.0 mg STX.2HCl equiv. kg−1. Once toxic feed was removed, the lobster depurated at a rate of 7% per day. Toxins were found in lobster antennal glands at concentrations two orders of magnitude lower than found in the hepatopancreas. This is the first report of PST in lobster antennal glands which, along with the gills, represent possible excretion routes for PST. However, PST were not detected at significant levels in the lobster haemolymph, which rules out the possibility of nondestructive sampling of lobsters for biotoxin analyses.
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