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Herbert inventory of research
and management activities
Research staff
Name:
Dr. C. Roland Pitcher
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division
of Marine Research Science P.O. Box 120 Cleveland
Qld 4163
Phone: +61 (07) 38267250
Fax: +61 (07) 38267222
e-mail: roland.pitcher@marine.csiro.au
Expertise:
Tropical marine biology; population dynamics of
marine organisms; larval drift and recruitment
studies; fisheries population dynamics; large
scale stock and environmental/habitat surveys;
design of large scale sampling strategies and
experiments; biology and ecology of tropical
lobsters; ecology and ageing (otoliths) of
tropical demersal fishes; use of remotely sensed
data to stratify marine habitats for survey
optimisation; design and implementation of large
scale studies and manipulations to assess impacts
(particularly trawling) on the marine
environment; use of acoustic data to discriminate
and map seabed habitat; use of manned and remote
submersibles for surveying resources and habitat
in deep waters; extensive experience in
undertaking research in remote and difficult
tropical environments; extensive diving and
vessel operations; Management of marine research
projects and staff teams.
Summary of Current
Activities:
The
Project's core area of research for about a
decade has been in Torres Strait with research on
tropical lobster, Islander traditional fisheries,
and seagrasses. Recently, with increased
exploitation and declining catches, the
importance of benthic communities as nursery
areas and habitats for tropical species has been
recognised and the project has become involved in
mapping critical habitats, analysis and
management of spatial habitat data, habitat
dynamics, assessment of impacts such as the
effects of prawn trawling and dredging, and
developing technology to facilitate habitat
mapping, while retaining previous interests.
Currently, research is being undertaken in ten
main sub-project areas: tropical rock lobster,
Torres Strait habitats, TS geographic information
system, TS traditional fisheries, effects of
fishing, aquaculture spatial information system,
ecology of megabenthos, acoustics habitat
discrimination and remote vehicle technology.
Objective
To identify and understand
the factors that determine the
distribution, abundance, population
dynamics and annual productivity of
tropical continental shelf seabed
resources; in particular tropical rock
lobster, habitats critical for tropical
fisheries and the impact of those
fisheries on benthic communities.
To develop information
systems that make research data more
accessible to managers and to provide
scientific advice for rational and
effective management of the exploitation
and conservation of tropical shelf-bed
resources.
To develop and implement new
technologies for mapping, assessing and
conducting research on tropical shelf-bed
resources
Goals
- Tropical
Lobster: conduct annual fishery
independent stock surveys; sample the
CPUE of the island-based fishery;
determine the larval ecology with respect
to ocean current and water column;
conduct annual assessments of the status
of the stock and potential yield.
- Traditional
Fisheries: help AFMA setup and operate an
effective method of monitoring the
traditional and island based fisheries of
the Torres Strait; analyse the data and
estimate the island based catch of the
Protected Zone.
- TS Habitat:
survey and map changes in habitat
distribution and abundance; classify
remotely sensed (satellite) images of
Torres Strait, ground-truth and quantify
structural and biological characteristics
of ground features; conduct spatial
analysis and mapping in the GIS for
representative area classification and
Conservation Planning.
- TS-GIS:
continually up-date the TS-GIS
information base by entering and spatial
analysis of the most up-to-date data from
other Torres Strait research; produce map
updates, map overlays and spatial
modelling in response to requests from
AFMA.
- Acoustics:
develop a digital hydro-acoustic
instrument that remotely-senses seabed
type and epifaunal communities for
mapping, monitoring and impact
assessment; and refine the system for
reliable seabed-biotic-habitat
classification and mapping.
- Effects of
prawn trawling: conduct experiments to
identify changes in the benthic, prawn
and fish communities in trawled areas
compared with untrawled control areas;
document the rate of depletion of benthic
habitat under repetitive trawling;
monitor the recovery of benthic habitat
after cessation of trawling.
- Aquaculture
GIS: develop a spatial information system
for spatial analysis of natural and
anthropogenic factors that affect site
selection for aquaculture at regional and
local spatial scales.
- Megabenthos
Population Dynamics: develop reliable
field methods for measuring recruitment,
growth, mortality, and reproduction of
dominant large sessile epibenthic
organisms; conduct fieldwork to document
the population dynamics of benthos
important for fisheries habitat and
maintenance of biodiversity of the
environment.
- U/W
Technologies: customise and maintain a
remotely operated vehicle and other
underwater survey equipment for research
projects on fisheries and benthic
habitat, and for relevant external marine
research contracts.
Output
to date
- TS Lobster:
reports on annual stock surveys; islander
CPUE; stock and yield assessments. 1996
Stock Assessment and Fishery Assessment
Reports
- Traditional
Fishing: reports on interactions with
AFMA observers and estimates of the catch
of dugong and turtle. 1996 Fishery
Assessment Report.
- TS Habitat:
reports on TS habitat inventory mapping
and representative areas classification.
- TS GIS:
reports on up-dating the TS-GIS
information base, indexed
catalogue/databases, maps, overlays and
spatial modelling and transfer of
up-dated information base to AFMA.
- Acoustics:
report on development of a digital
hydro-acoustic instrument to
remotely-sense seabed type and epifaunal
communities for mapping, monitoring and
impact assessment.
- Effects of
Fishing: final report on comparisons of
the benthic, prawn and fish communities
in trawled areas versus untrawled control
areas; report documenting the rate of
depletion of benthic under repetitive
trawling and extent of recovery after
1-year.
Aquaculture GIS: reports on natural and
anthropogenic factors that affect
aquaculture site selection and culture
species environmental envelopes and
spatial analysis and mapping of potential
aquaculture sites.
- Megabenthos
Population Dynamics: report on field
methods for measuring population dynamics
of dominant large sessile epibenthic
organisms.
- U/W
Technologies: developed and deployed
equipment for fieldwork on Effects of
Fishing and Tropical Lobster fisheries
and external contracts.
Proposed
future work relevant to HERBERT
Title
Effects
and interactions of Herbert River runoff and
prawn trawling on GBR lagoonal seabed
"softbottom" habitats in the ~1°x1°
area adjacent to the Herbert River mouth.
Objectives
conduct benthic sampling
representatively throughout the study
area
classify seabed habitat
based on physical & biological
attributes
accurately map the
distribution and attributes of
terrigenous sediments, including if
practical tracers specific to the Herbert
River.
accurately map the
distribution and intensity of prawn
trawling on the seabed
compare benthic faunal
communities in within and outside areas
influenced by the Herbert and in areas of
different prawn trawl effort
Expected
Outcomes
Quantitative
understanding of the impacts and interactions of
Herbert River runoff and of prawn-trawling in the
GBR lagoon "softbottom" seabed habitats
Deliverables
Report
quantifying effects and interactions of Herbert
River runoff and of prawn-trawling on GBR
lagoonal seabed "softbottom" habitats
and consequences for biodiversity preservation.
Potential
Clients
GBRMPA,
QFMA, QCFO, DEST, ANCA,
Recent
relevant publications or reports
Burridge,
C., Pitcher C.R., Wassenberg, T., Blaber S.,
Brewer D., Caeser, D., Connell M., Dews, G.,
Glaister, J., Gribble N., Hill B., Poiner, I.R.,
Toscas, P.,Veronise S., (1996) The effects of
prawn trawling in the far northern section of the
Great Barrier Reef: Final Report to GBRMPA on
1994-95 Research. CSIRO Division of Fisheries -
Queensland Department of Primary Industries
Report, 102pp.
Burridge,
C., Wassenberg T., Pitcher C.R., Hill B., Ellis,
N., Connell M., Fry, G., Poiner, I.R., Gribble N.
(1997) The effects of prawn trawling in the far
northern section of the Great Barrier Reef: Final
Report to GBRMPA on 1995-96 Research. CSIRO
Division of Fisheries - Queensland Department of
Primary Industries Report, 94pp.
Pitcher,
C.R., Skewes, T.D., Dennis, D.M., Prescott, J.H.
(1992) Distribution of seagrasses, substratum
types and epibenthic macrobiota in Torres Strait,
with notes on pearl oyster abundance. Aust. J.
Mar. Freshw. Res. 43: 409-419
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