Traditionally, reef projects around Australia have been funded by public money through government agencies, in particular regional development, research or fisheries grants. More recently in WA, new reefs such as Exmouth’s King Reef, have been brought to life through funding partnerships between government, not for profit & other private/industry sectors. Creating new pathways & processes to unlock & utilise alternative materials to create habitat enhancement structures is critical in ensuring the benefits artificial reefs create for our oceans & communities are maximised. Integrating appropriate recycled materials into reef developments provides opportunities from a scalability & financially sustainable perspective for all sectors of the Australian seafood industry, paving the way for more reefs to be deployed for social, economic and environmental benefit.

Playing a leading role in artificial reef development, Recfishwest often receives offers of materials for new reef projects. Examples include concrete in the form of railway sleepers, roadway culverts & bridge beams or steel in the form of storage tanks, structural frameworks & pipelines. Understanding what structures are suitable & acceptable for repurposing into reefs needs to be determined before these opportunities (current & future) are lost. This will unlock new reef options with alternative partners & funders to build more productive marine habitats for the benefit of local communities & the environment. This project is an extension to the previously FRDC funded habitat enhancement project: https://www.frdc.com.au/Archived-Reports/FRDC%20Projects/2014-005-DLD.pdf

Current Commonwealth & State legislation & policies limit the exploration of new reefing opportunities and there is a need to support change within these regulatory agencies.

We regularly consult with stakeholders who also have a need to understand the outcomes of this project including: DPIRD, NERA, WAFIC, NOPSEMA, DAWE, other Regulators, Resources Sector (including operators), Research agencies and the WA fishing community as end users. NERA and DAWE have also provided Letters of Support for this project as critical project partners to help achieve the outcomes and desired benefits.

The proposed work directly targets the opportunity
• to benchmark bycatch reduction devices (including escape vents) and strategies currently in use in the Queensland Crab Fishery,
• to trial refined escape vents for better (i) retention of legal crabs and exclusion of non-legal crabs and fish bycatch.

Recommended refinements to the regulation of escape vents in commercial mud crab pots will be provided to Fisheries Queensland by October/November 2022 for potential inclusion in the next round of regulatory amendments to the Crab Fishery.

More appropriately specified escape vents will produce better commercial outcomes (i.e., retention of legal crabs) and better ecological outcomes (e.g. exclusion of sub-legal crabs and finfish prone to entrapment in crab pots). Reports from crabbers indicate that some of the regulated escape vents allow legal crabs to escape, whilst the small escape vent (75 x 60 mm) reportedly allows very little bycatch to escape. A quantitative study that encompasses regional variation in mud crab morphometrics (i.e., carapace depth/height ~carapace width) would provide empirical data upon which management decisions can be objectively made.

Better documentation on marine turtle entrapment in crab pots (which is currently of limited public access) and gear modification to efficiently reduce or prevent marine turtle entrapment would be of benefit to threatened and endangered marine turtle populations of Queensland (in particular loggerhead turtles) and would contribute to the development of a risk mitigation strategy for the fishery.