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21 December 1998 |
Ref 98/293 |
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Green crabs and Northern Pacific seastars are the target of a new campaign by Australia's marine farmers.
There are thirty million seastars in Tasmania's Derwent estuary alone, say researchers. Now aquaculturists have joined scientists in a program to trap and monitor the introduced seastar and the European green crab, both voracious predators of shellfish.
"Marine farmers will be the first to suffer the effects of an increase in the pests, particularly the green crab", says Mr Rory Byrne, Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Fishing Industry Training Board (TFITB), who initiated the project.
"We need to find out how far and how fast these pests are spreading, the conditions which are favourable to their spread, and the role marine farms can play in their detection and management," he said.
Farmers are using special traps developed by local shellfish farmer, Mr Des Whayman. The traps were developed for the northern Pacific seastar and have been modified to catch the green crab as well.
Little Swanport shellfish producer, Mr Hayden Dyke, says that the European green crabs not only eat juvenile oysters but also damage the bottom environment, affecting fish nurseries and changing the balance of the whole estuarine ecosystem.
"A project like this that brings science and industry together to monitor and control these introduced pests benefits marine farmers as well as the general community and, most importantly, the marine environment upon which we all depend," Mr Dyke says.
The Dyke family have been actively involved in monitoring work on the green crab, which was first discovered at Little Swanport four years ago.
The project includes random trapping in areas not being farmed, to alert management authorities to new populations. It will also gather information for local trapping programs to control the pests around farms.
As well as the seastars in the Derwent Estuary, smaller populations have been found in other nearby bays including Frederick Henry and Norfolk Bays.
The seastar has recently become established in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria.
The European green crab was first identified in Tasmania at St Helens in 1993. CSIRO surveys have now found high numbers of the crab in many bays and estuaries along the north and east coasts of Tasmania. In recent years there have been isolated reports of the crab as far south as Cloudy Bay Lagoon, on Bruny Island.
CSIRO's Mr Dick Martin says that the involvement of users of the marine environment, such as marine farmers, in monitoring changes in the distribution of marine pests is critical if scientist and managers are to understand how these species are spread, and develop effective methods to control them.
"The marine farm monitoring project will not only provide information to assist scientists in their efforts to control these species but will also raise awareness of marine pest issues within the industry", he says.
Mr Martin says that the first stage in this process is to help farmers to recognise pest species. The long-term objective is to assist farmers to develop farm practices that would result in the early detection of pests and minimise the chances of their being spread to other areas.
The TFITB project is supported by the CSIRO's Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP), and the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment. It is funded by Environment Australia, under its Coasts and Clean Seas Program.
More information from:
Mr Rory Byrne 03-6233 6442
Mr Dick Martin 03-6232 5371
Mr Col Dyke 03-6257 7566
Media representatives are invited to view European green crabs on Monday, December 21 at 10.30 am at Little Swanport, Tasmania
- Scientists and marine farmers locating monitoring traps
- Lifting traps of European green crabs
- Interviews with marine farmer Col Dyke, and green crab researcher Craig Proctor
- A marine farm barge will be available for transport, departing Dyke's shed at 11 am.
Craig Macaulay 03-6232 5219
(Australia's largest scientific research organisation)
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