waterways/wetlands – Page 23

Young turtles at sea more likely to swallow plastic

Aug 232013

Original story at Ecos

Endangered green and leatherback sea turtles are swallowing plastic at twice the rate they did 25 years ago, according to a recent study published in the journal Conservation International by researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) and CSIRO.

Young ocean-going turtles are more likely to eat plastic than their older, coastal-dwelling relatives. Photo: University of Queensland

After analysing global research data from the past 25 years, the research team – including Denise Hardesty and Chris Wilcox from CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship – found that these two turtle species, in particular, appear to be eating more plastic today than ever before.

In fact, team leader Qamar Schuyler from UQ, said turtles ate more plastic than any other form of debris.

‘Our research [also] revealed that young ocean-going turtles were more likely to eat plastic than their older, coastal-dwelling relatives,’ Ms Schuyler said.

The study found that stranded turtles in areas with high concentrations of marine debris did not experience a correspondingly high probability of debris ingestion.

‘Amazingly, turtles found adjacent to the heavily populated New York city area showed little or no evidence of debris ingestion, while all of the turtles found near an undeveloped area of southern Brazil had eaten debris,’ Ms Schuyler said.

‘This means conducting coastal cleanups is not the single answer to the problem of debris ingestion for local sea turtle populations, although it is an important step in preventing marine debris input into the ocean.

‘Results from this global analysis indicate oceanic leatherback turtles and green turtles are at the greatest risk of being killed or harmed from ingested marine debris.

‘To reduce this risk, man-made debris must be managed at a global level, from the manufactures through to the consumers – before debris reaches the ocean.’

An estimated 80 per cent of debris comes from land-based sources, so it is critical to have effective waste management strategies and to engage with industry to create appropriate innovations and controls to assist in decreasing marine debris.

Source: UQ

Krill face risks in warmer Antarctic

fisheries, waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Aug 232013

Original story by Alex Kirby at ABC Environment

Krill, the foundation of the Antarctic marine food web, could be in trouble as the region's seas continue to warm - but scientists think the risks are manageable.

THEY MAY NOT LOOK VERY appetising, but they are what sustains much of the marine life in the southern ocean. Antarctic krill, usually less than six centimetres long, are the primary food source for many species of whale, seal, penguin and fish.

Krill, a staple in the diet of most Antarctic animals, may struggle as the climate warms. Photo: Rebecca Brewin, ABC Goldfields

But there's a problem: the waters round Antarctica are warming, and it looks as if they will probably continue to do so. If they do, a team of UK researchers says, the area where the krill grow could shrink by a fifth.

It is the fact that krill are known to be sensitive to sea temperature, especially in the areas where they grow as adults, that prompted the scientists to try to understand how they might respond to the effects of further climate change.

Using statistical models, a team from the British Antarctic Survey and Plymouth Marine Laboratory assessed the probable impact of projected temperature increases on the Weddell Sea, Scotia Sea and Southern Drake Passage, the area of sea between Cape Horn and Antarctica, which is known for its abundance of krill.

The sea surface in this area has warmed by as much as 1°C over fifty years, and projections suggest the warming could increase by another 1°C by the end of this century.

Commercial catch

The scientists' models are based on equations which link krill growth, sea surface temperature, and food availability. An analysis of the results, published this week in the online journal PLoS One, suggests that continued warming could reduce the area where the krill grow by up to 20 per cent.

In early life krill need deep water with low acidity and a narrow range of temperatures for their eggs to hatch and develop successfully. The larvae then feed on algae on the underside of sea ice.

The adults require suitable temperatures and enough of the right type of food (larger phytoplankton) in order to grow and reproduce. Many of these critical features (temperature, acidity, sea ice and food availability) could be affected by climate change.

The projected effects of warming are not evenly spread. The island of South Georgia is in the area likely to be worst affected. Here the reduction in krill habitat could be much larger — as much as 55 per cent.

The island is home to a range of animals such as fur seals and macaroni penguins that depend upon krill, and others, such as black-browed albatrosses, which eat substantial amounts of krill as well as fish and squid.

The researchers say animals which don't travel far to forage, like fur seals, would be most affected by the projected changes.

Krill is also caught commercially, though the researchers say there is nothing to suggest that current catch levels are unsustainable. In fact, at less than one per cent of estimated biomass, catches are much lower than with most other commercial fisheries.

But the Antarctic krill fishery took 68 per cent of its total catch made between 1980 and 2011 from the area of projected habitat damage. The scientists suggest improving management systems so they ensure that the fisheries take into account both the growing demand for catches and the effects of climate change.

The lead author, Dr. Simeon Hill, a marine biologist at BAS, said: "Each year, the growth of Antarctic krill in the southern ocean produces new material that weighs twice as much as all the sugar produced in the world.

"Krill grow fastest in cold water, and any warming can slow down or stop growth, reducing the food available for wildlife. Our research suggests that expected warming this century could severely reduce the area in which krill can successfully grow."

Although there is evidence that warming seas pose a threat to Antarctic krill habitats, the researchers believe the risk can be reduced if effective fisheries management systems are in place.

Climate News Network

Dam it all? River futures in northern Australia

waterways/wetlands

Aug 222013

Original story by Tom Rayner, Charles Darwin University at The Conversation

Northern futures, northern voices: It seems everyone has ideas about how Australia’s north could be better, but most of those ideas come from the south. In this six-part weekly series, developed by the Northern Research Futures Collaborative Research Network and The Conversation, northern researchers lay out their own plans for a feasible, sustainable future.

Yesterday in Darwin, the Prime Minister announced his plan for northern Australia. He called for a “national imagination” to take advantage of the “enormous agricultural potential” of the Top End, including harnessing the “bountiful supply of water”.

The diverse rivers of Northern Australia, flat and expansive, support diverse species and are linked by unregulated Wet season flows. Image: Andrew Campbell

He then travelled to Kununurra to stand on the wall of Australia’s largest dam and further discuss a one-third expansion of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. His focus included “natural resource development in liquefied natural gas, mining and agribusiness” – some key users of water – with little mention of truly utilising natural advantages of the north.

The tropical rivers of northern Australia are murky and organic, painted in a palette of vivid greens and milky browns that fluctuate with seasonal monsoons and rushing tides. They reflect the stifling, blinding sky that lies hot and humid over the savannas for months on end. They support a highly-endemic fauna and are often described as strongholds of biodiversity. In many ways, these waters act as a metaphor for life in the tropics – bright and beautiful, yet dynamic and demanding.

As pressure to develop the North mounts, these river systems are likely to become far more contested. As a nation, we have witnessed similar clashes between commodities, communities and conservation in the Murray-Darling Basin. As scientists, we have documented the effects of water extraction on floodplains, fish and forests.

As farmers, we have experienced diminishing terms of trade and a transition away from the traditional family farm. As taxpayers, we have funded a multi-billion dollar rescue mission aimed at improving river health.

Now, staring down the barrel of a decade of rapid transformation, we confront a critical decision: “Is this a future we want to repeat in northern Australia?”

Dam-nation

The Prime Minister’s announcements echoed the European-derived understanding of rivers that was used when settling the Murray-Darling Basin. There, early decisions to allocate water for agricultural progress were made implicitly – water licences were handed out and the system quickly became over-allocated. As consumptive capacity was taken up, ecological decline accelerated and “fitful, reluctant co-operation” in water management began.

Today, despite concerted efforts to move towards adaptive frameworks, we still don’t know if the system will recover from the tampering.

Most grand schemes for development in northern Australia fail to adopt what has been learnt in the south. Earlier this week on The Conversation, my colleagues discussed the formidable climatic, physical and economic constraints to expanding conventional irrigated agriculture in northern Australia.

In my experience, as an aquatic ecologist, calls to harness regional waters are typically code for dam building. It will be interesting to see to what extent both the detail of the Prime Minister’s plan and the Coalition’s yet-to-be-released Dams and Water Management Discussion Paper will rely upon new dams.

Damming of Australia’s rivers has been largely restricted to southern states. What will this map look like in 2030? Data: Geoscience Australia

We know that dams damage rivers – there are literally hundreds of scientific studies detailing effects on connectivity, water quality and biodiversity. It is odd that, at a time when people elsewhere are discussing dam removal, we might want to build more.

There are already more than 820 dams in Australia, with a total capacity exceeding 91,000 gigalitres (or 183 Sydney Harbours). Most are at southern latitudes, where Mediterranean climates mean we want for water storages that will last through dry summers. Less than 10% are located in northern Australia.

However, it does not necessarily follow that the continent somehow needs to be “evened-up” with more dams in the north. There are very good reasons why there are so few dams in that part of the country, including the lack of suitable sites and that the water is already being used.

What’s so different about northern Australia, anyway?

Many argue that the north is different. Certainly, it is geographically isolated, dominated by weather and climate, populated by ancient cultures, supported by a transient workforce and underpinned economically by extraction of mineral resources. When it comes to environmental vulnerability, however, this difference may be less pronounced.

Many of the top-ten environmental issues faced by the continent, “water” being number one, are unconstrained by latitude and are also prevalent here. In any case rivers need water, and river managers need science.

Scientists working in northern Australia have a strong track record producing comprehensive data informed by meaningful engagement with local stakeholders including Traditional Owners. The Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) collaboration and the new Northern Australia, Marine Biodiversity and Environmental Decisions hubs under the Commonwealth’s NERP program, have dramatically improved our understanding of northern rivers.

We now know how flows link key habitats, facilitate life cycles of migratory fish (including the iconic Barramundi), drive food web dynamics and generate valuable ecosystem services and social values. My own research applies next-generation molecular technologies to detect fragments of DNA in the water column to better understand complex food chains and also detect rare species.

Much has also been written on how society might use this understanding to inform development of water resources. Whether or not that advice is acted on will be critical in determining the success of the water management process and the future health of our northern rivers.

Australia needs refined approaches, not decision making governed by rules of thumb. We need practices that hard-wire feedbacks between aspirational objectives, practical operations and monitored outcomes.

Critically, whatever the role of rivers, we must shake the pervasive, stubborn persistence to make northern versions of southern mistakes.

In the words of the Nobel Prize winning philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Tom Rayner works for Charles Darwin University as a Research Leader in the Northern Research Futures Collaborative Reserach Network.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Freeing pet catfish can devastate ecosystems

aquarium, pest species, waterways/wetlands

Aug 222013

Original story by Krishna Ramanujan, Cornell Chronicle

Popular aquarium catfish wreak havoc in aquatic ecosystems worldwide after people set them free.

A new Cornell study, published Aug. 21 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, explains why the invaders, when they become abundant in non-native waters, can change the structure and function of ecosystems.

A pleco caught in the Chacamax River in Chiapas, Mexico.
Photo: Krista Capps

The fish, in the family Loricariidae, are marketed as “plecos” or “algae eaters” and are popular in the multibillion-dollar pet industry. Several species of loricariids, also known as sailfin catfishes, have become established outside their native ranges after aquarium owners let them loose in warm fresh and brackish waters. In several countries, sailfin catfish invasion has been linked to the decline of freshwater fisheries.

The study finds that the bottom-feeding catfish eat detritus and algae and absorb high quantities of phosphorus to maintain their bony skeletons, which can sequester phosphorus for more than a decade. Phosphorus is key to the growth of algae, which is the base of the food chain. This means invading organisms, such as plecos, that alter nutrient dynamics can change food availability in a system and affect all other organisms that depend on those resources. Invasive plecos have caused problems for people who rely on other fish as a source of protein and income in Central America, Asia and the Caribbean.

The study was conducted in a river in Chiapas, Mexico, where the researchers’ analyses determined the mass balance of elements in the ecosystem. They measured where and in what ratios nitrogen and phosphorus are stored and how these nutrients moved through the ecosystem after a pleco invasion.

“By examining the body chemistry of plecos and the chemistry of the system they are invading, we found that these fish have the ability to fundamentally change how the system works,” said lead author Krista Capps, Ph.D. ’12, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Maine Sustainability Solutions Initiative. She conducted the work for her Ph.D. thesis in the lab of co-author Alex Flecker, Cornell professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “Relatively few studies have measured the way in which aquarium invaders affect ecosystem processes, such as nutrient dynamics,” added Capps, whose experiments in Mexico showed that aquarium invaders, even the ones that eat algae, can have major effects on ecosystem function.

The study could serve as a model to help predict which species will negatively affect ecosystems. An initiative, Habitattitude, is ramping up to develop partnerships among the pet industry, Sea Grant programs, state governments and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to educate consumers in the United States, Capps said. Companies like Petco now supply educational pamphlets when aquarium fish are sold. Also, several states prohibit the sale of aquatic organisms that may negatively affect local ecosystems, and regulators and wildlife professionals in countries such as Australia and New Zealand have begun to address issues related to the ornamental fish trade, Capps said.

“My hope is that this work will stimulate a discussion to think outside the box as to how regulations are made,” Capps said.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation; the Integrated Graduate Education and Research in Biogeochemistry and Environmental Biocomplexity Small Grant Program and the Margaret Paul Graduate Fellowship in the Life Sciences, both at Cornell; and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program.

Scientists warn sea anemones are vulnerable to bleaching

environment, waterways/wetlands

Aug 222013

Original story y Stephanie Smail, ABC News

An international research team is warning that sea anemones are bleaching on a large scale.

The anemones are home to 28 species of fish, including the clownfish, which could also be at risk.

Researchers from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia and France surveyed 14,000 sea anemones from the Red Sea to the Pacific Ocean and found huge patches of the usually vibrant coral had bleached white.

Clown fish swim near an anemone.They cannot survive without anemones. Photo: AAP, David Barbeler

While scientists have been studying coral bleaching for years, this is the first time a study has focused solely on whether or not anemones are bleaching too.

The study looked specifically at the species of sea anemones that shelter fish.

It found seven out of 10 are vulnerable to bleaching and in some places entire anemone beds had turned white.

Dr Ashley Frisch from the ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University says the researchers were alarmed by what they found.

"Normally anemones are relatively brightly coloured, they're rich in colour," he said.

"They can be brown, they can be pink or purple. They're just always rich in colour. A normal, healthy anemone is never white.

"What we find is when you go to places where there's been an increase in temperature in recent times the anemones are white like a piece of paper and that is not normal.

Dr Frisch says sea anemones living in Australian waters were not the worst affected and the Great Barrier Reef only had small patches of bleaching.

When you go to places where there's been an increase in temperature in recent times the anemones are white like a piece of paper and that is not normal

Dr Ashley Frisch from ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

"In some places anemones form a significant proportion of the habitat or the cover of the sea floor," he said.

"In some places it's measured on a scale of tens of metres squared where you'll just be [seeing] enormous patches of white where the anemones have bleached.

"It's not like that on the Great Barrier Reef, fortunately. It's more isolated cases. But in some other places of the world where there's a significant and sustained increase in temperature, we've seen vast fields of anemones become bleached."

Dr Frisch says there is evidence some anemones can survive bleaching and recover but there is also a risk some will die off.

He says that poses a risk to 28 species of anemone fish that can not survive anywhere else.

"They might [survive] in an aquarium, but out there in the wild you never see anemone fish without an anemone," he said.

In the wild you never see anemone fish without an anemone ... without them they are exposed to predation and they just get eaten

Dr Ashley Frisch

"The simple reality is without them they are exposed to predation and they just get eaten. We've done experiments to prove this. We've covered up an anemone and deprived the anemone fish of access to its house and very quickly that anemone fish gets eaten.

"We've also captured them and translocated them to a different place, dozens of metres away and within a very short time they just get eaten. So they are really dependent on that anemone for their survival."

The short-term study did not reveal exactly what is causing the bleaching.

Dr Frisch says that is the next step for him and his colleagues, along with finding out how the bleaching impacts anemone fish.

"Why is it that fish on bleached anemones appear skinny? Why do they decline in number? And what are the long term consequences for the fish?" he said.

"And of course, that has flow on effects for the aquarium trade and for the wellbeing of lots of fisherman who catch anemone fish for their livelihoods."

Australian Antarctic science is being frozen out by budget cuts

environment, government, waterways/wetlands

Aug 222013

Original story by Matt King, University of Tasmania at The Conversation

A hundred years after Australian explorer and geologist Douglas Mawson returned from his epic scientific adventures in Antarctica, Australia’s scientific exploration of the icy southern continent has all but ground to a halt, for reasons I’ll discuss below.

Lack of funding is just the tip of the iceberg for Australian Antarctic research. Photo: AAP/Australian Antarctic Division

This matters to Australians because, if Antarctica sneezes, we get a cold. Whether it’s unusual weather affecting our agriculture, food prices and economy or the gradual loss of our coastline due to sea level rise, Antarctica matters.

So the fact scientists such as myself have experienced a near-total rundown in their ability to understand the most remote bits of Antarctica is of great concern.

What’s gone wrong?

If filling the tank of your car has sent you broke in recent times, then the idea of filling the 2.4-million-litre tank of Australia’s icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, will give you sleepless nights.

Aurora Australis icebreaker berthed in Hobart. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Rather than increase funding to cover these and related costs, the government this year handed an 8% budget cut to the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD).

Based on the outskirts of Hobart, the AAD is an agency of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPC) and, according to its mission, it:

advances Australia’s strategic, scientific, environmental and economic interests in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean by protecting, administering and researching the region.

Scientists collecting water samples from under the sea ice in 2007. Photo: AAP/Australian Antarctic Division

The recent budget cuts led a former AAD director to conclude that Australia’s Antarctic programme is now running on “the smell of an oily rag”.

The immediate science crisis can be fixed quite simply: restore the budget. That will allow moderate levels of remote fieldwork, although the most remote sections of the Australian Antarctic Territories, which may be most susceptible to climate change, will remain remote. Put simply, the AAD needs a reversal in the cuts, and more.

But funding cuts are not the only thing that’s gone wrong.

Risk associated with fieldwork has been reassessed in recent years and increasingly regulated. It is now not uncommon for helicopters to fly without a scientific purpose, burning expensive fuel, because of new requirements that they remain within visual contact of one another in case of an accident. Given each flight may depend on several earlier flights to deploy fuel, this is particularly insidious.

No-one can serve four masters

If supporting and conducting Antarctic science was the preeminent objective of the AAD, the spending decisions would be relatively simple, being largely based on scientific merit.

But the AAD has been given three other priorities by SEWPC and its predecessors:

provide advice to government
maintain a strategic presence within Antarctica
protect the environment

Within the bounds of a fixed budget, these are the equivalent of husky dogs competing for food. Has one emerged as a pack leader that dominates while the others must be content with scraps?

A husky pup on the first Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914.

If the AAD is compared to its most similar cousin, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), evidence emerges that the science husky is not as preeminent within the AAD as it is within BAS.

From 2004 to 2012, BAS produced four times as many scientific papers as the AAD with half the institutional budget. Part of that efficiency is related to BAS (and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office) having chosen to operate just two expensive permanent Antarctic stations compared to the AAD’s three – a decision that puts the strategic-presence “husky” further up the chain than BAS does.

The other key noticeable difference with BAS is the budget spent on researching human impacts in Antarctica. Under the Antarctic Treaty, all nations are rightly required to minimise the impact on their scientific endeavour within Antarctica.

But within a fixed-budget environment this means prioritisation. Should the AAD choose a new sewage plant for Davis station that is relatively cheap and does a 90% job, or a more expensive one that does a 99% job?

Which dog should they feed most? SEWPC has given clear direction by giving the AAD the job of:

protecting, administering and researching the [Antarctic and sub-Antarctic] region

thus reflecting the mission of SEWPC to:

protect our environment and heritage, and to promote a sustainable way of life.

This is reflected in staffing – BAS has just one person working on human impacts while the AAD has a major research stream that operates at the same level as its research on understanding the Antarctic Ice Sheet for instance.

South Korean researcher Lee Jong-ik collects meteorites on a blue ice field in Victoria Land, Antarctica, in 2012. Photo: AAP/Yonhap News Agency

Radical change is needed

Australia needs to rethink why it has a presence in Antarctica and then state the foremost priority of its Antarctic programme.

Since understanding Antarctica is critical to Australia’s future, and only the AAD can provide Australian scientists with access to the deep field, there is strong argument for prioritisation such that, when AAD budgets are changed, logistics are expanded first and cut last.

For the AAD to flourish as a nimble provider of world-class science and logistics its oversight likely needs to be moved from SEWPC with its foremost priority seemingly environmental protection and its embedded government bureaucracy.

The BAS is a world-leader because it is located within the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council – an equivalent of Australia’s Australian Research Council – and such a model needs to be considered for the AAD.

A vacuum of Australian science within remote Antarctica will be filled by other nations – South Korea, the US and China all have the ability to operate within the Australian Antarctic Territories, and they do so. Will Australians be satisfied with the complete lack of Antarctic field research and exploration our immediate future seems to hold?

Douglas Mawson, for one, would not be.

Matt King works for the University of Tasmania. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (operator of the British Antarctic Survey).

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Great Australian Bight research program starts

research, waterways/wetlands

Aug 202013

Original story at ABC News

South Australian marine ecologist Tim Ward has been appointed to head a four-year research program into the Great Australian Bight.

The $20 million program announced in April is a joint initiative between the CSIRO, oil and gas producer BP and Marine Innovation Southern Australia.

Great Australian Bight Marine Park. Photo: Nachoman-au/WikiMedia Commons

BP is exploring for oil and gas in the area.

Associate professor Ward has been studying the Bight for the past 15 years and says he is looking forward to learning more about its unique ecosystem.

"Certainly it's a place where a lot of sampling hasn't taken place as yet, particularly in the deep water parts and so yes we're expecting ... particularly the seafloor sampling, to turn up new species," he said.

"Certainly that was the case when we did that sort of sampling in the shallow water parts of the Great Australian Bight but now we're going further offshore.

"We expect it to be at the very least, quite interesting."

He says they have already surveyed some sections of the Bight's sea floor.

"So at the end of it I think we'd like to have a well-documented account of ... how special the Great Australian Bight is, how it works, so that can underpin future management of the system, because this is an applied project, it's really about trying to understand how we manage the system into the future," he said.

Newman vows to push ahead with sand mining on North Stradbroke Island

government, waterways/wetlands

Aug 202013

Original story by James Kelly, ABC News

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says the State Government will press ahead with plans to extend sand mining on North Stradbroke Island to 2035.

He was responding to the release of a report that argues sand mining on the island, off Brisbane, should be regulated by federal rather than state environmental laws.

North Stradbroke Island residents gather today to call for an end to sand mining on the island. Photo: Glen Carruthers

Quandamooka traditional owners, Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) representatives, and North Stradbroke residents gathered on the island to unveil a giant banner calling on political parties to "Stand up for Straddie".

ACF chief executive officer Don Henry says the mine is affecting the adjacent 18 Mile Swamp wetlands because it interrupts the flow of water.

"It's internationally recognised as very important for birdlife and other endangered species," he said.

Mr Henry says a report commissioned by the Friends of Stradbroke Island suggests the activities of the Enterprise sand mine are of National Environmental Significance.

He says that means the mine should be regulated by federal environmental laws, not state laws.

Sue Ellen Carew from Friends of Stradbroke says it is an internationally significant wetland.

"The fact that those precious wetlands which overlay an enormous aquifer are being damaged is a great tragedy," she said.

Newman says people voted for jobs

The former Bligh Labor government ruled sand mining on the island would be phased out by 2019.

But Mr Newman says his Government will not be following that lead.

"During the state election campaign people voted very, very strongly on Stradbroke Island for mining to continue," he said.

"If Federal Labor or the Greens want to interfere and shut it down and stop jobs in Queensland well, let it be on their heads.

"We are delivering what we said we'd do - we're supporting jobs on the island."

Mine operator Sibelco says the operation adheres to environmental best-practice principles and there has been no negative impact on the wetlands.

Sandmining on Stradbroke Island. Some groups say the mine should be regulated by federal environmental laws, not state laws. Photo: Giulio Saggin/ABC News

Salmon Boom

environment, fisheries, waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Aug 192013

Transcript from ABC Landline
Broadcast: 17/08/2013 5:41:19 PM
Reporter: Fiona Breen

PIP COURTNEY, PRESENTER: Tasmania's three biggest salmon growers are undergoing a massive expansion on the state's west coast at Macquarie Harbour which will double production.

In a state with the nation's worst unemployment levels and a struggling economy, fish farming is seen as one of the few economic lights on the horizon.

But as Fiona Breen reports, the salmon industry's expansion is causing concern in some quarters.

Salmon Boom

FIONA BREEN, REPORTER: It's edged by giant World Heritage-listed forests and fed by rivers renowned for their almost pre-historic beauty. But Macquarie Harbour is also famous for its cruel history. In the harbour's remote reaches is Sarah Island, Tasmania's first penal settlement. It held the worst of criminals sent out from the Northern Hemisphere.

Today, Macquarie Harbour is home to some different Northern Hemisphere convicts. Millions of Atlantic salmon and trout in huge underwater cages.

DAVID WHYTE, HUON AQUACULTURE: So what we're doing here is we're putting in new anchors to position this grid. So the grid was dropped in earlier this morning, so we're about to see an anchor go over the side to tension off the grid, and that'll provide us with a really stable underwater parking garage that we can then bring our pens in when the fish come in and move them off there safely.

FIONA BREEN: Tasmania's three big fish farmers are almost doubling their operations on Macquarie Harbour. Tassal, Huon Aquaculture and Petuna's joint planning application to extend the farms from 560 to 920 hectares has been approved. And they're moving fast to get the pens in.

How deep is it here?

DAVID WHYTE: Here, I think we're probably sitting around about 30-plus metres. So it's one of the deeper parts of the harbour. So there's a fair amount of chain involved just to help stabilise the anchor and give a little bit of tension closer to the seabed and then that'll become rope as it gets closer to surface.

FIONA BREEN: Huon Aquaculture has imported 50 1.5 tonne fluke anchors from Norway. They burrow into the sediment on the harbour floor, each providing 30 tonnes of tension to the new underwater mooring grid.

The infrastructure moving to and from the dock each day is constant. There's anchors, chain, buoys, barges and state-of-the-art feeding equipment. It's a $90 million investment for a huge amount of fish. Each company is more than doubling its fish population in the harbour.

DAVID WHYTE: We've got about 650,000 salmon right now and towards 150,000, 200,000 trout. After the expansion's completed, we'll probably have around about 1.4 million salmon and still around 150,000 to 200,000 trout.

MARK RYAN, CEO TASSAL: At any point in time there's probably, you know, two year classes of fish overlapping one another, so depending on the harvesting of those fish, you know, at the very most we would have 4.8 million fish in the water at any point in time.

FIONA BREEN: Petuna, the oldest operator on the harbour, is aiming to eventually have 5.5 million fish. It's a long way from the single pen of trout the fishing dynasty the Rockcliffs put in the harbour 20 years ago. The company, now half-owned by New Zealand fishing giant Sealord, will have the biggest area of farming water in the harbour.

MARK PORTER, CEO, PETUNA: We're currently sitting on our feed barge, Provinda. It's feeding the Table Head central lease here, and this is one of the new leases in Macquarie Harbour, and we're leaning on one of the selectors here that sends the feed out to the cages. So you can see the pipes going out to the individual cages here.

FIONA BREEN: Petuna's new grid and pen system went in the water a couple of months ago. This expansion is allowing it to seriously increase its salmon numbers.

Today it's harvest day. A barge has carried a semi-trailer 30 minutes across the sometimes-rough waters of the harbour to the fish pens.

MARK PORTER: Today we're doing a trout harvest so we'll take probably about 2,500 fish. They'll be taken from the pen itself. They're sucked up into the stunners. From there, they go straight into the tanker you can see behind us and there's a slurry ice there that's constantly circulating and then they'll be in the factory in probably about four hours time.

FIONA BREEN: It's a system that cuts out handling and costs. At peak time, there can be two to three semi-trailers on the harbour at any given time.

The Macquarie Harbour expansion is key to the future growth of the industry. Fish farmers are excited about its potential. The lack of the native amoebic gill disease in the harbour is a real plus for farmers.

MARK RYAN: You really just set the fish and forget in a lot of ways. You're just feeding the fish around there. Whereas down in the south-east we have to bathe the fish for an amoeba which costs a lot of time and money and the time and money's what makes it a more expensive place to grow fish in the south-east versus Macquarie Harbour.

FIONA BREEN: In Tasmania's south, growers spend millions bathing affected fish with fresh water. At times they're forced to treat the fish with antibiotics, which is put in their food.

In the past, the companies have been criticised for using tonnes of antibiotics each year. Tassal in particular has been targeted by conservationists concerned about wild fish and birds eating the medicated meal.

LINDA SAMS, TASSAL: We're using much, much less antibiotics than we have in the past and we report that out in our sustainability report, but we're talking easily under 100 kilos for a year and this year it'll be even less. And we're talking when we produce 24,000 metric tonnes of salmon, it puts it in perspective. So we really do follow the plan that we only use it if we have sick fish.

FIONA BREEN: In the 2011-'12 financial year Huon Aquaculture used 35 kilos of antibiotics across its farms and hatcheries. Petuna, which only farms in Macquarie Harbour, hasn't used any antibiotics.

Not only is Macquarie Harbour the most cost-effective area to grow fish, it also has huge potential for future growth. The companies are still in the preliminary stages of building their extended farms, but already they've flagged interest in future extensions on the harbour.

Convicts called this narrow channel Hell's Gates. It's hard to believe the 80-metre opening is the only entrance to the vast waters of Macquarie Harbour, a waterway that's six times the size of Sydney Harbour.

It's the narrow oceanic opening, a unique mix of fresh water from two major west coast rivers and low oxygen levels that has conservationists worried about the harbour's water quality and the species living within it, including the rare maugean skate.

REBECCA HUBBARD, ENVIRONMENT TASMANIA: It's quite an enormous piece of water and extremely beautiful, but very unknown and we may have more rare species or endangered species here that we just don't know about. So the increase in fish farming activity is a really big concern.

FIONA BREEN: The body which approved the expansion acknowledged a lack of data and information on issues like nutrient cycling, sediment health and the endangered maugean skate.

REBECCA HUBBARD: One statement that the review panel delivered was we cannot assess the breadth and depth of the impact of this expansion on Macquarie Harbour's marine life, but then they still approved the expansion. And in my mind that is in complete contradiction to what that entire process was for. I mean, why do you have a process if you ignore the objectives of the process, which is to assess the impacts and then manage those impacts.

FIONA BREEN: All three companies argue their environmental impact statement was the most extensive marine farming application conducted anywhere in the world, but conservationists point to problems in the past. Farmers have been asked to move fish pens because of sediment buildup under cages.

MARK PORTER: We've moved pens from the corners of leases into the centre, and again, that's to move away from certain areas of natural deposition. So in the harbour itself there are large areas where the currents and tides go, and as soon as you get a shallow area going into deeper water, the water slows down very considerably, and then you get sedimentation, so any natural sediments will then start depositing at that point.

FIONA BREEN: But you have been asked to move pens?

MARK PORTER: Yes, yes, we have, yes. And we've done that as well.

REBECCA HUBBARD: We would definitely like to get more information and I think the fact that the companies have been asked to move some of their farms and their pens into the new lease areas is a really big red flag for us.

FIONA BREEN: The companies are moving away from their original sites in the sheltered south-west regions of the harbour to more open water. In the sheltered bays, stocking densities are likely to be lower.

MARK RYAN: With everything, we've complied with what we've got to comply with from a government perspective. The EIS was incredibly detailed, and so we made sure we addressed every single component that we believe that we needed to address. There's a magnitude of other things that you could go way outside of what you need to go outside of and so where do you draw the line in terms of testing and the like?
Like, we're more than comfortable with, you know, the testing that we've done.

FIONA BREEN: A recent report by researchers at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies supports current marine farm practices in Tasmania's south. Their report acknowledges a nutrient load coming into the rivers, but found there were no adverse effects and the level of nutrients released was below the cap set by governments.

Certainly in the tourist town of Strahan, the gateway to Macquarie Harbour, locals are happy. If there are any concerns, they're not voicing them publicly. Most are hoping the expansion will bring more jobs and more people into the shrinking local community.

LOCAL: We'd love to have more people living in our community because we would attract more government funding for our school, our primary school, for our sporting groups. There's lots of sport on the west coast in the other towns, but we can't attract the funding because we have a lack of population.

LOCAL II: If the expansions bring more people into town, well that's just good for everybody.

FIONA BREEN: The 66 per cent expansion of fish pens will be sprinkled right near the path of tourist vessels and run close to the World Heritage area's boundary. In summer, the ferries carrying thousands of tourists are a regular sight on the harbour. At the moment the two industries are working together.

ANDY MARSHALL, WORLD HERITAGE CRUISES: As far as an interest level of the customers go, they certainly enjoy, you know, highlights of the Gordon River and the historical Sarah Island, but their attentiveness, they're very, very interested when we go to the fish farms. and they're curious about it because they're exposed to it in the marketplace, they're told it's healthy to eat, they see it here and there and in the restaurants, but this is the first time they've actually been able to see a working fish farm and having it explained for them.

FIONA BREEN: In an industry first, the three aquaculture companies working on Macquarie Harbour will share some facilities here at a new land base a few kilometres west of the township of Strahan, out of sight of the main tourist area.

For more than a century, a delta of copper mine tailings from the Mount Lyle mine in Queenstown flowed down rivers to Macquarie Harbour. Many of the locals aren't too worried about the effect of fish farming on the harbour or the maugean skate.

ANDREW DISHINGTON, THE STRAHAN SHACK: If they can tolerate what's been coming down the King River for so long. Obviously they're here to stay and I don't think the fish farm's going to make a lot of difference to them.

FIONA BREEN: For former beef farmers Frances and Peter Bender, the Macquarie Harbour expansion is a big move. It's been 27 years since they first set up a pen of trout beside the family's beef property in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel just south of Tasmania's Huon Valley.

PETER BENDER, HUON AQUCULTURE: Always wanted to be a farmer and I did that for about 15 years and then salmon farming started - or a trial farm started in the Dover area, so we got interested in what they were doing and thought it might be a good sideline for our farming venture.

FIONA BREEN: In the first year they lost 50 per cent of their fish, but persistence paid off. Now the family-owned business is Tasmania's second biggest aquaculture company.

PETER BENDER: This year we'll turn over about $170 million. We'll grow about 14,500 tonnes of salmon. About 450 staff. We've got about 12 farming sites. We've got hatcheries in about six locations now. We've got a processing plant at Parramatta Creek where we do all our wet processing and a smoked salmon factory in Mount Barker in Adelaide.

FIONA BREEN: The couple have no intention of slowing down. They're still intimately involved in the business.

FRANCES BENDER, HUON AQUCULTURE: You really need to have the ownership because, quite frankly, everything's on the line every day. So that sharpens up your decision-making processes.

FIONA BREEN: They recently hosted a media event at their main marine farm site, flying local reporters on a sea plane from Hobart to give them a look at new nets designed to keep seals at bay. Huon Aquaculture is hoping the $40 million it's spending on nets will fix the problem.

Last year, 1,000 seals broke into Huon's pens, costing the company $15 million in lost production.

The deaths of seals at fish farms is a controversial issue in Tasmania and companies are moving to bring the numbers down. More than 140 seals have died over the past four years as a result of fish farming. Some were caught up in nets and drowned. Others died during relocations. And some of the more aggressive seals were euthanased.

PETER BENDER: This is the outside net and we've put it on the outside to stop the seals getting onto the walkway because before if they were standing on the - or able to get onto the walkway or the collars, they were able to then stand up and push their way into the cage.

FIONA BREEN: So super strong.

PETER BENDER: Yes, it's made out of a material called Dyneema, which is what they make bulletproof vests out of or motorcycle jeans.

FIONA BREEN: As the fish farms expand, demand for new fish grows. All three major companies now have their own hatcheries producing millions of smolt, or baby fish.

This year Tassal is growing the first of an elite pool of Atlantic salmon bloodlines, the result of years of work by CSIRO and industry scientists.

LINDA SAMS: We work with CSIRO on a very advanced selected breeding program which is molecular based, which means we have all these road maps on the different traits of the fish and we can look at them on a molecular level and identify them by family and individual. So what it means - instead of just taking a random shot at getting the best fish, you can actually pick the proper mother and father and the best cross between the two.

FIONA BREEN: Progeny from the elite broodstock have recently been put in open water. And the verdict is good. Resistance to the amoebic gill disease appears to have improved, with these new generations needing fewer costly freshwater baths.

LINDA SAMS: This is a new-year class that we have coming out and we call them our 13 - 2013 year class and these fish have been picked to grow a little faster and to survive a bit better in Tasmanian conditions.

FIONA BREEN: So they'll be watched closely?

LINDA SAMS: Absolutely. We'll be really watching the progress of these fish. I have to say we're very excited. We think this is really good for our industry.

FIONA BREEN: The fish are fed pellets throughout the growing stages. By the time a one kilo salmon gets to Tassal's state-of-the-art cold smoking plant in Tasmania's south, it will have consumed 1.5 kilos of wild pilchards, ground up into the dry food. It's a point of contention for critics, who say it's unsustainable to feed farmed fish with so much wild fish. It's something the feed companies have been working on.

LINDA SAMS: Right now we're probably replacing anywhere from 20 to 30 per cent of it. So we have oil and we have meals, so we're replacing some of the oil, the fish oil, with poultry oil and much more of the meal with poultry meal. But we also use vegetable meals and there's other ingredients in there too. So I don't think - there'll be a point where we won't want to replace anymore. We'll always keep fish meal in our diets, but we'll make sure that we source it from responsibly fished fisheries.

FIONA BREEN: They're aiming to at least match it - one kilo of pilchards to make one kilo of salmon. In the meantime, sales of the fish continue to climb. For Australia's smallest state where unemployment is high and the economy is suffering, it's good news.

Once, Atlantic salmon was a treat; now it's a popular family meal.

A piece of salmon is about the same price as a good cut of beef or lamb.

Tasmania's biggest salmon producer, Tassal, is responding to the increased interest by teaching people how to cook it.

The salmon industry's worth $500 million now. It's expected to double again in the next 15 years.

MARK PORTER: If you look at the consumption of fish per capita in Australia it's still way behind Europe and the rest of the world really and I think we're only now seeing that starting to kick in.

FRANCES BENDER: It's one of those products that's very quick and easy to prepare. It's, you know, it's a fast food, but it's a healthy fast food.

Aquatic life opportunistic in Kimberley’s transient wet

Australian native freshwater species, waterways/wetlands

Aug 192013

Original story by Geoff Vivian, ScienceNetwork Western Australia

A LOCAL ecologist says aquatic plants in the Kimberley’s arid tropics have evolved to cope with harsh and unusual conditions.

Mr Cross is also studying the carnivorous aquatic plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa. Photo: John Pittman

University of WA PhD student Adam Cross gave the example of short-lived aquatic plants or ephemeral hydrophytes living in temporary pools called gilgai, on the black soil plains.

“The extensive alluvial mudflats crack and dry in the dry season, they form mounds and hollows,” Mr Cross says.

“In the subsequent wet season [they] fill with water and stay wet for months at a time.

“They will go from completely inundated throughout the wet season, and then within a very short period once the dry season begins they will dry down to completely desiccated rock-hard mud.

“They also burn with quite regular frequency as bush fires go through in the savannah areas of the Kimberley.

“Fire is an ecological mechanism for many species in Western Australia particularly, but not one which people would associate with the aquatic flora.

“Fire may play a role in the ecology of some of the ephemeral species.”

Mr Cross says Kimberley sandstone pavements are an even more ephemeral habitat for their water plants which show a high degree of endemism.

They complete their entire life cycles in pools as shallow as one centimetre, which may dry up just three weeks later.

He says some of the sandstone country dates back to the earliest periods in the planet’s history, and its aquatic flora may have survived the arid glaciation periods that caused significant extinction events among other northern Australian flora.

He is conducting PhD studies on the ecology of vegetation in Kimberley aquatic habitats, particularly hydrophytes, at Kings Park laboratories.

As such plants and habitats are inadequately described, part of his research examines ecological triggers to plant growth and seed germination.

“From the field observations … we can observe what naturally occurs; how the plants respond to periods of rainfall, how they respond to flooding, how they respond to drying,” he says.

“When we come back in the laboratory we can then run seeds through simulated natural conditions, and try and explore some of the logical mechanisms that maintain the ecosystem.”

These include subjecting soil and seeds to various tests to see whether important compounds evolve from wet soil, which may stimulate germination.

“It’s really all just about figuring out those ecological cues and building up the story of why the flora that’s in the Kimberley is there and what mechanisms have shaped the building of that diversity.”

Notes:

Adam Cross is a PhD student at the University of WA. He is based at Kings Park. He is lead author of the preliminary paper: Cross et al Ephemeral freshwater habitats and adaptations of the aquatic flora in the North Kimberley bioregion, Western Australia.

This story pertains to deliveries in theme 3 of the Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy.

Older Entries Newer Entries