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PROJECT NUMBER • 2004-239
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Rock Lobster Enhancement and Aquaculture Subprogram: strategic planning, project management and adoption

To date, the RLEAS has managed a portfolio of 19 projects representing a total investment from FRDC and stakeholders of nearly $17 million between 1998 and 2006. Outcomes from 12 of these projects have been delivered to date. Not only have the activities of the RLEAS and its Steering...
ORGANISATION:
Barneveld Nutrition Pty Ltd
TAGS
Workshop
Reproduction
Nutrition
Media
Life History
SPECIES
Western Rock Lobster
Eastern Rock Lobster
Southern Rock Lobster
Slipper Lobsters
Champagne Lobsters
People
PROJECT NUMBER • 2003-241
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Rock Lobster Post Harvest Subprogram: strategic planning, project management and adoption

An independent Subprogram Leader, and a highly responsive Steering Committee, that is composed of industry experts from across Australia have provided an effective and efficient system for directing relevant research activities to ensure continued and increased profitability for the Australian rock...
ORGANISATION:
Curtin University
TAGS
Workshop
Post Harvest
Media
Fisheries Management
Communications
SPECIES
Western Rock Lobster
Eastern Rock Lobster
Southern Rock Lobster
Tropical Rock Lobsters
People
People

Digital transformation of the WRL industry to help resolve challenges and leverage opportunities to grow GVP and maintain competitiveness

Project number: 2021-030
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $2,352,000.00
Principal Investigator: David C. Pietersen
Organisation: Western Rock Lobster Council Inc (WRLC)
Project start/end date: 14 Oct 2021 - 27 Jun 2024
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
Western Rock Lobster

Need

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNCERTAINTY
Lengthy engagement/negotiation periods, lack of visibility, and complicated processes surrounding the Management Plan creates uncertainty for the fishers and hinders their ability to plan. DPIRD implements requirements and controls that specify how the industry operates which can impact business efficiency and cost. This is exacerbated by current market conditions. This project will undertake research to understand how to improve co-management and increased visibility of markets and trade environments driven by data and technology.
INCONSISTENT COMPLIANCE WHICH IS UNCLEAR AND DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET
Multiple layers of compliance and reporting are required (vessel, on board, catch) and are managed by different entities (DoT, AMSA, DPIRD). Processes are unclear, difficult to interpret, inconsistently applied and systems are unstable and poorly designed. This leads to difficulty to consistently meet requirements and unnecessary operating pressure for the fishers. There is a need to ework with these entities in a co-management approach to develop mutually beneficial solutions to increase efficiency for all parties. This project will undertake research to determine how digital technology can be applied to Industry compliance requirements (DoT, AMSA, DPIRD) to improve efficiencies and fishery sustainability.
TECHNOLOGY MATURITY & INDUSTRY CULTURE
There is no ongoing research into fishing technology to ensure the industry remains abreast of developments and responds accordingly. Additionally, this is a generational industry perceived to be reluctant to adopt new ways of working. Focused research will be undertaken to understand how the industry can apply technology and innovation to strengthen the industry’s position and provide the necessary training to do so.
INEFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY, PROCESSES AND KNOWLEDGE TO SUPPORT LOCAL SALES.
The 'back of boat sales' initiative creates retail challenges for fishers seeking to serve the local market effectively and efficiently. There is a need to undertake research to determine how the industry can apply digital technology to serve and engage the community more effectively while ensuring compliance to government requirements.
INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
There is little community understanding of the Industry while Industry engagement is inefficient. Undertake ongoing focused research to understand how digital technology can be applied to strengthen engagement.

Objectives

1. Resource co-management and improved control of compliance and operational costs
2. Provide members with greater financial and operational certainty
3. Leverage technology to drive GVP growth for future resource security
4. Traceability systems that tracks catch to plate allowing market diversification, increased confidence in the product and brand recognition
5. Increased sustainability through efficient precision fishing backed by robust data analytics platforms that provides insights from different data sources

A scenario analysis of the social impact of the Western Rock Lobster industry management options on fleet hosting communities

Project number: 2004-247
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $427,287.00
Principal Investigator: Matthew Tonts
Organisation: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Project start/end date: 29 Jun 2004 - 31 Oct 2007
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Sustainability
Stakeholder
Social Science
Social Science
Fisheries Management
SPECIES
Western Rock Lobster

Need

THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY IS CURRENTLY MANAGED BY INPUT CONTROLS. THE CURRENT MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENT IS UNDER REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION IS BEING GIVEN TO A MOVE TOWARDS OUTPUT CONTROLS IN 2006. THERE IS RECOGNITION BY WA FISHERIES AND INDUSTRY OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SOCIAL DIMENSION AND THE NEED TO ASSESS THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS. THIS STUDY WILL ASSESS THE SOCIAL COMPONENT OF THE FISHERY WHICH WILL INFORM MANAGERS AND INDUSTRY ON THE LIKELY SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGES TO THE EXISTING MANAGEMENT RULES, IN PARTICULAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF A CHANGE FROM INPUT TO OUTPUT CONTROLS. INDUSTRY HAS INDICATED THAT ANY DECISION ON THE FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL DIMENSION. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH MOST studies THAT highlight the importance of the social dimension and conclude that more extensive investigation IN THIS AREA is required.

The lack of a well developed model for assessing the social consequences of the industry on hosting communities is a substantial and significant gap in knowledge. Failure to address this gap means that future decision regarding the industry will be flawed. Reliable and valid sustainability assessments must be based on a genuine integration of the environmental, economic and social elements of the triple bottom line. This is consistent with the industry commitment to ESD, and addresses key elements of the FRDC research priorities. The 2000-2005 FRDC R & D Plan states, “it is important to understand social impacts of implementing fisheries management regimes…ESD will be pursued most effectively when the industry is economically strong and when social benefits are clear”. AN INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS THAT FLOW TO THE INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY FROM ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE USE OF THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER RESOURCE WILL ADDRESS THIS IMPERATIVE.

THE OUTCOMES OF THE RESEARCH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ENSURING THAT THE FISHERY REMAINS WELL MANAGED AND COMMITED TO PRINCIPLES OF ESD. THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF THIS PROJECT TO A WIDE RANGE OF DECISION AND PLANNING PROCESSES RECOGNISES THE SIGNIFICANT GAPS IN UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS AND IMPACTS OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN GENERAL AND THE ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY IN PARTICULAR. AS SUCH, THE STUDY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A RANGE OF IMPORTANT DECISIONS THAT WILL GUIDE THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCLUDING:

A) THE INDUSTRY PROJECT: "DETERMINING THE BEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER INDUSTRY". THIS INTEGRATED 3 YEAR PROJECT WILL ASSESS THE SOCIAL, ECONONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THREE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS ON THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY AND THEIR HOSTING COMMUITIES. THE MAIN DRIVER FOR THE PROJECT IS NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY. THIS RESEARCH WILL ENABLE DECISION MAKERS TO ADDRESS THE NCP'S ‘NET COMMUNITY BENEFIT’ TEST WITH A FULL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF CHANGES ON FLEET HOSTING COMMUNITIES. THIS DATA IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE.

B) MARINE PARK PLANNING: A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF REALLOCATING FISHERIES RESOURCES FROM EXTRACTIVE USERS SUCH AS COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL FISHERIES TO NON EXTRACTIVE USERS SUCH AS DIVE CHARTERS REQUIRE INFORMATION ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL ENABLE THE MARINE PARK PLANNING PROCESS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL COSTS OF CHANGES THAT WILL RESULT FROM MARINE PARK PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING A SERIES OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ON COASTAL COMMUNITIES.

C) INTEGRATED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT: THE OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT WILL ASSIST DECISION MAKERS ENGAGED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN. THIS PLAN WILL HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AND A FULL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS IS CRUCIAL TO INFORMED, INTEGRATED PLANNING. THE BASIS OF INTEGRATED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IS EXPLICIT ALLOCATION OF THE FISHERIES RESOURCES BETWEEN EXTRACTIVE USERS, FOR EXAMPLE, AN EXPLICIT ALLOCATION OF WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER BETWEEN THE RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SECTOR. THIS RESEARCH WILL ASSIST IN UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL COSTS OR BENEFITS OF REALLOCATION OF THE RESOURCE FROM COMMERCIAL TO RECREATIONAL USERS.

Objectives

1. To assist in the formulation of authoritative advice based on a thorough understanding of ESD principles (particularly social) to the relevant minister in response to national competition policy (NCP).
2. To establish a database of quantitative and qualitative social indicators for the communities hosting the western rock lobster fleet that will enable an integrated socio-economic assessment of a range of industry management options.
3. To contribute to the development of a framework and predictive sustainability assessment model integrating social data with environmental and economic data for use in predicting the wider effects of management changes on host communities.

Final report

Author: Mathew Tonts
Final Report • 2008-09-04 • 17.19 MB
2004-247-DLD.pdf
Adoption
Adoption

An industry based mark recapture program to provide stock assessment inputs for the Western Rock Lobster Fishery following introduction of quota management

Project number: 2014-023
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $330,222.10
Principal Investigator: Jason How
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Project start/end date: 18 May 2014 - 29 Jun 2017
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Tagging
Stock Assessment
Stakeholder
Rac Wa
Modelling
SPECIES
Western Rock Lobster

Need

The recent change to quota management for the Western Rock Lobster fishery has resulted in significant changes in fishing behaviour which has affected the ability to use the long standing empirical catch rate indices that have been a major component of the assessment of lobster stocks (e.g. catch rates of legal, undersize and breeding lobsters). A recent FRDC funded study (2009/019) examined the possibility of using alternative data sources unbiased by effort to monitor biomass levels and exploitation rates using change-in-ratio techniques. The project concluded that:
1. The current data sources available to the fishery had too many unknowns including size and sex specific timing of growth and movement to enable the assessment of exploitation rates using these techniques.
2. A robust tag-recapture study using multiple release periods across different fishing seasons could generate independent assessments of legal biomass and exploitation rates providing an additional baseline level to improve the interpretation of post quota catch rate indices.
A comprehensive tag-recapture study would also provide increased resolution of the movement dynamics of lobsters, especially the rate of migration between management zones. Such information is considered vital by industry in their discussions of the potential benefits of voluntarily reducing quotas to generate increased localised catch rates.

Objectives

1. Determine spatially specific exploitation rates and legal biomass levels
2. Increase precision of estimates for movement rates between management zones
3. Improve understanding of the variability of growth throughout the range of the fishery

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-921258-76-3 (Print); 978-1-921258-77-0 (Online)
Author: Simon de Lestang
Final Report • 2020-08-01 • 5.40 MB
2014-023-DLD.pdf

Summary

The West Coast Lobster Managed Fishery (WCRLMF) moved from input to output controls in 2010. This change directly affected the relativity of a number of fisherybased data sources, making assessment of the fishery more problematic. A novel examination of the stock dynamics was required to help ensure the stock assessment and associated management outcomes for this valuable resource were maintained. This study derived estimates of current biomass levels and harvest rates throughout the WCRLMF based on the release (over 40,000) of tagged Western Rock Lobsters (Panulirus cygnus) and the recapture of tagged lobsters, using a multi-stage modelling process. Components of this study, such as tag loss and reporting rates, were initially independently examined, before a generalised “Brownie” tag-recapture (BTR) model was implemented that provided an assessment on a fishery-wide basis. Finally a novel purpose-built individual-based model (IBM) was developed that was capable of producing estimates of biomass and harvest rates on finer spatial and temporal scale, as well as providing estimates of migration and growth. 
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