Project number: 2006-042
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $1,243,870.89
Principal Investigator: Andrew Constable
Organisation: Australian Antarctic Division (AAD)
Project start/end date: 30 Jul 2006 - 1 Oct 2010
Contact:
FRDC

Need

This project addresses policy objectives identified under the Fisheries Management Act (FMA, 1991) and the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC, 1999) relating to long term ecological sustainability of marine resources and environments in the AFZ. It will address the need to identify impacts of fishing activities on target and non-target species (FMA, 1991, Section 3, Part 1b) and how potential impacts might be mitigated to ensure the continued ecological viability of natural marine resources including benthic habitats in the Australian EEZ (EA, 2002). As such, the proposed project specifically addresses objectives relevant to the strategic assessment of the HIMI fishery (EA, 2002) and is also directly relevant to Program 2 (ecosystem-based fisheries management) outlined in AFMA’s strategic research plan, to base management decisions on a knowledge of impacts on fisheries ecosystems and minimize impacts arising from fishing activities (AFMA, 2005). It will also provide information that will help satisfy the requirements of the Marine Stewardship Council for certifying the mackerel icefish fishery. These requirements include undertaking an assessment of risks to benthic systems and identifying a strategy to mitigate moderate to high risks. The outputs could also be used to help understand the role and adequacy of the HIMI Marine Reserve and Conservation Zones.

The ecological assessment of fishery impacts in the Southern Ocean has also been identified by the SARAG as a priority research area. The proposed project will address three priority projects identified as part of the ecological assessment of the fishery research plan, which are:
• The effects of trawling on benthic ecosystems in the HIMI region,
• The effects of longline fishing on benthic ecosystems, and
• The effects of trap fishing on benthic ecosystems.

References
(see reference list in "Background" section)

Objectives

1. To develop deep sea camera technologies that can be easily deployed during fishing operations, to facilitate widespread observations of demersal fishing activities (trawl, longline and trap) and their interactions with benthic environments.
2. To assess the vulnerability of benthic communities in Sub-Antarctic (Australian AFZ) and high latitude areas of the Southern Ocean (Australian EEZ) to demersal fishing using trawls, long-lines or traps, using video and still camera technologies.
3. To assess the risk of demersal fishing to long-term sustainability of benthic communities in these areas, based on the assessment of vulnerability and information from the literature on potential recovery of benthic species and habitats.
4. To recommend mitigation strategies by avoidance or gear modification, where identified to be needed, and practical guidelines to minimise fishing impacts on benthic communities.

Related research

Industry