Project number:
1995-015
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$133,132.00
Principal Investigator:
You-Gan Wang
Organisation:
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date:
29 Jul 1995
-
29 Sep 1999
Contact:
FRDC
1. Establish new framework for prawn stock dynamics and develop new statistical methods for estimation of population parameters, which will improve the management of Australian prawn fisheries by increasing confidence in decision support tools and reducing the risk associated with decisions based on stock assessment.
Final report
ISBN:
0-643-06204-1
Author:
You-Gan Wang
Final Report
•
1999-09-01
•
4.97 MB
1995-015-DLD.pdf
One of the main objectives of fisheries management is to ensure the sustainability of fished stocks. To reach this objective scientists have to adequately assess the status of fished populations with quantitative models of the fishery systems. Most of these models require estimates of population parameters such as growth rates, mortality rates and catchability (the proportion of the population caught by a single vessel each day). Most of these parameters are unique for each stock; unfortunately they are not easily estimated because marine organisms are inherently difficult to observe and study. Estimation is generally done through statistical analysis of catch data, either from the fishery or from research surveys.
Tropical prawns are fast growing organisms that reach maturity in a few months and tend to be predated upon or caught before they reach a year of age. Prawns are also animals for which age can not be easily determined because they have no hard structures that are retained through their life. As a result age can not be estimated and can only be inferred indirectly from their size. The combination of a short lifespan and the inability to age individuals is a major difficulty in developing estimation methods for populations of tropical prawns. This is especially the case for those parameters that are time dependent (such as mortality and growth rates).
This document reports on two years of work devoted at developing new statistical methods for the estimation of population parameters in tropical prawn fisheries.
