Reviewing solutions to reduce unwanted fisher interactions with elasmobranchs

Funded Activity Summary

This project will build on the 2022 FRDC National Workshop on Shark Depredation (project number 2021-038) and have four complementary phases through: (1) a detailed review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify and assess the efficacy of the most recently developed mitigation methods, (2) a survey of the scientific community and fishing-industry stakeholders (i.e. fishers, industry representatives, managers) to identify lesser known methods developed and/or used by fishers, (3) a series of workshops to identify the most promising approaches for mitigating depredation and plan the design of field trials, with a stop/go point occurring at the end of this phase based on whether suitable methods are found, and if so, (4) a robust experimental trial of the most promising mitigation method(s) to assess their effectiveness at reducing shark depredation. Phase 4 would be dependent on whether suitable methods can be identified through Phases 1–3. Stakeholder involvement and outreach will be a critical part of this project across all phases. The findings of this project will be widely disseminated via presentations to fishing clubs and industry members, written articles in the FRDC and fishing magazines, a final project report and subsequent peer reviewed publications. All off these outreach activities will be conducted in collaboration with the FRDC Extension Officer network. This will ensure broad adoption of the identified depredation mitigation measure(s).

Objectives:
1. Review the existing peer-reviewed and grey literature to collate information on the range of methods trialled to date for reducing shark interactions with fishing and assess their relative effectiveness
2. Survey of the scientific community and fishing-industry stakeholders (i.e. fishers, industry representatives, managers) to identify lesser known methods developed and/or used by fishers which may not have been formally discussed or tested in the peer-reviewed or grey literature.
3. Conduct industry workshops to identify the most promising and practical approaches for mitigating depredation and plan a robust experimental design for future trials
4. Based on the outcomes of Objectives 1–3, conduct robust experimental trials of the most promising mitigation method(s)
5. Extend the results of the workshops and on-water testing to the wider fishing community to facilitate broad adoption of the tested mitigation method(s) (should they prove effective)

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 15-02-2024

End Date: 15-10-2026

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $375,390.00

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Depredation | RAC NSW | RAC NT | RAC QLD | RAC WA | Threatened Endangered Protected Species

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