At the National Abalone Health Workplan Priority Setting Workshop held on 18 June 2008 in Melbourne, attended by representatives from DPI Victoria, SARDI, FRDC, VADA, TAC, EZAIA), AAGA, ACA, CSIRO, DPIW Tasmania, RecFish, DAFF and NSW DPI, it was agreed that to address the main epidemiological questions research should be focussed on 4 areas:
1) Development of diagnostics techniques with the highest priorities being:
- Technique to isolate and concentrate the virus from abalone tissues (addressed in FRDC Project 2007/006)
- A rapid and specific diagnostic test-development of a validated PCR-test for the AVG virus (addressed in FRDC Project 2007/006)
- Secondary diagnostic test (ISH development addressed in FRDC Project 2007/006)
- Validation of diagnostic tests (partly addressed in proposed extension of FRDC Project 2007/006 (PCR) and this project (ISH validation))
- Rollout of diagnostic tests across the States (addressed in proposed extension of FRDC Project 2007/006)
- Distribution of infective dose in tissues (to be addressed by this proposal)
2) Disease aetiology and transmission with the highest priorities being:
- Other bio-vectors and abiotic factors (to be addressed by this proposal)
- Determination of the susceptibility of remnant populations following exposure to AVG (to be addressed by this proposal)
3) Virus inactivation with the highest priorities being:
- Determine the viability of the AVG virus, including disinfection efficacy; efficacy of treatments (to be addressed by this proposal)
- Survival of the virus in seawater (to be addressed by this proposal)
- Survival of the virus on fomites (to be addressed by this proposal)
4) Disease surveillance and modelling with the highest priorities being:
- National survey of stocks to determine current distribution of the virus, including latency, and resistance status of stocks (partly addressed by this proposal)
- Determine the mode(s) of spread of the AVG (not addressed)

Over two decades ago Dr Burke Hill (in the FIRTA report on Queensland's Mud Crab Fishery) recommended a trial period allowing the take of females provided there was a monitoring programme in place to evaluate the result. Such a trial has not yet been implemented, and while much excellent work on mud crabs has been done in recent years, it is not sufficient to answer the 'big-picture' question of sustainability.

Information based on empirical data is needed to inform the Mud Crab Fishery Management Plan development process. At present there are many points of view about the relevance and need for the SSHP, but there is little hard evidence.

For some years industry has argued for a relaxation of the legislation, bringing it into line with that in NSW and NT. However without scientific evidence management is reluctant to change the status quo, and in turn FRDC has been unwilling to fund the necessary work because of a perception that the recommendations may not implemented. DPI&F is now actively seeking ways to improve the profitability of the State’s fishing industry, and a relaxation of the SSHP has been endorsed by all parties as one way to achieve this aim.

There are two primary issues that need addressing in relation to changing the SSHP – sustainability and profitability. The risks associated with both need to be determined objectively before a decision can be made to progress any investigation into the effects of the policy.

The project aligns closely with the DPI&F joint priorities of industry profitability and sustainability, and directly addresses QFIRAC Key R&D Topic #3 - A critical evaluation of management strategies to optimise the soci-economic value of portunid crab fisheries, particularly in terms of the potential value and/or ecological impact of altering the current single-sex harvest policy in Queensland.

This project is needed to assess the potential for increasing catches of sardine in the fisheries off SA (i.e. SASF) and the East Coast (i.e. NSW Ocean Haul Fishery and SPF).

For the SASF, information on the patterns and rates of movement of sardines between the Great Australian Bight (where the majority of the spawning biomass is located) and southern Spencer Gulf (where most fishing is conducted) is needed to determine whether (or not) future potential increases in the TAC should be accompanied by the establishment of zones within the fishery.

For the NSW Ocean Haul Fishery and SPF, information on the patterns and rates of movement of sardines along the East Coast is needed to assess the extent to which estimates of spawning biomass from northern NSW and southern Qld waters reflect the size of the entire sardine stock off eastern Australia.