Environmental Flows for Sub-Tropical Estuaries: Understanding the Freshwater Needs for Sustainable Fisheries Production and Assessing the Impacts of Water Regulation
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Queensland the Smart State Environmental flows for sub-tropical estuaries: understanding the freshwater needs of estuaries for sustainable fisheries production and assessing the impacts of water regulation Compiled by Ian Halliday and Julie Robins Final Report FRDC Project No. 2001/022 Coastal Zone Project FH3/AF C 0042 PR07-2901 ISBN 978 0 7345 0364 0 The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) seeks to maximise the economic potential of Queensland’s primary industries on a sustainable basis. This publication has been compiled by Ian Halliday and Julie Robins [Sustainable Fisheries Unit, Animal Science, Delivery]. While every care has been taken in preparing this publication, the State of Queensland accepts no responsibility for decisions or actions taken as a result of any data, information, statement or advice, expressed or implied, contained in this report. © The State of Queensland, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, the Coastal Zone Cooperative Research Centre and the Fisheries Research Devlopment Corporation 2007. Copyright protects this material. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), reproduction by any means (photocopying, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise), making available online, electronic transmission or other publication of this material is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Inquiries should be addressed to: Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Unit Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries GPO Box 46 Brisbane Qld 4001 or [email protected] Tel: +61 7 3404 6999 CZCRC and FRDC Final Report Environmental Flows for Fisheries in Sub-tropical Estuaries Contents NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................1 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR ...........................................................................................................................3 OBJECTIVES ...........................................................................................................................................3 OUTCOMES ACHIEVED TO DATE.....................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 4 BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................................ 4 What does water do in estuaries?................................................................................................... 4 Anthropogenic changes to freshwater flows into estuaries...............................................................5 How is water managed and how has water management changed recently? .....................................5 Environmental flow allocations .......................................................................................................5 Feasibility of allocating freshwater flows for estuaries .................................................................... 6 What implication does the research have for fisheries management? .............................................. 6 Estuarine fisheries of Queensland and the CZCRC management study areas.................................... 6 NEED .................................................................................................................................................. 6 Freshwater allocations to sustain fisheries .....................................................................................6 Logical frameworks for research leading to new procedures and methods ........................................7 Enhancing the research outcomes - integrating across research disciplines .....................................7 CHAPTER 1. REVIEW OF RAINFALL/RIVER FLOW AND ESTUARINE FISHERIES LANDINGS................. 8 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 8 DATA CONSIDERATIONS ...........................................................................................................................10 Rainfall ........................................................................................................................................10 Freshwater flow ............................................................................................................................10 Water temperature .......................................................................................................................10 Fisheries data............................................................................................................................... 11 ANALYTICAL APPROACHES ........................................................................................................................ 11 Choosing appropriate spatial and temporal scales......................................................................... 11 Use of running means................................................................................................................... 12 Lagged variables .......................................................................................................................... 12 Assumed linearity of the relationship ............................................................................................ 12 In summary .................................................................................................................................. 12 REVIEW OF PUBLISHED STUDIES.................................................................................................................. 13 Penaeid prawns............................................................................................................................ 13 Finfish fisheries............................................................................................................................ 15 Other species – crabs, oysters and octopus...................................................................................16 In summary ..................................................................................................................................16 CHAPTER 2. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................25 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................25 METHOD AND APPROACH......................................................................................................................... 26 Assessment of life history ............................................................................................................ 26 Analysis of catch data.................................................................................................................. 28 LIFE HISTORY ASSESSMENTS .................................................................................................................... 28 Banana prawns (Penaeus merguiensis) ........................................................................................ 28 Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) ........................................................................................................32 Mullet (Mugil cephalus) ................................................................................................................37 King threadfin (Polydactylus macrochir) ....................................................................................... 40 Blue threadfin (Eleutheronema tetradactylum)...............................................................................41 Mud crabs (Scylla serrata).............................................................................................................43 CHAPTER 3. CORRELATING CATCH AND FRESHWATER FLOW .................................................... 45 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................................45 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................45 METHODS .......................................................................................................................................... 46 Study areas................................................................................................................................. 46 Fisheries catch data......................................................................................................................47 Contents i CZCRC and FRDC Final Report Environmental Flows for Fisheries in Sub-tropical Estuaries Additional factors considered ...................................................................................................... 48 Freshwater flow and other relevant abiotic data............................................................................ 48 Analysis of data........................................................................................................................... 49 RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................................