Environment

NPF Tiger Prawn Fishery Adaptation Strategy workshop

Project number: 2022-096
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $50,740.00
Principal Investigator: Annie Jarrett
Organisation: NPF Industry Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 14 Jan 2023 - 30 May 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Stock Assessment
Rac Cmwth
Fisheries Management
Adaptation
SPECIES
Tiger Prawns

Need

NPF industry, AFMA management and CSIRO are concerned about declines in both spatial and the overall productivity of NPF tiger prawn fishery in recent years. It is thought that these declines are environmental/climate change - not fishing effort - driven. As well, stakeholders recognise that the NPF tiger prawn stock assessment model, whilst a 'cutting edge' model when first developed, has a number of deficiencies which are impacting on the model performance and impeding on the ability of the fishery to meet it's management objectives/ legislative requirements, the effective implementation of the tiger prawn harvest Strategy and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification at risk. When the NPF tiger prawn stock assessment model was developed, the ability to conduct spatially-structured, environmentally or socio-economically based stock assessments was limited due to a lack of appropriate data (e.g. survey information) and computational requirements. whilst improvements to the model have been made over time, the NPRAG noted in February 2022 there has been a significant amount of work that has been undertaken that could enable a significant, if not a fundamental change to the model currently used. The extension of these activities through the workshop will enable discussion on the potential to better integration of these additional components and other new methods available to incorporate spatial and climate change considerations into the assessment model. The project will also assist the NPRAG and NORMAC to respond to the AFMA Commission's request for climate change impacts are considered at future by all RAGs and MACs .

Objectives

1. To improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) by identifying:• concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the Tiger Prawn Fishery• deficiencies in the Tiger Prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the NPF meeting management objectives • key projects that will address the deficiencies above to improve the Tiger Prawn stock assessment model/s

Final report

Author: Annie Jarrett
Final Report • 2023-02-23 • 9.07 MB
2022-096-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Northern Prawn Fishery operates over a considerable expanse off Australia's northern coast. The fishery has been managed with a combination of voluntary buybacks, internal industry restructuring, and compulsory acquisition programs, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of licenses from 302 in 1985 to 52 in 2007. The Northern Prawn Fishery targets two main prawn species: banana prawns and tiger prawns. The tiger prawn fishery is particularly important, and its management relies on a sophisticated stock assessment model that uses a weekly time series of data to predict optimal effort and catch trajectories required to achieve long-term maximum economic yield for the fishery. A workshop was held to improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery by identifying concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the tiger prawn fishery, deficiencies in the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the Northern Prawn Fishery meeting management objectives including legislative requirements and Marine Stewardship Council certification, and key projects that will address the deficiencies above to improve the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s. The outputs and outcomes from this project will assist the Northern Prawn Fishery Resource Assessment Group and Management Advisory Committee to respond to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission's request that climate change impacts are considered at future by all Australian Fisheries Management Authority resource assessment groups and management advisory committees.
Final Report • 2023-02-23 • 9.07 MB
2022-096-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Northern Prawn Fishery operates over a considerable expanse off Australia's northern coast. The fishery has been managed with a combination of voluntary buybacks, internal industry restructuring, and compulsory acquisition programs, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of licenses from 302 in 1985 to 52 in 2007. The Northern Prawn Fishery targets two main prawn species: banana prawns and tiger prawns. The tiger prawn fishery is particularly important, and its management relies on a sophisticated stock assessment model that uses a weekly time series of data to predict optimal effort and catch trajectories required to achieve long-term maximum economic yield for the fishery. A workshop was held to improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery by identifying concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the tiger prawn fishery, deficiencies in the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the Northern Prawn Fishery meeting management objectives including legislative requirements and Marine Stewardship Council certification, and key projects that will address the deficiencies above to improve the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s. The outputs and outcomes from this project will assist the Northern Prawn Fishery Resource Assessment Group and Management Advisory Committee to respond to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission's request that climate change impacts are considered at future by all Australian Fisheries Management Authority resource assessment groups and management advisory committees.
Final Report • 2023-02-23 • 9.07 MB
2022-096-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Northern Prawn Fishery operates over a considerable expanse off Australia's northern coast. The fishery has been managed with a combination of voluntary buybacks, internal industry restructuring, and compulsory acquisition programs, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of licenses from 302 in 1985 to 52 in 2007. The Northern Prawn Fishery targets two main prawn species: banana prawns and tiger prawns. The tiger prawn fishery is particularly important, and its management relies on a sophisticated stock assessment model that uses a weekly time series of data to predict optimal effort and catch trajectories required to achieve long-term maximum economic yield for the fishery. A workshop was held to improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery by identifying concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the tiger prawn fishery, deficiencies in the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the Northern Prawn Fishery meeting management objectives including legislative requirements and Marine Stewardship Council certification, and key projects that will address the deficiencies above to improve the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s. The outputs and outcomes from this project will assist the Northern Prawn Fishery Resource Assessment Group and Management Advisory Committee to respond to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission's request that climate change impacts are considered at future by all Australian Fisheries Management Authority resource assessment groups and management advisory committees.
Final Report • 2023-02-23 • 9.07 MB
2022-096-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Northern Prawn Fishery operates over a considerable expanse off Australia's northern coast. The fishery has been managed with a combination of voluntary buybacks, internal industry restructuring, and compulsory acquisition programs, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of licenses from 302 in 1985 to 52 in 2007. The Northern Prawn Fishery targets two main prawn species: banana prawns and tiger prawns. The tiger prawn fishery is particularly important, and its management relies on a sophisticated stock assessment model that uses a weekly time series of data to predict optimal effort and catch trajectories required to achieve long-term maximum economic yield for the fishery. A workshop was held to improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery by identifying concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the tiger prawn fishery, deficiencies in the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the Northern Prawn Fishery meeting management objectives including legislative requirements and Marine Stewardship Council certification, and key projects that will address the deficiencies above to improve the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s. The outputs and outcomes from this project will assist the Northern Prawn Fishery Resource Assessment Group and Management Advisory Committee to respond to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission's request that climate change impacts are considered at future by all Australian Fisheries Management Authority resource assessment groups and management advisory committees.
Final Report • 2023-02-23 • 9.07 MB
2022-096-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Northern Prawn Fishery operates over a considerable expanse off Australia's northern coast. The fishery has been managed with a combination of voluntary buybacks, internal industry restructuring, and compulsory acquisition programs, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of licenses from 302 in 1985 to 52 in 2007. The Northern Prawn Fishery targets two main prawn species: banana prawns and tiger prawns. The tiger prawn fishery is particularly important, and its management relies on a sophisticated stock assessment model that uses a weekly time series of data to predict optimal effort and catch trajectories required to achieve long-term maximum economic yield for the fishery. A workshop was held to improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery by identifying concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the tiger prawn fishery, deficiencies in the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the Northern Prawn Fishery meeting management objectives including legislative requirements and Marine Stewardship Council certification, and key projects that will address the deficiencies above to improve the tiger prawn stock assessment model/s. The outputs and outcomes from this project will assist the Northern Prawn Fishery Resource Assessment Group and Management Advisory Committee to respond to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission's request that climate change impacts are considered at future by all Australian Fisheries Management Authority resource assessment groups and management advisory committees.

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PROJECT NUMBER • 2022-096
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

NPF Tiger Prawn Fishery Adaptation Strategy workshop

1. To improve the biological and economic performance of the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) by identifying:• concerns and trends regarding the productivity of the Tiger Prawn Fishery• deficiencies in the Tiger Prawn stock assessment model/s and data collection framework that impede the NPF meeting...
ORGANISATION:
NPF Industry Pty Ltd
Industry

Understanding Southern Bluefin Tuna distribution changes through satellite tagging

Project number: 2022-101
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $650,472.00
Principal Investigator: Toby Patterson
Organisation: CSIRO
Project start/end date: 28 Feb 2023 - 28 Feb 2026
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Tagging
Climate Change
SPECIES
Southern Bluefin Tuna

Need

This project would focus on:

- Understanding the extent of the changed SBT migration, residence and behaviour (especially surfacing) patterns of juveniles within and around the Great Australian Bight (GAB) using PSATs

- Testing and refining the set-up and deployment strategy for use of next generation PSATs, which will assist in the design and implementation of this project and in future studies aiming to determine broader spatial scales of movement and habitat usage.

- Utilizing the latest climate reanalysis products to examine potential links between physical drivers in the ocean and atmosphere and changes in distribution of SBT.

The project will be staged with the first year deploying 15 existing PSATs provided in-kind by CSIRO to the project and a further 15 PSATs to be purchased using project funds. These PSATs are proposed to be deployed towards the end of the 2023 fishing season (likely March) via the addition of up to 4 days charter time to the CCSBT gene-tagging field work.

The purpose of these deployments is twofold:

1. To examine the suitability of current generation PSATs in terms of data resolution, data retrieval and tag retention rates required to answer the questions arising from the SBT ranching industry over recent years.

2. To obtain information on movement and residence areas of 2-3 year old SBT and detailed habitat data, especially with regard to surfacing rates.

Information gained from the first season will be used to guide and refine deployment of a PSATs in the second season. By deploying up to 30 tags in year 1 it is envisaged that there will be sufficient data for comparing current juvenile SBT distribution, behaviour and movement patterns with historical data.

The fact that the fish do not need to be recovered to retrieve the data means this project can deliver useful insight independent of fishery operations.

A core question that remains to be determined is how long these tags can remain attached to small tuna. The tag retention data that will be determined through this project will contribute to future tag technology improvements/development to ultimately help deliver answers to this industry’s specific questions.

The project would be focused on addressing the major sources of uncertainty for the operation of the SBT ranching industry – obtaining data on the distribution and habitat preference (depth/temperature regimes) of fish that formed the mainstay of successful ranching operations historically.

Objectives

1. Deployment of pop-up satellite tags
2. Comparison and analysis of contemporary SBT data against CSIRO-held archives
3. Conduct analysis of background oceanographic conditions and potential drivers of SBT habitat selection/preference