National Application of Sustainability Indicators for Australian Fisheries Part 2: Ecosystem based frameworks for aquaculture, multi-fishery and international applications FRDC Report – Project 2000/145

Objectives: 1. Develop initial ESD reporting framework for the Aquaculture Sector 2. Initiate development of an ESD Framework for Cross Fishery and Marine Planning issues 3. Further refine and promote the international adoption of the concepts developed by the ESD national framework for wild capture fisherie

Assessment of the risks associated with the release of abalone sourced from Abalone Hatcheries for enhancement or marine grow-out in the open ocean areas of WA

The virus that causes Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) is considered to be exotic to Western Australia (WA). The known distribution includes Victoria, Tasmania and Taiwan. There are a number of known strains of the virus; Tasmanian strains do not (to date) cause mortalities in wild abalone (but do so in farms and processing facilities). Victorian and Taiwanese strains cause high mortalities in wild abalone. Despite active surveillance, the virus has not been found in NSW, South Australia or Western Australia but there is a low likelihood that WA specific strains may exist undetected

State of the Fisheries Report 2007/08

The State of the Fisheries Report is published annually to provide a detailed level of reporting on the management of fish stocks and their environment undertaken by the Department of Fisheries. A summary report from this document is included in the Department’s Annual Report to Parliament, which includes the Department’s nonfinancial (fishery) performance indicators. The Annual Report is no longer printed but is available through the Department’s website (www.fish.wa.gov.au).https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/an_sofar/1000/thumbnail.jp

The efficacy of sanctuary areas for the management of fish stocks and biodiversity in WA waters

Debate concerning the relative benefits of marine protected areas (MPAs) for the management of marine resources can often reflect unrecognized differences in the scope, scale and definitions of the objectives being sought by various Government or community bodies. There can also be different opinions on the level of protection required for an area to be considered an ‘MPA’ and functional definitions for both the biological diversity and ecosystems within these areas are often lacking. This paper seeks to outline the relative efficiency and effectiveness of MPAs, especially no-take sanctuary areas, compared to other strategies currently employed to help achieve the main objective of the Western Australian (WA) Fish Resources Management Act (FRMA) 1994, which is “to conserve fish* and protect their environment”. This objective covers the conservation of most of the marine resources of the WA coast, including fish stock management; habitat protection and biodiversity generally out to the 200 m depth contour

Improving efficiency in generating submissions and consistency of outcomes for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) based assessments

The prevalence of fishery certification schemes and associated ecolabels has grown over the last ten years with numerous ecolabels now in the marketplace e.g. Friends of the Sea, Naturland, SAI Global Trust (Parkes et al. 2010, Washington and Ababouch 2011, Ward and Phillips 2013). However, one of the most prominent and well regarded, particularly by eNGOs, is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) (Gutiérrez et al. 2012, Ponte 2012, Bush et al. 2013, Ward and Phillips 2013) which accounts for greater than 10 % of annual global harvest of wild capture fisheries (MSC 2014b)

Risk Assessment of the potential impacts of seismic air gun surveys on marine finfish and invertebrates in Western Australia

Seismic surveys have the potential to affect marine life, including commercially and recreationally important finfish and invertebrate species and their prey. There is, however, considerable uncertainty around the degree of impact and relevant pressure-response pathways across the different taxonomic groups

Effects of cross-section on infiltration and seepage in permeable stormwater channels

Factors affecting the infiltration rate have been studied fairly well by many researches; however, the effects of the cross-section of a permeable stormwater channel on the surface water depth reduction due to infiltration and seepage have largely been neglected. In the present study, towards improving the efficiency of permeable channels, the effects of the three components of a trapezoidal section, namely, the water depth, side slope, and base width, on the infiltration and unsteady seepage rates were investigated. Laboratory studies using models of the channel with unsaturated soil were performed under ponding condition using various initial water levels, base widths, and side slopes for two soil textures, namely, sandy loam and loamy sand. The results showed that the rate of surface water depth reduction by infiltration and seepage increases with increasing water level irrespective of the base width and side slope. In addition, an increase of the side slope increases the infiltration rate, with the effect becoming more significant with increasing initial water level, while the effect of varying the base width is insignificant

Serotonin synthesis, release and reuptake in terminals: a mathematical model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has been linked to a wide variety of behaviors including feeding and body-weight regulation, social hierarchies, aggression and suicidality, obsessive compulsive disorder, alcoholism, anxiety, and affective disorders. Full understanding of serotonergic systems in the central nervous system involves genomics, neurochemistry, electrophysiology, and behavior. Though associations have been found between functions at these different levels, in most cases the causal mechanisms are unknown. The scientific issues are daunting but important for human health because of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other pharmacological agents to treat disorders in the serotonergic signaling system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We construct a mathematical model of serotonin synthesis, release, and reuptake in a single serotonergic neuron terminal. The model includes the effects of autoreceptors, the transport of tryptophan into the terminal, and the metabolism of serotonin, as well as the dependence of release on the firing rate. The model is based on real physiology determined experimentally and is compared to experimental data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We compare the variations in serotonin and dopamine synthesis due to meals and find that dopamine synthesis is insensitive to the availability of tyrosine but serotonin synthesis is sensitive to the availability of tryptophan. We conduct <it>in silico </it>experiments on the clearance of extracellular serotonin, normally and in the presence of fluoxetine, and compare to experimental data. We study the effects of various polymorphisms in the genes for the serotonin transporter and for tryptophan hydroxylase on synthesis, release, and reuptake. We find that, because of the homeostatic feedback mechanisms of the autoreceptors, the polymorphisms have smaller effects than one expects. We compute the expected steady concentrations of serotonin transporter knockout mice and compare to experimental data. Finally, we study how the properties of the the serotonin transporter and the autoreceptors give rise to the time courses of extracellular serotonin in various projection regions after a dose of fluoxetine.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Serotonergic systems must respond robustly to important biological signals, while at the same time maintaining homeostasis in the face of normal biological fluctuations in inputs, expression levels, and firing rates. This is accomplished through the cooperative effect of many different homeostatic mechanisms including special properties of the serotonin transporters and the serotonin autoreceptors. Many difficult questions remain in order to fully understand how serotonin biochemistry affects serotonin electrophysiology and vice versa, and how both are changed in the presence of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Mathematical models are useful tools for investigating some of these questions.</p