The Western Australian charter boat industry: Working towards long-term sustainability

Fisheries agencies and industry are accountable for sustainable fishing practises from all sectors. Throughout Australia, commercial and recreational sectors have been the focus of monitoring programmes and management, yet charter boat industries have been providing a service to fee-paying recreational clients for decades and only recently have the industry become part of those monitoring and management programs. Charter boat industries exhibit characteristics of both commercial and recreational fishing sectors, charter operators are paid for a service and managed under a licensing framework, but their clients adhere to a set of recreational fishing regulations. Unlike the other two sectors, limited catch, effort and socio-economic data exist for the charter boat industry, although more catch and effort data has been collected from the Western Australian charter boat industry since late 2001. The main objective of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal trends in catch, effort and species composition of the Western Australia charter boat industry between 2002/03 and 2007/08 and develop an understanding of the social and economic framework of the industry and its clientele to identify potential implications for management and the future direction of the industry. This thesis provides the first comprehensive examination of the charter industry in Western Australia and provides important information about the ecological, economic, social and governance perspectives. While this thesis attempted to cover all of these areas, it could not cover all in detail. It is essential that the charter boat industry of Western Australia is continually monitored, as it provides quantitative information that may assist in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry and fish stocks

Fisheries and Marine Officers recreational fishing survey: 1998/99 – 2009/10

Throughout Western Australia Fisheries and Marine Officers (FMOs) play a vital role in ensuring the sustainability of fish resources. Since July 1998, in the course of their other compliance activities, FMOs have collected information from recreational fishers on their catch and fishing trip. The primary objective of this report was to summarise the data collected by FMOs and ascertain the effectiveness of the convenience (i.e. unstructured) sampling technique for determining trends in recreational fishing patterns throughout Western Australia. Recreational fishing data was collected by FMOs during 6 629 land-based and boat-based patrols completed between 1998/99 – 2009/10, mostly within the West Coast bioregion

Biology and stock status of inshore demersal scalefish indicator species in the Gascoyne Coast Bioregion

(114°50\u27E), includes the iconic Shark Bay and Ningaloo World Heritage areas plus the regional centre of Carnarvon and coastal towns of Denham, Coral Bay and Exmouth. The Gascoyne Bioregion is a transition zone between tropical and temperate waters and supports a diverse range of commercial invertebrate and scalefish fisheries and provides a large variety of recreational fishing opportunities. This report investigates the stock status of the inshore demersal scalefish “suite” of species for the Gascoyne region. These bottom dwelling fish are primarily taken by line fishing in waters of 20-250 m depth by both the commercial and recreational sectors

Biology and stock status of inshore demersal scalefish indicator species in the Gascoyne Coast Bioregion

(114°50\u27E), includes the iconic Shark Bay and Ningaloo World Heritage areas plus the regional centre of Carnarvon and coastal towns of Denham, Coral Bay and Exmouth. The Gascoyne Bioregion is a transition zone between tropical and temperate waters and supports a diverse range of commercial invertebrate and scalefish fisheries and provides a large variety of recreational fishing opportunities. This report investigates the stock status of the inshore demersal scalefish “suite” of species for the Gascoyne region. These bottom dwelling fish are primarily taken by line fishing in waters of 20-250 m depth by both the commercial and recreational sectors

Non-invasive diagnosis of pink basal cell carcinoma: how much can we rely on dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy?

Background: Non-pigmented 'pink' cutaneous lesions in differential diagnosis with basal cell carcinoma may present a challenge for clinicians. Our objective was to determine the potential improvement of diagnostic accuracy using combined dermoscopy-reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) image evaluation. Methods: Two hundred and sixty clinically equivocal 'pink' cutaneous lesions were evaluated retrospectively. Reader accuracy was tested with dermoscopy images only vs. RCM and combined dermoscopy-RCM images. Results: Out of 260 equivocal 'pink' cutaneous lesions, there were 114 basal cell carcinomas within a total of 140 malignancies that included 12 melanomas, 13 squamous cell carcinomas, and 1 other malignancy type. Dermoscopy only evaluation resulted in an overall sensitivity of 85.1% and specificity of 92.4%, resulting in a positive predictive value (PPV) of 89.8%, with 1 of 12 melanomas misdiagnosed. RCM evaluation resulted in an overall sensitivity of 85.1% and specificity of 93.8%, resulting in a PPV of 91.5%, with no melanomas misdiagnosed. Combined dermoscopy-RCM evaluation resulted in an overall sensitivity of 77.2% and specificity of 96.6%, resulting in a PPV of 94.6%. Conclusion: The combination of dermoscopy-RCM evaluation significantly improves the accuracy and safety threshold in equivocal 'pink' cutaneous lesions in the differential diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma

Noninvasive imaging tools in the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers

In the 1980s, the increasing incidence of skin cancers prompted the development of noninvasive medical devices to improve skin cancer diagnosis in daily dermatology practice. As a result of the development of these noninvasive techniques, diagnosis is now established earlier and with better accuracy. These advances are of great benefit to high-risk patients, who previously would have had to undergo several excisions. In this review, we focus on the classic technique of dermoscopy and the more recent digital version, as well as on advanced noninvasive imaging techniques, such as reflectance confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography. On the basis of their specific features, these noninvasive medical devices can be used not only to diagnose and monitor melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers but also to choose the best therapy and follow the patient’s response to treatment in vivo