Assessing The Impact Of Marine Seismic Surveys On Southeast Australian Scallop And Lobster Fisheries
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$694,119.94
Summary
Seismic surveys are commonly undertaken within southeast Australian waters, often overlapping commercial fishing grounds. The fishing industry is now very concerned about the potential of intense low frequency acoustic signals produced during these surveys to disturb, harm or even kill fisheries species. The limited number of studies conducted to date generally report that fish can demonstrate behavioural responses to seismic activities, including startle and flight responses, displacement, disp ....Seismic surveys are commonly undertaken within southeast Australian waters, often overlapping commercial fishing grounds. The fishing industry is now very concerned about the potential of intense low frequency acoustic signals produced during these surveys to disturb, harm or even kill fisheries species. The limited number of studies conducted to date generally report that fish can demonstrate behavioural responses to seismic activities, including startle and flight responses, displacement, dispersal, and disruption of feeding or breeding activity. These behavioural responses could in turn result in changes in commercial catch rates. Conversely, the bulk of the available literature examining the effect of seismic surveys on invertebrates suggests that they may be relatively resilient to seismic sound. However, there have been very few dedicated studies of the effects of marine seismic surveys on invertebrates, and as such the testing protocols have not directly considered invertebrates. In the light of a general lack of well-designed studies examining the effect of marine seismic surveys on invertebrates and in the absence of any detailed specific studies on commercial scallops and southern rock lobster, fishers in both Victoria and Tasmania have lobbied for dedicated research targeting these valuable resources. This study aims to use a field and laboratory experimental approach to determine the impact of marine seismic surveys on these important fisheries species. The results obtained will also be broadly applicable to scallop and spiny lobster fisheries throughout Australia, and mollusc and crustacean fisheries in general.
Objectives: 1. Determine the impact of intense low frequency acoustic signals on adult southern rock lobsters, including berried (egg carrying) females 2. Determine the impact of intense low frequency acoustic signals on adult commercial scallops 3. Outline threshold distances for potential impacts of seismic surveying Read moreRead less
Oil And Gas: National Coordination - Seismic And Other Issues
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$426,973.59
Summary
The commercial fishing industry is under intense pressure from the O&G sector (exploration, seismic surveys, deployment of gear and now decommissioning of gear), jeopardising commercial fishing access rights, commercial fishing sustainability and potential commercial fishing resource impacts (such as Bass Strait scallop mortality) and overarching impacts on the broader marine environment (such as plankton mortality) for many fisheries.
The O&G industry also seeks relevant science to u ....The commercial fishing industry is under intense pressure from the O&G sector (exploration, seismic surveys, deployment of gear and now decommissioning of gear), jeopardising commercial fishing access rights, commercial fishing sustainability and potential commercial fishing resource impacts (such as Bass Strait scallop mortality) and overarching impacts on the broader marine environment (such as plankton mortality) for many fisheries.
The O&G industry also seeks relevant science to use within their environment plan submissions to offer the best ALARP practices regarding their interactions with the commercial fishing sector and the commercial fishing resource.
There is an urgent need for a national role coordinating O&G / commercial fishing specific R&D needs, seeking and updating available material and identifying gaps in the science with all materials to be available via a publicly accessible portal. Benefits for commercial fishers, O&G, eNGOs, students and the broader community.
Primary focus seismic activities plus other relevant science.
Current O&G / commercial fishing industry engagement is done in isolation with an inconsistent use of research (relevant or otherwise), inconsistent process, lack of uniformity of overarching messaging, lack of access to current and appropriate research and the duplication of work across all states.
Objectives: 1. Deliver a publicly accessible portal - a "one stop shop" for seismic research bibliographies, case studies and other relevant commercial fishing O&G information etc. 2. Deliver ongoing identification and qualification of relevant research papers and reference cases including annotated summaries to ensure relevance for ready and easy access by the commercial fishing sector, O&G and the broader community. 3. Deliver a set number of supported research applications relevant to the effects of oil and gas activities on commercial fishing / commercial fishing stocks etc, i.e. gap analysis and prioritisation. 4. Deliver a "best practice" document for commercial fishing representative bodies to use as a strong base for environment plan submissions. 5. Deliver a "best practice" document for commercial fishing representative bodies to use as a strong base and consistent process for fee-for-service environment plan consultation. Read moreRead less
Aquaculture is expanding not only overseas but also in Australia and this has attracted a cadre of young scientists with little experience in aquatic animal health. Although not all “aquatic” techniques are unique there are some aspects that are specific to aquatic technical skills and procedures. In addition, some of these inexperienced scientists/technologists feel that they are on their own and are even intimidated to request assistance. In some instances they don’t know where to go or whom ....Aquaculture is expanding not only overseas but also in Australia and this has attracted a cadre of young scientists with little experience in aquatic animal health. Although not all “aquatic” techniques are unique there are some aspects that are specific to aquatic technical skills and procedures. In addition, some of these inexperienced scientists/technologists feel that they are on their own and are even intimidated to request assistance. In some instances they don’t know where to go or whom to ask for input or direction. The “aquatic animal heath” discipline involves a relatively small number of specialists that do not get the opportunity to convene at meetings/workshops/ conferences as often as those involved in the terrestrial animal health sphere. The forum activities will include; 1) the planning and hosting of annual training workshop
2) further development of the established email discussion group
The forum would be open to all aquatic animal health specialists and industry personnel eg. fish farm staff who will be encouraged to register as a member of the forum. The forum will include annual workshops for participants with a variety of skills and levels of experience and who are resident at government laboratories, universities and colleges. This will build on the previous skills workshops that have been conducted in 2010 and 2011, which has assisted in the development of functional networks for the exchange of information and enhancement of the skills of the aquatic animal health service providers and on farm staff. In addition to developing a valuable national resource - a repository of technical knowledge – the forum provides mentoring to the new generation of laboratory technicians, students and staff at diagnostic laboratories, teaching institutions and aquaculture enterprises.
Objectives: 1. To further develop the email discussion group for the Aquatic animal health technical forum 2. To ensure the continuation of technical information transfer between forum members 3. To organise annual workshops at various institutes that provide specific aquatic animal health services. 4. To open the forum to international participation and thus enhancing the knowledge base of the forum members, for example exotic diseases. 5. To canvass State Departments for potential funding contributions to enable the continuation of the forum beyond 2015. Read moreRead less
Australia possesses significant coastal and near coastal oil and gas reserves within its continental shelf. It follows that oil and gas exploration (especially seismic) is also significant; especially in the the Bass Strait, Great Australian Bight and North-Western 'Kimberley' areas of Australia. Up until recently, the offshore regulatory framework which includes assessment of effects on the aquatic environment and engagement with other users has been somewhat nebulous and Offshore Industry driv ....Australia possesses significant coastal and near coastal oil and gas reserves within its continental shelf. It follows that oil and gas exploration (especially seismic) is also significant; especially in the the Bass Strait, Great Australian Bight and North-Western 'Kimberley' areas of Australia. Up until recently, the offshore regulatory framework which includes assessment of effects on the aquatic environment and engagement with other users has been somewhat nebulous and Offshore Industry driven, with the development of aquatic environmental benchmarks being based on the same process as offshore OH&S and butressed by disputed sometimes irrelevant science. Seismic expoloration in recent years has seen increased interaction between different aquatic ecosystems and marine users, resulting in a "contact" situation that was initially calamitous; but which has resulted in significant investment in Marine biological R&D, an increase in the deployment of the precautionary principle and marine environmental policy innovation.
Johnathon Davey (SIV) and Aaron Irving (NAC) will deliver a presentation that will draw on a number of aquatic environmental effects research project where Australia's fishing sectors were or are driving, policy innovations that we assisted in driving or supporting and case studies including the pearling Industry story, to provide a snapshot of the exciting work being undertaken in Australia currently in the marine environmental space with regard to the effects of seismic surveying and the ability for different users to play together successfully.
Objectives: 1. TO discuss issues relating to fisheries interactions in the marine environment Read moreRead less
Frequency-dependent seismic properties of cracked and fluid-saturated crustal rocks: a systematic laboratory study. Novel experimental techniques will be used to build a better laboratory-based understanding of the seismic properties of fluid-saturated crustal rocks. The outcome will be an improved capacity to monitor the presence of fluids in diverse situations ranging from geothermal power generation and waste disposal to earthquake fault zones.
Optimising Processes And Policy To Minimise Business And Operational Impacts Of Seismic Surveys On The Fishing Industry And Oil And Gas Industry
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$119,950.00
Summary
The fishing and the oil/gas industries have rights to operate their respective businesses in the marine environment. At sea, there is a degree of spatial/temporal overlap between marine seismic activity and established fishing grounds. For shared access to work effectively, a high level of respect, cooperation, communication, coordination and compromise is required between industries.
With some notable exceptions, many fishing operators in areas of high offshore prospectivity report ....The fishing and the oil/gas industries have rights to operate their respective businesses in the marine environment. At sea, there is a degree of spatial/temporal overlap between marine seismic activity and established fishing grounds. For shared access to work effectively, a high level of respect, cooperation, communication, coordination and compromise is required between industries.
With some notable exceptions, many fishing operators in areas of high offshore prospectivity report this doesn’t always occur. They feel as a result, their businesses are negatively impacted, with little if any recognition by the oil/gas industry. Importantly this does not only relate directly to loss of catch, possibly arising from seismic activity, but to disruptions at an operational and business level including; time and resources to input into the process, reduction of fishing opportunities during peak/open seasons and marketing/staffing issues (onshore and offshore) due to unplanned variations in fishing activity. Oil and gas explorers also report that interactions can negatively impact on their operations at high cost.
These issues were highlighted at a FRDC supported ‘Empowering’ workshop in 2011 attended by the fishing and oil/gas industries, agencies and researchers. It was agreed that a project designed to examine and improve processes and policies to minimise impacts of seismic surveys on operations and businesses was a priority.
Since then, National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) was established. This authority is the national regulator for a range of offshore oil and gas operations, including environmental management.
DPI Vic indicated the project approach is a long time coming and stressed the need for discussions before exploration leases are released, the benefits in educating both sectors on impacts of their activities on the other and the value this will provide in forward planning for both sectors to minimise negative interactions and optimise efficiency and profitability.
Objectives: 1. Review legislative consultation, notification and response processes and policies regarding interactions between fishers and seismic exploration activities 2. Use case studies to assess interactions and impacts between seismic exploration activities and the fishing industry 3. From case studies outline key areas and types of impacts experienced by businesses 4. Highlight key pathways within current legislative framework for both sectors to effectively raise and address concerns 5. Recommend improvements to current practices for both stakeholders to improve consultation and minimise impacts on both stakeholders 6. Identify key information needs from both sectors to aid consultation and minimise two-way impacts. Read moreRead less
The seismic significance of water and partial melting in planetary interiors. Novel laboratory techniques will be used to measure the influence of dissolved water on the seismic properties of the deep interiors of Earth and Moon. The outcome will be new insight into the crucial role of water in the formation and subsequent evolution of our dynamic planet and its more quiescent moon.
Taming the nonlinearity of geophysical inversions. This project will develop new ways to extract information from complex geophysical data sets used to construct images of the Earth's interior. Applications will be important to indirect imaging problems in the physical and engineering sciences and particularly to the discovery of resources within the Earth upon which Australian society is dependent.
Rapid Determination of Earthquake Sources in Australia. The Australasian region is at risk from both large earthquakes and tsunamis. Rapid and reliable determination of parameters such as depth and orientation of earthquake fault planes in real time is vital for an effective response. This project will greatly improve the quality of information inferred from seismic waveform data by using three-dimensional structural models of Earth and also provide valuable insight into the earthquake generatio ....Rapid Determination of Earthquake Sources in Australia. The Australasian region is at risk from both large earthquakes and tsunamis. Rapid and reliable determination of parameters such as depth and orientation of earthquake fault planes in real time is vital for an effective response. This project will greatly improve the quality of information inferred from seismic waveform data by using three-dimensional structural models of Earth and also provide valuable insight into the earthquake generation process. By comprehensively incorporating three-dimensional structural models in estimating earthquake sources, the project will be at the forefront of research worldwide. The science developed will underpin automated determination of characteristics of earthquakes and play a key part in efforts to mitigate the impact of tsunamis.Read moreRead less