ﬁ shingTODAY - stors.tas.gov.au

TASMANIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY NEWSfi shingTODAY

Volume 25 No 2 April/May 2012

INSIDE:

> Seafood recipes P15

> IMAS researcher awarded P29

> Coastal clean ups P 4

The Domain Slipway is Tasmania’s best located and first environmentally compliant slipway. The No. 1 Slipway supports large fishing boats, mega (super) yachts and tug boats up to 2000 tonnes with multiple slipping potential.

The No. 2 and 3 slips cater for a maximum of 180 tonne and 50 tonne vessels respectively.

The Domain Slipway also provides 24 hour, seven days a week access to a marine fuelling facility.

The Domain Slipway offers:

Domain Slipway

Phone 0418 127 586

[email protected] TPO

R4

59

9rj

From the President 2

TSIC’s Chief Executive’s Report 3

Macquarie Harbour and Channel and Huon coastal clean-ups 4

TSIC news> What’s happening at TSIC 6

Sustainable aquaculture now a reality 7

Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management project 9

DPIPWE news

> Exemption notice for banded morwong receivers 10

> Convictions 10

> Andrew Sullivan departs 11

Tasports Domain Slipway committed to service and competitive rates 12

By Catch 13

AquaProgear: The new Drempro Jacket 14

Recipes 15

Industry Wide 19

MAST: Q & A on the Commercial Vessel Safety Reform 22

Patagonian toothfish fishery gains MSC certification 23

Profile: Des Whayman 24

IMAS news > Do southern rock lobster larvae settle in deep water? 26

> Abalone population biology 28

> IMAS lobster researcher wins prestigious National

Science and Innovation award 29

> Rock lobster tag lottery 30

> State marine parks audit has ‘national ramifications’ 30

Bureau of Meteorology: Fishing in sea fog 31

CSIRO genetic research into shellfish microbiology 32

Directory IBC

TASMANIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY COUNCIL (TSIC)ABN 61 009 555 604

PO Box 878, Sandy Bay 7006P 03 6224 2332 F 03 6224 2321E [email protected] W www.tsic.org.au

TSIC DIRECTORSLindsay Newman, President P 0418 368 708Rodney Herweynen, Vice President P 0418 130 193Sam Ibbott, Treasurer P 0400 697 175James Ashmore P 0414 184 774Bryan Denny P 0417 502 195Giles Fisher P 0427 508 055Odette Lennane P 0417 151 063Linda Sams P 0407 632 918Peter Stegmann P 0427 278 863

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES, PARKS, WATER AND ENVIRONMENT (DPIPWE)GPO Box 44, Hobart, 7001 P 03 6233 8011Kim Evans, Secretary P 03 6233 3037Wes Ford, General Manager, Primary Industries Division P 03 6233 6545Robert Gott, Director, Marine Resources P 03 6233 6632Grant Pullen, Manager,Wild Fisheries P 03 6233 3157

INSTITUTE FOR MARINE AND ANTARCTIC STUDIES (IMAS)Professor Colin Buxton Director Fisheries, Aquaculture and Coasts CentrePrivate Bag 49, Hobart 7001 TSIC STAFFNeil Stump, Chief Executive [email protected] P 0417 394 009Julian Harrington, Project Officer [email protected] P 0407 242 933Darci Wallis, EBFM Project Officer [email protected] P 0417 260 550Julie Martin, Office Manager [email protected] Brewer, Administrative Officer [email protected]

Advertising deadline for the next issue: 11 June 2012

For advertising in Fishing Today contact Mary Brewer at TSIC on 03 6224 2332Fishing Today is distributed free to the Tasmanian Seafood Industry. Editorial content is sourced from diverse interest groups within the industry who have provided material for contribution. The editor intends to present contributions in a fair manner in order to promote constructive debate in relation to issues important to the Tasmanian Seafood Industry. The editor only therefore accepts responsibility for editorial content over which he has had direct control. Contributions that are printed in full shall not be the responsibility of the editor. Any advertisement submitted for publication is done so on the basis that the advertiser or advertising agencies upon lodging material with the publisher for publication has complied with all relevant laws and regulations and therefore indemnifies the publisher its servants and agents in relation to defamation, slander of title, breach of copyright, infringement of trade marks or names of publication titles, unfair competition to trade practices, royalties or violation of rights or privacy and warrants that the advertisement in no way whatsoever is capable or being misleading or deceptive or otherwise in breach or part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cwth) (as amended from time to time).

AquaProgear 9

Australian Pump Industries 6

Baily Marine 11

Classified 9, 22

Guy Cotten 5

International Abalone Symposium 12

NAB Agribusiness IFC

RASS Marine Broker 3

Recherche Bay Oysters 2

Sunderland Marine BC

Tasports IFC

Vasiliki Lobsters IBC

Advertising index

TASMANIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY NEWSfi shingTODAY

Volume 25 No 2 April/May 2012

Photographic acknowledgments: Tourism Tasmania© All rights reserved. Mary Brewer, Sam Ibbott, Hugh Pederson, Fiona EwingFront cover: CSIRO Molecular Geneticist Dr Sharon Appleyard, Research Scientist, Dr Guy Abell and Mike Wing, Manager of ColdGold Ltd (Image Peter Mathew)Production by Artemis Publishing Consultants P 03 6231 6122 E [email protected]

2 TASMANIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY NEWS APRIL/MAY 2012

> TSIC PRESIDENT’S REPORT

off for Smithton duo Paul Viney and Adelle Clark. They are now the proud winners of Festivale’s best new stall award. Paul owns Smithton Shellfish and has previously exhibited his produce at the Wynyard Tulip Festival and the Australia Day celebrations at Smithton.

It seems that patrons of this year’s Festivale were completely sold on Paul’s locally grown and caught seafood. His home-grown oysters and fresh flake fillets proved to be a hit with the judges, who took about five and a half hours to pick the winners. “We are able to control the quality of our produce and give people the taste of some top quality food”, Paul said. Congratulations again to Paul and Adelle.

The Submissions for Review of Part D NSCV have closed. TSIC, sector groups, STT, MAST and other fishing industry partners have worked through the proposed changes with AMSA. As we often find in these reviews, common sense and practical applications to

make fishers’ lives easier are put on the backburner. This has led to some robust and constructive debate from industry on this review. We look forward to logical, cost effective and minimal impact to our fishing industry on this matter.

Lindsay NewmanPresident, Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council

Tasmanian fishers are fuming over a recent 100% hike in their licence fees, claiming the Federal Government is trying to cut their numbers by stealth, causing local unemployment. Shark fishermen using hooks, gill nets and trawlers were recently told of the increase, leaving some to ponder their futures in the industry.

The 100% increase that AFMA has imposed has caused anguish amongst the fishing industry. The Member for Braddon, Mr Sid Sidebottom MP, said AFMA was an independent body that worked on a cost recovery basis. He said he was still “following the issue through” in Canberra, and he can fully understand the fishermen’s disappointment. TSIC met with Mr Sidebottom on 26 March to further discuss this issue, along with other matters that are impacting on the Tasmanian seafood industry.

A late decision to attend one of Tasmania’s biggest food and wine festivals has paid

From the President

FOR SALE OYSTER FARMS

The owners have sold retail oysters across Australia for over fourteen years, developing a

successful on-grow business. The sale includes the two marine farms either available

together or separately, all infrastructure both in and out of the water, on-the-water solar

powered oyster grading technology, land-bases (crown and/or forestry leases), work-sheds

and buildings. Recherche Bay farm is ~30 hectares and Hastings Bay farm is ~42 Hectares.

There is also a freehold block of land available separately.

For more information: www.rbo.com.au

Michael P: +61 (0) 439 489 387 E: [email protected]

Odette P: 0417 151 063 E: [email protected]


> TSIC CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

• Australian farmers can compete on a level playing field by minimising unnecessary regulation and red tape and by requiring that food imported into Australia meets the same standards as home-grown product (does this sound familiar?); and,

• we buy Australian whenever possible (promote the message that Australian seafood comes from sustainable fisheries).

Towing and stowage of auxiliary vessels

TSIC has been approached by members concerned at proposed changes to current arrangements for the stowage of auxiliary vessels used in fishing operations.

MAST has confirmed that vessel operators are allowed to tow auxiliary vessels behind mother vessels. Although it is desirable that the auxiliary vessel is capable of being stowed on the mother vessel, there is no mandated requirement for operators to stow the auxiliary vessel after fishing operations have ceased. At times when fishers are caught by a sudden change it

may even be dangerous to try and stow the auxiliary vessel.

SeaNet Officer An ita Paulsen

After 12 months as the Tasmanian SeaNet Officer, Anita Paulsen is moving back to a position in seafood processing. On behalf of the TSIC Board, staff and members I would like to thank Anita for the ‘can do’ attitude and enthusiasm she brought to the position. As those who have met Anita will attest, she is passionate and dedicated to the seafood industry and we wish her all the best in her new position.

Neil StumpChief ExecutiveTasmanian Seafood Industry Council

I recently received a copy of an article by the CEO of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Jan Davis, published in the March edition of Tasmanian Country. It proved to be interesting reading.

In the article Jan quotes some of the findings of a survey conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research on behalf of the Primary Industries Education Foundation. The over-arching message from the survey is that Australian children have very little idea of where their food and clothing comes from! Key findings include:

• only 55% of students know that bread, cheese and bananas originate from farmed products;

• 40% of Year 10 students believe farming damages the environment;

• 46% of students see no link between the use of on farm inputs and increased food production;

• 75% of Year 6 students think cotton socks are an animal product;

• 27% of students think yoghurt is a plant product; and,

• more than 66% of students believe most logs harvested come from native forests.

While the survey tested students’ knowledge in relation to terrestrial food products my feeling is, if questioned about the origin of seafood products, many children would provide similar responses. Can we imagine the number of children who would state they believe all fishing and marine farming activities cause environmental damage? Or that fish oil and omega 3 fatty acids don’t actually come from fish?

In response to the survey findings, Jan states we need to ensure that:

• we educate Australians about where and how food and fibre are produced;

• we protect our scarce remaining farmland from competing pressures, eg urban expansion, mining, etc. (for the seafood industry we need to ensure our most productive fishing grounds are not included in MPAs);

Where does our seafood come from?

Consultant/Broker for State and Commonwealth commercial fishing licences

Buying, selling and leasing alllicence types and vessels

PO Box 109 South Hobart

Tasmania, 7004Ph (03) 6224 8299

Fax (03) 6224 0900Mobile 0419 375 578

Call Margaret AtkinsConfidentiality assured


> SEANET

Macquarie Harbour and Channel and Huon coastal clean-ups: a seafood industry initiativeThe projects

Take a walk along your local beach and you will more than likely come across some marine debris. Whether it be a small piece of rope, plastic container or aluminium can, the accumulation of rubbish on Tasmania’s coastline is unsightly and may also pose a threat to our native wildlife; both marine and terrestrial. But what can we do to make a difference?

The Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council and OceanWatch Australia, in collaboration with Tasmanian marine farmers, have been working together to reduce marine debris build-up around Tasmania’s coastline. This industry-driven strategy aims to implement systematic, long-term management practices to address the issue of marine debris build-up. Under the ‘adopt a shoreline’ concept, marine farming groups take responsibility for the regular monitoring of designated coastlines and conduct clean-ups on a regular basis. Two main projects have been implemented to date.

The Channel and Huon coastal waters clean-up: a seafood industry initiative

This now completed project was managed by TSIC (with support from OceanWatch Australia), in collaboration with the Bruny

Island Oyster Growers Association, Huon Aquaculture and Tassal. During the course of the project, marine debris ‘hotspots’ were identified (generally NW-facing coastal sites). Each identified hotspot area has subsequently been adopted by one of the three marine farming partners (see diagram below). These organisations are responsible for monitoring and conducting clean-ups of their allocated area. This project also had a number of collaborative community/industry clean-up days. The Channel/Huon program is ongoing, with a database log of clean-up events kept at TSIC, and a six-monthly TSIC review to promote ongoing effort.

This project is supported by the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country.

Locations within the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Huon Estuary are being cleaned by marine

farmers on a regular basis. It must be noted that the Bruny Island Oyster Growers Association are also monitoring and cleaning Cloudy Bay

Lagoon, and a section of Cloudy Bay Beach (not shown on the map).

Macquarie Harbour coastal waters clean-up

This soon to be finalised project is managed by OceanWatch Australia (with support from TSIC) in collaboration with Huon Aquaculture, Petuna Seafoods and Tassal. Similar to the Bruny Island ‘adopt a shoreline’ model, each marine farm collaborator has taken responsibility for a marine debris hotspot within Macquarie Harbour. It is their responsibility to monitor this shoreline and conduct clean-up activities as required.

This project is supported by OceanWatch Australia and Cradle Coast NRM, through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country.

Locations within Macquarie Harbour being monitored and cleaned by marine farmers on a

regular basis.

This picture was taken on the Hawaiian coast. It illustrates how much marine debris can accumulate on exposed shorelines. Sourced from http://marinedebris.

noaa.gov/marinedebris101/photos_ecosys.html

TASMANIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY NEWS APRIL/MAY 20125

Marine debris mitigation

Based on the information collected from the Tassal and Petuna Seafoods clean-up activities in Macquarie Harbour, OceanWatch will be submitting a report to the project funding agency, Cradle Coast NRM. This report will highlight key clean-up benefits and outcomes, as well as identifying key mitigation measures to ensure best practice waste management

Marine debris quantification

An important component of the ‘adopt a shoreline’ projects was to identify and quantify what marine debris was collected at different sites. This would provide important information about the source of the debris. Of greatest importance, items being lost from marine farming operations could be identified and suitable mitigation measures put into place, to ensure best practice waste management on marine farms around Tasmania. This will ultimately result in a decrease in the amount of marine debris that comes from marine farming operations.

In early February, the TSIC Project Officer, Julian Harrington, joined the Tasmanian SeaNet Officer, Anita Paulsen, on a trip to Macquarie Harbour. The primary purpose of this trip was to quantify marine debris collected from within Macquarie Harbour by Tassal and Petuna Seafoods during clean-up activities conducted in late January. This tedious activity was made far more enjoyable by blue skies and bright sunshine!

The main items identified included ropes, plastic bottles and other plastics. Although some debris could be directly associated with marine farming activities, most debris that was collected was of uncertain origin and may have come from the wild capture, recreational, marine farming or boating sectors, and in many cases, terrestrial sources.

TSIC Project Officer Julian Harrington (left) and Petuna Seafoods Environmental Officer, Aiden

categorise marine debris.

for marine farms. In particular, the report will highlight eight basic steps to best practice marine farm waste mitigation (see below). It is important to clarify that these recommendations are OceanWatch perspectives, and are made independent of any internal policy documents and practices that are currently in place on marine farms. In fact, these eight basic steps apply to anyone using the marine environment.

Into the future

The two ‘adopt a shore line’ programs already implemented will continue to be supported by the current seafood industry collaborators. Monitoring and clean-up events will continue on a regular basis and the information collected will be fed into future mitigation plans and measures. Over time, effective mitigation measures will theoretically lead to a decline in marine farm sourced marine debris on Tasmania’s coasts. It is also hoped that marine farmers from other regions of Tasmania will formally ‘adopt a shoreline’ in their local regions and conduct regular monitoring and clean-up events.

Thank you

OceanWatch and TSIC would like to throw out a big thank you to Zac from Tassal and Aiden from Petuna Seafoods for their efforts in organising clean-ups during January 2012 as part of the Macquarie Harbour project.

For more information please contact the TSIC Project Officer, Julian Harrington on (03) 6224 2332 or by email to [email protected].

Step Comments

Training To reinforce any procedures and the logic behind them

Avoid Identify whether the item is actually necessary. If not, remove it from day-to-day activities

Reduce Can items be better secured to decrease entry into the environment?

Reuse Once recovered, can the item be reused?

Recycled Can it be recycled for a different use?

Dispose Ensure that disposal methods don’t allow for re-entry into the marine environment

Clean-up Continue regular collections of items that have entered the marine environment

Review Assess collected items and repeat steps

www.tsic.org.au

> SEANET

MARINE GEAR TASMANIAWarehouse No2

20 Waterworth Drive Margate

Tel: 0418 943 017

FRANKLIN MARINE3349 Huon Highway

Franklin Tel: 03 6266 3768

I M P O R T E D B Y A Q U A P R O G E A R


Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2013

The 2013 MyState Financial Australian Wooden Boat Festival is shaping up to be the best event ever. Scheduled to run from 8 – 11 February 2013, the new event organiser, Paul Cullen, has big plans to highlight the Tasmanian seafood industry. Historical displays, cooking classes and even a fresh seafood market are all possible mechanisms to promote the Tasmanian seafood industry and the organisers are keen to have industry input.

Over the following months, TSIC will be working with the Australian Wooden Boat Festival organisers to ensure a successful event.

If you are interested in participating, or even getting involved with the organisation of this event, please contact the TSIC Office on (03) 6224 2332 or email [email protected].

Marine debris clean-up reviews

TSIC recently met with representatives from the Bruny Island Oyster Growers Association, Tassal and Huon Aquaculture to review the Huon and Channel coastal waters clean-up project. The key outcomes were:

• each industry partner will transfer all clean-up log information to a centralised database to be kept at TSIC;

• marine debris monitoring and clean-up events will continue; and,

• all industry partners support a collaborative community clean-up event to be held in late April.

Although the exact format of this collaborative event has not been finalised several options are being discussed, including: a collaborative clean-up event with local CoastCare and environmental groups; and a collaborative event with the local Bruny Island District School, including an information session on marine farming activities and career pathways for marine farming. A full report of this event will be provided in future editions of Fishing Today.

St Helens waste management

This project is finally coming together, with initial planning, approvals and funding now achieved. Key progress to date includes:

• Break O’Day Council approval;

• funding sourced from NRM North;

• Break O’Day Council in-kind labour support to build the facility;

• support from St Helens Marine Rescue staff to monitor the facility and distribute a key to visiting commercial and recreational vessels, for a nominal fee; and,

• preliminary organisation for ‘shoreline oil-spill training’. This training course will target Marine Rescue personnel and local fishers.

The next phase involves more extensive consultation with the local St Helens fishing community. Discussions will include models for funding the removal of general waste, as the system will be a ‘user pays’ arrangement. We will also require a couple of local fishers, or their partners, to facilitate the collection of facility usage fees.

What’s happening at TSIC?

TSIC News


> TASSAL

Tassal recently released a sustainability report to demonstrate its achievements to date, together with a snapshot of future sustainability initiatives across its operations. This is a first for an aquaculture company in Australia. Tassal is the largest producer and processor of fresh and frozen salmon products in Australia and is within the top 30 salmon companies globally. Tassal is a vertically integrated company, which includes freshwater hatcheries and saltwater aquaculture, salmon processing, value-adding stages, through to distribution, sales and marketing.

The sustainability report covers environmental aspects of the company’s marine operations, as well as salmon health and welfare, product responsibility and human resources management. Tassal will be releasing sustainability reports annually, with the next report due for release in September 2012. The scope of this report will be expanded to cover land-based operations.

In 2009 Tassal implemented an electronic integrated management system (TIMS), allowing it to ensure that key business processes across quality assurance, food safety, environment, fish welfare, OH&S, employee relations and social responsibility are clearly documented and implemented efficiently and consistently. Elements common to all areas (for example, document control, corrective action, internal audits, management review and training) are managed through centrally controlled common procedures and systems within TIMS.

TIMS has been built around ISO standards, effectively allowing additional compliance modules to be added to accommodate the changing needs of Tassal, customers and the end consumer. Tassal produces 99% of its products from its Tasmanian facilities in Huonville, Margate and Dover. These regularly undergo audit processes to hold a combination of quality management standard ISO 9001:2008, SQF 2000 Level 3, HACCP, and ISO 14001 for marine operations as well as Halal and Kosher certification among others.

Tassal is committed to finding innovative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste across its operations. This is being achieved through various initiatives including waste segregation facilities at all sites to facilitate recycling of all waste including fish waste, packaging related waste (including metals, cardboards, plastics, polystyrene and paper) and copper waste. Tassal recycles 87% of all waste generated.

Most of the fish meal and fish oil used in salmon feeds and for other agriculture animals including beef, pork and poultry comes from reduction fisheries of pelagic (forage) species generally from the Pacific, off the coasts of Peru and Chile and in the north-east Atlantic. Because Tassal recognises that these fisheries are a finite resource and need to be sustainably managed into the future, it is working with suppliers to develop cost-effective salmon feeds, based on a variety of sustainable raw materials such as vegetable proteins and land animal proteins in order to reduce the dependence on fish meal and fish oil.

Tracking through a Fish in: Fish out (FIFO) ratio is a way to standardise performance in this area. By becoming a ‘net fish’ producer (in other words, producing more fish for

human consumption than they use for feed) Tassal will not sacrifice fish quality or important human health benefits. The land and vegetable ingredients in our feeds are all sourced from responsible suppliers with a focus on traceability, sustainability and quality.

Managing the water quality and benthic health around Tassal farms is not only a condition of the company’s marine farming licences, but the key to fish performance, quality and sustainability. Tassal is committed to sound environmental practices at their marine sites and are currently working to better understand the hydrodynamic profiles of their sites, the organic inputs from fish faecal waste and scope of impacts from their farming operations. This is achieved through cooperative efforts with feed supply companies, by modelling benthic impacts using a scientifically recognised depositional model, and finding innovative ways to reduce onsite copper use.

Tassal has in-house expertise in remote operated vehicle (ROV) deployment which allows the benthic environment beneath and around marine farms to be visually analysed and assessed for compliance in conjunction with physical and chemical testing.

Sustainable aquaculture now a reality

Yvonne Sheehan, Nick Elliot, Tom Lewis, James Rose and Adam Main


of non-anti-fouled nets, as it allows efficient and effective in situ cleaning of the nets. Today, more and more of Tassal’s nets are being purchased and deployed without anti-foulants. This technology has been shared with the rest of the Tasmanian salmon industry and has created much interest internationally (see: www.micmarine.com.au). Tassal’s goal to stop using anti-foulants in farming operations within the next three years appears to be achievable. At the end of the 2011 financial year, 40% of nets in its operations were non-anti-fouled. The target is to increase use of these nets to approximately 60% in 2012, 80% in 2013 and 100% by 2014.

In addition to this new level of transparency of its operations, Tassal and the World Wildlife Fund Australia (WWF-Australia) are pleased to announce their partnership for sustainable aquaculture. The partnership aims to: achieve ecologically sustainable aquaculture production; safeguard valuable marine ecosystems; ensure the long-term viability of seafood supply; and, help the businesses and local communities that depend on a healthy marine environment.

WWF-Australia’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature by:

• conserving the world’s biological diversity;

• ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; and,

• promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Through the partnership with WWF-Australia, Tassal is aiming to be the leader in sustainable aquaculture production in Australia, with all its products meeting best practice environmentally responsible standards. In order to achieve this Tassal will undertake a stringent external certification and auditing system to maintain its high standards and assure customer confidence in its product. Tassal’s sustainability report and more information about their partnership with WWF-Australia are available at www.tassal.com.au.

Key to Tassal’s commitment to their sustainability focus is meaningful communication with all stakeholders. Their goal is to develop significant environmental and social initiatives led by stakeholder input.

If you have any comments or questions about information contained within the Tassal Sustainability Report 2011, please contact Tassal at [email protected].

Prior to harvest, any group that may have had antibiotics is tested for residues in compliance with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code for residue levels.

Tassal is working hard to implement practices that are successfully eliminating the need to use antibiotics and their use has drastically reduced over the last three years as the following table shows.

Financial Year Grams antibiotic used per tonne of fish produced

2008/2009 213

2009/2010 55

2010/2011 4

Seals are attracted to salmon farms because of food availability and they chew through nets, jump over handrails and enter the sea pens. This has the potential to cause injury to staff as well as facilitating fish escapes. In 2009 Tassal appointed a Wildlife Management Officer to work with farm staff to mitigate interactions with seals, and this has significantly decreased the number of interactions and relocations. From August 2011, Tassal ceased the use of any destruction protocols for wildlife in all its operations. It concentrates on a range of passive techniques to mitigate the damage caused by seals including: seal proof bird mesh, relocation using DPIPWE protocols and bean bag thumpers.

Tassal developed the concept of net cleaning technology known as the Marine Inspector and Cleaner (MIC) and has participated in its further development. MIC facilitates the use

Annual compliance surveys are conducted in accordance with strict protocols stipulated in marine farming licences, and are frequently audited by governmental bodies. The surveys require video inspection work to be conducted at specific GPS positions within and outside marine farm boundaries. This ROV footage forms the basis of stocking and fallowing cycles, which in turn maintain an exceptional standard of both benthic and fish health for Tassal. In the 2011 financial year Tassal undertook a total of 90 compliance dives with 100% compliance.

Tassal’s stocking densities comply with the UK RSPCA ‘freedom foods’ animal welfare standard, and are amongst the lowest in the world (for salmon farms). The company is currently investigating the implementation of locally relevant welfare standards in Tasmania, based on the RSPCA standard.

To maintain healthy fish, Tassal’s farmers work closely with fish health professionals, fish veterinarians, and fish researchers to implement preventative fish health practices. Research in existing and emerging diseases is a priority for Tassal and the company is participating in a number of collaborative research projects. As Tassal prides itself on growing healthy, nutritious food for Australian families, it never feeds hormones to its fish for any reason. Like any farmer, Tassal is morally and ethically obligated to look after their livestock when they get sick, but antibiotics are rarely used and then only under the supervision of a vet and regulators. Any salmon treated with antibiotics must go through a lengthy withdrawal period of between 90–120 days to ensure the antibiotic is cleansed from their system.

> TASSAL

Mark Ryan, Gilly Llewellyn and Allan McCallum


> ECOSYSTEM BASED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

Our inshore ecosystems are under increasing pressure from recreational and commercial fishing as well as the impacts of changes in climate. The range extension of the long spined sea urchin and bio-security issues are further complicating the ecosystem based impacts of fishing and highlight the need for a more holistic management approach.

If you are interested in being involved in the industry consultation or would like further information on this project, please contact Darci Wallis, EBFM Project Officer, via email at [email protected] or by phone at (03) 6224 2332 or 0417 260 550.

TSIC secured funding in early 2011 from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program, to undertake a project titled ‘Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) in Tasmanian Wild Capture Fisheries’. EBFM is a holistic approach to fisheries management which takes into account the complex ecosystem impacts of fishing and the overall objective of EBFM is to sustain healthy marine ecosystems and the fisheries they support.

One of the main aims of the project is to review the management arrangements of each fishery, and compare this to EBFM principles to see where there may be gaps in the management. As part of the initial stages of identifying the gaps in the current management arrangements, ‘focus groups’ were formed with approximately six industry members from each fishery, nominated by the individual associations, to get the industry perspective on where the major issues are in each fishery. These groups discussed the principles of EBFM and identified where the current management arrangements may not meet these principles. Focus groups were held in the abalone, commercial dive, scalefish, rock lobster and scallop fisheries during September and October 2011.

Wider consultation with industry commenced with port visits to St Helens and Bicheno in March and early April respectively. Further consultation in St Helens, Bicheno and Triabunna is scheduled for late April early May. Surveys with targeted questions have been developed for each fishery and will be used for the industry consultation.

EBFM has been agreed to by the Australian Fisheries Management Forum as the preferred management framework for Australia's fisheries, yet EBFM has been poorly understood within management and industry. This project is an exciting opportunity for the industry here in Tasmania and we will be leading the way for other states to follow.

Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management project

Site 905in 9th Avenue

For more info contact AQUAPROGEAR Pty Ltd - Tel: (03) 9429 3521Mob: 0435 132 155 - [email protected] - www.aquaprogear.com

THE WATERPROOF SOLUTION

3-4-5 May

FoForr momorere iiiiinffffnfoo cocontttntacactt AQAQUU

C L A S S I F I E D

FOR SALEMarine Farm Lease 27

St Helens3.3ha (8.15 acres)

sub tidal water

The lease has approx. 1km of longlines and 1,200 aquatrays + buoys. The freehold land base has direct water

access and includes a 9m x 7m depot shed. The lease has recently been used

to fatten pacifi c oysters. In the past mussels and native oysters (angasi) have been grown and feral pacifi c oysters have

also been successfully conditioned.

Contact

Peter 03 6334 1133

Allan 03 6376 1836


DPIPWENews

Exemption notice for banded morwong receivers

(must be completed)’ box in Part B of the Banded Morwong Quota Docket when receiving fish. However, receivers of banded morwong must record the weight of fish received.

A copy of the Exemption Notice and covering letter has been sent to current banded morwong receivers. Please ensure that any agents receiving banded morwong on behalf of your operation are aware of this exemption.

If you have any questions please contact Frances Seaborn on (03) 6233 6717.

As receivers of banded morwong are aware, it is a requirement of Part B of the Commercial Banded Morwong Fishery Quota Docket that receivers of banded morwong declare the number of fish they receive.

Concerns have been expressed to the Department by fish processors, that it is very difficult to count fish whilst transferring them to the receiver’s tanks. After observing transfer events, the Department agrees that it is difficult to achieve an accurate count and believes that removing this instruction will not compromise the quota system.

As a result the Department has reviewed the instruction and has now exempted receivers of banded morwong from completing the ‘Total number received

Convictions Commercial abalone divers

On 30 November 2011 former commercial abalone diver, Mr Pieter Van Der Woude and commercial abalone diver, Mr Michael Lovett were both convicted in the Hobart Magistrates Court of the offences of ‘Fail to deliver all abalone taken under a fishing licence (abalone dive) to the holder of a fish processing licence’ contrary to rule 14(1)(e) of the Fisheries (Abalone) Rules 2000 (since replaced by the Fisheries (Abalone) Rules 2009) and ‘Fail to declare on a diver’s docket all abalone taken on a fishing trip as a member of a diving team’ contrary to rule 30(3) of those Rules.

The offences contrary to the 2000 Rules are now contained in rules 13(1)(e) and 46(3) respectively of the 2009 Rules.

The court heard that on 1 November 2008 the two divers had formed a diving team in order to catch the remaining quota balance of one of the divers, who was on his last trip as a commercial fisher. After the catch was landed at the Montague boat ramp in the north-west at the conclusion of the trip that day, it was found that they had taken approximately 50 kilograms of greenlip abalone in excess of that diver’s quota balance.

The excess abalone was not declared on a diver’s docket and delivered to a licensed processor, as required under the Rules, and was instead initially offered to persons present at the boat ramp area, as a result of which a small amount was accepted by a member of the public. The balance of the excess catch was then returned to waters at some distance from the boat ramp area.


Unbeknownst to the divers at the time, two of the persons present at the ramp area who were initially offered the excess abalone were marine police officers performing undercover duties concerning an unrelated matter. The officers observed the abalone being returned to the water and obtained video footage of those activities.

Although the divers pleaded not guilty to all charges both were convicted, with Mr Van Der Woude being fined a total of $1,500 and Mr Lovett being fined a total of $1,000.

Commercial rock lobster fisherman

On 15 February 2012 Mr James Patrick Banks was convicted in the Supreme Court of Tasmania of 22 charges of ‘Knowingly making false and misleading statements in keeping records under the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995’.

Andrew Sullivan departsPrincipal Fisheries Management Officer for the scalefish fishery, Andrew Sullivan resigned his position with the Department in mid-March to explore a business opportunity in the private sector.

Andrew’s departure has necessitated the restructure of the Wild Fisheries Management Branch to ensure ongoing effective delivery of the scalefish fishery management program in the context of the current difficult budgetary challenges confronting the Marine Resources Group.

Management of the scalefish fishery will now be undertaken by Dave Jarvis and Frances Seaborn with direction and oversight provided by Branch Manager Grant Pullen.

Delivery of services within the Wild Fisheries Management Branch will need to be undertaken within the reduced resources now available.

The substance of the charges is that, over a four year and three month period, Mr Banks falsified records relating to rock lobster catches landed in Victoria and delivered to a Victorian-based, Tasmanian-licenced fish processor. The amount of rock lobster undeclared on the 22 occasions totalled 7,756kg.

Mr Banks was sentenced to four months imprisonment (wholly suspended on the condition that he commits no offence punishable by imprisonment for 12 months). He was also ordered to pay an $80,000 pecuniary penalty.

Recreational abalone divers

On 7 July 2011 Mr Corey Pratt and Mr Joshua Pratt were both convicted in the Smithton Magistrates Court of offences relating to the taking of undersize abalone and failing to carry a measuring device whilst taking abalone.

The offences were detected on 26 January 2011 after the defendants, who each held a recreational abalone licence, were approached and spoken to by marine police officers on a beach in the Cowrie Point area in the north-west. The men had been diving in nearby waters and 12 blacklip abalone and 11 greenlip abalone found in their possession were measured and all were found to be less than the prescribed minimum size. Neither had been carrying a measuring device while diving.

The men were each fined $3,610 and dive equipment seized from them by police was forfeited to the Crown.

Steve WithersManager, Fisheries Compliance and Licensing

> DPIPWE NEWS

www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au

Ph: 6264 1999 FAX: 6264 1441

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> TASPORTS

The Domain Slipway is Tasmania’s best-located and first environmentally compliant slipway, offering a number of services including:

• equipment hire;

• water and grit equipment;

• industry-approved scaffolding;

• highly experienced marine engineers; and

• assistance with vessel docking and labour sourcing.

While not part of the Tasports’ home port facilities for fishing vessels, Slipway Manager Les Lockwood says that the Domain Slipway offers competitive rates and can cater for a variety of vessels.

“The No. 1 Slipway is able to support large fishing boats, super yachts and tug boats up to 1,000 tonnes with multiple slipping potential, while the No. 2 and 3 slips cater for a maximum of 180 tonne and 20 tonne vessels respectively,” Les said.

“We also offer 24 hour, seven day a week access to a marine fuelling facility, and welcome any new customers interested in any of our services”.

For bookings and enquiries contact Les on 0418 127 586 or [email protected].

A comprehensive schedule of current charges for the Domain Slipway, including labour rates, can be found at www.tasports.com.au under Shipping and Towage.

Tasports Domain Slipway committed to service and competitive rates

6–11 May 2012 Hobart, Tasmania

International Abalone Symposium

REGISTER NOW

www.cdesign.com.au/ias2012


Australian fish is sustainable fish

Since the article in the last edition of Fishing Today entitled, ‘Time to be Upbeat about fisheries’ Professor Ray Hilborn and Dr Bob Kearney have released a paper titled, ‘Australian seafood consumers misled by prophets of doom and gloom’.

Their paper concludes that the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity (EPBC) Act’s list of threatened species does not include any marine fish species and that, although overfishing is a serious problem around the world, 85% of Australian species are not in an overfished state.

The paper states that most of the guides which inform Australians as to which fish should and should not be eaten, include many species for which assessments are highly questionable at best. While there are 16 or more different organisations in Australia that produce guides of various formats, intended to influence public opinion, there “are no standards or government regulation of the efficacy of these guides”.

The question then is why does Australia understate the sustainability of its fisheries? In a press conference at Sydney Fish Market, Professor Hilborn said, “Australia is subject to a relentless anti-fishing campaign that is causing doom and gloom myths from misrepresentations of overseas examples of inadequate fisheries management. I believe NGOs need the public to believe fisheries are in poor shape to boost their fundraising”.

Taste of the Huon

The popularity of the Taste of the Huon over the March long weekend was demonstrated with a record crowd through the gates. Some of the Huon’s best producers spoke to audiences in the Taste Theatre, which was sponsored by Huon Aquaculture, and seafood proved a popular choice with long queues for many stalls.

with strings and plastic ribbon, but others included cigarette butts, and bits of plastic – mostly hard plastic - and even the odd thong or sock!

8th International Abalone Symposium

A full and diverse program has been developed for the 8th International Abalone Symposium (IAS 2012), to be held in Hobart from 6 - 11 May 2012. This is your opportunity to engage and interact with commercial fishers and growers, managers and policy makers, processors and marketers, and researchers from numerous disciplines.

The IAS 2012 program aims to facilitate and promote communication and new collaborations through social events, workshops, plenary papers, oral presentations in theme sessions, and poster presentation sessions. Topics include: health – biosecurity; spatial management and assessment; sea-based culture; selective breeding programs for aquaculture; conservation and stock recovery strategies; SnailBASE; re-seeding; and, ‘Can product certification combat illegal trade?’For more information and registration go to: http://www.cdesign.com.au/ias2012/index.html.

Marina eases berth queues

It is predicted that the $4 million marina development at Prince of Wales Bay will help take the pressure off yacht clubs and other berths around Tasmania, currently with long waiting lists. While there were some delays, three of the six arms of the marina are now fully functional, with the rest completed by the end of March. Manager of the new 160-berth marina, David Kirkland, said the marina could take larger boats than many others. The world-class development is backed by Incat’s Clifford family and Pieter Van Der Woude of Clean Lift Marine.

Rosti Chalet won the award for the best food stall, Panorama Wines won best non-food stall, and first-timer Red Velvet Lounge received an honourable mention.

Caring for our Country review finds positives to build on

The Federal Government is reviewing the Caring for our Country program that delivers funding for natural resource management around Australia. The program had been criticised by community land care groups for its top-down approach. However, the introduction of the Community Action Grants program which was only open to smaller community groups and the NRM plans were supported. The regional delivery model, which is developed by each region to incorporate the views and the needs of the community, was also seen as positive.

National Marine Debris Project

CSIRO has been working with Earthwatch to survey Australia’s coastline as part of the National Marine Debris project to determine where rubbish and debris is washing up, where it’s coming from and how it affects Australian marine wildlife. So far the team has made their way from Cape Tribulation in Queensland to Port Augusta in South Australia, conducting beach surveys to measure the amount, type and location of rubbish and debris around Australia’s rocky shores and beaches. This includes national parks, city beaches, rocky flats and mangroves.

With the help of schools, community groups and the general p ublic, the information from these surveys will go towards a national marine debris database. The database will provide information to assist State and coastal local councils to improve waste management policies and practices to look after marine life and our oceans. Surprisingly some of the most common finds on beaches are balloons

By Catch by Mary Brewer


The value and role of seaweeds

Dr Pia Winberg from the Shoalhaven Marine and Freshwater Centre at the University of Wollongong is currently overseeing seaweed trials in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria that could significantly boost abalone sizes. In collaboration with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries and the abalone aquaculture industry, Dr Winberg is trying to demonstrate the value and role of seaweed as a feed in the abalone aquaculture sector.

She points out the prices being fetched for seaweed in many nations are as high as $70 a kilo dry weight and Australia is currently importing $20 million worth a year, an increase of 30% over the last decade. According to Dr Winberg the seaweed farmers of the future can be found in the aquaculture industry, including fishermen, abalone growers and tuna farmers.

Management concerns in inshore fisheries

A study conducted during 2010 and 2011 interviewed fishers and their families in three regions along the coast

of Queensland. It sought to examine the social impacts of fisheries changes in Moreton Bay, Hervey Bay and the Burdekin on inshore fishers, their partners and ancillary businesses. The social and economic impacts have been generated by changes to marine park zones, industry restructuring, fisheries reviews and other regulatory and policy changes, and by government agencies’ interventions into fishing as an occupation.

The study identified that commercial fishers’ livelihoods and lives have been subject to a range of largely negative social and economic impacts that have been inadequately assessed, less adequately communicated to fishers, and have not been managed with structured social impact management plans. In order to survive the changes fishers spoke of their good fortune, in terms of their initially strong financial position prior to the changes, and their need to work exceptionally long hours in order to retain a viable income and to benefit from the changes.

The study reveals only limited consideration of, and support for, the social, personal and family implications of such change.

Notably, the study shows there is a lack of communication from policymakers about the possible social ramifications or potentially damaging social impacts arising from management measures and major policy initiatives.

Parasite survey of selected macro-inshore fish of south-eastern Australia

Parasites have the potential to limit the growth of Australian fishing industries, especially aquaculture, through mortality, morbidity and reduced marketability. A FRDC-funded project surveyed 12 important finfish species and documented their parasite assemblages, placing emphasis on parasitic crustaceans (eg sea-lice) and helminths (eg flukes).

More than 120 parasite species were identified. A comprehensive, user-friendly, richly illustrated website (MarineParasites.com) has been created detailing parasite biology, pathology and host-specificity, enabling lay people to identify different types of parasites in common fish species encountered in Australia.

> BYCATCH

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Recipe sSugar and spice cured Huon Ocean Trout, pickled zucchini, lime labna and beetroot foamServes 6

Ingredients

600 g ocean trout, skin off and pin boned

Cure100 g soft icing sugar30 g sea salt1 lemon, zest only1 orange, zest onlyPinch of All SpicePinch white pepper

2 large Zucchini, skinned and peeled

Pickling liquid100 ml white balsamic vinegar200 ml water1 dsp yellow mustard seeds30 g fresh turmeric2 cloves garlic1 small brown onion, peeled and roughly dicedSea salt to taste.

Combine all ingredients and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 15 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes, strain and pour over zucchini ribbons.

Lime labna250 g Greek yoghurt2 limes, zest onlyPinch of sea salt

Combine all ingredients and place into a large chux or muslin cloth and then fit into a strainer over a bowl or bucket. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 days.After this time the Labna should be the consistency of cream cheese, check for seasoning, then roll into desired balls and store in vegetable oil.

Beetroot Foam1 bunch baby beetroot150 ml red wineCold water to cover beets Pinch of salt2 egg whites

Wash baby beets and remove all but 1 inch of the tops, add to a pot of COLD water, red wine and sea salt. Bring to the boil and cook until tender, cool slightly and remove skins and tops.

Place beetroot into a blender and process till smooth. This puree is fine to use on the dish as is, but if you are looking to add a new dimension to the dish – make foam! Basically add 300ml of puree to a 500ml cream siphon with 2 egg whites and 2 Co2 chargers, seal and shake and that’s it!

GarnishSnowpea sprouts (Chung Sing & Co)Squid ink (Exquisite Flavours) Trout crackling

Method

Ocean Trout

Remove skin and scrape off any remaining meat, wash, dry and lightly salt – top and bottom. Place onto a tray and keep in a warm, dry area (uncovered) for 48 hrs.

When dry cut into 1 inch thick pieces and quickly fry in hot oil until crisp.

Combine sugar, salt, All Spice, zests and white pepper.

Butterfly ocean trout fillet, much like an open book. Rub the cure into the ocean trout – top and bottom.

Roll the ocean trout length ways until you have something that resembles a Swiss roll. Place a length of cling film down onto your bench top and then lay out 10 ribbons of zucchini side by side and just overlapping. Place the ocean trout roll a quarter ways down the zucchini and gently roll up until fully encased. Tightly wrap with the cling film and refrigerate for 48 hrs.

To serve just simply cut to desired thickness, remove cling film and ready to go!

To plate

Using a large white plate or bowl, brush a line of squid ink from the middle to the very edge of the plate, place the ocean trout in the middle of the plate with a quenelle of beetroot foam, ocean trout crackling and snow pea sprout. Finally rest the Labna ball on the squid ink at the top of the plate and enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Paul Foreman Events & Catering

Char-grilled TOP Fish octopus with basil pesto & balsamic reduction

Basil pesto

2 cloves Tasmanian natural garlic

50 g pine nuts (lightly toasted if you wish to add flavour)

25 ml olive oil (not extra virgin as it can dominate flavour)

120 g fresh basil leaves

50 g parmesan grated

In a food processor, blitz the garlic and pine nuts, slowly add most of the olive oil plus the basil leaves and continue blitzing.

Then add parmesan and blitz again.

Add more olive oil as required to adjust consistency. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.

Balsamic reduction

325 ml balsamic vinegar

1 heaped cup of castor sugar

Put both in a heavy based saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to the boil over a medium heat and reduce to simmer on a low heat. Stir often as mixture can stick. Reduce by 2/3 until mixture is thick. Allow to cool.

Octopus

500 g steamed TOP Fish octopus

6 cloves Tasmanian Natural Garlic, finely chopped

Olive Oil

Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.

Marinate the octopus with garlic, olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.

To Serve

Heat a char grill or oven plate. Cook marinated octopus on both sides until browned slightly and warmed through. (Note: the TOP Fish octopus has already been cooked so this cooking process is about reheating it with the marinated flavour).

Chop into bite size pieces, drizzle with basil pesto and decorate with balsamic reduction.

Recipe courtesy of Cable StationRestaurant & Accomodation, Stanley.

Atlantic salmon sausages with zesty salad & creamy Tassie potato mashMain - serves 2

Prep time: 15-20 minsCooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Potato mash

350 g medium size Tassie pink-eye potatoes, peeled and chopped in half

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp milk

salt and pepper to season

Salad

4 x Silver Hill Fisch salmon sausages

100 g mesculin salad mix

1/2 small red onion, sliced finely

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

fresh herbs to garnish (coriander/basil/dill), roughly chopped

sprinkle of fetta cheese (optional), loosely broken up

Salad dressing

1/2 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

pinch salt

2 pinches sugar

pepper (season to liking)

Method

Place cut potatoes in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until soft on inside (roughly 15 minutes from time of boiling) – insert skewer to check. Drain and return to stove surface [turned off], and mash roughly in pot. Gently fold in the butter and milk. Mash until smooth, adding good pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Combine onions, cherry tomatoes, herbs, mesculin mix and optional fetta cheese in bowl. Toss ingredients loosely until combined.

Place the salmon sausages on pre-heated oiled pan. Cook on medium heat for 10-15 mins, turning consistently until golden brown on the outside.

For the dressing, combine in a small bowl the juice of half a squeezed lemon, olive oil, salt, sugar and pepper. Whisk briefly and pour over lettuce mix – toss to coat salad evenly.

Halve the mash and place onto centre of two plates. Present sausages on top, and place salad evenly around outside. Ladle out excess salad dressing onto dish for extra tang, sprinkle with any left over herbs and serve!

Recipe courtesy ofSilver Hill Fisch

Japanese trout with soba noodlesServes 4

Prep time: 25 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp caster sugar

25 ml sake

25 ml rice vinegar

4 skinless ocean trout fillets (approx 150 g each)

1 packet of soba noodles

150 g snowpeas halved diagonally

1 bunch broccolini cut into 5cm lengths

1 carrot, julienned

4 green shallots, thinly sliced diagonally

2 tsp black sesame seeds, toasted

Sesame ginger dressing

5 ml soy sauce

25 ml each or mirin and rice vinegar

10 ml sesame oil

1 tbsp finely grated ginger

Preheat oven to 200C

Combine soy sauce, sugar, sake and rice vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced to a glaze (5-6 minutes).

Place ocean trout, skin-side down, on a baking paper-lined oven tray, brush thickly with glaze and bake until just pink (4-5 minutes) (ours was 8 minutes, also glazed after cooking as well), then break into chunks and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook soba noodles according to packet instructions, rinse under cold running water, divide among serving bowls and set aside.

To make sesame ginger dressing, combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Blanch snow peas and broccolini in a pot of boiling water (approx 1-2 minutes), then refresh. Drain, add to serving bowls, and then add julienne carrot, shallot and ocean trout pieces. Drizzle over sesame-ginger dressing, toss to combine

Place ocean trout on serving dishes and pour over sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the ocean trout and serve with steamed rice and Asian greens.

Recipe courtesy of

Barbecued Rock Lobster tailsServes: 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1 fresh garlic clove, crushed

1 lobster tail (range 250 g to 1 kg)

oil for barbecue

Method

Prep: 10 minutes | Cook: approx. 10 minutes

Preheat barbecue to high.

Pour lemon juice into a small bowl and slowly whisk in the rest of the ingredients.

Cut lobster tail lengthwise with a serrated bread knife, and brush flesh side of tail with marinade.

Lightly oil the BBQ hotplate. Place tails, flesh side up, on preheated barbecue. Cook for approx 7 minutes (until flesh is white), basting frequently with marinade to keep moist.

Turn the tails over quickly at the end to brown off.

Recipe courtesy of Vasiliki Lobsters

Thai Southern Rock LobsterServes 4 mains or 8 entrees

Ingredients

The meat of 1 fresh Tasmanian Rock Lobster

2 cloves fresh sliced garlic

1 chilli chopped

1 tbsp of ginger

White half of spring onion chopped

Small shallot sliced

Some basil leaves

2 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce

Half a tin of coconut milk

Steamed rice

Lime juice, fish sauce to taste

MethodIn a smoking wok place olive oil and garlic for minute then add cray meat for further minute then ginger/spring onion/shallot/sweet chilli sauce mix. Finally add basil leaves coconut milk plus lime juice and fish sauce to taste. Mix and serve on steamed rice.

Recipe courtesy of

Beetroot poached salmon with roquette, cider caramel and grains Ingredients

4 x 200 g salmon portions

3 large beetroot

200 g sugar

200 ml dry cider

250 g roquette

1 tbsp soy lecithin

100 g white quinoa

100 g red quinoa

100 g fregola pasta

100 g wild rice

50 g pine nuts

1 tbsp currants

100 g butter

100 ml vegetable stock

1 bunch continental parsley, finely chopped

Salt

Method

Remove skin and bones from the salmon. Peel and dice the beetroot, place into a saucepan with 500 ml cold water, cook until soft. Remove from the heat and puree in a food processor until smooth. Let cool.

Put the salmon into a ceramic dish and cover with the beetroot puree, cover and refrigerate to marinate for about 12 hours.

Place sugar into a non-stick pan on a medium heat. Use a spatula to stir until it goes golden brown. Once golden add the cider to the pan, being careful as the sugar and cider will boil rapidly. Let boil for a couple of minutes until all sugar has dissolved.

Place a medium sized pot of water on to boil. Once boiling, blanch the roquette and refresh in iced water. Remove roquette from ice once cold and place 300 ml of water over the top and puree using a stick blender until smooth. Pass liquid through a sieve to remove all lumps then place the roquette puree into a small, tall bucket, add soy lecithin and combine using the stick blender. It should hold a light foam.

Take the red and white quinoa and place into a pot, cover with water. Cook until just soft then drain. Do the same with the fregola pasta.

Place pan on medium heat and add the wild rice. Keep the rice moving in the pan until it is toasted and puffed.

Place all the grains, while still hot, into a bowl and add pine nuts, currants, butter, stock and parsley. Stir with a spoon until the butter is melted and combined with stock and grains. Season with salt.

Remove the salmon from the marinade and place onto a plate. Put beetroot marinade into a pot and bring up to the boil and then reduce temperature to 60°C (use a kitchen thermometer). Place salmon into the beetroot poaching liquid and cook for 12 minutes, or until you can just see the white appearing on the salmon.

To assemble: Place some of the warm grain mixture into the centre of a plate. Place salmon on top and then a spoonful of the roquette foam. Drizzle cider caramel around the plate.

Recipe courtesy of

Sea urchin sauce and pangritataIngredientsSauce4 tbsp exo sauce65 g Sea urchin30 ml WaterSalt / pepper

Pasta dish400 g sliced abalone 1 bunch chopped chives500 g fresh spaghetti400 ml chicken stock200 ml exo sauce1 tbsp fresh chilli1 tbsp sliced garlic4 handfuls spinach4 tbsp sea urchin sauce (above)Pangritata200 g panco breadcrumbs1 tbsp olive oil1 tbsp parsley choppedSalt / pepper

MethodTo make the pangritata heat the pan, add olive oil and bread crumbs and toast until golden brown. Take the pan off the heat, add parsley, salt and pepper and put to the side.

To make the sea urchin sauce put all the ingredients into a blender and mix until it forms a smooth paste. Pass through a fine sieve and place in the fridge.

To start the pasta heat a large frying pan, add extra virgin olive oil, garlic and chilli and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the stock and the spinach and cook on a medium heat for approximately three minutes, or until the stock has reduced. Add the abalone and let it heat through off the heat (ie take the pan off the stove). Meanwhile, cook the fresh pasta in boiling salted water for two minutes, strain the pasta and add to the abalone. Add four tablespoons of sea urchin sauce and season to taste. If a little dry, add a small amount of water from the pasta.

Enjoy Tassie-style with a great Riesling from the East Coast of Tasmania.

Recipe courtesy of


2009 Fishing Area (now called Area 2) should the TAC not be taken in Area 3. Scallops in this small area averaged 98mm in November 2011 but this region was subject to seismic the year before.

It is likely that pre-season surveys will be conducted in early May with the support of industry and with a planned season opening date in July, subject to the survey results and AFMA Commission approval.

It should be emphasised here that AFMA has no current data on the status of these stocks and given the extreme sea conditions experienced in south-eastern Bass Strait already this year it is possible that the scallops may have moved on or have died. We will not know the circumstances of the resource until the May surveys are completed.

Importantly a new Bass Strait Scallop Harvest Strategy has been generally agreed to replace the previous outdated version and a Bass Strait Scallop Industry Management Committee will again manage the zonings and timings within the eventual AFMA approved areas.

Disallowance motion on Bass Strait management fees

All Bass Strait entitlement holders have been subjected to excessive management costs over many years. These have at times exceeded the gross value of the fishery. For the financial year 2011/12 the total scallop management levies to be paid by the industry are now budgeted by AFMA at $476,737; which is a massive average 60% increase over the $297,886 and $298,925 per annum total fishery levies paid for the previous two years, respectively.

The cost of this levy per Statutory Fishing Right (SFR) increased from $0.65 per SFR in 2009/10 to $0.66 per SFR in 2010/11 and to a staggering $1.05 per SFR this financial year - or an enormous 63% increase over the previous year.

Tasmanian Scallop Fishermen’s AssociationAt this time of the year we are usually actively planning for a busy season, with high hopes that there will be plenty of quality scallops ready for harvest - come July. With disappointing recent seasons and high management costs in both fisheries we all really need an exceptional year, but unfortunately we participate in a scallop fishery that has high natural variability in abundance, growth, mortality, meat yield and condition so nothing is ever certain.

Bass Strait plans for this season

ScallopRAG (ScRAG) and ScallopMAC (ScMAC) members met separately in Hobart in February to consider IMAS assessments of scallop surveys carried out in July and November last year in eastern Bass Strait.

Both committees have subsequently agreed to recommend a minimum 2,500 tonne TAC in the Southern Protected Zone (now called Area 3) in Commonwealth waters immediately north of Babel Island, subject to pre-season surveys and eventual approval by the AFMA Commission.

In the November 2011 survey, scallops in this area averaged around 95mm and we would expect the density to be better than experienced last season as Area 3 was mostly not impacted by seismic in early 2010.

ScRAG and ScMAC members also supported holding in reserve a small north-eastern section in the previously known

continued overleaf

As the gross value of the Bass Strait scallop fishery last season, based on the actual beach price, was only about $640,000 it is obvious that no-one in the industry has even recovered costs.

At the time of writing this article there is currently a disallowance motion before the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding the cost increases that AFMA plan to implement through the fisheries levy regulations. We are very definitely of the view that AFMA should be directed to revisit these massive cost increases and to work with the scallop industry to minimise all costs, whilst achieving the same management outcomes.

As previously stated the Bass Strait Scallop Fishery, along with other similar scallop fisheries worldwide, is notorious for variability in recruitment and abundance. That means, historically we may have the odd good year, some average years and many poor seasons or in some years no season at all. The income from the fishery therefore varies significantly and so does our ability to pay for budgeted management costs. What we do know for certain is that this low-value fishery cannot afford this horrendous cost for management being imposed by AFMA.

The BSCZ scallop fleet has been reduced from some 200 plus vessels over many years down to around a maximum of 20 or so vessels currently. It is only because we have access rights to other fisheries with alternate sources of income that we have survived this long and not gone to the wall. What is obviously needed is a complete review of the whole fishery management arrangements and of every single cost that is currently being levied at this low-value fishery.

Future management arrangements should be agreed based on the earning capacity of the fishery, with all excesses cut from the budget so that we finish up with a dynamic

Industry wide


> INDUSTRY WIDE

The last time I heard someone espousing similar thoughts was at a meeting in Launceston some years ago when Wilson ‘Iron Bar’ Tuckey, a Federal MP waffled on about the Federal Government controlling ‘all fisheries’ – from the high water mark out! Now I don’t think that Ian was of that mind but certainly I start to pay attention when these sorts of claims are bounced around. So I will be paying close attention to future statements along these lines.

Alistair Hobday provided a refreshing outlook and spoke well in a language we could understand. He told of how scientists, such as himself, were committed to trying to answer industry concerns rather than the old way of them sometimes pursuing a different agenda.

Some of you will remember Alistair from the presentations he gave to us in Hobart some years ago in relation to climate change. I have spoken to Alistair and we are arranging a forum for him to address industry and keep us up-to-speed with the current situation.

One of the positive outcomes from this symposium was that a way forward was mapped out for industry to be engaged in this rollout and to form a united front in opposition to any future plans to include fuel in this tax. At the moment fuel is exempt but there are no guarantees into the future and if it is included there are huge implications for all of industry.

A total of eleven action items came out of the meeting including:

• a national education policy for industry;

• a national response policy;

• a national PR and communications strategy; and,

• a call for an allocation of carbon units (credits) for the Australian seafood industry – similar to the process being used by other trade exposed industries.

Our thanks go to Eric Perez and Winston Harris from the Queensland Seafood Industry Association for hosting this forum.

Rodney TreloggenCEO, Tasmanian Rocklobster Fishermen’s Association

Progressively, and at the end of the month, the survey results will be assessed. Then either further specific area surveys may be arranged for promising areas, or ScFAC may meet again to consider a season opening. With a target start date of 1 July the stock assessment period would be in August, but at a time when the Bass Strait season will hopefully be well underway.

Industry and DPIPWE are still committed to the paddock style of harvesting, but only when suitable and mature beds have been located. Season 2012 may or may not produce large quantities of quality scallops in Tasmanian or Bass Strait waters but one way or another it will not be through lack of trying.

Bob ListerCEO, Tasmanian Scallop Fishermen’s Association

Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishermen’s Association

Global warming and carbon credits

As much as we may hope that it won’t happen, the carbon tax and its related effects is on the way to a fishery involving you.

John Sansom and I, along with about 80 other industry participants, listened to a range of speakers at a recent symposium on climate change and carbon tax held in Brisbane on 1-2 March. These included a government spokesman who probably raised many more questions than were answered.

Our attention was focused for a time on a presentation by Ian Thompson, First Assistant Secretary, Sustainable Resource Management Division of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). Ian gave a good presentation and mentioned some issues that may have an impact on us in the long-term. He spoke about creating one management authority for fish stocks, with management by species rather than areas. ‘Adaptation’ was his keyword in relation to species and the States and he mentioned that boundaries were cumbersome in some instances.

fishery with streamlined and low-cost processes, which can grasp opportunities very quickly.

At the moment, because of over-management, everything from AFMA takes a very long time to implement. This causes massive frustrations to fishermen and everyone else down the line including scallop processors, splitters and retailers/consumers.

Despite the variable nature of scallops this can be a successful fishery but not under the current management and costs which are strangling all those who have historically elected to be involved. Hopefully some good will result from these disallowance motions.

Tasmanian state scallop plans

ScallopFAC members met in Campbell Town on 21 March to consider options for a 2012 season. After considerable discussion it was agreed that there was insufficient survey and scallop abundance information available to ScFAC at the meeting to justify support for opening of the fishery this year.

Additionally, members acknowledged that a major problem existed in seeking vessels to undertake survey work due to the significant operating costs involved and any offers of research quota when a fishery that same year was not certain.

There are possible areas of interest north of Babel Island, west of Cape Frankland, east of Flinders Island and in Storm Bay but there is no indication or guarantee that these areas currently contain mature scallops in commercial quantities.

Members of ScFAC eventually agreed to recommend an initial one-month survey period, with the north and east coasts of Tasmania divided into six zones of interest. A maximum 50 tonne harvest would be permitted in each zone, with research data to be lodged after each landing. The 90mm size limit would still apply with the usual 20% undersize allowance. This will hopefully result in a cost-effective way of locating any scallop beds and provide us with a list of priority areas on which to focus our attention.


Concerns raised by users of Victoria DockThis article is aimed at highlighting some of the concerns/issues that the users of Victoria Dock in Hobart have in regards to this Tasports facility.

Around the middle of 2011 fishermen received notification from Tasports of a price increase, from approximately $1,500 per annum to just over $2,000 per annum. The justification for the increase was that it would bring Hobart into line with other ports around the country, such as Darwin, San Remo and Gippsland. The following is a comparison of some of the facilities available in other ports:

Darwin:

• caters for 85 vessels of up to 30m in length;

• access to leave the marina is from 0730 – 1545, with a callout to provide for other times;

• access to maintenance wharf for repairs, with fuel bunkering on site.

Gippsland:

• caters for up to 1,000 vessels across five ports, with pens for permanent vessels;

• fee increase of approximately $100 from 2011, meaning a pen at Paynesville will cost between $1,500 and $2,500 per annum.

Lakes Entrance:

• pens cost $1,000 for a 12m pen and $2,900 for a 20m pen.

Port Welshpool:

• costs $303 to berth alongside the wharf, (the same as in Victoria Dock), or a range of $1,281 to $2,327 for a pen.

Other issues of concern include:

• security;

• power supply;

• safety ladders;

• parking spaces;

• unloading wharf (Kings Pier);

• maintenance;

• water; and

• dock access.

Security

Since the notification of the fee increase which reads, ‘Home port fees are inclusive of 240v power and include security surveillance by CCTV at the ports of Devonport and Hobart’, there have been 14 vessels broken into. Although the culprit was caught the next night, he shouldn’t have had the luxury of a second attempt!

In one incident a diver’s dinghy was launched off an abalone mother ship and consequently sank in the dock, with video footage being supplied by someone staying at one of the nearby hotels.

On another occasion an inflatable dinghy was launched off the roof of a fishing vessel and the driver was doing doughnuts around the dock until the outboard fell off. The owner had to retrieve the motor the next day.

Two fishing vessels tied up outside the dock (one at the Kings Pier low landing and the other at the unloading berth at Kings Pier) had their mooring lines untied (on two separate occasions). The first was untied at 9:30pm on a Saturday night, with the owner being notified at 5am on Sunday morning. The other boat was completely untied on a Friday night and subsequently drifted and hit the sea plane which now operates from Kings Pier, but the owner was not notified until 6:30am on Saturday.

There is no CCTV coverage of Victoria Dock that could be useful to police to catch the offenders of the above incidents.

Power supply

There have been new power poles installed along the Hunter Street side of the Dock but each of these only has one power outlet, with any vessels tying up outside another vessel left without power. There is no power supply at all to the Mure’s side of the dock.

Safety ladders

Although there are six safety ladders inside the Dock, there are none on either of the finger piers. This is of concern as the public have access and there is no safety rail/ledge along the side of these finger piers. It would be a long swim to the other ladders with a struggling child in cold water, or an

adult that may be injured or inebriated, let alone finding a ladder that was accessible without a boat being tied alongside it.

Parking spaces

Tasports has given fishers the option of either one or two car parking spaces, in addition to signage which provides reserved spaces for fishing fleet and maintenance vehicles at two locations around the dock. However it is unclear whether fishers then require a parking permit or can use the allocated spaces, or whether maintenance vehicles need to pay for parking vouchers.

Unloading wharf (Kings Pier)

Work has been undertaken to strengthen the unloading berth, at a cost of approximately $320,000. Now that this has been completed we find that there is a load limit of 4 tonnes at the edge of the wharf, when most small trucks used by rock lobster and abalone processors already weigh 4.5 tonnes. It is already hard enough work to unload boats, let alone when you have to carry bait boxes and fish bins some 6-7 metres to load onto a truck. This could be anything from 50 fish bins for a rock lobster vessel and up to 150 bins for an abalone vessel.

Maintenance

Due to the high number of vessels now calling Victoria Dock home there has been a need to have vessels tied to what used to be the maintenance landing near the bridge. This has meant that there is no longer an area where minor maintenance can be completed. Currently the only option is to move to Tasports’ industrial facility at the Domain Slipyard. However this facility is operated by a different section of Tasports and berthing at the wharf may well incur a charge. I am unaware of any notification in regard to this situation, and it is my belief that we pay to use Tasports facilities whether they be Victoria Dock, Kings Pier, Maquarie Wharf or the Domain – keeping in mind that the fee structure was to be in line with other ports around the country!

> INDUSTRY WIDE


> MAST

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is proceeding with the National Regulator Reform Project for scheduled implementation on 1 January 2013.

After 1 January 2013, Marine and Safety Tasmania will be delegated by AMSA to continue its delivery of services to industry in this state.

Although the implementation time line is very short, there are questions that MAST cannot yet answer because legislation is under development, however, here are some current facts.

Why has this reform come about?

The Council of Australian Governments agreed in 2009 to establish single national regulators for heavy vehicles, rail safety and maritime safety, to be in place by 1 January 2013.

When was the agreement to proceed with the reform signed by the Ministers?

An Intergovernmental agreement to proceed with Commercial Vessel Safety Reform was signed on 19 August 2011.

What are the intended outcomes of the reform?

A single National Law for all commercial vessels operating in Australian waters (including appropriate transitional provisions).

An independent National Regulator that develops, maintains, monitors and enforces national standards for commercial vessels.

Agreed national standards for the delivery of regulatory services.

Agreements between the National Regulator and each State and Territory to deliver regulatory services and activities to support the national system.

Who will be the National Regulator?

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority

What legislation will apply to Domestic Commercial Vessels?

AMSA are currently preparing a National Law Bill, which to meet the scheduled implementation date of 1 January 2013, must be introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament in the winter sitting 2012.

If passed, the National Law Bill will become an Act of Parliament applying to the operation of Domestic Commercial Vessels within the Economic Exclusion Zone of Australia (EEZ) which is approximately 200 nautical miles from the coast.

What legislation will apply to vessels undertaking International Voyages?

AMSA are currently revising the Navigation Act 1912 which will apply to the operation of Regulated Vessels that operate further than the EEZ of Australia.

I operate an existing commercial vessel, how will the changes affect me?

Existing vessels that continue to operate the same way and in the same geographical area will see little or no change.

This particularly applies in this state because Tasmania is the only jurisdiction to have comprehensively applied the National Standard for Commercial Vessels (NSCV), parts of which will be applied to all existing vessels in Australia over time.

What if I want to change my operation or move the vessel interstate?

If the risk of operation will increase, your vessel will be treated as a new vessel and subject to the NSCV, no different to what occurs now for upgrades in service.

More detailed information will be provided in the next edition of Fishing Today, in the meantime MAST encourages all commercial vessel operators to attend and have your say at AMSA consultation forums or find out more information by visiting these websites; www.nmsc.gov.au and www.amsa.gov.au.

Potable water

There are some issues with regard to the old galvanised pipes used for getting drinking water for use on board. If the water is not run for a while there is a chance that a small amount of rusty water will enter the water tank. Obviously, this would build up over time and affect water quality, as well as creating problems within the water tank. The other problem is that the taps on the finger piers are located underneath the piers and aren’t very user friendly as you need to lie on the ground in order to connect hose fittings.

Dock access

Not too many years ago fishermen had 24 hour access to Victoria Dock. Now access is limited to weekdays between 7:30am and 3pm, with a special opening time of 7pm during the daylight savings period. On weekends opening times are 7:30am, 11:30am and 3pm, with the additional time of 7pm during summer. Some Tasports employees told me recently that they wouldn’t mind opening the bridge at any time between 7:30am and 3pm during the weekend, as it would get them out of the office where they monitor the CCTV screens for four other ports around the State.

This article aims to highlight some of the issues that the fishermen of Victoria Dock have, in the hope that they will be considered and addressed.

Bryan Denny TSIC Board member and fisherman and President of the Tasmanian Commercial Diver’s Association

C L A S S I F I E D

WANTED0-20 Boat Licence

with package

Please phone 0418 837 018

Industry Wide continued Q & A on the Commercial Vessel Safety Reform


> PATAGONIAN TOOTHFISH MSC

Further management actio ns required by certification

As part of the certification requirements, five conditions (or required management actions) have been specified to ensure the fishery continues to achieve global best practice across all aspects of its performance.

These include setting of precautionary harvest control rules and demonstrating management objectives have been met, ensuring the stock assessment is appropriate for the entire stock and for future catches across this stock, the collection of data on the impacts of operations on different habitats and the enhancement of consultation processes with interested stakeholders.

The only other Australian toothfish fishery is at Macquarie Island, which is managed by Tasmania out to three miles. That fishery is not yet certified, but has been independently reviewed with a report recommending MSC certification. It will undergo the process of certification over the coming couple of months. Both of the companies involved with the HIMI fishery are also involved with the Macquarie Island toothfish fishery. At the launch it was revealed that both companies are working to bring certification to the blue grenadier fishery as well.

Longline Pty Ltd is a Tasmanian company based in Launceston.

Management of the fishery is based upon the precautionary approach adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Harvest strategies developed for this species are consistent with this approach, with current catch levels set at 2,730mt annually.

Stock assessments in this fishery are carried out annually and current assessments estimate the stock levels at approximately 63% of the original biomass - well above the target level of 50% of original biomass.

Management by AFMA, incorporating CCAMLR conservation measures in the fishery, includes approaches to avoid the capture of seabirds such as closed seasons, mandatory streamer lines and line weighting, along with two full-time government-approved observers of fishing activities to report on activities, and undertake research during every trip to the HIMI fishery. Furthermore, participants in this fishery must satisfy strict requirements to lessen environmental impacts including a ban on plastic bait bands, a ban on plastic products being discarded at sea, bans on discharge of offal and foodstuffs, and the reporting within 24 hours to authorities of any lost fishing gear and other non-biodegradable materials.

The Australian Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Patagonian toothfish fishery has gained Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification following a rigorous, independent assessment against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.

The fishery has demonstrated the toothfish stocks being targeted are healthy, its fishing practices have minimal impact on the marine eco-system and overall the fishery is well-managed.

Products from this fishery may now bear the MSC Eco label, identifying their origin from a sustainable source. Only products that originate from the certified fishery are eligible to bear the MSC Eco label.

About the fishery

The fishery operates in sub-Antarctic waters within the Australian EEZ around the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Plateau. It is managed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and is subject to stringent management arrangements.

The certification covers the two longline vessels and one trawl vessel operated by Austral Fisheries and Australian Longline - responsible for landing 2459mt of toothfish in 2010 - and also covers an additional quota owner Better Choice Seafoods. Australian

Australian Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Patagonian toothfi sh fi shery gains MSC certifi cation

Martin Exel, Keith Sainsbury, Les Scott, David Carter and Denzil Miller Linda Sams and Lindsay Newman


In those early days Des mostly fished out of Recherche. He recalls catches of 30 score, taken in just two days with 20 pots off Recherche Bay.

Des met and wooed his wife Pat at Cygnet, sometimes bringing her back ‘over the hill’ to dances at Woodbridge and Kettering. They married when he was 21 and she was 18. At this time, in the 1950s, Des bought the 32ft Memory from Geoff Blundell. He describes her as “a very deep and seaworthy little boat” and continues, “I fished the South Coast, down as far as Maatsuyker on her”.

Over the years, if he was working locally, he would unload at Woodbridge, which was then the centre of the scallop industry. Pat ran the splitting shed on their jetty (now belonging to the Marine Studies Centre). Des reckons Pat was an ace splitter and could clean 300lb in a 16-hour day! Pat also went scalloping with Des in Norfolk Bay, which he worked for two seasons.

Woodbridge was a lively port with upwards of 30 boats based there, and the scallop splitters worked around the southern edge of the bay. Scallop time wasn’t all hard work. Des recalls the Woodbridge apple wars with a bit of a grin. The splitters, and anyone else who could be co-opted, would divide into sides and bombard each other with apples taken from the sheds on the jetty, or with seconds which were often just tipped into the water of the bay to float out on the tide. Des also remembers that he and his father were embroiled in just such an apple fight when his mother came to tell him that he was a father! It turned out to be twins, which was quite a surprise!

Des’ next boat was the 54ft Niree, originally built for Toby Cheverton of Sandy Bay. Over the years Des and his crew scalloped and fished further afield in Storm Bay, Norfolk Bay, Eaglehawk Neck, off Dunalley and Triabunna, Coles Bay, from Bicheno to Eddystone Point, Flinders Island and Banks Strait. Des says, “The Coles Bay scallops were the best. They were big: five to the pound. We worked up there for five or six years”. Fishing for cray took Des and his

a shell in the water and I saw this scallop get up and swim. I was fascinated. I used to feed tame flathead. I’d throw shells out and that attracted them. In the end they’d eat out of my hand”.Des began working on the Safety with his father when only 13, going after couta and scallops in season. Like all the locals, they first scalloped in the Channel, mainly off Gordon and Middleton where the best beds were, and in Great Bay and Barnes Bay.

Fishing for the Whayman family changed when Des was 17 and his brother Trevor, who had fished with them, left to join the police force. When Herb became too ill to fish, a legacy of his days as an axeman after clearing the Great Bay property of timber, Des took over running the boat, Safety. With his two teenage mates, Mervyn Smith and Ian O’Reilly, he commenced a seasonal lifestyle based on fish. From December to March/April it was couta, then from June through to August it was scalloping. In between times they worked on orchards.

At 19 Des squeezed National Service into the off-season. In the same year he did a three-month stint as a deckhand on the Bruny ferry, along with Ernie Sward and a couple of others, thus becoming one of the youngest ever to earn a master’s ticket. After selling the Safety, he worked the 28ft Cura Bay single-handed out of Kettering. She was built from timber that washed up on the beach at Nubeena from the wreckage of an old three-masted, topsail schooner called Thuraka.

Although Des wanted to get into cray fishing he says, “I didn’t know the first thing about cray fishing. You didn’t need to buy a licence, they were just issued. I put some pots on board Cura Bay and set off down to Recherche. Out came this old boat with a fella on board. ‘How are ya, mate,’ he said. ‘Have ya been down here before?’ So I told him I hadn’t. His name was Ralph Leary. Now he didn’t know me from a bar of soap, but he said, ‘Few reefs around here. You gotta watch what you’re doing - so just fish outside of me all the time. You’ll get a load and you’ll be safe’. Two days later I was loaded and gone home. He looked after everyone”.

When Des Whayman, who has been a fisherman for 58 years, told me he had a photographic memory and virtual recall of every coastline he had fished, I was a little sceptical. Then he told me he had recently drawn a map from memory of his best fishing areas and given it to a young fisherman, who had then caught enormous quantities of fish using it. Des kept a log for the entire 55 years he worked the West Coast, and can accurately draw any section of coast in fine detail - indicating rocks, safe anchorages, good cray spots and the five fathom line. This ability is just one of many remarkable gifts that Des possesses, including the ability to pick up any musical instrument and play it without having ever been taught to read music.

Des Whayman is a third-generation fisherman and his family has worked in the seafood industry for over 85 years. His great-grandfather Robert, together with his wife Anne and their three sons, emigrated from Sussex in England in 1860, to settle and farm on Bruny Island. Their son, Henry began the family fishing connection, becoming a part-time farmer-fisherman. His son, Herbert turned to fishing full-time, working out of Great Bay and later Barnes Bay, with the vessels Safety and then the Vanity.

From the age of six, Des had a fascination with the sea. “I was sitting on the beach at Barnes Bay cleaning scallops for my dad. We used to throw the shells in the water. I threw

Des Whayman by Mary Brewer

> PROFILE: DES WHAYMAN


> PROFILE: DES WHAYMAN

school holidays. They kept their own catch records and were paid at the going rate at the end of the trip, arriving home with a healthy bank balance, new skills and a confidence belying their years.

Jeff fished with his father for a few years after leaving school then, when he was 18, he and Chris set up in partnership with an abalone licence. They still work together 28 years later. All three brothers worked as abalone fishermen for 10 years, initially on the Stormalong and later on their purpose built Kemway Star.

Des was always one to venture into new areas, and helped pioneer mussel farming in the Channel, with a five-hectare lease in 1983, and added a further 12 hectares later. The boys sold their abalone licence and joined their father in his mussel farm, and later set up their own company based on a 24-hectare lease. Jeff says, “We’d get mussels off the buoys at the salmon farm at Nubeena during the winter, put them on the lease to fatten them up and then sell them. In the summer we’d go craying”.

To improve their methods the family applied for a spat catching lease about 1990, using ‘Christmas tree’ mussel ropes hung on longlines, to collect mussel spat in the spring. Eventually they leased out their cray licence and became full-time mussel farmers.

Des was also interested in oyster farming, believing it had a better future, and so began farming in the late ‘90s in Adams Bay in Great Bay. Always the innovator, Des invented his successful ‘baskets on a ladder’ system, as Adams Bay was rougher water than other oyster areas so new methods had to be devised to work it. While Des continues to be involved with oysters, his son Jeff has purchased the lease and facilities in Adams Bay. The Bruny Island shellfish brand is becoming well-known throughout Australia for its quality.

Des’ final thoughts on his years of fishing are poignant: “It’s a lonely business. Some it doesn’t worry. They can sit and have a beer at night and get a load of cray and come home. For me it was full bore from the moment I left. I never missed an hour’s fishing, right from the time I left home. Just so I could get home as quickly as possible”.

back to Recherche. We left the area the next day and went home.

It was ages before I could look at fishing again. Pat tried to reassure me that I would be alright so I went back, but I never fished near the Sisters again.

After three and a half years fishing on the Niree, Des found the Truganini. “The dream of my life”, he calls her. “She was 52ft long, 18ft wide and 8ft 6 deep. She was built to an unusual North Sea design by the Wilsons at Cygnet. They made them deep like that so they would be stable with ice in the rigging. She had the motor forward and all her living quarters down aft. She was very different from other boats and had very little movement. Built with three-by-three-inch bluegum ribs, and two-inch bluegum planking, all rove fastened in the English style she was the strongest thing. I had her for five lovely years”.

Des was so successful craying in Truganini that he paid her off in one seven-month season. The logbooks for 1968-1969 show 105 score as his lowest catch in her. “We got nine pence a pound, selling to Boxalls and Safcol. They built their jetties and factories out of us. At Margate, Kettering, Triabunna, Dover – everywhere except Hobart”.

Des only sold the Truganini after his wife became ill and he needed to be closer to home. Pat had injured her back lifting heavy bags. Des traded Truganini to Varley Wisby for the smaller Spring Bay. After four years he decided to buy the 50ft Stormalong, built by Fred Marks of Dover. He says, “She was a beautifully built thing; Huon Pine, she was. Never had any caulking in her, she didn’t need it”. After a time Des sold her to run the Tacoma for Wayne Baker, cray fishing on a percentage basis, then consecutively on the Maree One, the Onedin and the steel John Henry, each time for about two years.

Always one to look to the future Des constantly upgraded his ticket, earning an engineer’s ticket to work the Tacoma. The Stormalong returned to the family a few years after Des sold her, when his sons owned her, before having their new vessel Kemway Star built.

The Whayman boys, Glen and twins, Jeff and Chris, started fishing with their father in the same way Des had done with his father, being taken around the West Coast during their

crew around the south and south-west of Tasmania, down as far as Maatsuyker Island.

Des says of this area, “It is a place of wild weather, big seas and few hiding places. It’s a dangerous, unpredictable place”. Over the years, fishermen have lost not only their boats but their lives there. It was in the Niree that Des experienced the nightmare of losing his good friend, Arthur Reynard in 1963.

We’d been out for three days fishing west of Maatsuyker and had about 30 score each when it blew up. We were lying under Maatsuyker with a lot of other fellas. They decided it was too bad to stay there. We didn’t want to leave but thought, as they were more experienced, we should too. Outside the sea was huge - 12 metre waves and a force 12 wind - 90 knots. They said the swell was so big you couldn’t get into Recherche as it was breaking right across it. My deckie was only about 15 and did a magnificent job through it all.

“Anyway, we got about three miles off Sisters Rocks. We looked behind and we could see Arthur in the Leanne, surfing down a wave just like a surfboard behind us about two waves back. The waves were about 300 metres long. All of a sudden the Leanne put her head under and pitch poled. We immediately turned around and went back, didn’t give it a second thought! Arthur was in the water amongst the lines and the buoys and all the gear. He put his hand up and I yelled, ‘Hold on!’ We grabbed a life ring, tied a rope around it and threw it to him. Then we started to circle around him so we could get to him. Just as we did this, his young fella Barry popped up right alongside of us. He’d been down in the wheelhouse, which had busted open. He had a great gash in the back of his head. So we grabbed him and then went across to get Arthur.

We managed to bring Arthur on board but it was too late. The way to pick people up is to have them surf to you, otherwise you can easily go over the top of them.

“It was only after we got him on board that it hit me - we were in trouble too. I had a two-way radio so I called up Larry Markey on the Caraid. He sensed I was a bit unnerved and suggested we join him at De Witt Island where he was. He said ‘Look, the Caraid is a bigger boat than yours, probably safer. I’ll take him back.’ So Larry took Arthur and Barry


IMAS News

Do southern rock lobster larvae settle in deep water?After hatching from the egg, lobster larvae move offshore to the open ocean for between 12 to 24 months before returning from offshore waters into inshore waters. Just before moving inshore they moult into their last larval stage known as puerulus and settle onto reef habitats after which they moult into juvenile lobsters. For a more detailed description of these developmental stages read the article The Life-cycle of Spiny Rock Lobsters (by Bridget Green) in the last issue of Fishing Today (Vol 25(1), Feb/Mar 2012, p26).

Artificial habitats known as puerulus collectors which mimic suitable natural habitat are used to collect puerulus and provide an indication of future trends in recruitment to the fishery. Crevice puerulus collectors deployed on the Tasmanian east coast have generated a long-term dataset of puerulus settlement at a number of shallow inshore locations. These collectors, which are serviced by divers, have provided valuable early indications of future trends in recruitment to the commercial fishery. For example, low puerulus catches observed from 2003 to 2008 was reflected in a downturn in the fishery in recent times.

However, no crevice collectors have been successfully deployed on the western and southern coasts due to the harsh conditions. Furthermore, it is unknown if puerulus settle in deeper waters and, as the majority of the commercial catch comes from deeper waters on the southern and western coasts, it is considered that deep water trials are warranted. A review of the Tasmanian

puerulus program undertaken in 2008, that involved government and industry, identified as a priority an investigation of puerulus collection on the south and west coasts using the commercial fleet to reduce costs.

IMAS has received funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) for the first phase of a research project to determine the feasibility of collecting puerulus in the deep exposed waters off the Tasmanian west and southern coasts. The project is titled ‘Developing cost-effective industry based techniques for monitoring puerulus settlement in all conditions: trials in southern and western Tasmania.’ It aims to design and road-test puerulus collectors specifically for use in deep water and that are able to be deployed and serviced by vessels from the Tasmanian commercial lobster fleet. If successful, these collectors will hopefully provide insights into future trends of the commercial fishery in this region. The primary challenges in designing a deep water collector for this purpose include ensuring that:

• collectors can be serviced safely by commercial vessels

• collectors will consistently collect puerulus and they won’t be lost during hauling

• adequate protection is provided for collectors in rough conditions

• movement across the seafloor of collectors in rough sea is minimised

• construction costs are low

Collector materials to be trialled: crevice collector being “bagged” by a diver; mesh

bags; FRP grid mesh; and HebelÒ)


> IMAS NEWS

A design workshop was held at IMAS Taroona on 28 February 2012, and was attended by scientists, technicians and lobster fishers. The workshop assessed the relative merits of a number of potential designs and concluded that collectors would need to be of similar dimensions and weight to commercial lobster pots to be safely serviced and re-deployed by vessels in the commercial fleet. The design from the workshop features a steel framed box, with mesh panels for housing the different collector designs attached to the top of a traditional steel lobster pot. The housing provides protection for the collector and the sides furthest from the haul point are meshed in 3mm perforated steel to retain pueruli flushed from the collector during retrieval. The different collector designs are attached to the underside of the lid of the housing to facilitate removal of puerulus on deck. The steel pots are not meshed, and incorporate additional steel bars in the base to improve stability and achieve a target weight of 30kg (in air).

Collectors will be deployed in strings of 4 pots with linking lines of around twice the depth. “Current” buoys will be used to maximise the likelihood that the buoys would stay on the surface during tidal flows and the primary buoy-line from the first collector will include a Dan buoy with a radar reflector. To further minimise the likelihood of movement in adverse sea conditions the first collector will carry additional weight (to a total weight of 50kg in air). Trial deployments from commercial vessels will be undertaken in April 2012 in local waters to ensure that the gear can be handled safely prior to deployment in deep water.

Four collector designs based on materials that have been shown to collect puerulus were selected to trial in this project:

• crevice collectors - proven track record of collecting puerulus in shallow Tasmanian waters

• mesh bags – inexpensive and take up very little space onboard

• grids of FRP mesh – inexpensive, rigid, and easy to service

• Hebel® blocks – rigid and coarse surface (which has been found to be attractive to puerulus)

Following any modifications identified in local trials, collectors will be deployed on soft sediment on the south and south west coasts of Tasmania in depths from 50 to 150m from around June 2012. Sites have been chosen on the bases of; providing soft sediment in target depths; minimising the likelihood of accidental fouling of buoy lines by other vessels by positioning collectors away from popular routes; and minimising the inconvenience to vessels from the commercial fleet that service the collectors. Servicing of deep water collectors will be conducted approximately monthly and will entail retrieval, removal of the housing lid (with collector material attached), collection of puerulus from the collector or housing, removal of fouling, and redeployment to the seafloor.

The sites chosen for initial deep water trials on the Tasmanian south west coast are: south east of the Pyramids (depth ~60m); and south west of the Pyramids (~150m). The sites chosen for deep water trials on the south coast are south of Cox Bight (~60m) and between Maatsuyker Island and South West Cape (~110m). Strings of

four collectors will be deployed at each site and each string will include one of each of the collector designs chosen for sea trials. This will allow the relative performance of each collector design to be assessed, at each site. Twelve collectors (without the pot base), three of each design, will also be deployed at an existing shallow water crevice collector site at Bicheno around May 2012. This will allow effects of the mesh housing on settlement to be assessed and will provide further comparisons between collector designs.

This project has already benefited greatly from the enthusiasm and generosity of commercial lobster fishers and ongoing industry cooperation will be vital to the success of this project. For your valuable input please see contact details as follows:

Graeme Ewing, IMASTel: 6227 7228, Mob: 0409 009 [email protected]

Collector housing (left) and housing lid showing FRP grid mesh (right).

Gear configuration that will be used for positioning puerulus collectors on the seafloor in

deep water

Sites being considered for deep water puerulus collector deployments on the southern and south western

Tasmanian coasts


IMAS’s abalone population biology program has been running under various guises since the late 1980’s. As its name suggests, it was developed to provide biological information about abalone in Tasmania’s wild fishery, and involves collecting samples from abalone populations state-wide. Since its inception, information has been collected about population length distributions, abundance, growth (mostly through tagging and ageing of shells), length at onset of maturity, and a range of other measures.

More recently we have focussed on providing information for fisheries management, and in particular we have undertaken a number of growth studies and collected size-at-maturity and length-frequency information from representative sites in the fishery. The information is used directly (e.g. for setting size limits) or provides data for the population model which uses input data from the program to simulate changes in management – such as different quotas.

Abalone field research is typically done between June and November, the period when water temperatures are lowest, and when abalone growth rates are slower and size at maturity smallest. This timing works well in the sheltered eastern part of the state, but in past years it has been difficult to coordinate trips to the west coast during this period because of unsuitable weather conditions. However, in 2011 we managed five trips to the west coast and far north-west, and obtained some much sought after information.

Of particular note, on a recent trip to the south west, we recovered tagged abalone from two populations where we had released them two years earlier, one just south of the Brier Holme, the other 20 km to the north at Top Rocks. The Brier Holme abalone were high quality, clean-shelled fish, and were some of the fastest and largest growing that we have encountered. At Top Rocks however, the abalone had high shell parasite loadings at a relatively small size and the tagged abalone grew much slower and to a smaller size. This contrast in growth

rates illustrates the dilemma facing fisheries managers when setting size limits: how do you set a size limit for a region that will enable adequate protection (i.e. egg production) for the high quality fish which grow rapidly to a large size yet allow the fishery to access the slower-growing, lower grade abalone?

We had intended tagging abalone in the south east near Port Arthur and on the east coast at both Schouten and Maria Islands, but because stock levels were generally low, we were unable to find populations with sufficient quantities of abalone for a successful tagging study. However we were able to tag abalone in the south east at Little Trumpeter Bay and in the north west at West Point. These fish will be recovered in August and November 2012.

In addition to abalone growth, we also collect population samples to determine the size at which they became sexually mature. These samples were collected from the north east in Block 30, on the west coast between Strahan and Port Davey, in the north west between Bluff Hill Point and Albatross Island, in the south east and east from the Actaeons to Bicheno, and in Bass Strait at the Kent and Hogan Groups.

Size limits in the commercial fishery are managed under a rule of thumb that specifies that abalone should breed twice before they reach legal size (the two-year rule), with the intention that populations are able to maintain sufficient egg production to sustain fishing. These limits also interact with the quota so that in some areas of the fishery we rely more on the quota than the size limit to protect egg production.

Figure 2. Typical IMAS abalone growth studies involve tagging, measuring and releasing up to 1000 abalone per site. Approximately one year

later, IMAS divers search each site to recover the tagged abalone. The abalone are remeasured, and the differences in shell length between release and

recapture are used to produce growth estimates for the site’s population. Recaptures rates vary

between 10% and 50%.

> IMAS NEWS

Abalone population biology

Figure 1. Colours between orange and red show where the estimated size at maturity plus two years growth (SAM+2) is greater than the

2011 size limit operating in a particular management block, and by how much (in millimetres). Blocks shaded orange to red mean that the size

limit is too low to meet the two-year rule and the quota is more critical to maintain egg prodcution. Blocks shaded green show where

SAM+2 is less than the size limit, and where the size-limit policy is met. Blocks with no colour indicate no information is available.


> IMAS NEWS

While wild fisheries production has peaked, aquaculture remains the fastest growing primary industry sector in the world, meeting an almost insatiable global demand for seafood. Dr Cedric Simon, from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, at the University of Tasmania, is developing innovative ways to assess the nutritional condition of rock lobsters from the wild and in culture. For his planned project, he was the recipient of one of the 2012 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Cedric was also the winner of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Award.

Every year, the Science and Innovation Awards provide recipients with grants of up to $22,000 to undertake innovative projects that contribute to the ongoing success and sustainability of Australia’s agricultural, fisheries and forestry industries. The awards are open to anyone aged between 18 and 35 years, working or studying in the rural industries. One recipient receives an additional $33,000 to expand their research project, as part of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Award.

Cedric’s research is indeed innovative and addresses the big issue of seafood security. There are a number of factors he’s investigating. Proper nutrition, for one, is critical for getting lobsters to market size and Cedric states, ”Developing a safe way to accurately assess the nutrition, digestion and reproduction condition of lobsters in controlled laboratories will help manage wild stocks and improve yield and product quality”.

Cedric will collaborate with industry leaders and researchers in Canada to learn how standard veterinarian diagnostic equipment can be used to quickly assess lobster condition and health through blood samples. The equipment will be calibrated to lobster species commercially important to Australia.

In addition, innovative and non-destructive approaches will be tested for the first time to accurately determine the progression of rock lobsters within their lengthy intermoult stage. They will consist of the measurement of meat content of lobster tails, using a veterinarian ultrasound scanner and composition, using near-infrared spectroscopy. This will be essential to better interpret blood biochemistry, as the position in the moult cycle has a major effect on blood metabolite concentration.

Both technologies have been incorporated in practical handheld devices that are relatively affordable and have great potential to be used in assessing lobsters’ nutritional condition directly, or in combination with blood samples in the field. Two case studies will also be performed to validate the science and developed techniques: a nutritional experiment with cultured Eastern rock lobster juveniles fed a range of diets; and a study of the condition of wild stocks of Southern rock lobster sampled from a slow- and a fast-growing population in Tasmania.

“This project will benefit the lobster fishing and aquaculture industries. Live lobster holding and handling facilities will gain knowledge about their stock’s nutritional status, leading to improved methods for shipping live lobsters”, Cedric reports.

When asked, ”What do you hope to achieve as a result or upon completion of this prestigious award?” Cedric replied, ”This award provides me with a great opportunity to build strong networks with world experts in health and condition assessment of lobster, as well as lasting relationships with the Australian fisheries and aquaculture industries. I hope that at the completion of this award, the project outcomes will influence the development of a new industry standard to measure nutritional condition in lobsters and other crustacean species”.

The Science and Innovation Awards are coordinated by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) and each award category is generously supported by leading industry organisations. Cedric’s award is supported by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).

Director of IMAS’s Fisheries, Aquaculture and Coasts Centre, Professor Colin Buxton was thrilled with the announcement of Cedric receiving top honours at this year’s Science and Innovation Awards.

“Cedric is a talented young member of our research team and really deserves this award. It is a further recognition of IMAS as a world leader in lobster research, promoting sustainable fisheries and moving a step closer to a lobster aquaculture future”, he said.

IMAS lobster researcher wins prestigious National Science and Innovation award

L-R Hon Harry Woods Chair of FRDC, Hon Joe Ludwig Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and

Forestry, Dr Cedric Simon, Dr Patrick Hone Executive Director of FRDC

Dr Cedric Simon

TASMANIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRY NEWS APRIL/MAY 201230

> IMAS NEWS

“Need to break deadlock”, says Prof Buxton

A scientific audit of marine parks in NSW will have ramifications across Australia, according to one of the co-authors, Professor Colin Buxton.

Prof. Buxton, the Director of the Fisheries Aquaculture and Coasts Centre at IMAS, was part of the six-member Independent Scientific Audit of Marine Parks in New South Wales that released its findings on Thursday.

The two principal recommendations of the panel are that the governance of the NSW Marine Estate be re-organised by bringing the entire estate under one legislative and administrative structure that is closely aligned with the five catchment management authorities covering the NSW coastal drainage systems and that the science for the NSW Marine Estate be re-organised under an independent Scientific Committee.

Other recommendations of the panel deal with specific issues associated with the principal recommendations and terms of reference. They include the adequacy of research conducted for the management of marine parks; the need for significant improvements in social

and economic research, and integration of this research into management of marine parks and the marine estate in general; better management of threats to marine biodiversity especially through improved relationships between catchment management authorities and bodies responsible for the management of the marine estate and better identification of local indigenous land and sea knowledge and incorporation of this into management.

As the report noted, controversy about marine parks has been building in NSW since at least 2007, culminating in it becoming a significant issue in the March 2011 state election. The Scientific Audit was announced in early June 2011, with nine terms of reference and a six-month reporting deadline.

“I think that the findings of the panel will have ramifications across Australia where marine protected areas are a very topical issue,” Prof Buxton said after the report’s release. “What the panel was saying was that more had to be done to bring the different elements of marine management together.

“We especially need to find a way to break the deadlock between conservationists calling for more no-take areas, and fishermen who see themselves as being unfairly targeted in the process and being locked out of their livelihoods”.

Prof. Buxton said that science had a very important role to play in all of this, but that science was frequently distorted to suit political agendas.

View the full report, along with Audit material including all submissions, workshop summaries and Audit documentation via link: http://www.marineparksaudit.nsw.gov.au/

Article reproduced with permission from the University of Tasmania’s Media Office

State marine parks audit has ‘national ramifi cations’

Rock lobster tag lotteryThe female rock lobster season is almost over for 2012 as it finishes on 30 April, but the male season still has several months before it closes on 31 August. So keep sending in tags to increase your chances of winning one of our fantastic prizes. Send us the tag number, sex, size and location of your catch, together with your personal details (name, address and phone number) and you will automatically be entered into the draw.

We would also like to congratulate our first winners for the year:

Mr Murray Ball – 1st prize

Mr Rodney Banks-Smith – 2nd prize

Mr Rodney Dakin – 3rd prize

We would like to thank everyone who has sent us tags. By doing so you are contributing to the understanding, and conservation, of our important resource. A special thank you also goes to our sponsors.

Contact details: Ph: (03) 6227 7280Post: IMAS-FAC, Private Bag 49, Hobart, 7001Email: [email protected].

TMD


> BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY

You are fishing in your fibreglass or wooden vessel off the East Coast during late spring when a bank of fog moves over your area and you do not have radar. Then you start to hear it, one long blast every two minutes and you can tell it is from something big and fast.

It is in times like this that you start to wonder how well your vessel shows up on radar.

Noise in fog can be confusing; the speed a sound travels through the air is mostly a function of the temperature of the air. However, moist air absorbs less sound than dry air especially at higher frequencies. Low frequency noise is less affected by any absorption; this is why fog signals are often deep low noise. The mariner relies on their eyes as the number one sense. We all judge a closing vessel by watching its progress. In fog the ears then take over, doing an unfamiliar task; judging distance by change in volume and direction.

The chances are that the big and fast vessel you can hear has more than one expensive high performance radar and professional crew that know how to use it; but you just don’t know. Collisions between large well-equipped vessels do occur in fog.

One of the most famous of these collisions was between the SS Andrea Doria and the MS Stockholm off Nantucket Island in the US in the mid-1950s. The Andrea Doria (29,000 tons) sank as a result of the collision. Both had radar and saw each other and both were travelling at around 20 knots; a potential closing speed of 40 knots. If you think that a tale of this vintage is not relevant today, have a look at this article from maritime NZ http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/Publications-and-forms/Lookout/Issue-22-5.asp

For any given temperature a parcel of air can hold a specific amount of water vapour; the higher the air temperature the more water vapour it can hold. When a given parcel of air is holding as much water vapour as it can for a particular temperature it is said to be saturated and the relative humidity in that parcel would be 100%.

Saturation of a parcel of air can occur by either adding more moisture (evaporation) or by cooling the temperature of the parcel. If you cool a parcel of air enough it will reach the dewpoint. The dewpoint is the

temperature where the relative humidity reaches 100%. Once the temperature goes past the dewpoint some of the water vapour will condense out. Often this is seen as dew on the ground on cold nights. The vapour can also condense out onto tiny particles in the air and we know this as either fog or cloud.

Fog that forms in the coastal waters of the south-eastern seaboard is usually the result of north-easterly winds bringing warm moist air (high dewpoint) over cool water. The air moves over the cooler water, the layers of air having contact with the water cools and reaches its dewpoint. The vapour then commences to condense out of the air and fog forms.

The weather systems that bring these north-easterly winds are high pressure systems in the Tasman Sea. They are often slow moving so the conditions that make sea fog likely may persist for several days.

In the waters around South Australia a slightly different process occurs. Warm dry air blows off the continent and well out to sea. As this warm air moves across the sea evaporation occurs and the warm dry air becomes warm moist air. If this air is then blown back onto the coast by the arrival of another weather system and moves over areas of cooler water, fog can form. In South Australia’s case there are areas of upwelling (deeper colder water brought up to the surface) along the coast that provides this cooling.

Sea fog can form and persist in quite strong winds, whereas the fogs that most of us experience over land tend to break up once the wind reaches around 5 knots.

Above: Sea fog was forecast over much of northern and eastern Tasmania on the day of the chart. The trough through Bass Strait would have added moisture to the atmosphere through the north and north-east.

Forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology will only have the briefest mention of fog. For example:• Forecast for Thursday 8 December until

midnight• No wind warning for Thursday for East of

Flinders Island

• Winds: North-easterly 15 to 20 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell:

• North-easterly 1 metre. Patchy sea fog.

As a refresher the sound signals for restricted visibility are:

• Power Driven Vessel underway: One long blast every two minutes

• Sailing vessel Underway: One long and two short blasts every two minutes

There are a few more restricted visibility sound signals see the ColRegs (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea available freely on the web or by contacting Marine and Safety Tasmania) for full details.

If you are unsure of your vessel’s radar reflectivity, next time when at sea get on the VHF to a passing vessel with radar and ask them. Don’t choose a warship though, as their radars may be a bit high-performance and give you a false sense of security.

San Francisco Harbour is notorious for fog. At the end of World War II the Liberty ship Henry Bergh was heading into San Francisco Harbour. The ship’s official capacity was 560 men but it was carrying 1,300 returning troops. A thick fog had hung over the ship for many hours but did little to dampen the enthusiasm of a raucous deck party that continued into the small hours. Wind and current had pushed the ship off course and the noise from the party prevented the fog warning from a nearby lighthouse being heard. The ship ran aground and despite frigid water and treacherous seas all on board were saved.

A video of sea fog formationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xJ5iykOmEY&feature=youtu.be

A result of sea fog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iltgAVsRliA

Fishing in sea fog by Malcolm Riley


> CSIRO

reduce losses, strengthen husbandry techniques and increase farm profitability.

The researchers have devised a sampling strategy as follows:

• sampling each farm across the seasons;

• each farm has multiple water samples collected;

• five geographically diverse sites are sampled, including four different shellfish farms and a ‘green field’ site with no aquaculture activities; and

• the research considers both abalone and oyster culture.

The technique for taking water samples is simple, using a small, portable pump and filtering system. Water from inlet pumps, header tanks, grow-out tanks and storage tanks are also tested monthly for dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, salinity and temperature. The filtered water is taken back to the laboratory where researchers test the water samples using a state-of-the-art nutrient analyser. Microbial samples collected at the farms are stored on ice and later analysed in the genetic laboratory.

In the future the research team hope to conduct research across the wider aquaculture industry, including both marine and fresh water aquaculture for finfish and crustaceans. Where possible, they would also like to expand the genetic research into screening for algae and viruses.

This work forms part of a project of the Australian Seafood Cooperative Research Centre and received funds from the Australian Government’s CRCs Programme, the Fisheries R & D Corporation and other CRC Participants.

For more information contact either:Dr Sharon Appleyard, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research – Hobart, ph (03) 6232 5458 or email to [email protected] or Dr Guy Abell, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research – Hobart, ph (03) 6232 5597 or email to [email protected].

While we cannot see, or even often cultivate, these communities, microbes are known to play essential roles through activities such as decomposition and cycling of organic matter and subsequent contribution to production at higher levels.

For the first time, researchers are collecting baseline information on microbial communities and water chemistry parameters at shellfish hatcheries, nurseries and grow-out sites, to undertake gene sequencing research. DNA from the microbial samples is extracted and processed using a suite of new cost-effective genetic technologies, including next generation sequencing.

This enables the scientists to ‘put a name to the face’, without the need for laborious culturing of the microbes. With recent genetic testing techniques, the research team no longer needs to peer down a microscope or to create culture to identify the microbes.

The data on microbial diversity, linked with regular water-testing, will help to identify the relationships between the physical environment and the microbial communities.

An important aspect of the project is developing water and microbial sampling that can be easily performed by farm staff, and which can fit into routine husbandry activities. In the future farms could take their own samples and then send them to the CSIRO laboratories, for genetic and chemical analyses.

Another of the team’s goals is to collect enough data to be able to understand the correlation between microbiology and water chemistry. What this could mean for farmers is that when their water samples indicate certain characteristics, they will be able to predict the success of each tank on their farm.

Now in its sixth month of sampling, the 18-month project aims to provide abalone and oyster farms with the tools to monitor their own farms, in order to be able to

Over the last few years, the Australian shellfish industry has experienced an increase in unpredictable hatchery and settlement rates of abalone and oyster larvae. Batches crash for no apparent reason, despite successful spawning and fertilisation.

Farms have also been experiencing unexplained stock losses during grow-out periods. The ability to manage such events would be strengthened if the industry could more closely determine and monitor the factors behind these events. Anecdotally, farmers believe the level of mortality seen at different times of the year may be to do with bacteria in the water.

With so many unanswered questions, CSIRO, in collaboration with some oyster and abalone farmers in Tasmania, has started cutting edge genetic sequencing research at these farms, with a view to better understanding what makes up good and bad microbiology. The Hobart-based researchers on the project are CSIRO Molecular Geneticist Dr Sharon Appleyard, Research Scientist, Dr Guy Abell and Research Officer, Ms Ros Watson.

The farms involved in the ground breaking research project are Shellfish Culture Ltd (oysters), Cold Gold Ltd (abalone) and Australian Ocean Biotechnology Pty Ltd (abalone). This work is supported and funded through CSIRO, the Australian Seafood Cooperative Research Centre and the Fisheries R & D Corporation.

In aquaculture we all know how important the big picture is; the right animals, tanks, racks, nets, pumps, diets and husbandry are all paramount to a thriving farming venture. But what about the little things we can’t see? What role do they play in the success of the farm and how do they change over time?

Farming activities such as artificial feeding, use of water-pumping systems, intensive culturing in hatcheries and grow-out facilities inevitably affect the microbial communities and vice versa. But in what way, and how, does this affect the successful growth of the shellfish?

Testing the waters – new CSIRO genetic research into shellfi sh microbiology

Licensing Inquiries P 03 6233 2147

Quota Monitoring Inquiries P 03 6233 3539

Marine Farm Planning/Operations Inquiries

Will Joscelyne P 03 6233 3527

Marine Farm Environment Inquiries

Graham Woods P 03 6233 7752

Special PermitsRobert Green P 03 6233 6208

Training

Seafood Training Tasmania2a Gladstone Street, Battery Point 7004Manager Rory Byrne P 03 6233 6442 F 03 6223 2780E [email protected]

Commonwealth Fisheries AssociationCEO: Trixi MadonPO Box 9022, Deakin, ACT 2600P 02 6260 1283 F 02 6260 3505E [email protected]

OceanWatch AustraliaSeaNet Extension Officer, TasmaniaC/- PO Box 878, Sandy Bay 7006P 03 6224 2332 M 0407 135 637

Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council

PO Box 878, Sandy Bay 7006

117 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay 7005

Chief Executive: Neil Stump 0417 394 009

E [email protected] www.tsic.org.au

P 03 6224 2332 F 03 6224 2321

Wild FisheriesTasmanian Abalone Council Ltd262 Arglye Street Hobart 7000President: Greg Woodham 0419 524 174Chief Executive: Dean Lisson 0419 599 954Administration Manager: Jillian Freeman P 03 6231 1955 F 03 6231 1966E [email protected]

Tasmanian Commercial Divers AssociationPO Box 878, Sandy Bay 7006President: Bryan Denny 0417 502 195

Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishermen’s Association President: John Sansom 03 6247 7284CEO: Rodney TreloggenP/F 03 6376 1805 0418 138 768Secretary/Treasurer: Margaret AtkinsPO Box 109, South Hobart 7004

Tasmanian Scalefish Fishermen’s AssociationPresident: Shane Bevis P/F 03 6247 7634E [email protected]: Colleen Osborne PO Box 332, Somerset 7322E [email protected]

Tasmanian Scallop Fishermen’s Association286 Windermere Road, Windermere 7252 President: John Hammond 0429 130 238Secretary/Treasurer: (Mrs) Jill HammondP 03 6328 1478 F 03 6328 1421

Tasmanian Shark Fishermen’s Association64 Ormond Street, Bellerive 7018President: Brian Bailey 0407 874 199Secretary/Treasurer: (Mrs) Heather BaileyP 03 6244 2775 F 03 6244 6939

AquacultureTasmanian Aquaculture CouncilPO Box 878, Sandy Bay 7006117 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay 7005Chairman: Pheroze JungalwallaTSIC: Neil Stump 0417 394 009E [email protected]

Oysters TasmaniaDr Tom Lewis or Raymond MurphyP 0458 601 057

E [email protected]

Tasmanian Salmonid Growers AssociationPO Box 321, Sandy Bay 7006Chairman: Chris DockrayProject Manager: Adam MainP 03 6214 0555 E [email protected] www.tsga.com.au

Tasmanian Shellfish Executive CouncilPO Box 878 Sandy Bay 7006Chairman: James Calvert 0418 352 639E [email protected]: Tom Gray 0419 398 640

Tasmanian Abalone Growers AssociationChairman: Mike WingPO Box 11, Dunalley 7177P 03 6253 6007 F 03 6253 6009

Bruny Island Shellfish Growers AssociationPresident: Jeff Whayman P 0428 136 515

Tasmanian Oyster Research CouncilChairman: Ian Duthie 0409 411 322E [email protected]

DPIPWE Marine Resources

Scallops, Giant Crab, Octopus, or Rock Lobster InquiriesJames Parkinson P 03 6233 6797 or Hilary Revill P 03 6233 6036 orDavid Jarvis P 03 6233 6380

Abalone or Marine Plant InquiriesMatt Bradshaw P 03 6233 3512

Commercial Dive Inquiries or Inshore ClamsGreg Ryan P 03 6216 4227

Scalefish InquiriesFrances Seaborn P 03 6223 6717

Recreational Fishing InquiriesRod Pearn P 03 6233 7042

> Directory

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