This report was trying to establish, with one of the Japanese Companies who are longline fishing south of Tasmania, a contact so that in the future we can establish a radio contact and exchange fishing information so we can fish the same areas.

Since the beginning of the FIRTA GRANT we have established an export processing plant in Tasmania and purchased a Flake ice machine. Eventually when a longline fishery for fresh or frozen Tuna is established we will be able to take advantage of our premises and assist the industry with the right infrastructure and use it as a base. 

Our belief is that there is a longline Tuna fishery off Tasmania from time to time and being close enough inshore for smaller vessels using longline and troll lines. The opinion of the Japanese, however, is that although we believe in this inshore fishery, they say that it is well offshore where water currents, colour of the water and temperatures do not have such a large influence as inshore.

Water temperatures off the Tasmanian coast have definitely been higher over the past two years than ever before and this factor alone could be a major reason that Bluefin are non-existent inshore or at the most in exceptionally small quantities. 

Our Company is absolutely committed to ongoing experimentation in an endeavor to establish a longline fishery in Tasmania.

This project found and described a baculovirus similar to Monodon Baculovirus (MBV) that was called Plebejus Baculovirus (PBV) as it was in eastern king prawns (Penaeus plebejus). It later found it in Australian cultured Penaeus monodon.

The project investigated other conditions, particularly Hepatopancreatic Parvolike Virus (HPV) and Shann Bodies. Results were published in the scientific literature and presented at industry meetings. It was recommended that prawns be screened for the known virus infections in Australian prawns by subsamples of 25 prawns examined in H. and E. sections without stressing prawns for viral enhancement. Prawns were screened to be moved interstate for the governments of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and many examinations were carried out for individual prawn farmers. 4 papers and 7 reviews on prawn diseases were published.

In 1982, CSIRO applied to the Fishing Industry Research Trust Account for funding of a joint biological investigation of northern Australian pelagic fish stocks. At that time these stocks supported a Taiwanese surface gill-net fishery based on sharks, tunas and Spanish mackerel.

During the 1970's the total annual catch taken by the Taiwanese fishery from the area between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea averaged about 25,000 tonnes live weight. With declaration of the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) in 1979 the fishery came under Australian jurisdiction and management measures were introduced.

This study was initiated because of mounting government concern over the lack of research into the fishery, and because of increasing interest by industry in Australian exploitation of the resource. The program was a joint undertaking between CSIRO, the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industry and the State Fisheries of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The program aimed to provide information on the stock structure, migration, age and growth, recruitment and mortality of the principal species, and to examine the yield potential of the stocks and the potential for increased Australian participation in the fishery. It was particularly important to know whether the target species comprised single stocks or a number of discrete stocks across northern Australia. This information has implications for management of the foreign and domestic fisheries.