Annual Report 2005 - Murdoch University

Transcription

Annual Report 2005 - Murdoch University
murdochuniversity
centre for fish and fisheries research
Annual
Research Report
wwwscieng.murdoch.edu.au/centres/fish/
centre for fish and fisheries research
locations 2005
www.murdoch.edu.au
3143/06
2005
© Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia 2006
(all photographs were taken by staff and students at Murdoch University unless otherwise stated)
Front cover: Andrew Rowland (DSE) and Paul Lewis (DoF) tagging Samson fish before release (photo by
Mike Mackie (DoF))
Back cover: CFFR research locations (compiled by David Morgan)
Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research
Murdoch University
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Director
Professor Neil Loneragan
Deputy Director
Associate Professor Norm Hall
http://wwwscieng.murdoch.edu.au/centres/fish/
email: fish@murdoch.edu.au
CONTENTS
1. Administrative details
Centre members as at 31 December 2005 ...............................................................................................
Management board ...................................................................................................................................
Director’s report ........................................................................................................................................
Centre staff and students in 2005 ............................................................................................................
Awards .......................................................................................................................................................
Committee membership/Community service ..........................................................................................
3
4
5
8
9
9
2. Research activities
Biology.......................................................................................................................................................11
Population biology................................................................................................................................11
Teleosts...........................................................................................................................................11
Sharks and rays ..............................................................................................................................16
Crustaceans ...........................................................................................................................................16
Sea lice............................................................................................................................................16
Freshwater crayfish........................................................................................................................17
Genetics, stock structures and systematics .........................................................................................17
Lampreys...............................................................................................................................................17
Phylogeny.......................................................................................................................................18
Ecology ......................................................................................................................................................18
Biological oceanography......................................................................................................................18
Community ecology .............................................................................................................................18
Faunal/habitat relationships .................................................................................................................19
Marine protected areas .........................................................................................................................19
Trophic interactions..............................................................................................................................20
Environmental rehabilitation ...............................................................................................................20
Assessment of fauna in dams and reservoirs................................................................................20
Barriers to migration......................................................................................................................20
Estuaries.....................................................................................................................................................21
Fish fauna of south coast estuaries .....................................................................................................21
Upper Swan estuary..............................................................................................................................21
Relationships between faunal assemblages and habitat type.............................................................22
Modelling and resource use......................................................................................................................23
Ecosystem modelling ...........................................................................................................................23
Marine resource usage..........................................................................................................................23
Coastal management.............................................................................................................................23
Fish Health and Aquaculture ....................................................................................................................24
3. Publications
Books .........................................................................................................................................................25
Refereed publications in 2005 ..................................................................................................................25
Refereed publications 2006 and in press .................................................................................................27
Other publications in 2005 and 2006 .......................................................................................................28
Conference and workshop presentations .................................................................................................28
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
CONTENTS
4. Postgraduate students and their research topics
PhD students (awarded in 2005) ..............................................................................................................31
PhD students (submitted in 2005) ............................................................................................................31
PhD students (enrolled in 2005)...............................................................................................................31
MVSc student (enrolled in 2005) .............................................................................................................33
MSc student (completed in 2005) ............................................................................................................33
MSc student (enrolled in 2005) ................................................................................................................33
Honours students (completed in 2005) ....................................................................................................33
Honours students (enrolled in 2005)........................................................................................................34
5. Summary of research income
Table 1. List of projects and research income for 2005..........................................................................35
Table 2. Summary of research income from different funding sources in 2005...................................39
6. Appendices
Posters ........................................................................................................................................................41
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
1. Administrative details
Centre members as at 31 December 2005
Director
Deputy Director
Neil Loneragan PhD (DSE)
Norm Hall PhD (DSE)
Academic staff
Lynnath Beckley PhD (DSE)
Stuart Bradley PhD (DSE)
Max Cake PhD (DSE)
Jennie Chaplin PhD (DSE)
Stan Fenwick PhD (DHS)
Howard Gill PhD (DSE)
Alan Lymbery PhD (DHS)
Philip Nicholls PhD (DHS)
Ian Potter PhD (DSE)
Shane Raidal PhD (DHS)
Malcolm Tull PhD (MBS)
Fiona Valesini PhD (DSE)
Graham Wilcox PhD (DHS)
Ron Wooller PhD (DSE)
Adjunct appointments
Belinda Cannell PhD
Nick Dunlop PhD
Rod Lenanton PhD
Jeremy Prince PhD
Research fellows
Rob Doupé PhD (DHS)
Alex Hesp PhD (DSE)
David Morgan PhD (DSE)
Margaret Platell PhD (DSE)
William White PhD (DSE)
Research staff
Dan French (DSE)
Russell Hobbs (DHS)
Gordon Thomson (DSE)
PhD students
Indre Asmussen (DSE)
Doug Bearham (DHS)
Stephen Beatty (DSE)
Farhan Bokhari (DHS)
Benjamin Chuwen (DHS)
Natasha Coen (DSE)
Peter Coulson (DSE)
David Fairclough (DSE)
Bryn Farmer (DSE)
Nicola Fox (DSE)
Matthew Harvey (DSE)
Marina Hassan (DHS)
Steeg Hoeksema (DSE)
Mathew Hourston (DSE)
Michelle Ingram (DHS)
Gary Jackson (DSE/DoF)
Ashlee Jones (DSE)
Christine Lamont (DSE)
Elaine Lek (DSE)
Thea Linke (DSE)
Carina Marshall (DSE)
Karen Marshall (DSE)
Heather McLetchie (DHS)
Barbara Muhling (DSE)
Gavin Partridge (DHS)
Matthew Pember (DSE)
Kellie Pendoley (DSE)
Chris Powell (DSE)
Mahmoud Rashnavadi
(DHS/DSE)
Andrew Rowland (DSE)
Emilia Santos-Yap (DSE)
Ertug Sezmis (DSE)
Kimberley Smith (DSE)
Zoe Spiers (DHS)
Dean Thorburn (DSE)
Michael Travers (DSE)
Corey Wakefield (DSE/DoF)
Michelle Wildsmith (DSE)
Andrew Winzer (DSE)
Brent Wise (DSE/DoF)
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
MVsc student
Neil Griffiths (DHS)
MSc students
Raquel Carter (DSE)
Chris Jones (DSE)
Honours students
Claire Bartron (DSE)
Tim Carter (DSE)
Steven Cossington (DSE)
Gavin Kay (DHS)
Fiona McAleer (DSE)
MBS
DSE
Murdoch Business School
Division of Science and Engineering
Steven Moore (DSE)
Nicole Phillips (DSE)
Sheryn Prior (DSE)
Michelle Tay (DHS)
Chea Faang Yann (DHS)
DoF
DHS
Department of Fisheries WA
Division of Health Sciences
Management board
Chair
Professor Yianni Attikiouzel
Director
Professor Neil Loneragan
Deputy Director
Associate Professor Norm Hall
Postdoctoral representative
Dr David Morgan
Centre member
Dr Howard Gill
Centre member
Dr Jennie Chaplin
Centre member
Associate Professor Lynnath Beckley
Centre member
Associate Professor Alan Lymbery
Head of School
Associate Professor Max Cake
External representative
Associate Professor Rod Lenanton
Postgraduate student
Mr Peter Coulson
representatives
Mr Andrew Rowland
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director’s report
The staff and researchers of the Centre for Fish and Fisheries
Research continued to be very active in 2005. It was a very
successful year for higher degree completions with the award of
seven PhDs (a further four have been submitted or examined) and
the completion of five Honours theses (all Class I). The research
areas of staff and students, which range widely, include population
and community biology, systematics, fisheries and ecosystem
modelling, recreational fishing, marine protected areas, restocking,
aquaculture, genetics and fish health. Furthermore, research is
conducted over a wide geographical area, extending southwards
from the Pilbara/Kimberley region in north-western Australia to the
Capes region at the south-western tip of Australia and then
eastwards to Esperance, a distance along the coastline of over 4,000
km! Research also encompasses different types of environments,
including estuaries, coastal, shelf and oceanic waters, rivers and
lakes.
Two major Fisheries Research and Development Corporation studies of the biological characteristics
of fish populations were completed to the Draft Final report stage in 2005. These studies, which were
supervised by Ian Potter, Norm Hall and Alex Hesp and for some species, colleagues at the
Department of Fisheries, focused on five teleosts found in waters off the northwest of the State and
three species found off the west and south coasts. They have yielded detailed information on age,
growth and reproduction, including identifying which species change sex during their life cycle, i.e.
are hermaphroditic. This will greatly enhance the information available for stock assessment and
management. These and other studies in progress on commercially and recreationally important
species in Western Australian waters, have shown that three species live for more than 50 years
(Mangrove Jack Lutjanus argentimaculatus, Western Blue Groper Achoerodus gouldii, Foxfish
Bodianus frenchii) and others for more than 20 years (Mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus, Black
Spotted Rockcod Epinephelus malabaricus, Gold Spotted Rockcod Epinephelus coioides, and Blue
Morwong Nemadactylus valenciennesi). Detailed data on age structures of populations provide critical
information for estimating mortality, which, combined with information on reproductive biology,
enable the development of management strategies aimed at ensuring that the harvest of these stocks
can be sustained. A collaborative study with the Department of Fisheries, led by Mike Mackie (DoF)
and Howard Gill, has provided information on the dynamics of spawning aggregations of Samson Fish
Seriola hippos, off Rottnest Island, and has resulted in a very successful collaboration between
researchers and recreational fishers.
William White’s taxonomic and biological studies of the sharks and rays that are caught in Indonesian
waters are continuing and he is developing a field guide for these groups of elasmobranchs. David
Morgan has developed excellent relationships with Aboriginal communities in the remote Kimberley
region of Western Australia and this has facilitated studies of the fish fauna of the King Edward River.
Moreover, David’s involvement has enabled him to produce a compendium of the Aboriginal names
for each of the fish species found in that river.
Research in the area of community ecology has covered larval fish in eddy systems of the Leeuwin
Current, identification of the relationships between invertebrate and fish communities and the habitat
types found in different estuaries of south-western Australia, the influence of habitat type and
management zoning on fish communities in the Jurien Bay Marine Park, and determining the effects
of extreme salinities on the fish fauna of the south coast estuaries. A three week visit by Dr Pilar
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Olivar, from the Institute of Marine Science in Barcelona, greatly facilitated the identification of fish
larvae collected in the Leeuwin Current by Lynnath Beckley and Barbara Muhling. Research by Fiona
Valesini, Ian Potter and their team of PhD students, on identifying faunal/habitat relationships in open
(Swan, Peel-Harvey), seasonally open (Wilson) and normally closed (Wellstead) estuaries of southwestern Australia is progressing well. Extreme salinities have been recorded in three estuaries on the
south coast (Stokes, Culham and Hamersley inlets). Under these extreme conditions, large mortalities
of Black Bream Acanthopagrus butcheri, were recorded in the Hamersley and Culham inlets and by
the end of the study, only one species remained in the basin of Hamersley Inlet and none were left in
that part of the Culham. Future research will focus on the fish faunas of other south coast estuaries.
In addition to her research on biological oceanography, Lynnath Beckley has been examining
recreational boating and fishing in the Blackwood River estuary, with funding being obtained from the
Natural Heritage Trust (South West Catchment Council) for a 12 month creel survey in 2006.
Studies in the Fish Health Unit have continued to focus strongly on environmental impacts, such as
secondary salinisation, eutrophication and the effect of exotic species, on freshwater and estuarine
ecosystems. In particular, research has continued on various aspects of aquaculture in the inland saline
waters of Western Australia: the environmental management of such aquaculture (supported by Rural
Industries Research Development Corporation), developing a genetic approach to increasing the
growth rates of suitable fish species for inland saline aquaculture and developing new production
technologies to improve stocking densities and growth rates of fish (a new project supported by FRDC
in 2005). Studies are also continuing on the development of an environmental management system for
aquaculture in disused mine lakes (through the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mine Lakes),
determining the ramifications of the appearance of Red Claw Crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus in the
Kimberley, the risk posed to native fish by parasites imported with exotic fish species and the use of
fish parasites as bio-indicators of ecosystem health.
During 2005, Centre staff were involved in approximately 40 projects, with research income of about
$1 million in 2005 (total research income of $4 million). The main funding bodies were the Fisheries
Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), Australian Centre for International Agricultural
Research (ACIAR), CSIRO, Western Australian Department of Fisheries and, through its support for
research students, Murdoch University. We are greatly indebted to those funding authorities for their
support. Much of our research aims to provide the types of data that are required by fisheries and
environmental managers for producing appropriate and realistic plans for conserving fish stocks and
important habitats and thus focus on the crucial issue of ecological sustainability in Western Australia.
The staff and students of the Centre have continued to publish a large number of papers in
international journals (35 in 2005), provide detailed reports to their funding agencies (9) and present
the results of their studies at conferences and workshops (28). In particular, I would like to
congratulate Barbara Muhling, who won the award for the best PhD student presentation at the annual
Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment symposium, for her talk on larval fish
assemblages off the coast of south-western Australia. Two academic staff also deserve special mention
for the recognition they achieved in 2005. Ian Potter was presented with the Vice-Chancellor’s award
for sustained research excellence over many years at Murdoch University and Norm Hall was
presented with the Kay Radway Allen award for outstanding contributions to fisheries science in
Australia at the 2005 conference of the Australian Society of Fish Biology. Norm is also to be
congratulated for the success of his FRDC application with the Department of Fisheries on
“Development of an ecosystem approach to the monitoring and management of Western Australian
fisheries”, and for having been promoted to Professor. Congratulations also to Lynnath Beckley and
Alan Lymbery for their promotions to Associate Professor.
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
2005 was my first year as the Director of the Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research. Since arriving, I
have been completing my research activities with CSIRO and developing my research directions in
Western Australia. I have been exploring the areas of ecosystem understanding for fisheries (in
collaboration with CSIRO) and looking at aspects of the western rock lobster and Exmouth Gulf
prawn fishery (both in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries). I have been pleased to see the
development of a postgraduate unit in Quantitative Resource Ecology by Fiona Valesini, Stuart
Bradley and Norm Hall to cover univariate and multivariate statistics and an introduction to
modelling. The immediate past Director, Ian Potter, is continuing his very energetic and extensive
research in his position as Research Professor. Although Margaret Platell left Western Australia in
mid-2005, she will continue her collaborative studies on fish trophodynamics with Ian Potter and her
strong association with the Centre. I have appreciated the assistance of many people who have helped
and continue to assist me with developing the Centre, particularly Norm Hall, Max Cake, Ian Potter
and Andris Stelbovics at Murdoch. Thanks also to the other members of the Centre Advisory Group
(Lynnath Beckley, Jennie Chaplin, Howard Gill, Alan Lymbery, David Morgan and Fiona Valesini)
for their input and advice during the year. The success of the Centre is very dependent on the efforts of
its numerous and highly motivated research students and postdoctoral fellows and I congratulate them
on their achievements in the past year. The activities and staff of the Centre have also received strong
support and advice from a number of people in external organisations, and particularly to Peter
Rogers, Executive Director of the WA Department of Fisheries, Frank Prokop, Executive Director of
RecFishWest, Richard Stevens, Research and Development Manager of the Western Australian
Fishing Industry Council, and Chris Simpson and Nick D’Adamo of the Department of Conservation
and Land Management. We are indebted to them for their continuing help and encouragement.
Neil Loneragan
Director
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
CENTRE STAFF AND STUDENTS IN 2005
Centre staff and students in 2005
Back row left to right: David Morgan, Alex Hesp, David Fairclough, Mathew Hourston,
Steven Cossington, Peter Coulson, Steeg Hoeksema, Howard Gill, Daniel French, Elaine Lek,
Steven Moore, Michael Travers
Front row left to right: Matthew Pember, Norman Hall, Neil Loneragan, Bryn Farmer, Ian
Potter, Natasha Coen, Fiona Valesini
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
AWARDS/COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Awards
Norm Hall
K. Radway Allen Award for outstanding
contributions to fisheries science at the
2005 Australian Society for Fish Biology
Conference in Darwin
Ian Potter
Vice-Chancellors’ award for Sustained
Scientific Excellence
Committee membership/
Community service
Lynnath Beckley
• Murdoch University, Marine Science
Program Chair
• Editorial Board - African Journal of
Marine Science
WA Marine Parks and Reserves Authority
(appointed member)
Australian Marine Sciences Association
(National Council member)
Rottnest Island Authority (Technical
advisor - Marine Management Working
Group)
WA Environmental Protection Authority
(Marine Panel))
7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference
(International Advisory Committee)
International Evaluator of Sea and Coast
II, South African national marine science
research program
David Fairclough
• International Union for the Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) member of the specialist group for
groupers and wrasse
Howard Gill
• RecfishWest Committee and Executive
• Murdoch University Animal Ethics
• Freshwater Fish Environment Research
Committee
Norm Hall
• Editorial Advisory Committee of Marine
and Freshwater Research
• Northern Prawn Fishery Research
Assessment Group
• WA Department of Fisheries - Advice on
matters relating to the stock assessment
and management of fisheries
Neil Loneragan
• WA Fisheries Research Advisory Board
• ACIAR Scientific Panels for Sea
Cucumber Enhancement and Sea
Cucumber Fisheries
• Scientific Advisory Committee, NSW
Department of Primary Industries
• WA Rock Lobster Ecosystem Effects of
Fishing Committee
• Swan River Trust, Scientific Systems
Inquiry Group
• Scientific Committee for 3rd International
Symposium on Stock Enhancement and
Sea Ranching
• Western Australian Marine Science
Institution (representing Murdoch
University)
• Ningaloo Research Program (coordinating
Murdoch University’s input)
David Morgan
• Invasive Species Committee (Australian
Society for Fish Biology) - State
representative
• Recreational Freshwater Fisheries
Stakeholder Sub-committee representative
Ian Potter
• Editorial Board of Environmental Biology
of Fishes
• Western Australia Fish Foundation
Malcolm Tull
• Joint Editor of The International Journal
of Maritime History
William White
• International Union for the Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Member of the Shark Specialist Group for
the Asia-Northwest Pacific and Australian
Regions
• National Shark Recovery Group (NSRG) Department of Environment and Heritage
member (DEH)
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
2. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
The main ongoing objectives of the Centre for Fish and Fisheries are to:
1.
Undertake high quality research that addresses questions fundamental to understanding
biological, ecological and evolutionary processes in aquatic ecosystems.
2.
Communicate the results of our pure and applied studies to the wider scientific community
through publishing in international journals and presentations at relevant national and
international conferences.
3.
Provide research students with a rigorous and intellectually-stimulating training in
contemporary biological, ecological and genetic approaches to fish biology and fisheries
science, with particular emphasis on developing their quantitative skills.
4.
Maintain strong research collaboration with scientists both within and outside Australia.
5.
Undertake the research required to provide managers with sound quantitative data that can be
used to develop policies for conserving fish resources and the environment.
6.
Communicate, through peer-reviewed papers, technical reports, seminars and discussions, the
implications of the results of the above studies to scientists, managers and stakeholders.
7.
Continue to obtain the substantial funds needed to undertake the high quality research that is
essential for this group to remain at the forefront of fisheries science and to provide the data
required by fisheries and environmental managers to develop appropriate management plans.
The wide range of studies undertaken by the staff in the Centre are aimed at enhancing our knowledge of
particular fundamental biological processes in fishes and of aquatic ecosystem function in general, as well as
addressing urgent management issues. These studies consciously involve postgraduate students and thereby
ensure that the research group produces fish biologists, fishery scientists and ecologists with the relevant and
high quality research training required to help fulfill the future needs of resource management and scientific
agencies. The Centre has four broad, interconnected themes of research that contain both fundamental science
and applications to management: (1) Population Biology, (2) Community Biology, (3) Aquaculture/Stock
Enhancement/Introductions and translocations and (4) Evolutionary aspects.
Biology
Population Biology
Teleosts
Blue Threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum, King Threadfin Polydactylus macrochir, Gold
Spotted Rockcod Epinephelus coioides, Black Spotted Rockcod Epinephelus malabaricus and
Mangrove Jack Lutjanus argentimaculatus
Matthew Pember, Alex Hesp, Glen Young, Ian Potter and Norm Hall, in collaboration with Steve
Newman of the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, recently submitted their final report to the
FRDC for their research on five commercially and recreationally important finfish species along the
Kimberley and Pilbara coasts. This study determined the habitats, age and size compositions, growth,
reproductive biology and stock status of the Blue Threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum, King
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Threadfin Polydactylus macrochir, Gold Spotted Rockcod Epinephelus coioides, Black Spotted
Rockcod Epinephelus malabaricus and Mangrove Jack Lutjanus argentimaculatus.
This study demonstrated that the two threadfins complete their life cycles in sandy and muddy beach
habitats in nearshore, shallow waters, whereas the juveniles of both rockcod species and Mangrove
Jack live in mangrove and nearshore rocky areas and move offshore to waters over reefs as they
increase in size and age. King Threadfin grow far larger and live longer than the Blue Threadfin, i.e.
~1400 vs 800 mm and 10 vs 6 years. Although the two species of cod grow at a similar rate and reach
a similar maximum length, the Black Spotted Rockcod lives far longer (32 vs 21 years). Mangrove
Jack are very long lived (>50 years) and grow to ca 400 and 550 mm in 5 and 10 years, respectively,
after which this species does not increase markedly in length.
The two threadfin species spawn in spring and early summer, while the two cod species and Mangrove
Jack spawn between late spring and early autumn. Although the Mangrove Jack is gonochoristic
(separate sexes), the Blue and King Threadfins are protandrous hermaphrodites, i.e. mature first as
males and later change sex to females, and the two cod species are protogynous hermaphrodites, i.e.
they mature first as females and later change sex to become males. This is an important finding as a
thorough understanding of the patterns of sex change in hermaphroditic species is required for
developing appropriate strategies for conserving the stocks of such species.
Our stock assessments indicate that, although current levels of fishing in north-western Australia for
the two Epinephelus species and Mangrove Jack are likely to be sustainable, the Blue Threadfin is
fully exploited and the King Threadfin is over-exploited.
Western Blue Groper Achoerodus gouldii and Blue Morwong Nemadactylus valenciennesi
Peter Coulson has been studying the biology of Western Blue Groper and Blue Morwong for his PhD,
which is being supervised by Ian Potter. This FRDC funded project, which commenced in June 2004,
is being conducted mainly in coastal waters off southern Western Australia (Albany to Esperance).
The study is focusing on obtaining data on the age and size compositions, growth and reproductive
biology of these two commercially and recreationally important fish species.
Preliminary results demonstrate that the Western Blue Groper spawns in winter and early spring and
can live for over 60 years. It is a monandric protogynous hermaphrodite, namely all individuals mature
first as females and then at least some change sex to become males. This species apparently matures as
a female at about 400 mm in length and some individuals appear to change sex when they have
reached about 700 mm in length.
In contrast to the Western Blue Groper, the Blue Morwong spawns in late summer and early autumn
and is not hermaphroditic. It also does not live for as long, with the maximum age recorded thus far
being approximately 20 years.
Peter and Ian appreciate greatly the invaluable and willing assistance provided by the following
members of the commercial fishing industry, Alan Bevan, Owen Macintosh, Lee Warner, Carl Beal,
Jon Stewart, Ian Dhu, Carlo Galotti, Jamie Thornton and the staff of Collie Seafoods in Albany. They
are also grateful for the assistance provided by several recreational fishers, and in particular Dan
Winpress and members of the Bremer Bay Sports Club.
When the project is completed, the data will be supplied to scientists and managers at the Department
of Fisheries for use in developing policies for conserving the stocks of these two teleost species.
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Yellowtail Flathead Platycephalus endrachtensis
As part of his PhD, Peter Coulson is also studying the biology of the Yellowtail Flathead in the Swan
River Estuary. This species was caught most frequently during summer and in the large basins that
constitute the middle estuary of this system. Although females live to about the same age as males (~7
to 8 years), they grow more rapidly and attain a greater maximum length. This species of flathead is
difficult to catch in winter, presumably due either to it moving to deeper waters or out of the estuary.
Peter’s study has been greatly assisted by David Readshaw and Raymond Jennings, who are
commercial fishers in this estuary. As it is an important component of the recreational fishery of the
Swan River Estuary the data Peter is acquiring will be of value to fisheries managers.
Breaksea Cod Epinephelides armatus
Steve Moore was awarded Class I Honours for his study of the age composition, growth, reproductive
biology and diet of the Breaksea Cod Epinephelides armatus. This serranid species, which is endemic
to south-western Australia, lives around reefs and is targeted by recreational fishers. Steve (supervised
by Ian Potter and Alex Hesp) found that Breaksea Cod lived for up to 19 years and that male fish grew
faster and attained a greater maximum length than females (536 vs 474 mm).
Epinephelides armatus, which is not hermaphroditic as previously thought, spawns between late
spring and mid autumn. The females and males attain maturity at lengths of ~290 and 250 mm,
respectively, which are slightly less than the current minimum legal length for retention of this species
(300 mm). The diet of Breaksea Cod changes with increasing body length, with small fish consuming
predominantly crustaceans and the larger fish feeding almost exclusively on teleosts. The results of
Steve’s study indicate that the assemblages of Breaksea Cod may have suffered from heavy fishing in
coastal marine waters close to the capital city of Perth. However, additional work is required to
explore this issue further and thus provide managers with more rigorous estimates of mortality.
Mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus, Sand Trevally Pseudocaranx wrighti and Silver Trevally
Pseudocaranx dentex
The Mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus is an important recreational and commercial fish species in
Western Australia. Our studies, which were funded by the FRDC and undertaken by Bryn Farmer for
his PhD, demonstrated that this species can live for over 30 years. Spawning occurs between midspring and early autumn and lasts for a slightly longer period in more northern latitudes. Growth is
particularly rapid during early life, with total lengths of about 530 and 900 mm being attained by the
end of the second and fifth years of life, respectively. Females and males have typically attained
maturity by the end of their sixth and fifth years of life, respectively.
The length of 950 mm at which, on average, females reach maturity is far greater than the minimum
legal length of 500 mm for retention of this species. This finding is particularly relevant when
developing plans for conserving the stocks of Mulloway, especially as this species tends to form
spawning aggregations. Although Mulloway typically spawn in coastal marine waters, a substantial
number of mature individuals of this species enter the lower reaches of the Swan River Estuary and
spawn at night in the deeper waters of this region of the estuary. These localised aggregations are
targeted by these recreational fishers and must thus result in a considerable fishing mortality of fish as
they are about to contribute offspring to the next generation. These findings are of obvious relevance
for managing mulloway stocks and the fisheries in the Swan River Estuary.
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CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Tim Carter, supervised by Ian Potter and Alex Hesp, was awarded Class I Honours for his study on the
biology of the Sand Trevally, Pseudocaranx wrighti, a major bycatch species of the commercial
scallop and prawn trawl fishery, which operates on the lower west coast of Australia. Tim’s research
showed that P. wrighti is far more abundant in the deeper waters (~30 m) near Rottnest Island than in
shallower waters (~10 m) of Comet Bay, near Mandurah, about 80 km south of Perth. Sand Trevally
spawn for most of the year and maturity is typically attained at the end of the first year of life, when
they have reached ~120 mm TL. Tim has recently discovered that the small juveniles (<30 mm) of
P. wrighti are pelagic and often associated with jellyfish.
Although Sand Trevally grow to a relatively small maximum length of ~220 mm, they can live for
more than 10 years. By using back-calculation methods, Tim found that the oldest individuals were
typically those that grew fastest early in life. A risk assessment of the susceptibility of Sand Trevally
off the lower west coast of Australia to trawling indicates that trawling is having only a minimal
impact on this species in this region.
The biology of the Silver Trevally Pseudocaranx dentex, which was studied by Dan French for his
Honours thesis and was funded by the FRDC, is one of the most important recreational fish species on
the lower west coast of Australia. Juvenile Silver Trevally occupy nearshore coastal waters and
estuaries, particularly in areas where there are structures that can provide shelter. The larger and older
individuals are particularly abundant around reefs and in deeper waters. In contrast, the adults of the
morphologically very similar Sand Trevally live predominantly over bare sandy substrates.
The females of Silver Trevally typically reach maturity at three years of age, when they have attained
a length of 310 mm, which is 60 mm greater than the minimum length for retention. This finding will
have to be borne in mind by fisheries managers in their ongoing review of strategies aimed at
conserving fish stocks, especially as there is anecdotal evidence from anglers that they do not now
catch large fish in as relatively high numbers as previously.
Mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus (photograph by Bryn Farmer)
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Silver Trevally Pseudocaranx dentex (photograph by Bryn Farmer)
Foxfish Bodianus frenchii
Steve Cossington is studying, for his Honours degree, the age composition, growth, reproductive
biology and diet of the Foxfish. This species, which is endemic to southern Australia, is becoming
increasingly targeted by recreational anglers and spearfishers. Steve has found that this species of
labrid attains a maximum length and weight of about 450 mm and 1.7 kg. It is also very long-lived,
with some individuals living for more than 50 years. Foxfish, which spawns during spring and
summer, is a monandric protogynous hermaphrodite, i.e. individuals mature first as females and later
change sex to become males. Females mature at about 230 mm and 10 years of age and many
individuals change sex at about 330 mm and 30 years of age. The foxfish is a carnivore, feeding on
echinoderms, crustacean and molluscs. The length of time to reach maturity and change sex and the
longevity of Foxfish have important implications for the management of this increasingly targeted
species.
Samson Fish Seriola hippos
In 2005, Andrew Rowland commenced a PhD, supervised by Howard Gill and Mike Mackie (DoF),
on determining the biological parameters of Samson Fish Seriola hippos on the west and south coasts
of Western Australia. His research is part of a large FRDC project entitled “Management and
monitoring of fish spawning aggregations within the west coast bio-region of Western Australia” led
by Mike Mackie. Part of the study involves using tagging and release studies (Samson Science) to
investigate the survivorship and movement patterns of Samson Fish captured and released from
spawning aggregations west of Rottnest Island. In January and November 2005, over 5,000 Samson
Fish were tagged in the spawning aggregations west of Rottnest Island. The data from tag returns
indicate a mass migration of Samson Fish from the waters of the south coast to join the spawning
aggregations west of Rottnest Island. Individuals may only stay in the aggregations for short periods
(several weeks) before returning to the south coast. They also indicate that individuals return to the
spawning areas at the same time each year, i.e. most fish are recaptured in the same month as they
were tagged in the previous year/s. Studies are also being carried out on the post-release survival and
diets of Samson Fish.
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The members of the Samson Science project greatly appreciates the strong support provided by
Recfishwest, the Australian National Sportfishing Association, Australian Anglers Association,
Charter Boat Owners and Operators Association, Recreational Fishing Advisory Committee and many
non-affiliated fishers.
Sharks and rays
William White has continued his work on chondrichthyan fisheries in Indonesia supported by a second
grant from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in conjunction with
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) in Cleveland and Hobart, and the Research
Centre of Capture Fisheries (Indonesia) (RCCF) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences - Lembaga
Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI). A number of further market survey trips in Indonesia were
conducted in 2005 with the aim focused on collecting biological data as well as obtaining good quality
images of the species caught for a field guide. A large proportion of the text for the field guide has
been drafted and etching of the primary images for each species is well underway. It is envisaged that
the guide will be completed and printed by mid 2006. All specimens collected during the previous four
years sampling in Indonesia have been moved to the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (Cibinong,
Jakarta) for long-term storage.
Taxonomic work on the numerous undescribed species from Indonesia and their relationship with
Australian species has also continued in conjunction with Dr Peter Last (CSIRO). New descriptions
were published for two species and descriptions for a further four have been recently accepted in
international journals. Further taxonomic research on a large number of other species has also been
undertaken, including one large publication describing ten new species of Spurdogs (Squalus spp.)
from the Indo-Australian region, which more than doubles the number of known species in that
family.
William attended the 7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference in Taiwan where he presented a talk on the
Indonesian shark and ray project and assisted in organizing the chondrichthyan symposium headed by
Dr Peter Last. He also undertook a week long survey of one of the deepwater fishery landing sites in
northeastern Taiwan. He also presented a poster and provided relevant information during the
International Whale Shark Conference in Perth in May 2005. A paper submitted to the proceedings of
this conference has recently been accepted. William has also been supervising an Honours student
(Claire Bartron), who is studying the age and growth of gummy and silky sharks.
Crustaceans
Sea lice
Ongoing seasonal sampling of sea lice continued in 2005 through the PhD studies of Andrew Winzer,
supervised by Howard Gill, and was assisted by commercial rock lobster fishers in an effort to
highlight potential factors responsible for their impact on lobster baits. Additionally, numerous
laboratory and field trials have been carried out to attain relevant data concerning the feeding biology
of the dominant species of sea lice (Cirolana hesperia) found off the Western Australian coastline. At
the end of 2004, the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) provided funding to trial
the efficacy of various bait-saving devices. One bait saver, designed by Andrew Winzer and Howard
Gill, performed well and, after modification, is currently being trialled successfully by volunteer
commercial lobster fishers from all three zones of the fishery.
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Freshwater crayfish
Stephen Beatty completed his PhD during 2005 and examined biological trends in two endemic
species, Cherax cainii and Cherax quinquecarinatus, and one introduced, Cherax destructor. As a
result of this biological study of two marron populations, the Department of Fisheries have increased
the legal size of marron in the Hutt River and Waroona Dam. Stephen also examined disease risk and
trophic interactions between the introduced yabbie and the endemic marron. Stephen is also coinvestigator on an FRDC project determining the causes of decline of the recreational marron fishery.
This work, in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, examined environmental variables and
found that rainfall was the key variable influencing the recreational marron catch. The project is
currently determining relative sources of mortality and the degree of biological plasticity in river and
reservoir populations. This research will have considerable implications for the regulation and
recovery of the recreational marron fishery.
The spread of yabbies throughout Western Australia continues, with Stephen Beatty and David
Morgan discovering new populations in 2005, including within the Blackwood River catchment and
Wilyabrup Brook near Cape Naturaliste. During 2005, a paper was published that documented the
biology and spread of the species in Western Australia.
Genetics, stock structures and systematics
Ertug Sezmis was awarded a PhD in 2005 for his thesis, which used microsatellite and mitochondrial
DNA data to explore stock structure and evolutionary history of the Blue-swimmer Crab Portunus
pelagicus in Australian waters. Manuscripts associated with the data from this thesis are currently in
preparation.
In July 2005, Nicole Philips commenced her Honours research under the supervision of Jennie
Chaplin and Howard Gill. Nicole’s research is developing genetic and morphological methods for the
study of sawfish populations via the analysis of ‘old’ rostra. This research is significant because it will
produce methods that can be used to generate fundamental information about sawfish populations
without the need, and associated complexities, of obtaining ‘fresh’ samples from these endangered
populations.
Jennie Chaplin, Ian Potter and Howard Gill have been developing their genetic studies on selected fish
taxa in the estuaries of south-western Australia with a view to increasing our knowledge of the ways in
which coastal and estuarine species have evolved. We look forward to Glenn Moore enrolling for his
PhD in this area.
Lampreys
Ian Potter has continued to work with Associate Professor Shaun Collin (UQld) and his colleagues
continued his work on various aspects of the eyes of lampreys. Their studies have a number of aims,
including investigating ways in which visual systems have evolved in vertebrates. The implications of
the very different characteristics of the eyes of the two southern hemisphere genera Geotria and
Mordacia continue to prove particularly useful.
Ian also undertook his annual visit to the University of Munich to continue his work with Professor
Bartels. They spent their time progressing a paper which provides strong circumstantial evidence that
ion uptake in the gills of lampreys is facilitated through the use of the intercalated mitochondria-rich
cell and not through the ammocoete mitochondria-rich cell and pavement cell as had been proposed by
some workers.
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Phylogeny
The entire mitochondrial sequence for Geotria australis has now been determined and this
demonstrates that this species has a similar gene order to two northern hemisphere species and is the
sister group to the northern hemisphere species of lamprey. Sequence data have also been generated
for Mordacia mordax and we are currently attempting to sequence the remaining 7,000 base pairs in
the mitochondrial genome of this species.
Ecology
Biological Oceanography
In 2005, work in the Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment (SRFME) biophysical
oceanography program was devoted to analysing the vast amount of samples and data collected during
the 2002-2004 fieldwork program. Barbara Muhling continued with her PhD on the larval fish
assemblages occurring in shelf and Leeuwin Current waters. Results presented at the 7th Indo-Pacific
Fish Conference in Taiwan indicate the presence of distinct inshore, shelf and oceanic assemblages,
characterised by different fish families, as well as some interesting dispersal phenomena associated
with oceanographic events. She has commenced writing up her thesis. Chris Jones has commenced a
Masters project examining the growth rate of Sardinops sagax larvae collected on the SRFME
transect.
Identification of oceanic fish larvae from the ichthyoplankton samples obtained using both bongo nets
and the EZ net during the RV Southern Surveyor Leeuwin Current eddies cruise in 2003 was greatly
assisted by a three-week visit by Dr Pilar Olivar from the Institute for Marine Science in Barcelona.
Subsequently, a manuscript on the ichthyoplankton assemblages of two contrasting Leeuwin Current
eddies has been submitted for publication, as has a co-authored manuscript on food webs in the two
eddies based on isotopic composition of the biota. In May 2006, there will be a further research cruise
aboard the RV Southern Surveyor (National Research Facility) by a consortium from UWA, CSIRO
and Murdoch University to study eddies during their formation on the shelf edge.
A pilot study on the marine larval phase of the red land crabs in the coastal waters around Christmas
Island in the Indian Ocean commenced in late 2005. Monthly plankton sampling will be undertaken
by Parks Australia at three sites at the island throughout 2006.
Community Ecology
The fish and freshwater crayfish populations of a number of rivers were monitored during 2005.
These included a baseline survey of fish within the Blackwood River receiving discharge from the
Yarragadee Aquifer and this has led to ongoing assessment of species migrations in the Blackwood
River, funded by the Department of Environment and South-west Catchment Council. The spawning
periods and importance of the tributaries of the lower Blackwood River are being assessed. Specifics,
such as faunal associations, impact of river regulation and allocation of environmental flows, were
examined on a number of systems.
Fiona McAleer, supervised by David Morgan and Howard Gill, was awarded Class I Honours for her
study on the larval development, diet and morphology of the feeding apparatus on one of Western
Australia’s most restricted fishes, the trout minnow and compared them to congeners. The larval
development conformed to other galaxiids in general, but the highly specialised teeth and tongue teeth
in the trout minnow account for why this species feeds almost exclusively on terrestrial insects.
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Faunal/habitat relationships
During 2004 and 2005, David Morgan received funding from Land and Water Australia to examine
the fish fauna of the King Edward/Carson River system in the remote Kimberley region. The study
revealed the King Edward River and Carson River to contain more freshwater fish species than has
previously been reported for any river system in Western Australia. A number of range extensions
were documented as was an account of the Aboriginal language names of the river’s fishes (see
Appendix 1). Language names have been recorded in Ngarinyin and Belaa (Kwini).
Field work aimed at elucidating anthropogenic factors that have apparently resulted in a reduction in
both the relative abundance and sites at which larval lampreys are found in south-western Australia
continues.
Marine protected areas
Matt Harvey commenced a PhD on application of remotely sensed hyperspectral data to marine
planning with a case study in the Rottnest Island Reserve. This project includes building a spectral
library for substrates and species found in the shallow waters around the island using an underwater
spectrometer and matching the remotely sensed data for Rottnest Island to this library. This project
has important management implications for marine habitat mapping in the shallow oligotrophic waters
of Western Australia.
Nicola Fox continued with her PhD examining marine protected area planning in data-poor
environments using the Kimberley region of Western Australia as a case study. This project entails
the use of remotely sensed data, Marxan reserve selection software and ecological modelling.
David Fairclough, PhD candidate Elaine Lek and Ian Potter, in collaboration with Dr Russ Babcock of
CSIRO, have completed the first year of their study of the fish communities of the Jurien Bay Marine
Park. Seasonal sampling has been conducted in three major types of habitat, with the aim of
elucidating how the various fish species are distributed over reefs and unvegetated substrates and in
seagrass in areas located in different management zones of the marine park. These zones are general
use zones (open to fishing), scientific reference zones (open only to commercial rock lobster fishing)
and sanctuary zones (closed to all types of fishing).
The data on the abundances of the various fish species are being obtained using a combination of nondestructive methods, namely underwater visual census and videos of baited containers, and traditional
seine netting and otter trawling. Preliminary multivariate analyses demonstrate that the species
compositions of the fish faunas of reefs in the Jurien Bay Marine Park are strongly influenced by their
distance from shore and degree of exposure to wave action. Seine netting is yielding information on
the fish faunas of nearshore waters, while otter trawling is enabling the ichthyofaunas over seagrass
and adjacent bare sand to be compared.
During the studies of the fish communities in different habitat types, samples were collected of the
three abundant labrid species in the marine park. These species are the Western King Wrasse Coris
auricularis, the Brown-spotted Wrasse Notolabrus parilus and the Maori Wrasse Ophthalmolepis
lineolatus. Preliminary macroscopic and microscopic examination of their gonads provide very strong
indications that each of these species is a protogynous hermaphrodite, i.e. change from female to male
at some stage in life. In the future, studies will be directed at determining how spatial and food
resources are partitioned among the three species of labrid.
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The regimes for sampling the fish communities and the three wrasse species were designed to provide
managers with the data for assessing the effectiveness of marine protected areas as a fisheries
management measure and for managing the stocks of the three labrid species.
Trophic interactions
Stephen Beatty, David Morgan and Howard Gill have recently completed a study on the trophic
interactions between the introduced Yabbie (Cherax destructor) and the native marron (Cherax
cainii). A multiple stable isotope analysis study was conducted in the Hutt River with samples of
C. cainii, C. destructor and a wide variety of their potential food sources analysed in summer and
winter.
Dean Thorburn is working on trophic relationships of fishes in the Fitzroy River. This research will
form two chapters in his PhD thesis on freshwater elasmobranchs that will be submitted during 2006.
Environmental rehabilitation
Assessment of fauna in dams and reservoirs
David Morgan, Stephen Beatty and Howard Gill have been involved in the assessment of the aquatic
fauna of water storage facilities that were due to be drained for remedial works. The dams included
Phillips Creek Reservoir, Churchman Brook Dam and Waroona Dam (Lake Navarino). Part of this
work led to many of these dams being destocked of native fish and freshwater crayfish prior to
draining. The eradication of non-native species also occurred in the Vasse River where a feral
goldfish (Carassius auratus) population had become established. Growth rates of goldfish in the Vasse
River far exceed those reported elsewhere with individuals attaining lengths of over 180 mm TL at the
end of their first year of life, the age at which they also mature. Recent studies have demonstrated that
significant growth of cyanobacteria is stimulated by the passage through goldfish intestines. Goldfish,
which attained lengths of over 40 cm in the Vasse River, therefore have the potential to contribute to
algal blooms.
Barriers to migration
A collaborative study with the Kimberley Land Council, Yiriman Project and Department of
Environment, which was funded by Land and Water Australia, examined the impact of the Camballin
Barrage to fish communities in the Fitzroy River. The barrage on the Fitzroy River presents a
considerable barrier to fish migrations in an ecologically, culturally and socially important system. In
most years since 1987 the barrage was only negotiable by fishes for up to three months/year, even
though flows may continue for much of the year. This barrier leads to a bottleneck of predatory
species that in turn affects the prevailing fauna and disrupts important ecological aspects of the
system. There are substantial differences in the fish fauna immediately below and above the barrage.
This is highlighted by both a significant difference in the captures of fish in seine nets above and
below and in the capture of a number of migratory species of marine origin that congregated below the
barrage, including the Bull Shark, Freshwater Sawfish, Oxeye Herring and Diamond Mullet. It is also
very likely that juvenile Barramundi, which migrate in the late wet would also become trapped below
the Barrage in years when water levels are insufficient to provide fish passage and become preyed on
by larger predators. While the diet of Bull sharks, a species that has been implicated with fatal attacks
on humans both in Australia and overseas, was shown to contain mainly teleost fishes, the stomach of
one individual was observed to contain the remains of a small freshwater sawfish. Predatory pressure
on freshwater sawfish is likely to increase as the dry season persists, and the abundance of small prey
species decline. The presence of large predators trapped below the barrage would also affect upstream
migrations of important food species for Indigenous people such as barramundi but also fodder and
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bait species such as mullet. The tagging of Freshwater Sawfish demonstrated that they are regularly
recaptured below the barrage with one caught four times over the duration of this study. To restore
fish passage in the river a fishway should be constructed at the barrage.
Estuaries
Fish fauna of south coast estuaries
Steeg Hoeksema, Ben Chuwen and Ian Potter have completed the sampling component of their three
year FRDC study on the fish faunas of three normally-closed estuaries on the south coast of Western
Australia, i.e. the Stokes, Culham and Hamersley inlets. They are in the final stages of analysing their
data, which are crucial for understanding the deleterious impacts of the highly elevated salinities to
which this type of estuary is now becoming increasingly exposed. These unusually high salinities have
been caused by a combination of increased salt runoff from surrounding land as a result of land
clearing, unusually dry winters and high evaporation rates during summer.
The extent to which the lower reaches of the tributaries and basins of the above three estuaries became
hypersaline varied markedly during the course of the study. Thus, while the mean seasonal salinities in
parts per thousand in all three estuaries were less than 50 at the beginning of the study, those in Stokes
Inlet never rose above 65, whereas those in the Hamersley and Culham inlets increased to 143 and
293, respectively. The number of species, abundance and species composition of fishes underwent
relatively minor changes in Stokes Inlet, reflecting the modest increases that occurred in salinity in this
estuary. In contrast, the number of species and abundance declined markedly in Hamersley and
Culham inlets as salinities rose markedly and, by the end of the study, all but one small species of
atherinid in the main body of Hamersley Inlet and of all fish in the corresponding region of Culham
Inlet had died.
Tracking the changes in the fish fauna in the Hamersley and Culham inlets during the study provided
overwhelming evidence that the species found in south coast estuaries vary markedly in their ability to
tolerate salinity increases. Thus, the Hardyhead Leptatherina wallacei and the Goby Pseudogobius
olorum were the first to die, followed by the Black Bream, Acanthopagrus butcheri, which could not
apparently tolerate salinities greater than 65-85, and finally another Hardyhead Atherinosoma
elongata, which, unlike other fish species, could tolerate salinities at least as high as 150, survived the
longest.
Massive mortalities of Black Bream, estimated in one case to exceed one million, occurred as a result
of the development of very high salinities in the Culham and Hamersley inlets. These were disastrous
events in view of the great importance of Black Bream as a recreational and commercial fish species.
There is thus clearly an urgent need for the suite of appropriate managers to develop integrated
policies that will ameliorate the extreme environmental changes that are currently occurring in certain
south coast estuaries such as Culham and Hamersley inlets.
The study of the biology of Black Bream in Stokes, Culham and Hamersley inlets was undertaken by
Ben Chuwen, who was awarded Class I Honours for his thesis, while the work on the fish faunas of
these three estuaries will comprise a major component of Steeg Hoeksema’s PhD thesis which is due
to be submitted in 2006.
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Upper Swan River Estuary
Previous studies of the fish fauna of the Swan River Estuary have been undertaken in the entrance
channel, basins and lower reaches of the tributary rivers. For this reason, Steeg Hoeksema, as part of
his PhD, sampled the upper estuary, with a view to exploring, in detail, how the characteristics of the
ichthyofauna of the nearshore, shallow waters of the uppermost part of this important estuary are
influenced by the very pronounced changes that occur in the salinity of this region throughout the
year.
The fish fauna of the uppermost part of the estuary was dominated to such a remarkable extent by the
hardyhead Leptatherina wallacei and the gobies Pseudogobius olorum and Afurcagobius suppositus,
that they collectively contributed over 90% to the total number of fish caught in this region. These
species are found in estuaries and freshwater environments. The number of species and densities of
fish in nearshore, shallow waters were greater at night than during the day, due largely to the nocturnal
movement inshore by those abundant species. The composition of the fish fauna underwent cyclical
annual changes in each region of the upper Swan River Estuary during both the day and night, due to
differences in the times when the various species reached peak densities.
Relationships between faunal assemblages and habitat type
The FRDC is supporting Fiona Valesini and Ian Potter for a four year study aimed at developing a
quantitative approach to classifying habitat types in south-western Australian estuaries and to
determining the extent to which the compositions of the fish and invertebrate faunas are related to
those habitat types. This study builds on a very successful project that was conducted in nearshore
marine waters along the lower west coast of Australia between 2000 and 2004, and which led to the
identification of six main habitat types and their fish and invertebrate fauna.
During 2005, a diverse range of nearshore sites throughout the permanently-open Swan River and
Peel-Harvey estuaries on the lower west coast of Australia were each allocated to one of a number of
habitat types on the basis of a suite of enduring environmental criteria. These criteria fall under the
following three broad headings. (i) Location of each site with respect to its vicinity to marine and
freshwater sources, (ii) exposure to wave activity and (iii) composition of the substrate and area
occupied by any submerged vegetation. More than 100 sites in each system were assigned to their
respective habitat types by subjecting data for their environmental characteristics to a range of routines
in the recently-released PRIMER v6 multivariate statistics package and, in some cases, also employed
novel applications of those routines. This was done in collaboration with Dr Bob Clarke from the
Plymouth Marine Laboratories.
Fish and invertebrates were sampled seasonally at two nearshore sites representing the various habitat
types in both the Swan River and Peel-Harvey estuaries. The components of the invertebrate fauna
being sampled are benthic macroinvertebrates, epibenthic invertebrates and meiofauna. These
invertebrate studies are being undertaken by three PhD students, Michelle Wildsmith, Natasha Coen
and Mathew Hourston, who all undertook their Honours studies working on the same faunas in local
nearshore waters. A range of in-situ water quality and sediment parameters have also been recorded at
each site on each sampling occasion. Comparable sampling of the fish and invertebrate fauna of the
seasonally-open Wilson Inlet and normally-closed Wellstead Estuary on the south coast will
commence during 2006.
The usefulness of the type of approach that we are developing for classifying habitat types and relating
the species composition of fish and invertebrates to that habitat type has been recognised by
environmental consultants, who are using the product of our nearshore marine research to predict the
impact that various local constructions are likely to have on the nearshore fish assemblages at those
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locations. The relationships that will be established between the composition of the fish faunas and
habitat types in south-western Australian estuaries will be of great value to fisheries and
environmental managers.
Modelling and Resource Use
Ecosystem modelling
Until relatively recently, fisheries agencies throughout Australia have collected the types of fisheries
and research data that were traditionally used to monitor the state of individual fish stocks targeted by
fishers. With growing recognition that the effects of fishing on the ecosystem need to be managed, the
various agencies have begun to collect the wider range of data that are now required for an assessment
of ecosystem status. However, many of the time series of fisheries catch and effort data are restricted
to the species that were the subject of earlier assessments. Because of the growing need for methods
that could allow such data to be used in assessing the state of these fisheries within an ecosystem
context, a model designed to use such data was developed by Norm Hall for FRDC project 2000/311.
Previous work had demonstrated that this ecosystem model could be fitted to such data, however there
remained the need to validate the model. Accordingly, synthetic data were generated for an ecosystem
using EcoPath/EcoSim. After introducing errors designed to mimic the observation errors likely to be
present in the data collected from a fishery, a subset of these data were then used as input to the new
model. The results demonstrated that the new model accurately captured the trends in biomass of the
different stocks and produced relatively accurate predictions of the data likely to eventuate over the
next one to two years. Thus, it was concluded that the new model could be used as a valuable tool to
supplement other assessment techniques.
Marine resource usage
In 2005, Class I Honours was awarded to Sheryn Prior for her project on recreational boating and
fishing in the Blackwood River estuary. This study incorporated four seasonal sampling trips and
detailed interviews with recreational anglers to ascertain demographics, socio-economics and attitudes
pertaining to conservation and fisheries management. Spatial distribution of recreational boating and
fishing were mapped using GIS. Funding for a 12 month creel survey in the Blackwood estuary was
successfully obtained through the South West Catchment Council and intensive sampling commenced
in September 2005.
Coastal management
Raquel Carter completed a Masters project on environmental factors affecting the nesting of green
turtles in the Ningaloo Marine Park near North West Cape using data collected by the community
monitoring program run by the Department of Conservation and Land Management, World Wildlife
Fund and Murdoch University.
In collaboration with Halina Kobryn, work continued on habitat mapping in the Abrolhos Islands
using satellite imagery. The report on beach usage in the Perth metropolitan region, completed for the
WA Department for Planning and Infrastructure, was used to support decision making in the
development of the Perth Coastal Strategy and Lynnath Beckley presented a summary of this
document to a stakeholder workshop. Several papers were presented at the 3rd WA State Coastal
Conference.
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Fish Health and Aquaculture
The strategic research focus of the Fish Health Unit, led by Alan Lymbery and Rob Doupé, is the
health of cultured and wild aquatic species and the environment in which they are found. Most of their
research is currently on freshwater ecosystems throughout Western Australia. The conceptual basis of
this research lies in understanding the link between environmental stressors (particularly those of
human origin), ecosystem structure (biotic diversity and composition) and ecosystem function (stocks,
fluxes and stability of energy and materials).
The principal anthropogenic stressors for freshwater ecosystems in Australia are salinity, nutrient
inflow and invasive species, and we currently have research projects addressing the causes and
consequences of all of these: the salinisation of south-west rivers, principally the Blackwood and
Collie River systems; the control of nutrient-enriched effluent from inland saline aquaculture in the
wheatbelt; and the role of invasive species of fish and crustaceans in disrupting food webs and
transmitting diseases in the south-west and Kimberley regions. We are examining the effects of these
stressors in both natural ecosystems (streams and riparian zones in the south-west) and managed
ecosystems (inland saline aquaculture ponds in the wheatbelt and Lake Kununurra in the Kimberley).
In natural ecosystems, the focus is on measuring the stability of diverse ecosystem functions in
response to stressors, while in managed ecosystems we are primarily concerned with the measurement
of ecosystem productivity.
Michelle Tay, supervised by Alan Lymbery and David Morgan, was awarded Class I Honours for her
study of the diets of both wild rainbow trout (Churchman Brook Reservoir) and cultured rainbow trout
(in a farm dam at Mount Barker). Diets were determined via stomach content analyses from subsamples of rainbow trout. In Churchman Brook Reservoir, rainbow trout are preying heavily on
marron. Additionally, naturally occurring invertebrate communities present within ponds are being
examined and a comparison of the invertebrate composition in rainbow trout stomachs will be made to
determine possible prey preferences. The results obtained will help gain a better knowledge of the
diets of wild populations of rainbow trout at various stages of growth in comparison to diets of farmed
rainbow trout in semi-intensive productions. In addition, a better understanding will be made of
optimising primary productivity within ponds. The results of this project will help to decrease both
production costs and adverse environmental impacts through reduced consumption of fishmeal-based
trout pellets.
24
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
PUBLICATIONS
3. PUBLICATIONS
Chai, J.-Y., Murrell, D. and Lymbery, A.J. 2005.
Fishborne parasitic zoonoses: status and issues.
International Journal for Parasitology 35: 12331254.
BOOKS
Branch, G.M., Griffiths, C.L., Branch, M.L. and
Beckley, L.E. 2005. Two Oceans – A guide to
the marine life of southern Africa. David Philip
Publishers, Cape Town. 2nd edition, 360pp.
Mair, L. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. Seychelles – the
Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides, UK.
2nd edition, 230pp.
BOOK CHAPTERS - in press
Dichmont, C.J., Loneragan, N.R., Brewer, D.T. and
Poiner, I.R. 2006. Partnerships towards
sustainable use of Australia's Northern Prawn
Fishery. In: Successes in Marine Resource
Management. McClanahan, T.R. and Castilla,
J.C. (eds). Pew Foundation (in press)
JOURNALS (refereed) - 2005
Allen, M., Morgan, D.L. and Gill, H.S. 2005.
Distribution, zoogeography and biology of
Craterocephalus cuneiceps Whitley, an atherinid
endemic to the Indian Ocean (Pilbara) Drainage
Division of Western Australia. Ecology of
Freshwater Fish 14: 209-224.
Beatty, S.J., Morgan, D.L. and Gill, H.S. 2005a.
Role of life history strategy in the colonisation
of Western Australian aquatic systems by the
introduced crayfish Cherax destructor Clark,
1936. Hydrobiologia 549: 219-237.
Beatty, S.J., Morgan, D.L. and Gill, H.S. 2005b.
Life history and reproductive biology of the
gilgie Cherax quinquecarinatus, a freshwater
crayfish endemic to south-western Australia.
Journal of Crustacean Biology 25: 251-262.
Beatty, S.J., Morgan, D.L. and Gill, H.S. 2005c.
Biology of a translocated population of the large
freshwater crayfish, Cherax cainii (Austin and
Ryan, 2002) in a Western Australian river.
Crustaceana 77: 1329-1351.
Bell, J.D., Rothlisberg, P.C., Munro, J.L.,
Loneragan, N.R., Nash, W.J., Ward, R.D. and
Andrew, N.L. 2005. Restocking and stock
enhancement of marine invertebrate fisheries.
Advances in Marine Biology 49: 1-374.
Coulson, P., Hesp, S.A., Potter, I.C. and Hall, N.G.
2005. Comparisons between the biology of two
co-occurring species of whiting (Sillaginidae) in
a large marine embayment. Environmental
Biology of Fishes 73: 125-139.
Doupé, R.G. and Lymbery, A.J. 2005. Additive
genetic and other sources of variation in growth
traits of juvenile black bream Acanthopagrus
butcheri. Aquaculture Research 36: 621-626.
Doupé, R.G. and Lymbery, A.J. 2005. Genetic
covariation in production traits of sub-adult
black bream Acanthopagrus butcheri after growout. Aquaculture Research 36: 1128-1132.
Doupé, R.G. and Lymbery, A.J. 2005.
Environmental risks associated with beneficial
end uses of mine lakes in southwestern
Australia. Mine Water and the Environment 24:
134-138.
Doupé, R.G., Morgan, D.L. and Gill, H.S. 2005.
Prospects for restorative fishery enhancement of
Lake Kununurra: a high-level tropical
impoundment on the Ord River, Western
Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology 11: 136146.
Doupé, R.G., Sarre, G.A., Partridge, G.J., Lymbery,
A.J. and Jenkins, G.I. 2005. What are the
prospects for black bream Acanthopagrus
butcheri (Munro) aquaculture in salt-affected
inland Australia? Aquaculture Research 36:
1345-1355.
Drumm, D.J. and Loneragan, N.R. 2005.
Reproductive biology of Holothuria leucospilota
in the Cook Islands and the implications of
traditional fishing of gonads on the population
biology. New Zealand Journal of Marine and
Freshwater Science 39: 141-156.
Dunlop, J.N. 2005. The demography of a new
Common Noddy (Anous stolidus) colony during
the establishment period. Emu 105: 99-104.
Fox, N.J. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. Priority areas
for conservation of Western Australian coastal
fishes: a comparison of hotspot, biogeographical
and complementarity approaches. Biological
Conservation 125: 399-410.
25
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
PUBLICATIONS
Gill, H.S., Morgan, D.L., Doupé, R.G. and
Rowland, A.J. 2005. The fishes of Lake
Kununurra, a highly regulated section of the Ord
River in northern Western Australia. Records of
the Western Australian Museum 23: 1-6.
Hourston, M., Warwick, R.M., Valesini, F.J. and
Potter, I.C. 2005. To what extent are the
characteristics of nematode assemblages in
nearshore sediments on the west Australian coast
related to habitat type, season and zone?
Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 64: 601612.
Jones, A., White, W.T. and Potter, I.C. 2005. A
hermaphroditic Port Jackson shark,
Heterodontus portusjacksoni, with complete and
separate female and male reproductive tracts.
Journal of the Marine Biological Association,
U.K. 85: 1171-1172.
Kyne, P.M., Johnson, J.W., White, W.T. and
Bennett, M.B. 2005. First records of the false
catshark, Pseudotriakis microdon Capello, 1868,
from the waters of eastern Australia and
Indonesia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum
51(2): 525-530.
Loneragan, N.R., Ahmad Adnan, N., Connolly,
R.C. and Manson, F.J. 2005. Prawn landings
and their relationship with the extent of
mangroves and shallow waters in western
peninsular Malaysia. Estuarine Coastal and
Shelf Science 63: 187-200.
Manson, F.J., Loneragan, N.R., Skilleter, G.A. and
Phinn, S.R. 2005. An evaluation of the evidence
for linkages between mangroves and fisheries: A
synthesis of the literature and identification of
research directions. Oceanography and Marine
Biology Annual Reviews 43: 483-513.
Manson, F.J., Loneragan, N.R., Harch, B.D.,
Skilleter, G.A. and Williams, L. 2005. A broadscale analysis of links between coastal fisheries
production and mangrove extent: A case-study
for northeastern Australia. Fisheries Research
74: 69-85.
Meager, J.J., Williamson, I., Loneragan, N.R. and
Vance, D.J. 2005. Habitat selection of juvenile
banana prawns, Penaeus merguiensis de Man:
testing the roles of habitat structure, predators,
light phase and prawn size. Journal of
Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 324:
89-98.
Morgan, D.L., Chapman, A., Beatty, S.J. and Gill,
H.S. 2005. Distribution of the spotted minnow
(Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns, 1842)) (Teleostei:
Galaxiidae) in Western Australia including
range extensions and sympatric species. Records
of the Western Australian Museum 23: 7-11.
Motomura, H., Last, P.R. and White, W.T. 2005.
First records of a scorpionfish, Maxillocosta
raoulensis (Scorpaeniformes, Neosebastidae),
from the Tasman Sea, with fresh colour notes for
the species. Biogeography 7: 85-90.
Skilleter, G.A., Olds, A., Loneragan, N.R. and
Zharikov, Y. 2005. The value of patches of
intertidal seagrass to prawns depends on their
proximity to mangroves. Marine Biology 147:
353-365.
Thorburn, D.C. and Morgan, D.L. 2005. Threatened
fishes of the world: Glyphis sp. C
(Carcharhinidae). Environmental Biology of
Fishes 73: 140.
Thorburn, D.C. and Morgan, D.L. 2005. Threatened
fishes of the world: Pristis microdon (Pristidae).
Environmental Biology of Fishes 72: 465-466.
Trivett, M.K., Potter, I.C., Power, G., Zhou, H.,
Macmillan, D.L., Martin, T.J. and Danks, J.A.
2005. Parathyroid hormone-related protein
production in the lamprey Geotria australis:
developmental and evolutionary perspectives.
Developmental Genes and Evolution 215:
553-563.
White, W.T. and Potter, I.C. 2005. Reproductive
biology, size and age compositions and growth
of the batoid Urolophus paucimaculatus,
including comparisons with other species of the
Urolophidae. Marine and Freshwater Research
56: 101-110.
White, W.T., Last, P.R. and Compagno, L.J.V.
2005. Description of a new species of weasel
shark, Hemigaleus australiensis n. sp.
(Carcharhiniformes: Hemigaleidae) from
Australian waters. Zootaxa 1077: 37-49.
White, W.T., Last, P.R. and Dharmadi 2005.
Description of a new species of catshark,
Atelomycterus baliensis (Carcharhiniformes:
Scyliorhinidae) from eastern Indonesia. Cybium
29: 33-40.
26
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
PUBLICATIONS
Wildsmith, M.D., Potter, I.C., Valesini, F.J. and
Platell, M.E. 2005. Do the assemblages of
macroinvertebrates in nearshore waters of
Western Australia vary among habitat types,
zones and seasons? Journal of the Marine
Biological Association, U.K. 85: 217-232.
Hoeksema, S.D., Chuwen, B.M. and Potter, I.C.
2006. Massive mortalities of black bream,
Acanthopagrus butcheri (Sparidae), following
very marked increases in salinity in two
normally closed estuaries. Journal of the Marine
Biological Association, U.K.
Ye, Y., Loneragan, N.R., Die, D.J., Watson, R.A.
and Harch, B. 2005. Bioeconomic modelling
and risk assessment of tiger prawn (Penaeus
esculentus) stock enhancement in Exmouth Gulf,
Australia. Fisheries Research 73: 231-249.
Loneragan, N.R., Ye, Y., Kenyon, R.A. and
Haywood, M.D.E. 2006. New directions for
research in prawn (=shrimp) enhancement and
the use of models in providing directions for
research. Fisheries Research
Zharikov, Y., Skilleter, G.A., Loneragan, N.R.,
Taranto, T. and Cameron, B.E. 2005. Mapping
and characterising subtropical estuarine
landscapes using aerial photography and GIS for
potential application in wildlife conservation and
management. Biological Conservation 125:
87-100.
Lymbery, A.J., Doupé, R.G., Bennett, T. and
Starcevich, M. R. 2006. Efficacy of a
subsurface-flow wetland using the estuarine
sedge Juncus kraussii to treat effluent from
inland saline aquaculture. Aquacultural
Engineering 34: 1-6.
JOURNALS (refereed) - 2006 and in press
Bell, J.D., Bartley, D.M., Lorenzen, K. and
Loneragan, N. 2006. Restocking and Stock
Enhancement of Coastal Fisheries: Potential,
Problems and Progress. Fisheries Research
Chapman, A,, Morgan, D.L., Beatty, S.J. and Gill,
H.S. 2006. Variation in life history of landlocked lacustrine and riverine populations of
Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns, 1842) in Western
Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes
Doupé, R.G., Lymbery, A.J. and Pettit, N.D. 2006.
Stream salinisation is associated with reduced
taxonomic, but not functional diversity in a
riparian plant community. Austral Ecology 32:
388-393.
Guest, M.A., Connolly, R.M., Lee, S.Y.,
Loneragan, N.R. and Breitfuss, M.J. 2006.
Mechanism for the small scale movement of
carbon among estuarine habitats: organic matter
transfer not crab movement. Oecologia
Hall, N.G., Smith, K.D., de Lestang, S. and Potter,
I.C. 2006. Does the largest chela of the males of
three crab species undergo an allometric change
that can be used to determine morphometric
maturity? ICES Journal of Marine Science 63:
140-150.
Mant, J.C., Moran, M.J., Newman, S.J., Hesp, A.S.,
Hall, N.G. and Potter, I.C. 2006. Biology and
mortality of Pentapodus vitta, an abundant bycatch species of prawn trawling and recreational
fishing in a large subtropical embayment.
Fisheries Bulletin
Morgan, D.L. and Beatty, S.J. 2006. Use of a
vertical-slot fishway by galaxiids in Western
Australia. Ecology of Freshwater Fish
Morgan, D.L. and Gill, H.S. 2006. Osteology of the
first dorsal fin in two terapontids,
Leiopotherapon unicolor (Günther, 1859) and
Amniataba caudavittata (Richardson, 1845),
from Western Australia: evidence for
hybridisation? Records of the Western
Australian Museum 23: 133-144.
Platell, M.E., Orr, P.A. and Potter, I.C. 2006. Interand intraspecific partitioning of food resources
by six large and abundant fish species in a
seasonally-open estuary. Journal of Fish Biology
68: 1-20
Smallwood, C.B., Beckley, L.E. and Sumner, N.R.
2006. Shore-based recreational angling in the
Rottnest Island Reserve, Western Australia:
Spatial and temperal distribution of catch and
fishing effort. Pacific Conservation Biology
Travers, M.J., Newman, S.J. and Potter, I.C.
Influence of latitude, water depth, day vs night
and wet vs dry periods on the species
composition of reef fish communities in tropical
Western Australia. Journal of Fish Biology
27
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
PUBLICATIONS
Other publications in 2005
Other publications in 2006
Beatty, S.J. and Morgan, D.L. 2005. Monitoring the
adequacy of Environmental Water Provisions
for fish and crayfish communities of Samson
Brook, Harvey River and Harris River. Report to
the Water Corporation of Western Australia.
Farmer, B.M., French, D.J.W., Potter, I.C., Hesp,
S.A. and Hall, N.G. 2006. Determination of the
biological parameters for managing the fisheries
for Mulloway and Silver Trevally in Western
Australia. Fisheries Research and Development
Corporation Report. Project No. 2002/180.
Fox, N.J. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. Kimberley
marine biophysical resource assessment. Report
for Western Australian Department of
Conservation and Land Management. 16pp +
Database CD.
Molony, B., Beatty, S., Bird, C. and Nguyen, V.
2005. Mitigation of the negative impacts on
biodiversity and fisheries values of the
refurbishment of Waroona Dam, south-western
Australia. Report to the Water Corporation of
Western Australia. Fisheries Research Contract
Report No. 12.
Morgan, D.L. and Beatty, S.J. 2005a. Baseline
study on the fish and freshwater crayfish fauna
in the Blackwood River and its tributaries
receiving discharge from the Yarragadee
Aquifer. Report to the Department of
Environment, Government of Western Australia.
Morgan, D. and Beatty, S. 2005b. The Goodga
River Fishway – two years of monitoring the
Western Australian trout minnow (Galaxias
truttaceus). Report to the Department of
Fisheries Western Australia.
Morgan, D. and Beatty, S. 2005c. Control of feral
Goldfish (Carassius auratus) in the Vasse River.
Report to the Vasse-Wonnerup LCDC.
Morgan, D. and Beatty, S. 2005d. Fish and crayfish
fauna of Ellen Brook, Cowaramup Brook and
Gunyulgup Brook in the Cape to Cape Region of
Western Australia. Report to Ribbons of
Blue/Waterwatch WA.
Morgan, D., Beatty, S. and McAleer, F. 2005a. The
Lion’s Weir Fishway – Hotham River, Western
Australia. Report to the Peel-Harvey Catchment
Council.
Morgan, D., Thorburn, D., Fenton, J., Wallacesmith, H. and Goodson, S. 2005. Influence of the
Camballin Barrage on fish communities in the
Fitzroy River, Western Australia. Murdoch
University/Kimberley Land Council/Department
of Environment report to Land and Water
Australia.
Pember, M.B., Newman, S.J., Hesp, S.A., Young,
G.C., Skepper, C.L., Hall, N.G. and Potter, I.C.
2006. Biological parameters for managing the
fisheries for Blue and King Threadfin Salmons,
Gold-spotted rockcod, Estuary Rockcod,
Malabar Grouper and Mangrove Jack in northwestern Australia. Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation Report. Project No.
2002/003.
Newsletters
Morgan, D. and Sefton, M. 2005. Biodiversity and
cultural significance of the fishes in the King
Edward River, Kimberley. RIPRAP (River and
Riparian Lands Management Newsletter) 28: 2829.
Morgan, D., Thorburn, D., Fenton, J. and Bowyer,
L. 2005. Fish passage in the Fitzroy River in the
Kimberley region of WA. RIPRAP (River and
Riparian Lands Management Newsletter) 2 : 3031.
Conference and workshop presentations
Beckley, L.E. 2005. Use of high resolution spatial
data to assess recreational fishing effort
displaced by marine park zoning. International
Marine Protected Areas Congress, Geelong,
Australia.
Beckley, L.E. and Blackweir, D.G. 2005. Aerial
survey of beach usage along the Perth
metropolitan coast. 3rd WA State Coastal
Conference, Busselton, Australia.
Beckley, L.E. and Fox, N.J. 2005. Diversity and
conservation of Western Australian coastal
fishes. 7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, Taipei,
Taiwan.
Beckley, L.E. and Smallwood, C.B. 2005. Marine
resource usage in the Rottnest Island Reserve,
Western Australia and a comparison with
recreational fishing in KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa. 12th Southern African Marine Science
Symposium, Durban, South Africa.
28
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
PUBLICATIONS
Beckley, L.E., Fennessy, S.T. and Everett, B.I.
2005. Harbours as recreational assets: A case
study of shore-based angling in a major South
African port. Indian Ocean Marine
Environmental Conference: Linking science,
engineering and management. Perth, Australia.
Beckley, L.E., Muhling, B.A. and Waite, A.M.
2005. Ichthyoplankton assemblages and primary
production in meso-scale eddies associated with
the Leeuwin Current, Eastern Indian Ocean.
American Fisheries Society Larval Fish
Symposium, Barcelona, Spain.
Beckley, L.E., Muhling, B.A. and Waite, A.M.
2005. Meso-scale eddies: death traps or life
savers in an oligotrophic Indian Ocean? 12th
Southern African Marine Science Symposium,
Durban, South Africa.
Beckley, L.E., Muhling, B.A. and Waite, A.M.
2005. Meso-scale Leeuwin Current eddies:
oceanographic history and ichthyoplankton
assemblages. 7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference,
Taipei, Taiwan.
Carter, R. 2005. Environmental factors influencing
green turtle nesting activity at North West Cape,
Western Australia. 3rd WA State Coastal
Conference, Busselton, Australia
Fairclough, D.V. and Potter, I.C. 2005. The
reproductive biology of four tuskfish species
(Choerodon: Labridae) in Shark Bay, Western
Australia.
Fairclough, D.V., Potter, I.C. and Lek, E. 2005. Fish
communities of the reefs of the Jurien Bay Marine
Park. Strategic Research Fund for the Marine
Environment Workshop on the Jurien Bay project and
ecosystem models. CSIRO, June 2005.
Fox, N.J. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. Marine
conservation in Western Australia: Efficiency,
stakeholders and the problem of the remote
north. International Marine Protected Areas
Congress, Geelong, Australia.
Harvey, M.J. and Beckley, L.E. 2005.
Effectiveness of regulations: A case study from
the Western Australia recreational boat fishery.
3rd WA State Coastal Conference, Busselton,
Australia.
Harvey, M.J., Kobryn, L.E. and Beckley, L.E.
2005. Hyperspectral remote sensing:
Applications for management of the Rottnest
Island Reserve. 3rd WA State Coastal
Conference, Busselton, Australia.
Kobryn, H.T., Beckley, L.E., Wise, P. and Dibden,
C. 2005. Comparison of aerial photography and
Quickbird satellite imagery for marine habitat
classification in the Abrolhos Island, Western
Australia. 3rd WA State Coastal Conference,
Busselton, Australia.
Kobryn, H.T., Wise, P., Beckley, L.E. and Dibden,
C. 2005. Marine habitat classification in the
Abrolhos Islands: Integration of bathymetry and
remotely sensed data. Indian Ocean Marine
Environmental Conference: Linking science,
engineering and management. Perth, Australia.
Loneragan, N.R., Haywood, M.D., Kenyon, R.A., Ye,
Y. 2005. Future directions for prawn enhancement.
Australian Society of Fish Biology Conference,
Darwin July 2005.
Maddern, M.G., Gill, H.S. and Morgan, D.L. 2005.
More invasive than Gambusia holbrooki? The
biology and potential environmental impacts of
the introduced freshwater fish Phalloceros
caudimaculatus (Poeciliidae) in Western
Australia. Australian Society for Fish Biology,
Annual Meeting, Darwin, Australia.
Morgan, D., Thorburn, D., Bedford, P., Sefton, M.,
Casson, S., Croft, I., Fenton, J., Wallace-Smith,
H., Johnson, M., Vigilante, T. and Mardling, A.
2005. Fish Projects in the West Kimberley collaborative studies by Murdoch University’s
Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, the
Kimberley Land Council’s Land + Sea Unit and
the Kimberley Language Resource Centre.
Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable,
11-13 October 2005, Fitzroy Crossing.
Muhling, B., Beckley, L.E. and Waite, A. 2005.
Meso-scale Leeuwin Current eddies:
Ichthyoplankton assemblages and primary
production. Indian Ocean Marine
Environmental Conference: Linking science,
engineering and management. Perth, Australia.
29
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
PUBLICATIONS
Muhling, B.A. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. Finding
Nemo and his friends: The influence of ocean
currents on larval fishes off south-western
Australia. 3rd WA State Coastal Conference,
Busselton, Australia.
Muhling, B.A., Beckley, L.E. and Koslow, A.J.
2005. Ichthyoplankton assemblages off southwestern Australia and the influence of regional
and local oceanography. 7th Indo-Pacific Fish
Conference, Taipei, Taiwan.
Prior, S.P. and Beckley, L.E. 2005. What do
fishermen really think? A case study from the
Blackwood Estuary. 3rd WA State Coastal
Conference, Busselton, Australia.
Torre, A., Morgan, D.L. and Beatty, S.J. 2005. Fish
passage – What’s happening in Western
Australia? 4th Australian Technical Workshop
on Fishways Conference Proceedings,
Kununurra, Western Australia, 2005.
Tull, M. 2005. Shark fishing in Indonesia: a brief
historical overview, paper presented at the
Oceans Past conference, Kolding, Denmark, 2427 October 2005.
Tull, M. and Vieira, S. 2005. Potential impacts of
management measures on artisanal fishers in
Indonesian shark and ray fisheries: a case study
of Cilacap, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch
University, Working Paper 127, December 2005.
White, W.T., Last, P.R., Fahmi, Dharmadi and
Stevens, J.D. 2005. The elasmobranchs of
eastern Indonesia: characterisation of the fauna
based on surveys of fish landing sites. Oral
Presentation at the 7th Indo-Pacific Fish
Conference, Taiwan, May 2005.
White, W.T., Cavanagh, R.D., Fahmi and
Dharmadi. 2005. Whale shark landings in
Indonesian artisanal shark and ray fisheries.
Poster presented at the International Whale
Shark Conference, Perth, May 2005
30
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
4. Postgraduate students and their
research topics
PhD students (Awarded)
Dr Stephen Beatty
Translocations of freshwater crayfish:
contributions from life histories, trophic
relations and diseases of three species in
Western Australia
Supervisors: David Morgan and Howard Gill
(DSE)
Dr David Fairclough
The biology of four tuskfish species
(Choerodon: Labridae) in Western Australia
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
Dr Christine Lamont
Sex allocation and reproductive costs in a gull
with a long breeding season
Supervisors: Stuart Bradley and Ron Wooller
(DSE)
Dr Carina Marshall
Evolutionary genetics of barramundi (Lates
calcarifer) in the Australian region
Supervisors: Howard Gill (DSE) and Alan
Lymbery (DHS)
Dr Kellie Pendoley
Sea turtles and environmental management of
industrial activities in north-western Australia
Supervisor: Stuart Bradley (DSE)
Dr Chris Powell
The breeding biology of the flesh-footed
shearwater Puffinus carneipes
Supervisors: Ron Wooller and Stuart Bradley
(DSE)
Dr Ertug Sezmis
The population genetic structure of Portunus
pelagicus in Australian waters
Supervisors: Jennie Chaplin and Ian Potter
(DSE)
PhD students (examined/submitted in
2005)
Indre K. Asmussen
Nestling provisioning in little shearwater and
wedge-tailed shearwaters on the Western
Australian coast
Supervisors: Ron Wooller and Stuart Bradley
(DSE)
Kimberley Smith
Distribution, abundance and reproductive
biology of the deep sea crabs Hypothalassia
acerba and Chaceon bicolor in south-western
Australia
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Norm Hall (DSE)
Brent Wise
Age composition and growth rates of selected
fish species in Western Australia
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Norm Hall (DSE)
PhD students (enrolled in 2005)
Doug Bearham
Parasitic protozoa in the genus
Haplosporidium occurring within the north
west pearling industry
Supervisors: Shane Raidal and Phil Nicholls
(DHS)
Farhan Bokhari
The effect of stream salinisation on ecosystem
functioning across trophic levels
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery and Rob Doupé
(DHS)
Benjamin Chuwen
Biology of the black bream Acanthopagrus
butcheri in divergent estuaries on the south
coast of Western Australia
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
Natasha Coen
The hyperbenthos of four morphologically
divergent estuaries in south-western Australia
Supervisors: Fiona Valesini and Ian Potter
(DSE)
31
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
Peter Coulson
Size and age compositions, growth and
reproductive biology of the western blue
groper, blue morwong and bar-tailed flathead
on the south coast of Western Australia
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Norm Hall (DSE)
Bryn Farmer
Biology, stock structure and mortality of the
mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus
Supervisors: Norm Hall and Jennie Chaplin
(DSE)
Supervisors: Ian Potter, Norm Hall (DSE) and
Rod Lenanton (DoF)
Ashlee Jones
Biology of elasmobranchs on the lower west
coast of Australia
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
Elaine Lek
Biology of three abundant labrids in the
Jurien Bay Marine Park
Supervisors: Ian Potter and David Fairclough
(DSE)
Nicola Fox
Marine reserve planning in data poor
environments: A case study from north west
Australian waters adjacent to the Kimberley
coast
Supervisor: Lynnath Beckley (DSE)
Thea Linke
The benthic macroinvertebrate fauna and food
webs of two divergent estuaries on the south
coast of Western Australia
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
Matthew Harvey
Application of remotely sensed hyperspectral
data to marine planning in Western Australia
Supervisors: Lynnath Beckley and Halina
Kobryn (DSE)
Karen Marshall
Enzymatic mechanism(s) involved in the
partitioning of fatty acids into either catabolic
or anabolic processes
Supervisors: Max Cake and Ian Potter (DSE)
Marina Hassan
Parasites of native and introduced freshwater
fish in the south west of Western Australia
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery, Rob Doupé
(DHS) and David Morgan (DSE)
Heather McLetchie
Molecular diagnosis of crayfish plague
(Aphanomyces astaci)
Supervisors: Stan Fenwick and Phil Nicholls
(DHS)
Steeg Hoeksema
Studies of the fish communities in degraded
temperate Western Australian estuaries
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
Barbara Muhling
Ichthyoplankton assemblage structure in
coastal and shelf waters off Western Australia
Supervisors: Lynnath Beckley (DSE) and Tony
Koslow (CSIRO)
Mathew Hourston
Meiofauna of Western Australian estuaries
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Fiona Valesini
(DSE)
Michelle Ingram
The effect of salinity on the resilience of
riparian ecosystems
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery and Rob Doupé
(DHS)
Gary Jackson
Fisheries biology and management of pink
snapper, Pagrus auratus, in the inner gulfs of
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Gavin Partridge
The effect of variable ionic compositions on
the growth and health of marine fish cultured
in saline groundwater
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery and Shane Raidal
(DHS)
Matthew Pember
Characterisation of fish communities in coastal
waters of north-western Australia, including
studies of the biology of the threadfin salmons
Eleutheronema tetradactylum and
Polydactylus macrochir
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
32
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
Mahmoud Rashnavadi
Parasites of freshwater fish as bioindicators of
water quality in the south-west of Western
Australia
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery (DHS) and David
Morgan (DSE)
Andrew Rowland
The biology and ecology of samson fish
(Seriola hippos), with emphasis on the
sportfishery targeting deep water spawning
aggregations west of Rottnest Island
Supervisors: Howard Gill (DSE) and Mike
Mackie (DoF)
Emilia Santos-Yap
Genetic structure of natural and cultured
populations of black bream, Acanthopagrus
butcheri
Supervisors: Jennie Chaplin and Ian Potter
(DSE)
Zoe Spiers
Ciliate protozoa in pearl oysters
Supervisors: Shane Raidal and Mandy O’Hara
(DHS)
Dean Thorburn (submitted in 2006)
Freshwater elasmobranchs in northern
Australia
Supervisor: Howard Gill (DSE)
Michael Travers
The ecology of fishes on reefs and soft
substrates in coastal waters of northwestern
Australia
Supervisor: Ian Potter (DSE)
Corey Wakefield
A biological assessment of snapper (Pagrus
auratus, Sparidae) in the Perth region,
including comparisons of northern and
southern stocks in Western Australia
Supervisors: Norm Hall, Ian Potter (DSE) and
Rod Lenanton (DoF)
Michelle Wildsmith
Benthic macroinvertebrates of Western
Australian estuaries, with particular reference
to the effects of eutrophication
Supervisors: Fiona Valesini, Ian Potter (DSE)
and Russ Babcock (CSIRO)
Andrew Winzer
The biology and prevalence of sea lice
(Isopoda : Cirolanidae) and their effect on the
Western Rock Lobster fishery
Supervisors: Howard Gill (DSE)
MVSc student (Enrolled in 2005)
Neil Griffiths
Characterisation of external structures found
on the gills of Barramundi and Murray cod
Supervisor: Shane Raidal (DHS)
MSc student (Completed in 2005)
Raquel Carter
The influence of environmental variables on
the nesting activity of green turtles at North
West Cape, Western Australia
Supervisors: Lynnath Beckley (DSE)
MSc student (Enrolled in 2005)
Chris Jones
Growth of sardine (Sardinops sagax) larvae in
oligotrophic waters of Western Australia
Supervisors: Lynnath Beckley and Alex Hesp
(DSE)
Honours students (Completed in 2005)
Tim Carter
Biology of the sand trevally, Pseudocaranx
wrighti. Class I
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Alex Hesp (DSE)
Fiona McAleer
Larval development and ontogenetic changes
in the diet of the trout minnow (Galaxias
truttaceus Valenciennes, 1846) in southwestern Western Australia. Class I
Supervisors: David Morgan and Howard Gill
(DSE)
Steven Moore
Biology of the breaksea cod Epinephelides
armatus. Class I
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Alex Hesp (DSE)
33
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
Sheryn Prior
Recreational fishing and boating in the
Blackwood estuary, Western Australia. Class I
Supervisor: Lynnath Beckley (DSE)
Michelle Tay
The diet of wild and cultured rainbow trout,
Onchorhynchus mykiss, in Western Australia.
Class I
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery (DHS) and David
Morgan (DSE)
Honours students (Enrolled in 2005)
Claire Bartron
Age and growth of gummy sharks
Supervisors: Ian Potter and William White
(DSE)
Stephen Cossington
The biology of the foxfish (Bodianus frenchii)
in waters off south-western Australia
Supervisors: Ian Potter and Alex Hesp (DSE)
Gavin Kay
Constructed wetlands for the treatment of
saline, nutrient-enriched aquaculture effluent
Supervisors: Alan Lymbery and Rob Doupé
(DHS)
Nicole Phillips
The development of genetic and morphological
methods for the study of sawfish populations
via the analysis of ‘old’ rostra
Supervisors: Jennie Chaplin and Howard Gill
(DSE)
Chea Faang Yann
Molecular taxonomy of anisakids in Western
Australia
Supervisors: Una Ryan and Alan Lymbery
(DHS)
34
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH INCOME
5. Summary of research funding
Table 1. List of projects and research income for 2005
Name
Project
Funding Body
Beckley, Lynnath
(DSE)
Zooplankton of Christmas
Island, Indian Ocean
Parks Australia
Beckley, Lynnath
(DSE)
Quantitative assessment of Natural Heritage Trust recreational angling in the NRM (SW Catchment
Blackwood Estuary
Council)
Beckley, Lynnath
and
Barbara Muhling
(DSE)
Ichthyoplankton
assemblages in WA
Beckley, Lynnath
and
Sheryn Prior (DSE)
Duration
2005
prop’n
$
Total
funding
($)
Oct 2005Dec 2006
2,000
4,000
Sept 2005Sept 2006
43,900
87,800
Strategic Research Fund for
the Marine Environment
Jan 2003Dec 2005
15,950
47,850
Fishing and boating
survey of the Blackwood
Estuary
WA Department of
Conservation and Land
Management
Jan-Nov
2005
2,000
2,000
Beckley, Lynnath
and
Barbara Muhling
(DSE)
Visit by Dr P. Olivar
(international larval fish
expert) from Spain
Strategic Research Fund for
the Marine Environment
Sept 2005
3,500
3,500
Beckley, Lynnath
and
Nicola Fox (DSE)
Kimberley biological
resource assessment
WA Department of
Conservation and
Management
Jan-Mar 2005
2,840
2,840
Beckley, Lynnath
and
Matthew Harvey
(DSE)
Development of a spectral WA Department of
library for metropolitan
Conservation and
marine parks
Management
Oct 2005Dec 2006
1,000
2,000
Buller, Nicky,
Stan Fenwick and
Phil Nicholls
(DHS)
New diagnostic tests for
Aphanomyces astaci
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jan 2004Dec 2005
35,430
70,860
Chaplin, Jennie and
Ian Potter (DSE)
Studies of the stock
structure of mulloway
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2003Jun 2005
10,000
15,000
de Graaf, Martin,
Brett Maloney
(DoF) and Steve
Beatty (DSE)
Evaluating the
Fisheries Research and
recreational marron
Development Corporation
fishery against
environmental change and
human interactions.
Jul 2003-Dec
2006
10,629
33,559
Doupé, Rob
and Alan Lymbery
(DHS)
The biology and
management of
introduced redclaw in
lake Kununurra
July 2004July 2007
7,000
21,000
WA Department of
Fisheries
35
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH INCOME
Name
Project
Funding Body
Duration
2005
prop’n
$
Total
funding
($)
Hall, Norm (DSE)
Development of research
methodology and
quantitative skills for
integrated fisheries
management in WA
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jan 2001Dec 2005
131,421
579,814
Hall, Norm
and
Ian Potter (DSE)
Effect of environmental
change on commercial
fish species in south coast
estuaries
Western Australian Fishing
Industry Council
Jul 2005Jun 2008
9,697
55,761
Hall, Norm
(DSE)
Estimation of natural and
fishing mortality using
length composition data
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jan 2004Dec 2006
106,141
318,425
Hall, Norm (in
conjunction with
DoF) (DSE)
Spatial scales of
exploitation among
populations of demersal
scalefish: implications for
wetline management
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jun 2004Jun 2006
15,000
30,000
Jenkins, Greg
(Challenger TAFE)
and
Ian Potter (DSE)
Restocking of the
Blackwood River Estuary
with black bream
(Acanthopagrus butcheri)
- extension and
monitoring
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2004Jun 2005
31,800
64,350
Lymbery, Alan
(DHS)
Identifying parasitic
disease threats to native
freshwater fish
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
2005
3,333
3,333
Lymbery, Alan
(DHS)
Environmental
management system for
mine lake aquaculture
Centre for Sustainable
Mine Lakes
2005-2008
39,650
158,600
Lymbery, Alan
(DHS)
Identifying parasitic
disease threats to native
freshwater fish in southwestern Australia
Fishcare WA
2004-2007
1,045
4,180
Lymbery, Alan
(DHS),
David Morgan
(DSE) and
Rob Doupé (DHS)
The importance of
parasites in the
conservation of native
freshwater fish
Australia and Pacific
Science Foundation
2004-2007
8,602
34,410
Morgan, David,
and Stephen Beatty
(DES)
Baseline studies of fish
and freshwater crayfish in
the Yarragadee Aquifer
discharge zone
Department of
Environment
March-April
2005
14,953
14,953
Morgan, David,
and Stephen Beatty
(DES)
Fish migrations in the
Blackwood River
South-west Catchment
Council
Sept 2005Jun 2006
20,000
59,814
36
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH INCOME
Name
Project
Funding Body
Duration
2005
prop’n
$
Total
funding
($)
Morgan, David
(DSE)
and the Kimberley
Language Resource
Centre
Biodiversity and cultural
significance of fishes in
the King Edward River,
Kimberley, Western
Australia
Land and Water Australia
Aug 2004Jul 2005
20,875
41,750
Morgan, David
and Stephen Beatty
(DSE)
Destocking of Churchman
Brook Reservoir
Water Corporation of
Western Australia
Nov 2004Nov 2005
11,515
11,515
Morgan, David,
Dean Thorburn
(DSE) and the
Kimberley Land
Council
Fish passage on the
Fitzroy River, Kimberley
Land and Water Australia
Aug 2004Jul 2005
4,350
8,700
Morgan, David
and Stephen Beatty
(DSE)
Monitoring of
Boddington Fishway
Peel-Harvey Catchment
Council
Aug 2004Mar 2005
2,518
7,556
Morgan, David
and Stephen Beatty
(DSE)
Goldfish control in the
Vasse River
Vasse-Wonnerup Land
Conservation District
Committee
Mar 2005May 2005
2,200
2,200
Partridge, Gavin
(TAFE), Alan
Lymbery, Rob
Doupé (DHS) Gavin
Sarre and Greg
Jenkins (TAFE)
New Technologies for
sustainable commercial
finfish culture
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
2005-2008
–
59,500
Potter, Ian (DSE)
Benthic macroinvertebrates in the Swan
River Estuary Marine
Park
Wetland Conservation
2005
15,000
15,000
Potter, Ian (DSE)
Determination of
biological parameters for
managing the fisheries for
mulloway and silver
trevally in Western
Australia
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2002Sep 2005
26,597
199,217
Potter, Ian (DSE)
Impact of environmental
changes on the biota of
Western Australian southcoast estuaries
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2002Sep 2005
3,648
115,374
Potter, Ian (DSE)
Biological parameters
required for managing
western blue groper, blue
morwong and bar-tailed
flathead
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2004Jun 2007
76,402
233,684
37
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH INCOME
Duration
Total
funding
($)
Project
Potter, Ian (DSE),
Steve Newman
(DoF) and
Glen Young (DSE)
(completed)
Biological parameters for
managing the fisheries for
blue and king threadfin
salmons, gold-spotted
rockcod, black-spotted
rockcod and mangrove
jack in north-western
Australia
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2002Jun 2005
38,100
336,077
Potter, Ian and
David Fairclough
(DSE)
Ecological interactions in
coastal marine
ecosystems, Jurien Bay
Marine Park
Strategic Research Fund for
the Marine
Environment/CSIRO
Feb 2005Jan 2008
95,350
286,051
Potter, Ian and
Fiona Valesini
(DSE)
Relationships between
fish faunas and habitat
type in south-western
Australian estuaries
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Jul 2004Jun 2008
95,970
477,328
Potter, Ian and
William White
(DSE)
Phase II - Artisanal shark
and ray fisheries in East
Indonesia: their socioeconomic and fishery
characteristics and
relationship to Australian
resources
Australian Centre for
International Agricultural
Research
Jan 2004Jun 2006
96,398
223,368
Raidal, Shane
(DHS)
Description of a new
intracellular ciliate
parasite of pearl oysters
Fisheries Research and
Development Corporation
Nov 2004Nov 2007
40,906
122,720
GRAND
TOTAL ($)
1,050,665
3,759,034
TOTAL
PROJECTS: 38
Funding Body
2005
prop’n
$
Name
38
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH INCOME
Table 2. Summary of research income from different funding
sources in 2005
TOTAL
($)
Australia and Pacific Science Foundation
8,602
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
96,398
Centre for Sustainable Mine Lakes
39,650
Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM)
Department of Environment
5,840
14,953
Department of Fisheries Western Australia (DoF)
7,000
Fishcare Western Australia
5,990
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)
Land and Water Australia
Parks Australia
625,377
25,225
2,000
Natural Heritage Trust
43,900
Peel-Harvey Catchment Council
2,518
South-west Catchment Council
20,000
Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment (SRFME)
Vasse-Wonnerup Land Conservation District Committee
Water Corporation of Western Australia
Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC)
Wetland Conservation
114,800
2,200
11,515
9,697
15,000
39
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
RESEARCH INCOME
Australia and Pacific Science Foundation
Kimberley
Language
Resource Centre
Centre for Sustainable Mine Lakes
Vasse-Wonnerup Land Conservation
District Committee
Wetland Conservation
40
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
POSTERS
Sign erected at strategic locations on the Fitzroy River
(Geikie Gorge, Willare Bridge and Camballin Barrage)
41
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
POSTERS
Appendix 1. King Edward River fish and Belaa language poster
Maada-kudengei manya
Wungkalbarr manya
Lesser Salmo n Catfish
Maada-kudengei manya
Sev en - spo t Archer fish
Western Rainbo wfish
Slender G udg eo n
Silv er Cobbler
Dorungai ninya
H y rtl’s ta ndan
Bony Bream
Kûkûridingei manya
Barred G runter
Slender Rainbowfish
Ra inbo wfish
Empire G udg eo n
Prince R egent
H a rdy head
Amalarr manya
Bla ck Bream
(J e nk in ’ s
Amalarr
Gr u nte rmanya
)
K imberley Mo
gurnda
Mog
urnda
Dorungai ninya
Bla ck Catfish
Long - nose Soo ty
MacClea y’s G lassfish
G ia nt G udg eon
Dorungai ninya
False - spined Catfish
Wuma minya
Dorungai ninya
Renda hl’s Catfish
Yilarra manya
Ba rra mundi
Flathea d G o by
G lassfish
Spa ngled Perch
Amalarr manya
Wuluwa ninya/Jaburru manya of
Freshwa ter Long tom
Centre for Fish and Fisheries
Research
Kimberley Language
Resource Centre
Mo uth Almig hty
Freshwater fishes
the King Edward
and Carson Rivers
Jelenji
manya
G runter
Funded by:
(including the Belaa
names)
A recent survey of the King Edward and
Carson Rivers revealed 26 species of
freshwater fish (not including
Barramundi). Many had not previously
been recorded from the river and some
represent considerable range extensions
and potentially new species.
42
CENTRE FOR FISH AND FISHERIES RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT 2005
Butler’s G runte r
Kungkumirri manya
Long - nos e G runter
Poster by D. Morgan, M.Sefton, D. Cheinmora
and A. Charles.
Photographs: D. Morgan, S. Visser, M. Allen.
murdochuniversity
centre for fish and fisheries research
Annual
Research Report
wwwscieng.murdoch.edu.au/centres/fish/
centre for fish and fisheries research
locations 2005
www.murdoch.edu.au
3143/06
2005