WRL Communication, Education And Engagement Program
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$750,000.00
Summary
The Western Rock Lobster Council’s (WRLC) Strategic Plan defines the organisation’s purpose as providing the community with the economic and social benefits of a sustainable western rock lobster industry supplying its iconic product to local and overseas markets.
It outlines a vision for industry to have the full confidence of government, the community, and members as a well-resourced, self-funded peak body engaged in advocacy and co-management for improved resource security.
O ....The Western Rock Lobster Council’s (WRLC) Strategic Plan defines the organisation’s purpose as providing the community with the economic and social benefits of a sustainable western rock lobster industry supplying its iconic product to local and overseas markets.
It outlines a vision for industry to have the full confidence of government, the community, and members as a well-resourced, self-funded peak body engaged in advocacy and co-management for improved resource security.
One of the key actions outlined in the Strategic Plan under the fourth key objective ‘Ensure the social licence to operate is supported by government, community and industry’ is to develop and implement a revised communications strategy for members, stakeholders, and the community.
While the indications for achieving social licence for the western rock lobster industry are currently positive, consolidating and increasing that support depends on the evolving social and political landscape. Building on the on innovation and lessons learnt during the execution of the previous Communication Program 2020-058, and through the development and application of more mature initiatives drawn out from its updated Communication and Engagement Strategy, the industry will strengthen its connection to the community, continue to increase support from key stakeholders and the general public, and consolidate its Social Licence to operate. This Program application delivers on that commitment. Objectives: 1. Strengthen industry members' engagement: Increase the full participation by internal stakeholders in Council activities, to best enable the Council to represent the industry to government and other stakeholders. This includes industry engagement and communication of WRL IPA activities and R&D outputs. 2. Broaden and deepen relationships with external stakeholders from government and other industries to make the Council and the industry more resilient. 3. Build awareness of the significant contribution the industry continues to make to coastal communities, and the state. 4. Increase community awareness of the availability and accessibility of western rock lobster. 5. Ensure the industry is getting maximum social license benefits from its Marine Stewardship Council certification as a sustainable fishery. Read moreRead less
Investigating Drivers Of Environmental Change In Pipe Clay Lagoon
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$38,400.00
Summary
Coastal lagoon systems in Tasmania form a fundamental part of coastal ecosystems. Healthy lagoons support local biodiversity, and play a key role in nutrient cycling and flood protection. They provide opportunities for sustainable aquaculture, fishing and tourism, while also being appreciated for their recreational amenity and cultural values. Sustainable management of coastal lagoons is essential to environmental and socioeconomic development.
There is limited information about the eco ....Coastal lagoon systems in Tasmania form a fundamental part of coastal ecosystems. Healthy lagoons support local biodiversity, and play a key role in nutrient cycling and flood protection. They provide opportunities for sustainable aquaculture, fishing and tourism, while also being appreciated for their recreational amenity and cultural values. Sustainable management of coastal lagoons is essential to environmental and socioeconomic development.
There is limited information about the ecosystem drivers that are influencing the changes being observed in Pipe Clay Lagoon, leading to knowledge gaps in decision making tools and monitoring strategies required to identify and mitigate these changes. The proposed application is a multifaceted approach to investigate the environmental drivers of change in Pipe Clay Lagoon. The findings can then be used to provide valuable guidance for the management and conservation of other coastal lagoons in Tasmania facing similar challenges, providing a model for proactive monitoring and ongoing sustainability.
The FRDC has a responsibility to ensure that research is undertaken to assist in the management of fisheries and aquaculture resources for ongoing sustainability. The changes being experienced in Pipe Clay Lagoon will have implications on the availability and suitability of the lagoon as a sustainable aquaculture site. The planned approach and objectives of the application align with the FRDC’s R&D Plan for 2020-2025 through:
- Building people's capacity and capability - Ensuring that resulting knowledge and innovation is adopted for impact through awareness of the needs of the ‘adopter’, local context and effective networking - Continual improvement and collaboration of industry and community to deliver competitive advantage, healthier ecosystems and community support - Provision of foundational information
Equally and importantly the application aligns with the NRM Strategy for Southern Tasmania 2030 for Pipe Clay Lagoon and similar systems in that wetland health is improved for socio-economically important systems by working with key partners and encouraging investment in monitoring, land and water management practices and on-ground works. The enthusiasm of those engaged in the stakeholder consultation process was a strong indication of the need, interest and urgency of the application.
Objectives: 1. Characterise and quantify environmental changes in Pipe Clay Lagoon, providing an evidence base for anecdotal observations of change. 2. Understand the drivers and interactions behind observed environmental changes in Pipe Clay Lagoon. 3. Identify management mechanisms to safeguard the values of Pipe Clay Lagoon and other Tasmanian coastal lagoons, including sustainability of the aquaculture industry. 4. Capacity building and increased marine literacy within community and industry to help observe and report change. 5. The applicant would welcome feedback and suggestions from FRDC and/or key beneficiaries for additional objectives. Read moreRead less
National Fish Habitat And Climate Response Partnership
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
In Australia, up to 90% of critical fish habitat for coastal fisheries, including seagrass, giant kelp, saltmarsh, and shellfish reefs, has been lost or significantly degraded. Many research studies have linked habitat with fisheries productivity, with habitat loss particularly impacting juvenile nurseries. Yet despite this information fish habitat restoration is not a recognised management tool in fisheries/harvest management strategies. Given this situation there is a strong need for a cohesiv ....In Australia, up to 90% of critical fish habitat for coastal fisheries, including seagrass, giant kelp, saltmarsh, and shellfish reefs, has been lost or significantly degraded. Many research studies have linked habitat with fisheries productivity, with habitat loss particularly impacting juvenile nurseries. Yet despite this information fish habitat restoration is not a recognised management tool in fisheries/harvest management strategies. Given this situation there is a strong need for a cohesive partnership across all fisheries sectors to support repairing productivity through fish habitat restoration and to create a forum where key sectors concerned for or dependent on aquatic habitat condition, can discuss problems and opportunities. This project will address a number of barriers limiting the restoration of fish habitat around Australia; accessibility of data relating fisheries production to habitat condition, limited penetration of this information into management and building a forum for the key fishing sectors to consider this information and develop responses.
Objectives: 1. Create a collaborative space for key stakeholders in which to understand, interpret, compile and communicate knowledge resources required to support and inform the future habitat and climate resilience challenges facing fisheries and environment agencies and decision makers 2. Use the partnership to;a. Measure the status of waterways in relation to fisheries productivityb. Communicate within and between sectors the implications of the resulting status information.c. Develop waterway ecosystem protection and restoration targets.d. Contribute to environmental and fisheries policy development utilising the partnership to codesign policies to include principles and actions to address the need for waterway ecosystem protection and restoration as well as affect Future of the Industry report and various stock assessments. Read moreRead less
Developing Spatial Based Assessment Methodologies And Tools For Small Scale Dive Fisheries: Case Study Of The Tasmanian Commercial Dive Fishery
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$298,378.34
Summary
The Tasmanian Commercial Dive Fishery (TCDF) is transitioning from a fishery with minimal controls on catch with no annual assessment, to a carefully managed fishery with annual robust fishery assessments. Two of the three key species Shortspined Sea Urchin (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) and Wavy Periwinkle (Lunella undulata), have similar life histories to abalone, while the third – Longspined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii), has an intermediate life history. All three species have a time- ....The Tasmanian Commercial Dive Fishery (TCDF) is transitioning from a fishery with minimal controls on catch with no annual assessment, to a carefully managed fishery with annual robust fishery assessments. Two of the three key species Shortspined Sea Urchin (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) and Wavy Periwinkle (Lunella undulata), have similar life histories to abalone, while the third – Longspined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii), has an intermediate life history. All three species have a time-series of catch and effort data, and some level of biological data, and thus don’t fall into the class of data-poor fisheries. However, just as for haliotid fisheries, all the complexities identified by Orensanz et al (1995) for S-Fisheries (small-scale, spatial structured, sedentary target species) apply here, meaning that integrated assessment models assuming Dynamic Pool should not be used. Instead, Empirical Harvest Strategies based on standardised catch rates are the most appropriate approach to underpin annual assessments and determination of stock status. Given the similarities between these species and abalone (life history, habitat, fishing practices), it is desirable to utilise the considerable investment in research on data collection and assessment methods in that fishery. This project will therefore attempt to adopt and adapt ground-breaking research on Abalone, including utilization of high-resolution spatial data from GPS and depth data loggers, as a short-cut to worlds best practices in the TCDF.
Consideration of stock status for the TCDF species to date has been on the basis of graphical inspection of crude catch rates. As Empirical Harvest Strategies rely heavily on robust catch rate metrics, adopting a model for standardizing catch rates is a critical step for the TCDF fisheries. While there are a diversity of philosophies around catch rate standardization, choosing the optimal standardization model is only part of the challenge. The key challenge for the three key TCDF species are that catch is spatially and temporally fragmented. Both urchin species are highly seasonal, and Shortspined Sea Urchin and Wavy Periwinkle fisheries are spatially discrete with a few high catch areas, and a larger proportion of spatially and temporally disparate low productivity fishing grounds. Similarly, catch is largely landed by a small number of highly active participants, with a larger number of primarily part-time fisheries. This fragmented nature (time, space, people) of the dataset creates challenges for applying standardisation models to establish a robust time-series. Primarily this manifests as highly volatile time-series, that can flip above or below Reference Points over consecutive years. In some fisheries, this challenge is addressed by fitting a multi-year running mean through catch rates, essentially smoothing the trend. While this might have the desired effect of removing hyper-variability in catch rates, it will slow action required as the stocks decline, as well slow catch increases under rebuilding. Preferably, we will instead use environmental variables, quantify fisher experience and make use of fine-scale location data on fishing activity in our catch rate standardization methods.
An additional complication in the Tasmanian Commercial Dive fishery is mixed species fishing. This feature is also present in a sub-set of assessment areas within the Tasmanian Abalone fishery where H. rubra and H. laevigata co-occur, as well as in the Central and Western Zone abalone fisheries in South Australia. Developing a clear catch rate signal in these mixed species fisheries is challenging and an optimal solution has not yet been found, although spatial and depth information most likely will enable differentiation of fishing grounds across species. Through this project we will engage with South Australia specifically to collaborate on logger based approaches to improve assessment of mixed species fishing regions.
As with abalone fisheries, TCDA divers are able to modify their in-water fishing behaviour (swim faster and further) to achieve desired daily catches which has the effect of masking decline in abundance. However, this is not the only form of hyperstability expected in the TCDA fisheries. The highly fragmented stock structure and diver experience are likely to interact to create a second form of hyperstability more common in emerging fisheries, and that is serial depletion, or at least serial fishing of discrete patches. This latter form of hyperstability occurs when more experienced divers with greater knowledge are able to move when more accessible patches become over-exploited.
Local scale depletion is addressed by the establishment of size limits for Wavy Periwinkle and the Shortspined Sea Urchin. Robust size limits have recently been adjusted for Wavy Periwinkle (increase from 30 to 45 mm; FRDC 2011-024) and Shortspined Sea Urchin (increase from 60 to 75 mm FRDC 2017-033); No size limit is intended to be set for range-extending Longspined Sea Urchin, as the objective in this fishery continues to be to achieve localised depletion.
From the 2022/2023 season diver GPS and depth loggers will be compulsory to collect detailed spatial information about the fishery. Several key divers have been using dataloggers for the past eight years, providing a valuable time-series from the more experienced TCDF fishers. The availability of such data creates a new opportunity and leads to the key aim of this project, to develop methodologies and tools to incorporate the detailed spatial catch data into formal stock assessment and harvest strategies. In doing so, methods to facilitate the accurate standardisation of historical logbook data to facilitate transition into logger data to preserving the continuum of the time series is required. The development of reliable fishery dependent assessment metrics is essential in these smaller fisheries where there is no scope for cost-prohibitive fishery independent surveys.
In summary, this project is needed to develop strategies to produce robust standardized catch rate trends, that can be utilized in an Empirical Harvest Strategy. Spatial based Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) measures and spatial performance indicators and indices of hyperstability will be critical to facilitate the creation of appropriate stock assessment and harvest strategies for small scale dive fisheries, including smaller haliotid fisheries.
Objectives: 1. Determine optimal methods for production of time-series trends by standardisation of spatially and temporally fragmented fishing events. 2. Contrast suitability of effort measured as dive time vs area fished as the basis for catch rates (catch/effort) for highly spatially discrete target species. 3. Develop a strategy for determining reference periods and reference points for use in an Empirical Harvest Strategy. 4. Adapt the Tasmanian abalone Empirical Harvest Strategy for use in the TCDF. 5. Test for the presence of hyperstability in catch rates within the TCDF, and where appropriate, develop options to modify Empirical Harvest Strategy Control Rule settings accordingly. 6. Identify additional performance measures for inclusion in the Empirical Harvest Strategy 7. To build the capacity and capability of key stakeholders to contribute to the development of Tasmanian Commercial Dive Fishery (TCDF) assessment methodology and harvest strategy, facilitate succession planning, and lay a foundation for dive fishery assessment development nationally. Read moreRead less
Determining Variation In Catchability Of Western Rock Lobsters To Standardise Important Abundance Indices Used For Stock Assessment
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$325,000.00
Summary
An outcome of a recent review of the WRL fishery (FRDC 2015-236) was to conduct a sensitivity analysis on a range of parameters utilised by the Western Rock Lobster (WRL) stock assessment model. This analysis highlighted that stock projections and MEY analysis are both sensitive to lobster assumptions associated with the catchability of lobsters during IBSS surveys. Recent stock estimates consider the population of the western rock lobster to be at record high levels. Therefore, even relatively ....An outcome of a recent review of the WRL fishery (FRDC 2015-236) was to conduct a sensitivity analysis on a range of parameters utilised by the Western Rock Lobster (WRL) stock assessment model. This analysis highlighted that stock projections and MEY analysis are both sensitive to lobster assumptions associated with the catchability of lobsters during IBSS surveys. Recent stock estimates consider the population of the western rock lobster to be at record high levels. Therefore, even relatively minor differences in lobster catchability can have profound effects due to the multiplicative effect of increased stock size. With the recent marine heatwave off the WA coast producing record-high, projected increases in water temperature, and the substantial increased population abundance and size composition, there are likely to have been substantial changes in the catchability of lobsters during the IBSS, which may be impacting on the stock projections being produced for the fishery. The continued reliance of the stock assessment on independent indices while commercial fishing patterns (fishery dependent indices) become more consistent, requires that the variation in lobster catchability during these surveys is accounted for. If industry seek to increase WRL quotas in future seasons to take full advantage of the recent free trade agreement with China, it will be beneficial if the stock assessment is based on reliable indices of abundance to determine the appropriate TAC. Setting the quotas too low would affect industry’s profitability, while setting them too high would reduce fishers’ catch rates, affect the spawning stock and risk the sustainability of the fishery. Accounting for the biases impacting on abundance indices use to drive the stock assessment model (thus improving the accuracy of the model) will allow the fishery to maintain fishing at an appropriate level that achieves its harvest strategy target of maximising its economic yield and maintains a healthy spawning stock.
Objectives: 1. Determine factors (environmental and biological) causing variation in trap catchability of western rock lobsters 2. Quantify the relationships between factors and western rock lobster catchability 3. Standardise the empirical indices used for western rock lobster stock assessment for effects of catchability Read moreRead less
Develop A Strong Current Warning System And Inform Knowledge Of The Nearshore Current Regime Influencing The Western Rock Lobster Fishery
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$199,000.00
Summary
By combining this greater coverage with information derived from commercial fishers (e.g. days when gear is drowned or lost to determine key current velocities) a purpose built webapp can be developed, hosted on an existing service, which allows fishers to asses the risks posed by ocean currents to their fishing operation before they set their gear. This would also allow for fishers to predict days when drowned gear may resurface and therefore the fishing operation may continue.
In addi ....By combining this greater coverage with information derived from commercial fishers (e.g. days when gear is drowned or lost to determine key current velocities) a purpose built webapp can be developed, hosted on an existing service, which allows fishers to asses the risks posed by ocean currents to their fishing operation before they set their gear. This would also allow for fishers to predict days when drowned gear may resurface and therefore the fishing operation may continue.
In addition to this helping the fishing operation, greater current modelling coverage over this part of the fishery will allow for the fine-scale assessment of the links between water movement and puerulus settlement. As part of FRDC project “2016-260 WRL IPA: assess causes and implications of anomalous low lobster catch rates in the shallow water areas near the centre of the Western Rock Lobster fishery” 40 additional puerulus collectors will be added to the current DOF monitoring program which will provide extensive coverage of settlement rates between Seven Mile, Dongara and Jurien Bay.
Objectives: 1. Establish additional coastal radar station 2. Establish a predictive warning system for ocean conditions that can be used by the WRL fishery to improve efficiency 3. Assess the relationship between water circulation and puerulus settlement rates Read moreRead less
Establishing A National End Of Life Fishing/aquaculture Gear Recovery System For Australia
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$273,080.00
Summary
Building on the circularity discussions and work being undertaken by FRDC and the industry, this project seeks to undertake the legwork required to establish a nationwide on-demand End of life (EOL) fishing gear recovery system for Australia and pilot it in key locations. The materials that many nets and ropes are made of are highly valuable and recyclable and in fact in many other countries, is already being recycled or remanufactured. Until now, having a national system has been cost prohibi ....Building on the circularity discussions and work being undertaken by FRDC and the industry, this project seeks to undertake the legwork required to establish a nationwide on-demand End of life (EOL) fishing gear recovery system for Australia and pilot it in key locations. The materials that many nets and ropes are made of are highly valuable and recyclable and in fact in many other countries, is already being recycled or remanufactured. Until now, having a national system has been cost prohibitive due to the large distances and need for economies of scale and limited local buyer interest. As a part of the national targets set by the Australian Government relating to plastics use and recycling, commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors have been exploring how to move to a circular economy model and reduce plastic inputs through a variety of projects run by FRDC and others. However, with fishing gear the biggest plastic polymer input, and contamination challenges, there has yet to be a suitable system established.
This project seeks to enable the opportunities that addressing EOL gear provides in Australia to the commercial fishing and aquaculture sector through the establishment of an effective EOL fishing gear recovery system for the country to reduce the landfill costs to industry. It seeks to build on the learnings from previous projects as well as the ten years of experience of our partner Bureo has in in operating an EOL fishing gear recovery program. Bureo currently have an EOL gear recovery system active in 9 countries.
The key objectives are: ● By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system implemented across key fishing ports, and key aquaculture centres benefiting regional communities and fisheries conservation and assisting the Australian Government to address plastic recovery/recycling targets. ● By the end of 2024, the enabling environment for an effective and fit for purpose EOL fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system is in place within Australia, with commencement of recycling underway in key pilot locations.
Objectives: 1. By March 2025 the feasibility of and logistical requirements are understood to establish a national end of life recovery system for commercial fishing and aquaculture gear in Australia and an enabling pathway for roll out created. 2. By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia implemented across at least 5 key fishing ports, with measurable benefits being delivered to regional communities, industry, conservation, while contributing towards the Australian Government’s recycling targets. Read moreRead less
Examining The Relationship Between Fishery Recruitment, Essential Benthic Habitats And Environmental Drivers In Exmouth Gulf
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$514,056.00
Summary
Stock status in the EGPMF is assessed by monitoring fishery-independent and fishery-dependent catch rates (used as indices of recruitment and spawning stock levels) relative to specified reference points. However, in recent years factors other than the spawning stock index appear to be responsible for low levels of prawn recruitment. Given recent indications that the distribution and abundance of seagrass habitats may influence prawn recruitment there is a need to better understand the rela .... Stock status in the EGPMF is assessed by monitoring fishery-independent and fishery-dependent catch rates (used as indices of recruitment and spawning stock levels) relative to specified reference points. However, in recent years factors other than the spawning stock index appear to be responsible for low levels of prawn recruitment. Given recent indications that the distribution and abundance of seagrass habitats may influence prawn recruitment there is a need to better understand the relationship between prawn recruitment, environmental conditions and habitats. Understanding these relationships is required to clarify the uncertainty around stock fluctuations and improve stock assessments. The information is also required so that management can be more cognisant of the impacts of environmental conditions on annual recruitment variability and implement adaptive management strategies, such as altering seasonal arrangements, to prevent overfishing.
Similarly, the recent MSC assessment of the EGPMF fishery has highlighted the need to clarify the uncertainty in fishery independent surveys and stock assessments including the influence of environmental factors on indices, and collect environmental and habitat data to detect changes in risk to habitat due to fishing including ongoing monitoring of critical habitat types.
Therefore, the development of broad scale fishery specific, cost effective monitoring techniques is essential to assess and monitor the association between critical fish habitats, environmental drivers and prawn recruitment. These techniques need to be developed at appropriate temporal and spatial scales to allow for early intervention of appropriate management measures, such as adjusting spatial and temporal closures, to ensure the long term sustainability of stocks and maintain MSC certification. Given that recruitment in a number of the State’s other invertebrate fisheries appears to be influenced by environmental drivers developing techniques to understand these relationships is a critical component of ensuring the management of WA’s fisheries resources is based on robust science.
Objectives: 1. Collate and review historical, satellite, habitat and environmental data for the Exmouth Gulf and Shark Bay ecosystems to identify factors that may influence recruitment. 2. Assess the ability of different techniques, at various spatial and temporal scales, to identify, assess and monitor critical fish habitat and environmental conditions which may affect recruitment patterns of prawns into the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery 3. Collect local environmental and productivity data to assess the feasibility of collecting broad scale data remotely. 4. Develop a cost effective monitoring program for critical fish habitat and environmental drivers which allows the development of mitigation measures to assist in alleviating poor recruitment events. Read moreRead less