CSIRO evaluates fisheries stocks, management strategies and ecological risk for Australia’s south east fishery.

Scientific support for Australian fisheries

CSIRO research supports the sustainable management of Australia’s Commonwealth-managed marine fisheries.

• 1 December 2005 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Ecosystem understanding
• Fisheries methods and tools

Fishing is an important primary industry for Australia, generating wealth and regional employment through processing, distribution and retail activities.

Australia’s marine fishing zone is the third largest in the world, supporting many high-value fisheries worth A$2.2 billion in 2003–04.

CSIRO combines expertise in physics, biology, mathematics, economics and computer sciences to observe, understand and support the balanced use and conservation of Australia's Commonwealth-managed marine fisheries.

Ecosystem understanding

Australian fisheries management is shifting from a focus on target species to a management approach that considers the full effects of fishing on marine ecosystems.

This is a challenge for fisheries worldwide and requires a broad understanding of fisheries ecosystems to support more flexible and complex management approaches.

One example is the need to manage where and when people fish, as well as the fishing effort or volume of catch, to meet the joint need for stock replenishment and biodiversity conservation.

Ecosystem-based fisheries management requires the science-based understanding, assessment and management of:

• the effects of fishing on target and non-target species and habitats
• the effects of fishing on marine food webs
• the impact on fisheries of other human activities
• the impact on fisheries of climate variability and change
• the productivity of marine systems
• the socio-economic aspects of fishing.

Fisheries methods and tools

CSIRO is a world leader in this research, developing methods and tools to:

• understand and assess the distribution and dynamics of marine ecosystems through:
  • biological sampling,
  • underwater visual and acoustics systems,
  • monitoring programs
  • electronic tagging of wide-ranging species
• assess population numbers, fisheries stocks and ecosystems by:
  • statistical modelling
  • computer modelling
• undertake scientific evaluation of:
  • fisheries harvest strategies
  • ecological risk
  • ecological indicators
  • management targets.

These methods and tools have been developed through research partnerships that support the management of:

• northern prawn, Torres Strait and Great Barrier Reef ecosystems
• domestic and internationally shared shark, tuna and billfish fisheries and ecosystems
• fisheries and ecosystems off south-eastern Australia.

Methods and tools developed for fisheries management will be applicable to other marine sectors such as petroleum and mineral products, transport, recreation and tourism, from which Australia derives considerable economic and social benefit.

Find out more about CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research