Project number:
2018-124
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$1,345,640.04
Principal Investigator:
Philippe Ziegler
Organisation:
University of Tasmania
Project start/end date:
26 Nov 2018
-
30 Mar 2021
Contact:
FRDC
SPECIES
For the sustainable management of the HIMI fishery, AFMA and the Australian fishing industry require further research to (1) support and improve data collection programs, (2) reduce sources of uncertainty in icefish and toothfish assessments, (3) provide avenues for adaptation of the fishery to climate change, and (4) monitor, evaluate and mitigate fish and skate/ray bycatch, seabird bycatch and cetacean depredation. There is also a need to support Australian research activities in CCAMLR’s exploratory fisheries, in particular in developing research plans and delivering progress towards the development of a sustainable toothfish harvest strategy in the AAT.
1. Support and improve the collection of biological, ecological and population dynamics data for key target and bycatch species in the toothfish and icefish fisheries at Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI), in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) and in the Ross & Amundsen Seas
2. Provide robust estimates of key population parameters (growth, reproduction, recruitment, mortality, and movement) and their uncertainty for toothfish, mackerel icefish, and key bycatch species at HIMI and in the AAT
3. Develop, implement and improve stock assessment methods that account for species population dynamics and ecosystem linkages, and uncertainty in key parameters and processes at HIMI and in East Antarctica
4. Evaluate environmental impacts on the HIMI fishery and develop adaptation strategies to climate change on the Kerguelen Plateau
5. Monitor, evaluate and mitigate fish and skate/ray bycatch, seabird bycatch and cetacean depredation in the HIMI longline fleet
Final report
ISBN:
978-1-876934-38-5
Authors:
Philippe Ziegler
Dirk Welsford
Dale Maschette
Tim Lamb
Simon Wotherspoon
Jaimie Cleeland
Genevieve Phillips
Gabrielle Nowara
James Dell
Bryn Farmer and Andy Nicholls
Final Report
•
2022-04-01
•
10.55 MB
2018-124-DLD.pdf
This collaborative project between the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) addressed key research needs between 2018 and 2020 for Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), Antarctic Toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) and Mackerel Icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) which are targeted by Australian fishing vessels at Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI), Macquarie Island (MI) and in exploratory fisheries managed by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) and the Ross and Amundsen Seas. The project substantially advanced our understanding of the population dynamics of Toothfish and Icefish, in particular it provided robust estimates of key population parameters, and updated and improved the stock assessments for these species at HIMI. Significant work was also conducted to evaluate seabird interactions in the HIMI Toothfish longline fishery, assess skate bycatch at HIMI, and advance research towards the development of an integrated stock assessment for Toothfish in the AAT.
