Project Search

The objective of FRDC project 2012/021, “Trial and validation of Respondent-Driven Sampling as a cost-effective method for obtaining representative catch, effort, social and economic data from recreational fisheries” was to trial and validate the chain referral sampling method,...

ORGANISATION:

CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart

TAGS

SPECIES

Impact of Covid-19 on recreational fishing

Establishing a national end of life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia

Project number: 2023-124

Project Status:

Current

Budget expenditure: $273,080.00

Principal Investigator: Anissa Lawrence

Organisation: TierraMar Ltd trading as Ocean Earth Foundation

Project start/end date: 29 Sep 2024 - 29 Jun 2026

Contact:

FRDC

TAGS

Need

Building on the circularity discussions and work being undertaken by FRDC and the industry, this project seeks to undertake the legwork required to establish a nationwide on-demand End of life (EOL) fishing gear recovery system for Australia and pilot it in key locations. The materials that many nets and ropes are made of are highly valuable and recyclable and in fact in many other countries, is already being recycled or remanufactured. Until now, having a national system has been cost prohibitive due to the large distances and need for economies of scale and limited local buyer interest. As a part of the national targets set by the Australian Government relating to plastics use and recycling, commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors have been exploring how to move to a circular economy model and reduce plastic inputs through a variety of projects run by FRDC and others. However, with fishing gear the biggest plastic polymer input, and contamination challenges, there has yet to be a suitable system established.

This project seeks to enable the opportunities that addressing EOL gear provides in Australia to the commercial fishing and aquaculture sector through the establishment of an effective EOL fishing gear recovery system for the country to reduce the landfill costs to industry. It seeks to build on the learnings from previous projects as well as the ten years of experience of our partner Bureo has in in operating an EOL fishing gear recovery program. Bureo currently have an EOL gear recovery system active in 9 countries.

The key objectives are:
● By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system implemented across key fishing ports, and key aquaculture centres benefiting regional communities and fisheries conservation and assisting the Australian Government to address plastic recovery/recycling targets.
● By the end of 2024, the enabling environment for an effective and fit for purpose EOL fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system is in place within Australia, with commencement of recycling underway in key pilot locations.

Objectives

1. By March 2025 the feasibility of and logistical requirements are understood to establish a national end of life recovery system for commercial fishing and aquaculture gear in Australia and an enabling pathway for roll out created.

2. By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia implemented across at least 5 key fishing ports, with measurable benefits being delivered to regional communities, industry, conservation, while contributing towards the Australian Government’s recycling targets.

PROJECT NUMBER • 1995-054

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Development and implementation of a national standard for a recreational fisheries database by all fisheries agencies

SIRFIS is and acronym for Standardised Integrated Recreational Fisheries Information System. The system is designed to provide a user friendly and flexible environment in which to enter, store and retrieve data relating to recreational fisheries. The system also allows storage of comprehensive...

ORGANISATION:

Department of Primary Industries (QLD)

TAGS

PROJECT NUMBER • 2012-508

PROJECT STATUS:

COMPLETED

Australian Animal Welfare Strategy: practical extension, implementation and evaluation of the Aquatic Animal Working Group Fish Welfare overarching principles within the recreational fishing sector

ORGANISATION:

VRFish

Effects of Trawling Subprogram: the interaction between fish trawling and other commercial and recreational fisheries

Project number: 1992-079

Project Status:

Completed

Budget expenditure: $677,143.89

Principal Investigator: Geoff Liggins

Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW)

Project start/end date: 11 Oct 1992 - 30 Dec 1996

Contact:

FRDC

TAGS

Wild Catch

Survey

Stock Assessment

Resource Access And Allocation

Recreational Fishing

Objectives

1. To provide the first a detailed description of the catch species composition and by-catch from fish trawling outside SE trawl areas in NSW (north of Barrenjoey Head)

2. To provide the first detailed description of the by-catch of fish trawling inside the SET area

3. To assess the importance of by-catch (inside and outside SET areas) in the Total impact of fish trawling on other commercial and recreational fisheries

4. To assess the impact of trawling inshore (nursery) areas on commercial fisheries outside these areas in particular the SET

Final report

ISBN: 0 7310 9402 6

Author: Geoffrey W. Liggins

Final Report • 2017-09-29 • 4.44 MB

1992-079-DLD.pdf

Summary

There is worldwide concern over the potential effects of by-catch and discarding of fish in commercial fisheries, particularly trawling. Although mortalities of discards are highly variable, it is likely that a large proportion of fish discarded at sea by trawlers do not survive. Consequently, discards at sea represent real losses from fish populations. Therefore, stock assessments that ignore the discarded component of catch are biased by an unknown amount, resulting in biomass and yield estimates that may be incorrect.

In Australia, the issue of primary concern is the direct mortality resulting from the capture and discard of commercially and recreationally important species by trawlers. This may result in negative impacts on: (i) stocks of fish targeted by the fishery concerned and/or (ii) other commercial or recreational fisheries (interacting fisheries) which catch the species discarded.

Fish trawling occurs off the coast of NSW between Crowdy Head and Eden and components of this fishery are managed by NSW Fisheries (north of Barrenjoey headland and less than 3 nm offshore to the south of Barrenjoey) and by the Commonwealth - the South East Fishery (> 3 nm offshore south of Barrenjoey).

Prior to the commencement of this project (in 1992): (i) except for anecdotal reports, nothing was known about quantities and sizes of fish discarded by fish trawlers; (ii) no reliable information existed about the quantities and sizes of fish in retained catches for fish trawlers north of Barrenjoey; (iii) quantities and sizes of non-quota species retained by fish trawlers in the SEF were not generally known.

Consequently, there was a need to (i) quantify magnitudes and size-compositions of retained and discarded catches of fish trawlers; (ii) facilitate assessment of the impact of bycatch and discards on the fish trawl fisheries in NSW and on interacting fisheries.