Why is the East Australian Current Behaving so Badly?
The East Australian Current (EAC) is a flow of water that is formed from the South Equatorial Current crossing the Coral Sea and reaching the eastern coast of Australia off Queensland. As the South Equatorial Current hits the Australian coast it divides forming the southward flow of the EAC. The EAC is the largest ocean current close to the shores of […]
Marine Mammal Report Released
All primary production has environmental impacts and most have some impact on native mammal populations. On land, farmers can apply for permits to destroy kangaroos while no rules exist for vehicle road kill. However, in the marine environment the rules are much tougher. All marine mammals are afforded protection under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity […]
Searching for school shark pups in South Australia
Matt McMillan is a PhD candidate working on school shark (Galeorhinus galeus) at the University of Adelaide. He needs your help to find school shark pupping grounds that may exist in South Australian waters. School shark numbers declined in the 1990s and conservative total allowable catches (TACs) have been set to help them recover. School […]
Fishermen call for use of new technology to reduce effects on seabirds
The South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association and the Great Australian Bight Fishing Industry Association (GABIA) have developed world leading technology that reduces interactions between trawlers and seabirds by up to 96%. Plans are in place to roll this technology out across the trawl fleet. Trawl fishermen from both Commonwealth managed trawl fisheries in South Australia are committed to […]
Learn about Danish seine trawling
Learn more about the Danish seine method of trawling by watching this informative video including some underwater video of the gear in action. [wpdevart_youtube]74IOuDv6-JU[/wpdevart_youtube] (or watch directly on YouTube here)
Gulper exclusion trial successful
The gulper exclusion proof-of-concept trial has been successful. Read on to learn more and see trawl footage taken at 500m depth. Harrisson’s dogfish and southern dogfish are part of a group of sharks called Upper-Slope Dogfish or Gulper Sharks. To rebuild populations of gulpers AFMA has put a series of closures in place. These closures are […]
SETFIA and seabird conservation
Seabirds are attracted to fishing vessels by the sight and smell of fish and fish offal. At times seabirds have no interest in fishing vessels but at other times their behaviour becomes frenzied. During these periods they can be injured or killed when they strike the steel cables (warps) used to tow trawl nets. SETFIA […]
SETFIA, AFMA and the Australian Maritime College’s plan to save seals
To address the issue of seal bycatch in trawl fisheries, SETFIA and AFMA are funding a fishing gear design competition open to all students of the Australian Maritime College and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. The competition will encourage innovative thinking in the next generation of fisheries managers and marine engineers by asking […]
Did shortened nets reduce seal interactions?
In March last year the newsletter reported on a project that aimed to reduce seal interactions with trawlers. The project was supported by AFMA through funding from the Australian Government and ExxonMobil Australia. Reducing the chance of seal interactions is a logical step for the fishery which is actively working to improve its sustainability. Seals […]
Current seabird mitigations have reduced problem by 75%
Warp deflectors, commonly known as ‘pinkies’, have been proven effective in reducing seabird interactions with trawl warp wires by 75% according to the results in the report by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority titled, Assessing the Effectiveness of Seabird Mitigation Devices in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery of Australia. A summary of the […]