Developing An Independent Shallow-water Survey For The Western Rock Lobster Fishery: Tracking Pre-recruitment Abundance And Habitat Change
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$445,500.00
Summary
The current method of measuring undersize lobster abundance (PRA) is based on catch data adjusted for multiple biases inherent in commercial monitoring, namely: water depth, water temperature, swell, fisher experience, pot type, escape gaps, pot pulling time, month and location. Biases are exacerbated by recent poor sample sizes, as many fishers choose not to fish in shallow-water areas. Developing a standardized, repeatable survey in shallow areas will provide an improved index of PRA that ca ....The current method of measuring undersize lobster abundance (PRA) is based on catch data adjusted for multiple biases inherent in commercial monitoring, namely: water depth, water temperature, swell, fisher experience, pot type, escape gaps, pot pulling time, month and location. Biases are exacerbated by recent poor sample sizes, as many fishers choose not to fish in shallow-water areas. Developing a standardized, repeatable survey in shallow areas will provide an improved index of PRA that can be incorporated into the stock modelling: this would improve the overall assessment. Currently fishery-independent survey data collection requires a minimum of two staff to process the catch and record information. Data entry is conducted by a third staff member. To increase cost effectiveness (for this and other lobster surveys), a more efficient data collection system is needed. Initial scoping has identified a number of possible solutions (e.g. app-based entry). This project will expand on this original scoping work to develop a solution. This will also benefit commercial lobster monitoring work conducted by DPIRD as well as a range of other surveys in similar pot based fisheries. This survey will also provide a platform for monitoring inshore WRL habitats. This will establish a baseline against which further research into the relationships between WRL and their near shore habitats can be undertaken. This will assist with detecting and quantifying habitat shifts that may impact the fishery. For example, there is anecdotal evidence that the heatwave temporarily modified some of these near shore habitats, leading to the altered relationship between puerulus and lobster recruitment. Long-term monitoring of juvenile habitats will likely provide a useful indicator of one of the factors affecting recruitment to the fishery. Objectives: 1. Produce accurate measures of pre-recruit abundance throughout the West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery. Compare with commercial monitoring undersize lobster abundance and puerulus settlement data. 2. Design and construct a more efficient data recording tool to increase the accuracy and speed of data collection. 3. Develop base-line habitat descriptions at all potting locations throughout the shallow water survey. 4. Determine the relationship between sampling rate required to detect different magnitudes of marine habitat change at these survey locations Read moreRead less
Developing A Cost-effective Monitoring Regime And Stock Assessment For Sand Flathead In Tasmania
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$703,700.00
Summary
Sand Flathead account for well over half of the total catch (by numbers) taken by marine recreational fishers in Tasmania and represent the mainstay of Tasmania's recreational fishery. Furthermore, since the recreational catch of sand flathead is more than 20 times the commercial catch, trends in commercial catch and catch rates are of little value in inferring changes in stock status. This has meant that fishery independent or novel assessment methods are required. To date, IMAS has implemente ....Sand Flathead account for well over half of the total catch (by numbers) taken by marine recreational fishers in Tasmania and represent the mainstay of Tasmania's recreational fishery. Furthermore, since the recreational catch of sand flathead is more than 20 times the commercial catch, trends in commercial catch and catch rates are of little value in inferring changes in stock status. This has meant that fishery independent or novel assessment methods are required. To date, IMAS has implemented a research program focused on sand flathead in the south-east of the state that provides a spatially restricted, perspective and semi-quantitative evaluation of stock condition. Given the significance of the species and a status of 'depleting' in the latest stock assessment report, there is a need to implement a more comprehensive stock monitoring approach throughout the state that can support the development of a spatially explicit quantitative stock assessment model. There is also a need to determine the appropriate spatial resolution to apply to the stock assessment model. As such, there is a need to understand the extent of adult movement and ontogenetic connectivity of regional sub-populations of sand flathead throughout Tasmania. In addition, by collation of biological data sets from historical studies and surveys conducted around Tasmania the extent and direction of potential changes in population size structures, and life history characteristics will be investigated. Where possible collated biological data will be used to assess spatial and temporal changes in life history characteristics to assess the implications of selective excessive fishing pressure and/or past and future climate change effects for this species. Objectives: 1. Review and collate available biological and fishery data collected on sand flathead within Tasmanian waters 2. Design, implement and assess the effectiveness of fishery dependent and fishery independent biological sample collection techniques for sand flathead 3. Determine the spatial and temporal variability of key life history characteristics and population structures of sand flathead 4. Investigate movement and connectivity of sand flathead within Tasmania 5. Develop a quantitative region-age-sex structured fishery assessment model for sand flathead 6. Identify management scenarios for consideration Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE240100131
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$539,000.00
Summary
Federated Omniverse Facilities for Smart Digital Futures. A world-first trans-disciplinary, -domain, and -institutional smart 3D omniverse R&D ecosystem AuVerse will be built in NSW, affiliated with Queensland, and accessible to academia and industry. AuVerse will support cloud-based, reality-virtuality-fused, immersive, interactive and secure future-oriented digital design, development, training and society. In the new era of digital innovation and paradigm shift, AuVerse will substantially boo ....Federated Omniverse Facilities for Smart Digital Futures. A world-first trans-disciplinary, -domain, and -institutional smart 3D omniverse R&D ecosystem AuVerse will be built in NSW, affiliated with Queensland, and accessible to academia and industry. AuVerse will support cloud-based, reality-virtuality-fused, immersive, interactive and secure future-oriented digital design, development, training and society. In the new era of digital innovation and paradigm shift, AuVerse will substantially boost Australia’s pivotal research leadership and business competitiveness in nurturing new-generation, collaborative and transformative digital R&D and talent pipeline. It will enable large-scale strategic business innovation and transformation including smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0.Read moreRead less
Towards Generalisable and Unbiased Dynamic Recommender Systems. This project aims to develop the foundations, including models, methodology, and algorithms for building generalisable and unbiased dynamic recommender systems to facilitate intelligent decision-making, prompt contextualised and personalised strategic plans, and support context-aware action recourse. To ensure that fundamental principles, such as fairness and transparency, are respected, a set of algorithms and techniques are propos ....Towards Generalisable and Unbiased Dynamic Recommender Systems. This project aims to develop the foundations, including models, methodology, and algorithms for building generalisable and unbiased dynamic recommender systems to facilitate intelligent decision-making, prompt contextualised and personalised strategic plans, and support context-aware action recourse. To ensure that fundamental principles, such as fairness and transparency, are respected, a set of algorithms and techniques are proposed to develop recommender systems in a more responsible manner. The result of this project will not only maintain Australia's leadership in this frontier research area, but also serve as an excellent vehicle for the education and training of Australia's next generation of scholars and engineers.Read moreRead less
DAFF National Agriculture Traceability Regulatory Technology Research And Insights Grant: Australian AgriFood Data Exchange - Ag Sector Traceability Transformation Delivered Through An Interoperable Data Platform And Exchange
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
Regulatory efficiency and compliance across agricultural supply chains is hindered by inefficient, incompatible or unavailable data and systems that prevent creation of robust, interoperable traceability solutions. The Australian AgriFood Data Exchange (AAFDX) will solve this challenge by creating a secure, cloud-based platform enabling government, industry and other participants to share, re-use and merge data from disparate systems in a secure, controlled manner. The AAFDX will be a modern, ef ....Regulatory efficiency and compliance across agricultural supply chains is hindered by inefficient, incompatible or unavailable data and systems that prevent creation of robust, interoperable traceability solutions. The Australian AgriFood Data Exchange (AAFDX) will solve this challenge by creating a secure, cloud-based platform enabling government, industry and other participants to share, re-use and merge data from disparate systems in a secure, controlled manner. The AAFDX will be a modern, efficient, internationally recognised data infrastructure enabling regulators and industry to better manage compliance, stimulate innovation and supply chain performance, assure consumers, coordinate biosecurity and export market access, through enhanced traceability. The funding will build the minimal viable product, with expansion to specific traceability and compliance applications. The AAFDX will endure beyond the funding period with partner co-investment and a user pays revenue stream Objectives: 1. Deliver a minimum viable product (MVP) of the Australian Agrifood Data Exchange services 2. Develop a platform that facilitates applications/solutions that increase traceability, productivity, compliance, profitability 3. Develop governance arrangements to ensure that data security, and in turn users trust in ag-tech is not compromised 4. Build digital maturity of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors to engage in the potential, permissioned shared data offers Read moreRead less
Responsible Fisheries And Aquaculture - Activating A Comprehensive Ecological, Social, And Governance (ESG) Reporting Data System To Uplift Sustainability And Traceability
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
Verification of fishing and aquaculture sustainability credentials is essential to increase consumer confidence, market access and community benefit. Sector performance currently centres on monitoring fish stocks & economic benefits. However, markets increasingly require traceable evidence of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) indicators such as provenance, safety, diversity, animal welfare, carbon, biodiversity to inform decisions. To meet this need, this project activates CSIROs Healthch ....Verification of fishing and aquaculture sustainability credentials is essential to increase consumer confidence, market access and community benefit. Sector performance currently centres on monitoring fish stocks & economic benefits. However, markets increasingly require traceable evidence of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) indicators such as provenance, safety, diversity, animal welfare, carbon, biodiversity to inform decisions. To meet this need, this project activates CSIROs Healthcheck ESG Fishing & Aquaculture data system by engaging industry, managers & researchers to identify data gaps and prioritise/collect essential indicators to allow more comprehensive ESG reporting. Data will be compatible and interoperable with existing catalogues/exchanges, for publishing to recognised sustainability frameworks (e.g. Status of Australian Fish Stocks, WhichFish, National Fisheries Plan, UN SDGs). Community surveys will allow adaptive prioritisation of future data/reporting needs. Objectives: 1. Activate an existing ESG data system (Healthcheck) with complementary ESG frameworks (Status of Australian Fish Stocks, Whichfish, Our Pledge, National Fisheries Plan, UN SDGs) and promote data use to increase traceability & sustainability of wild harvest fisheries, aquaculture operations and fish stocks (hereafter, F&A) 2. Increase the number of F&A reporting against ESG frameworks from 20 to 100 stocks (over 90 percent seafood value) 3. Address F&A priority data gaps 4. Increase data access & traceability through use of data exchanges 5. Use feasibility tested data to populate existing/emerging sustainability frameworks (e.g. Status of Australian Fish Stocks, National Fisheries Plan reporting, carbon & nature-based financial disclosure frameworks) and use verified sustainability credentials to demonstrate best practice (e.g. SIAs ‘Our Pledge’, Marine Stewardship Certification) 6. Be interoperable with related frameworks e.g. Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework, ‘Know & Show your Carbon Footprint’ (funded by Agricultural Innovation Australia) 7. Understand community sustainability sentiment to inform future data gap prioritisation and build confidence Read moreRead less
Measuring Non-commercial Fishing Catches (traditional Subsistence Fishing) In The Torres Strait In Order To Improve Fisheries Management And Promote Sustainable Livelihoods
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$250,288.00
Summary
Following the initial groundwork to assess community support and approaches for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program in the Torres Strait (Bedford et al 2021 - https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_monitoring_the_non-commercial_catch_in_torres_strait_update_06042021.pdf ), the following five steps were proposed: 1. Community consultation and sign on (engaging community re support for the suggested monitoring method). 2. Assess self-reporting web-based tool/AP ....Following the initial groundwork to assess community support and approaches for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program in the Torres Strait (Bedford et al 2021 - https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_monitoring_the_non-commercial_catch_in_torres_strait_update_06042021.pdf ), the following five steps were proposed: 1. Community consultation and sign on (engaging community re support for the suggested monitoring method). 2. Assess self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform design and development options (including data collection and storage options), through co-design with communities and Government to meet stakeholder needs. 3. Develop self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform, database and data flow infrastructure. 4. Community rollout – pilot (in some communities). 5. Community rollout – full-scale (to all communities).
The Torres Strait Scientific Advisory Committee (TSSAC) recommended that steps 1 and 2 (above) be undertaken first and they form the scope of this proposal.
As also noted in the TSSAC committee meeting of June 2021, the project was an initiative of the quota working group subcommittee of the Torres Strait Regional Authority Board, and identified as a priority by the Traditional Inhabitants (https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/tssac_79_meeting_record_final.pdf). In particular, by ‘improving estimates of non-commercial catch of commercial species to inform stock assessment and set sustainable catch levels, as well as determine the catch sharing between the sunset sector, and how much to allocate for community consumption, in order to protect Traditional non-commercial catches and help ensure sustainable management.’
As noted in the ‘Opportunity’ section of this proposal, this project help fill a range of needs for Torres Strait communities, including: • More accurate assessment of the Recommended Biological Catches of commercial species from all sources of fishing in the Torres Strait • Reliable assessments of ongoing catches from the substantial non-commercial sectors in the Torres Strait, including knowledge of future change in catches that may be due to pressures from fishing, coastal industry, climate change, other ecosystem regime change • Stronger ownership of marine resource management by Torres Strait communities, including ownership of non-commercial catch information, and supported by improved knowledge of the temporal and spatial dynamics of non-commercial catches.
The previous project also concluded that a non-commercial fishery monitoring program would have the best chance of success by gaining broad and committed acceptance by local communities and their leaders, with a strong co-design component. The need for this level of consultation was re-iterated by Traditional Inhabitants in several PZJA fishery management fora, including the TSSAC. This project is designed to meet that need.
The proposed project aligns strongly with the Torres Strait Fisheries Strategic Research Plan (https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/tssac_srp_2018-2022_post_tssac_final.pdf). In particular: • Theme 1: Protecting the Torres Strait marine environment for the benefit of Traditional Inhabitants; which is based on improving effective management of fishery stocks in order to support Traditional Inhabitant social and economic needs; which is an expectation of the improved fishery data outputs from the project. • Theme 2: Social and Economic Benefits; which promotes social and economic benefits for Traditional Inhabitants from Torres Strait fisheries; for example, through increased capacity required to manage the program and increased knowledge of any future changes in catches through space and time in the Torres Strait. • Theme 3: Technology and Innovation; which promotes the development of technology to support the economic, environmental and social benefits from the fishing sector.
This research project is co funded by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority of the Australian Government. Project co- investigators are Kenny Bedford, David Brewer and Timothy Skewes. Objectives: 1. Collate and review existing and new information about the potential options for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program as recommended by Bedford et al. (2021) 2. Assess the level of community need and support (or otherwise) for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program through a comprehensive and equitable community consultation and participation process throughout Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area communities 3. Develop cost and performance options for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program and its components (e.g. self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform; data management, storage and access; complimented surveys) to allow for an assessment of value (e.g. meeting needs, ease of use, maintenance and data use in stock assessments) Read moreRead less
Sailing The Marine Knowledge Landscape: Enhancing The Discoverability, Accessibility, And Usability Of FRDC Investment
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$80,000.00
Summary
Currently, there are only few mechanisms in place that attempt to synthesise the vast amount of research funded by Australia’s Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) in the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors and organisations outside the RDC space. Even fewer mechanisms exist that attempt to synthesise research from across the marine science space specifically, wherein which the Fisheries RDC (FRDC) operates.
The aim of this project is to input FRDC research into the RL ....Currently, there are only few mechanisms in place that attempt to synthesise the vast amount of research funded by Australia’s Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) in the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors and organisations outside the RDC space. Even fewer mechanisms exist that attempt to synthesise research from across the marine science space specifically, wherein which the Fisheries RDC (FRDC) operates.
The aim of this project is to input FRDC research into the RLA platform, thereby making it more discoverable, accessible, and usable. The RLA service offers various knowledge tools, which intend to be explored as part of this project also, to allow the FRDC to explore and better understand the marine science and agricultural innovation landscape. Furthermore, the project aims to make the RLA platform known within the wider marine science community and across different RDCs and encourage the adoption of the new capability to link industry and research.
This project expects to yield several benefits for actors both within and outside the fishing and aquaculture community. The RLA platform acts as a link between government, business, and research sectors. Inputting FRDC research into the RLA platform encourages collaboration and innovation between actors both within and outside the marine science space and facilitates knowledge transfer between these currently disconnected actors.
Objectives: 1. To share Fisheries Research and Development Corporation research project data to be made available on the Research Link Australia platform, thereby making it more discoverable, accessible, and usable. 2. To explore different knowledge tools (i.e., Research Link Australia-generated dashboards or applications of Large Language Models) to better understand the marine science space and explore the agricultural innovation landscape. 3. To make the Research Link Australia platform known within the wider marine science community and across different Research and Development Corporations and encourage the adoption of the tool. Read moreRead less
Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while pres ....Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while preserving the data privacy. These tools should provide significant benefits to the privacy of cloud users, as well as financial and reputation benefits to the IT industry, by significantly reducing the likelihood of massive user data privacy breaches in the event of a cyber-hacking attack on the cloud server.Read moreRead less
Knowledge To Improve The Assessment And Management Of Giant Mud Crabs (Scylla Serrata) In Queensland
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$689,479.00
Summary
Critical to the Harvest Strategy for the Qld Mud Crab Fishery are processes for monitoring and assessing fishery performance. Currently, the empirical and estimated indicators for this fishery are based on non-validated harvest and effort. Proposed fishery reforms (i.e., prior reporting of landings and 'market' tagging of harvested crabs) should improve harvest data reliability. Qld GMC are effectively a data-limited species because they cannot be reliably aged, associated effort data is incompl ....Critical to the Harvest Strategy for the Qld Mud Crab Fishery are processes for monitoring and assessing fishery performance. Currently, the empirical and estimated indicators for this fishery are based on non-validated harvest and effort. Proposed fishery reforms (i.e., prior reporting of landings and 'market' tagging of harvested crabs) should improve harvest data reliability. Qld GMC are effectively a data-limited species because they cannot be reliably aged, associated effort data is incomplete and potting is a passive fishing technique. Commercial CPUE may not represent changes in population abundance due to variable catchability, hyper-stability and serial depletion. Additionally, there is no index of female abundance nor a male:female ratio to inform spawning-recruitment relationships. It is generally assumed that conservative management of GMC ensures their sustainability. However, evidence from the Northern Territory Western Gulf of Carpentaria suggests that GMC are vulnerable to environmental events (drought + heat = 2015 cohort failure). Gaining a rudimentary understanding of critical aspects of the GMC life cycle in Qld would be prudent (i.e., female abundance, spawning vicinities).
A Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is a key aspect of reform to Qld fisheries. The initial TACs for Qld GMC were informed by a modified catch-MSY analysis (Northrop et al., 2019). Catch-MSY is widely applied in Australian fisheries to data-limited species (FRDC 2017/102). The assessment was performed at large spatial scales (East Coast and Gulf). However, this fails to capture regional variability in spawning-recruitment processes that impact on harvestable biomass e.g., larval dispersal due to oceanic circulation patterns and survival of juvenile crabs due to regional rainfall, flow, temperature, and sea level variations. The proposed research is needed (in the short-term) to gather appropriate quantitative biological information and to develop (for the long-term) a means to cost-effectively monitor Qld GMC populations to support a data-moderate stock assessment approach. The research also aims to address some of the critical knowledge gaps in GMC life history that have been unresolved for over 40 yrs. Objectives: 1. Assess the utility of next generation genetic analysis to inform spatial stock structure of the Giant Mud Crab (Scylla serrata), using South East Queensland and northern New South Wales as a case study. 2. Develop and assess the feasibility of ‘survey’ pots suitable for long-term implementation as a means of monitoring Giant Mud Crabs. 3. Gather key quantitative biological information on Giant Mud Crabs relevant to assessment and management, including the use of tagging studies and a pilot evaluation of means to understand the spawning migration of female Giant Mud Crabs. Read moreRead less