Media Release - Computer software assists management plans for key WA fish species

The effectiveness of alternative management plans for recreationally and commercially important fish species in Western Australia such as WA Dhufish and Snapper will be tested in a new project funded by the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).

The project will develop computer software for assisting fisheries researchers and managers to use a contemporary approach in fisheries science, called management strategy evaluation. This approach enables the effectiveness of options for managing a fishery to be tested before they are implemented. After evaluating the level of the risk of overfishing or stock collapse, it is possible to choose the best of the options.

The project is being undertaken by Dr Alex Hesp and Professors Norm Hall and Ian Potter at the Murdoch University Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research and Drs Brent Wise and Steve Newman at the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia.

Fisheries scientists and managers are faced with the task of developing policies that prevent overfishing and still enable fishers to obtain good catches. It is very difficult to predict just how effective a set of policies are likely to be. Dr Hesp points out that "this task is particularly difficult when there are limited data for the fisheries in question, as is the case for those for numerous fish species around the world, including many of those in Western Australia."

Fisheries scientists and managers in Western Australia need tools that will help select the right management options for each fishery, based on the types of data available for Western Australian fish species.

The growth of recreational fishing in Western Australia, in conjunction with concern over the status of the stocks of species, such as WA Dhufish and Snapper, means that the development of tools to help tackle this issue are urgently needed for this fishing sector.

RecFishWest is particularly concerned that increased fishing pressure on those species that undergo, for whatever reason, large inter-annual variations in recruitment will have a very detrimental affect on the sustainability of those species.

The Murdoch University Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, which has a long history as research partners with the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, undertakes research and training in aspects of fish population biology and community ecology that are related to the needs of fisheries and environmental managers.

For more information about the Centre, including its other FRDC funded projects, please visit the Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research website http://www.cffr.murdoch.edu.au/ (link opens in a new window)

This media release about FRDC Project 2008-006 is also available on the Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research website at http://www.cffr.murdoch.edu.au/news/FRDC2008mediarel06.doc (link opens in a new window)

   


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This page prepared on 13 June 2009.