Assessment of seal fishery interactions in the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF) and the development of fishing practices and seal exclusion devices (SEDs) in the winter blue grenadier fishery to mitigate seal bycatch by SETF trawlers
Australian Society for Fish Biology: Scientific networking, early career development and international engagement
In the face of mounting pressure on Australia’s marine and freshwater ecosystems, there is a need for robust scientific information to support the sustainable development and management of our aquatic resources. The ASFB is Australasia’s premier professional association for fish and fisheries researchers. The annual science conference and associated workshop/s makes an important and tangible contribution to skill development of people involved in fish and fisheries research and management, particularly offering students and early career researchers opportunities to present their work, interact with peers and develop collaborative links. The ASFB has a strong commitment to promoting and communicating science, encouraging sustainable management practices, encouraging excellence in fisheries research, and recognizing outstanding contributions of scientists and professionals through various awards and scholarships. In addition the ASFB has recognised the need for increased international engagement in particular via increased active involvement with World Council of Fisheries Societies.
This proposal is seeking sponsorship support for the annual science conference in 2016 (Hobart), 2017 (Western Australia) and 2018 (location to be decided but possibly Victoria) and a series of conference associated awards that support student travel and recognise research excellence. The proposal addresses three people development program goals, namely (i) to encourage knowledge transfer and R&D adoption (ASFB annual science conference) and (ii) to recognise and promote achievements (ASFB student research awards) and (iii) to enhance industry leadership (bringing together a range of people for the annual conference). These activities will encourage participation and exchange of information and provide an opportunity to develop networks and collaborations with outside organisations. In addition this proposal seeks support for one senior ASFB office bearer to attend the 7th World Fisheries Congress (WFC) in Busan as part of an Australia-New Zealand team bidding to host 8th WFC in 2020.
Handbook
The 2019 ASFB conference was held in Canberra from 14 to 17 October, 2019 at the National Library of Australia, ACT. The conference theme of “Communicate to illuminate & inspire" encouraged the 251 delegates (including 62 students) from across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa, the USA and Fiji to find new ways to share our passion for fishes, and raise their profile among the many people who depend on them for their everyday health and wellbeing.
Project products
Stock discrimination of blue-eye trevalla (Hyperglyphe antarctica) from Australian shelf waters and offshore seamounts and New Zealand
Investigation of methods to age abalone
Final report
Management of the valuable Australian abalone fishery is difficult because catch/effort information for abalone does not provide warnings of declining stocks. In fact abalone fisheries in Alaska, California and Mexico have collapsed or declined dramatically, with little warning. Management must rely on a detailed knowledge of how fast abalone grow, when they become adult, how many eggs they produce, and how fast they die of natural causes. But these statistics vary between areas, and it would be very costly to measure them at enough sites for efficient management. Management of finfish stocks has been revolutionised by accurate methods to age fish, using layers in the ear bones. Ageing abalone was identified as a high priority as long ago as 1986 in an abalone research review for the then FIRDC. An ageing method would allow biologists to work out growth, natural death rates etc. rapidly and at low cost. The industry would benefit from increased security, as uncertainty about the state of the stocks is a major problem for stakeholders. A reliable method would be used by state organisations to assess stocks more effectively, thus reducing the risk of a collapse or severe fluctuations in quota.
Previous work showed layers in the spire of the shell might be useful to age both blacklip and greenlip abalone, but the evidence relates only to juveniles , and in some areas layers did not correspond to age. We proposed to show when and how age could be estimated from layers, by "timestamping " tagged abalone at sites in each state. "Timestamping" involves staining the shell layer that they deposit over a few days. When the abalone were recovered, the number of layers deposited after the timestamp stain would show how regularly layers are deposited. We set out to mark abalone shells with fluorochrome stains , used by dentists to look at the growth of teeth, and to timestamp rings in fish ear bones. Work in New Zealand had also shown that abalone could be marked with a fluorochrome.
The project began in December 1992. By June 1993 we had established that abalone were stressed and often died after injecting stains, but they were unaffected when immersion in seawater dosed with the stains, and we had tested and compared five stains in the laboratory, and identified concentrations and immersion times that produced strong marks. This achieved our first milestone. Milestone 2 was the demonstration of the "timestamping" method in the field. By the end of 1993 we had developed underwater staining tanks, and collected, tagged and stained abalone with two fluorochrome stains underwater. Our results were reported at abalone divers meetings , and the international abalone conference in Hobart in February 1994. The symposium paper is now published.