Statistics on Australian fisheries production and trade seeks to meet the needs of the fishing and aquaculture industry, fisheries managers, policymakers and researchers. It can assist in policy decisions, industry marketing strategies and the allocation of research funding or priorities. The gross value of production for specific fisheries are used for determining the research and development levies collected by government.

The neutrality and integrity of GVP estimates is therefore important due to their forming the basis for research levies for each fishery. At the international level, the Department of Agriculture through the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) contributes to a number of international databases. These include databases managed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Information at the international level can assist in international negotiations on issues such as trans-boundary fisheries and analysis of trade opportunities.

Skates (Rajidae) represent the greatest biomass of incidental bycatch caught in the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) longline fishery operating within Australian EEZ waters around HIMI in the Southern Ocean. Due to their life history characteristics of slow growth and late maturation, their populations are particularly vulnerable to fishing mortality which can lead to overall and localised population declines. As bycatch managed species, sustainable bycatch limits are informed by a stock assessment (using the Generalised Yield Model) which models long-term population viability. Such models can be sensitive to the input parameters of assumed total fishing mortality. Currently, in the HIMI fisheries, only retained skates are counted towards fishery removals, but the overall fisheries-induced mortality may be substantially higher due to the high number of skates released after capture and the unknown, but potentially low, post-release survival. Post-release survival becomes increasingly important as the scale of discarding increases; with ~90% of all skate bycatch in the HIMI longline fishery being released it is imperative that post-release survival is quantified to get an accurate estimate of total fishing mortality.

This project aims to quantify post-release survival of Bathyraja spp. skates caught in the deep waters of the Kerguelen Plateau using the latest in pop-up satellite tag technology. In doing so, this project will improve the estimation of total fishing mortality to inform the skate bycatch assessment model and the estimation sustainable yield. Thus, it supports the Commonwealth Research Advisory Committee 2018-2021 Research Development and Extension (RD&E) Plan by addressing the following priority area actions:
Program 1. Environment
• Better Assessment Approaches, and Harvest and Management Strategies
o By quantifying post-release survival we provide a demonstrable improvement in fisheries removals data quality and decision-making by providing evidence-based recommendations for setting accurate bycatch limits.
• Better Managed Fishing Impacts and Interactions
o By underpinning accurate bycatch limits with accurate long-term population viability estimates we enable fisheries managers to demonstrate environmentally sustainable bycatch management practices.

In addition to the COMRAC RD&E Plan, this project addresses the following priority area outcomes within the Southern Ocean Industry Partner Agreement RD&E Plan:
Program 1. Environment
• TEP and bycatch management:
o The need to monitor skate/ray bycatch by providing accurate estimates of total predicted fishing mortality based on past and current catches.
o Develop stock assessment approaches for skate bycatch species (which are generally not retained for commercial use) by integrating quantified fishing mortality estimates into the stock assessment model.
o Provide post-release survival estimates and insight into behavioural ecology of deep-water skates for development of a risk assessment for multiple incidental bycatch species.
Program 2. Industry
• Management efficiency
o By resolving a key component of uncertainty in the stock assessment this project reduces risk in fisheries management decision-making processes by improving accuracy in bycatch limit recommendations.

Furthermore, this project meets the primary objectives of the AFMA Strategic Research Plan (2017-2022), namely to collect appropriate information to support stock assessments, support the management of Commonwealth fisheries, and inform policy development [Research Strategy 1a]. The results of this study will also inform fisheries managers on appropriate specifications for the release and retention of caught skates.

This project will harness existing information to implement strategic and cost-effective data collections on the abundance of key species of reef fishes in Tasmania along gradients in environmental condition and fishing intensity. The outcomes are intended to improve current stock assessment approaches and to establish a fishery-independent monitoring program that will help ensure the long-term sustainability of some of the most productive commercial fisheries in the state. More specifically, the project aims to collate data on reef fish abundance and movements collected in the context of multiple previous research projects, and to collect new data that fill current gaps in knowledge about localised population depletion as well as population dynamics across different types of reef habitats. For Wrasse, our findings are expected to inform the appropriate scale of annual assessments of trends in catch, effort, and catch rates. The findings will further be used to define management units for data-poor stock assessment approaches, including “catch-only” methods. Importantly, for Banded Morwong, the study will be designed to address two critical sensitivities related to both the structure and parameterisation of the current stock assessment model, which is a fundamental tool in support of decisions on the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for this species. Both model sensitives relate to current assumptions about the relative abundance and exchange of individuals among shallow and deep-water (>30 m) reef habitat, which are highly uncertain but have fundamental implications for management decisions on current and future TACs.

Australia’s fisheries span a large area of ocean. Australia has the world’s third largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with an area of over 8 million km2. This zone contains mainly Commonwealth managed fisheries, with State jurisdictions mainly in coastal waters up to the 3 nautical mile limit. Australia's total wild-catch fisheries gross value of production is $1.6 billion, of which 28% is from Commonwealth fisheries and 72% from the smaller coastal inshore fisheries managed by state jurisdictions. The wildcatch fisheries sector employs about 10,000 people across Australia (https://www.awe.gov.au/abares/research-topics/fisheries/fisheries-and-aquaculture-statistics/employment).

The commercial fishing industry has a network of thousands of vessels working mainly in inshore waters around Australia. They can supply a potential platform for extensive and fine scale spatial and temporal monitoring of the waters of the continental shelf (0-1200m), from the surface to the ocean floor. Given that their livelihoods depend on it, they have a keen understanding of oceanographic conditions with respect to fish behaviour, feeding and spawning and the various oceanographic factors that may influence this. In some fisheries (e.g. surface tuna longlining), fishers eagerly seek and use readily available fine-scale oceanographic data such as sea surface temperature and sea level, to improve their targeting and achieve higher resultant catch rates. For many other fisheries, however, it is the fine-scale sub-surface oceanographic conditions (feed layers, thermoclines, temperature at depth etc) that have a critical influence on their fishing dynamics. Unfortunately, this type of oceanographic data is far less readily available. Although fishers and scientists know these factors are important, the time series of fine scale spatial and temporal data relevant to fishery operations is not available to include in stock assessments. As a result, it is often assumed that variations in catch rates reflect changing stock abundance, when it may simply be a result of changing oceanographic conditions.

Marine scientists collect a vast range of oceanographic data using satellites, subsurface drones, and static and drifting buoys. Sea surface data, however, is much easier and more cost-effective to collect at high spatial and temporal resolutions than sub-surface data. Hence, understanding of sub-surface oceanographic conditions tends to be derived from modelling more than actual measurement. This may be sufficient at a wide-scale global or continental level, but it is not adequate at the fine-scale spatial and temporal resolution required for fisheries management.

The use of commercial fishing gear as a research data platform has been increasing in popularity internationally (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.485512/full). A number of groups in Europe have been doing this for a decade (e.g Martinelli et al 2016), and New Zealand are also now involved (https://www.moanaproject.org/te-tiro-moana). However, this approach has yet to be implemented in Australia in a coordinated way. In particular, our approach dictates open access data served through the IMOS Australian Ocean Data Network (www.aodn.org.au) that can be collected once and used many times.

In this project we intend to instrument seafood sector assets (e.g Trawl Nets, longlines, pots) with fit-for- purpose quality-controlled (QC'd) temperature/pressure sensors to increase the sub-surface temperature data coverage around Australia’s shelf and upper slope regions (0-800m) at low cost. Not only will this assist in the collection of data at relevant spatial and temporal scales for use by fishers, but it will also provide a far more extensive level of QC’d data to oceanographers in near real time (NRT) for evaluation and ingestion into data-assimilating coastal models that will provide improved analysis and forecasts of oceanic conditions. In turn, this will also be of value to the fishing sector when used to standardise stock assessments.

Martinelli, M., Guicciardi, S., Penna, P., Belardinelli, A., Croci, C., Domenichetti, F., et al. (2016). Evaluation of the oceanographic measurement accuracy of different commercial sensors to be used on fishing gears. Ocean Eng. 111, 22–33. doi: 10.1016/J.OCEANENG.2015.10.037

This project is about helping people look after fish and farms.

Most water diversions in Australia are either unscreened or use outdated ‘trash racks’. These are poor performers – providing very little protection against the entrainment of native fish and debris. As a result, millions of native fish are lost from our waterways ever year and farmers needlessly suffer debris in their irrigation systems, which can damage pumps, clog filters and block sprinklers.

Modern fish-protection screens are available for use in Australia. They keep fish and debris where they belong – in the river and out of irrigation infrastructure. They have the potential to provide significant, widespread benefits for both biodiversity and businesses. Early accounts from farmers at over 20 showcase sites across the Murray-Darling Basin show that farmers are already saving time and money through reduced labour and maintenance costs. However, this evidence is largely anecdotal. There is a real need to rigorously document and communicate the environmental and economic benefits of modern screens. Being able to document these benefits will enable screening to move from an international best practice which is poorly applied in Australia, to common-practice in Australia.

The proposed project fills a critical knowledge gap in the evolution of modern fish screening in Australia, by recording and articulating the public and private value proposition of modern screens across a range of farming systems. Doing so will (1) improve farmer awareness and understanding of modern screening technology; (2) inform farmers’ decision-making, to maximise returns on investment; and, (3) guide prioritisation and integration of screening in large-scale conservation and fisheries management policy. Ultimately, this project aims to support adoption of screens where they are most beneficial to deliver benefits for rivers, fish and farms.