Tactical Research Fund: Adapting to change - minimising uncertainty about the effects of rapidly-changing environmental conditions on the Queensland Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery

Funded Activity Summary

TC Hamish (Category 5) traversed the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in early March 2009, surpassing all previous storms in intensity, duration and maximum track length over reef structure. Hamish neatly bisected the major line fishing grounds of the Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery (CRFFF), crossing the GBR east of Bowen then drifting southeast through the GBR southern section. The section of the GBR affected historically produces 70% of the annual landings taken by the commercial fleet as well as supports significant charter businesses and recreational fishing opportunities.

Commercial fishers were first to witness structural damage caused by TC Hamish with many reefs reported as receiving extreme damage (loss of live coral). Swift response by AIMS long term monitoring confirmed these reports showing some Mackay reefs suffering reductions from >75% to <10% live coral cover.

TC Hamish may have also caused marked decreases in Sea Surface Temperature (SST) similar to TC Justin (March 1997). TC Justin was a long-lived (24 days) system with an unusually large cloud mass, which cooled SST by 40C. Anecdotally, the unseasonal water cooling depressed CPUE of coral trout, and was responsible for an anomalous northward shift in the distribution of red throat emperor.

Within two weeks of Cyclone Hamish, the commercial CRFFF fleet began adapting to the poor fishing and low CPUE in southern GBR waters, with some vessels relocating to northern unaffected fishing grounds (thereby causing potential indirect consequences for northern fishers) and others choosing to remain “tied-up” to the wharf.

A significant threat of global climate change is that the frequency of intense storms may increase. Investigating the effects of extreme weather events on fishing and associated industries is a high priority. The need also extends to exploring the adaptive ability of all stakeholder groups in circumventing the negative impacts of such events.


Objectives:
1. Use fishery independent UVC methods to estimate reef structural damage and fish abundance on the frequently sampled Effects of Line Fishing reefs.
2. Determine the real time effects of Tropical Cyclone Hamish on the catch composition and catch rates of each fishing sector within the CRFFF.
3. Investigate correlations of variant catch composition and CPUE with archived abiotic data and AIMS LTMP structural damage surveys.
4. Determine the socio-economic effects of TC Hamish on the commercial and charter CRFFF, including exploring adaptability of the fleet, vulnerability to future environmental events, and steps for reducing or mitigating this vulnerability.
5. Describe retrospectively the changes in the CRFFF catch composition and CPUE resulting from an unusually long duration storm event (Tropical Cyclone Justin, March 1997) compared with a short duration but high severity storm event (Tropical Cyclone Larry, March 2006).

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-08-2009

End Date: 30-04-2010

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $74,927.00

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

Ecosystem restoration | Ecosystem | Fisheries Management | Fishing Gear | Oceanography | Policy | Social Science | Survey | Wild Catch

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