Agencies responsible for management of the aquaculture industry in collaboration with industry stakeholders are committed to incorporating principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) into aquaculture regulatory processes (Fletcher 2004). One of the key objectives of ESD is "to protect biological diversity and maintain essential ecological processes and life-support systems". Addressing the ecological impacts of an overabundant legacy population of Silver Gulls in close proximity to tuna operations in Port Lincoln has been identified as a priority by ASBTIA, in consultation with DEW and PIRSA, to address this ESD objective.

The project is a collaboration between resource management agencies and the tuna aquaculture industry in Port Lincoln. It seeks to expand on the research of Harrison (2010) to assess a three-year trial of Silver Gull egg oiling on selected off-shore islands near Port Lincoln and its impact on local reproductive success and population numbers of Silver Gulls. In doing so it aims to assess the efficacy of egg oiling as a possible management technique to control growth of Silver Gull populations and thereby reduce the current detrimental economic, social and environmental impacts associated with recent increases in Silver Gull numbers in the Port Lincoln region.

Information provided through the research project will inform any ongoing monitoring and management of over-abundant Silver Gull populations within the frameworks of the region's National Park Management Plans and within PIRSA Aquaculture policy objectives. The efficacy of egg oiling and indices measured in the project will also be assessed to provide guidance on any future egg oiling management intervention.