Graeme_Creed
13-09-2002, 12:36 PM
Page 1 of 2
RECFISH AUSTRALIA
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Publication on Thursday 12 September 2002
COMMONWEALTH AND STATE GOVERNMENTS JOIN WITH
FISHING INDUSTRY AND ANGLERS FOR UNPRECEDENTED
$3.5M BLUE (SLIMY) MACKEREL RESEARCH PROJECT
Recfish Australia’s two-year fight for the future of southeast Australia’s Blue (Slimy) mackerel stocks has resulted in the launch of an unprecedented $3.5 million research project actively involving the Commonwealth Government, State fisheries agencies, the recreational and commercial fishing industries and the university sector.
The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) will lead the three-year research project, with $958,000 provided by the Commonwealth’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) and $165,000 from the Commonwealth’s Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). The research agencies will also contribute staff and facilities to the project.
Blue mackerel are an important component of the marine ecosystems off southern Australia (from southern Queensland to Western Australia) because they are a key prey species for a large range of predatory pelagic fishes, including premier recreational species such as tuna and billfish. They are also an important source of bait for recreational and commercial fishers.
Recfish Australia began a campaign in early 2000, on behalf of Australia’s 4.5 million recreational fishers, when public and angler concern was sparked by a Commonwealth Government announcement of grants to commercial fishing operators at Eden, NSW, to increase commercial harvesting of Blue mackerel stocks.
Recfish Australia argued that commercial harvesting should not be increased before the biology of the blue mackerel was understood and the status of their stocks known.
The Commonwealth Government finally agreed with Recfish Australia and has limited commercial harvesting of the Slimy mackerel pending the outcomes of the $3.5 million research project announced today.
SARDI’s Dr Tim Ward, the research project’s Principal Investigator, says the primary aim of the project, which spans the waters of five States, is to develop conservative estimates of the minimum spawning biomass of blue mackerel, as well as to obtain information on spawning activities, patterns of egg and larval development, and patterns of age, growth and reproduction.
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“The primary aim of the project is to gather the scientific information needed to ensure the ecologically sustainable development and sound future management of Australia’s valuable Blue mackerel resources”, Dr Ward said.
Two research vessels, one from SARDI and the other from the Australian Maritime College, will be used to undertake surveys off NSW and Tasmania and in the Great Australian Bight.
Recreational and commercial fishers will participate in the surveys, providing information and samples to assist the scientists.
The cooperative approach taken in the project which, for the first time in a Commonwealth fishery, involves a steering committee with representatives of the Commonwealth Government, State fisheries agencies, universities and the recreational and commercial fishing sectors, is expected to become a model for future research and management of fisheries resources shared by commercial, recreational and traditional fishers.
Recfish Australia represents recreational fishers on the Steering Committee.
______________
Media contacts: Dr Tim Ward, SARDI Aquatic Sciences, (08) 8200 2433; Mobile: 0401 126 388
Graham Pike, Recfish Australia, 0412 960 032
RECFISH AUSTRALIA
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Publication on Thursday 12 September 2002
COMMONWEALTH AND STATE GOVERNMENTS JOIN WITH
FISHING INDUSTRY AND ANGLERS FOR UNPRECEDENTED
$3.5M BLUE (SLIMY) MACKEREL RESEARCH PROJECT
Recfish Australia’s two-year fight for the future of southeast Australia’s Blue (Slimy) mackerel stocks has resulted in the launch of an unprecedented $3.5 million research project actively involving the Commonwealth Government, State fisheries agencies, the recreational and commercial fishing industries and the university sector.
The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) will lead the three-year research project, with $958,000 provided by the Commonwealth’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) and $165,000 from the Commonwealth’s Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). The research agencies will also contribute staff and facilities to the project.
Blue mackerel are an important component of the marine ecosystems off southern Australia (from southern Queensland to Western Australia) because they are a key prey species for a large range of predatory pelagic fishes, including premier recreational species such as tuna and billfish. They are also an important source of bait for recreational and commercial fishers.
Recfish Australia began a campaign in early 2000, on behalf of Australia’s 4.5 million recreational fishers, when public and angler concern was sparked by a Commonwealth Government announcement of grants to commercial fishing operators at Eden, NSW, to increase commercial harvesting of Blue mackerel stocks.
Recfish Australia argued that commercial harvesting should not be increased before the biology of the blue mackerel was understood and the status of their stocks known.
The Commonwealth Government finally agreed with Recfish Australia and has limited commercial harvesting of the Slimy mackerel pending the outcomes of the $3.5 million research project announced today.
SARDI’s Dr Tim Ward, the research project’s Principal Investigator, says the primary aim of the project, which spans the waters of five States, is to develop conservative estimates of the minimum spawning biomass of blue mackerel, as well as to obtain information on spawning activities, patterns of egg and larval development, and patterns of age, growth and reproduction.
Page 2 of 2
“The primary aim of the project is to gather the scientific information needed to ensure the ecologically sustainable development and sound future management of Australia’s valuable Blue mackerel resources”, Dr Ward said.
Two research vessels, one from SARDI and the other from the Australian Maritime College, will be used to undertake surveys off NSW and Tasmania and in the Great Australian Bight.
Recreational and commercial fishers will participate in the surveys, providing information and samples to assist the scientists.
The cooperative approach taken in the project which, for the first time in a Commonwealth fishery, involves a steering committee with representatives of the Commonwealth Government, State fisheries agencies, universities and the recreational and commercial fishing sectors, is expected to become a model for future research and management of fisheries resources shared by commercial, recreational and traditional fishers.
Recfish Australia represents recreational fishers on the Steering Committee.
______________
Media contacts: Dr Tim Ward, SARDI Aquatic Sciences, (08) 8200 2433; Mobile: 0401 126 388
Graham Pike, Recfish Australia, 0412 960 032