Small Pelagics Research Co-Ordination Program
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Small Pelagics Research Co-ordination Program Colin David Buxton January 2017 FRDC Project No 2013/064 © 2017 Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved. Small Pelagics Research Co-ordination Program 2013/064 2016 Ownership of Intellectual property rights Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this publication is owned by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and Colin Buxton & Associates Pty Ltd This publication (and any information sourced from it) should be attributed to Buxton, C.D., 2016. Small Pelagics Co- ordination Program. Final Report FRDC Project 2013/064. Colin Buxton & Associates. Creative Commons licence All material in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence, save for content supplied by third parties, logos and the Commonwealth Coat of Arms. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence is a standard form licence agreement that allows you to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt this publication provided you attribute the work. A summary of the licence terms is available from creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en. The full licence terms are available from creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode. Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of this document should be sent to: [email protected] Disclaimer The author does not warrant that the information in this document is free from errors or omissions. The author does not accept any form of liability, be it contractual, tortious, or otherwise, for the contents of this document or for any consequences arising from its use or any reliance placed upon it. The information, opinions and advice contained in this document may not relate, or be relevant, to a readers particular circumstances. Opinions expressed by the author are the individual opinions expressed by this person and are not necessarily those of the publisher, research provider or the FRDC. The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation plans, invests in and manages fisheries research and development throughout Australia. It is a statutory authority within the portfolio of the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, jointly funded by the Australian Government and the fishing industry. Researcher Contact Details FRDC Contact Details Name: Prof Colin D Buxton Address: 25 Geils Court Address: Colin Buxton & Associates Deakin ACT 2600 27 Wandella Avenue, Taroona 7053 Phone: 02 6285 0400 Phone: 0419301923 Fax: 02 6285 0499 Fax: Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: www.frdc.com.au In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to FRDC publishing this material in its edited form. ii Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................... iii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ iv Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 2 Method ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Program Structure ................................................................................................................. 3 Principal Investigator ............................................................................................................ 3 Technical Group .................................................................................................................... 3 Stakeholder Forum ................................................................................................................ 3 Results, Discussion and Conclusions ...................................................................................... 5 Objective 1. To administer and co-ordinate the activities of FRDC funded small pelagics (SP) research ..................................................................................................... 5 Objective 2. To review project proposals to ensure stakeholder relevance .................. 10 Objective 3. To review milestone reports and final reports .......................................... 10 Objective 4. To facilitate and chair meetings of the SP Technical Group .................... 10 Objective 5. To ensure appropriate liaison between beneficiaries and research providers ........................................................................................................................ 11 Objective 6. To provide advice to FRDC, DAFF, AFMA and other stakeholders on SP research .................................................................................................................... 11 Objective 7. To communicate findings of SP research through: ................................... 12 7.1 Research meetings (possibly held in conjunction with a major conference such as ASFB or Seafood Directions) ........................................................................... 12 7.2 Specialist workshops aimed at stakeholders on topics identified through the course of the program; and ............................................................................................ 13 7.3 Relevant articles in the media and Fish magazine ............................................. 14 Implications ............................................................................................................................ 15 Extension and Adoption ........................................................................................................ 15 References ............................................................................................................................... 15 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 16 Appendix 1: SCS Global Services Assessment Meeting ................................................... 16 Appendix 2: Presentation to 144th American Fisheries Society Symposium: Pelagic Fish Stocks on the Move and in the News: Collapse, Recovery, or Something Else?........ 16 Appendix 2: Presentation to Benchmarking Australia's small pelagic fisheries against world's best practice (FRDC 2013/063) .............................................................................. 16 iii Executive Summary The Small Pelagics Research Co-ordination Program (SPRCP) was established to ensure that small pelagic fisheries R&D conducted by the FRDC was coordinated, made the most efficient use of available resources, and integrated key stakeholders including industry, government and research providers. Small pelagic fish form an important link between primary and secondary producers and higher predators including tunas, seabirds and marine mammals. They also form some of the world’s largest pelagic fisheries in the upwelling regions around the world. In Australia, despite our waters being relatively less productive, small pelagics support valuable localised fisheries for species such as sardines, anchovy and mackerels. The introduction of large factory trawlers into the Small Pelagic Fishery revealed a significant lack of confidence and level of public distrust in the science and management of small pelagics in Commonwealth waters. This included debate over the stock status and assessment method and highlighted a need to increase our understanding of small pelagic fisheries and to better communicate this knowledge to the community and other stakeholders. The aim of the Co-ordination Program was to build confidence in the science underpinning the sustainability of small pelagic fisheries in Australia. This was achieved through a series of high profile workshops that included broad stakeholder engagement across industry, community, government and research, media reports and articles, and the completion of several major research projects. Research contributed significantly to the understanding of the stock status of target species in the Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF), while an international expert forum suggested that the assessment and management frameworks for Australia’s fisheries for small pelagic species, especially the South Australian Sardine Fishery (SASF), were consistent with world best practice. Despite this there remains a considerable lack of community support for SPF and more needs to be done to build social acceptance in this fishery and to counter misinformation about the sustainability of small pelagic fisheries in Australia. Keywords Small pelagic fish, forage fish, Jack Mackerel Trachurus declivis, Redbait Emmelichthys nitidus, Blue Mackerel Scomber australasicus, Australian Sardine Sardinops sagax, marine mammal interactions, factory trawling iv Introduction Small pelagic fish such as sardines, anchovy and mackerels form an important link between the primary and secondary producers and higher predators including tunas, seabirds and marine mammals (Bulman et al. 2011). They also form some of the world’s largest pelagic fisheries in the upwelling regions around the world. In Australia, despite our waters being relatively less productive, small pelagics support valuable localised fisheries. The Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) extends