Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fishery Level 2 Ecological Risk Assessment [Target & Byproduct Species]

The Queensland Ecological Risk Assessment Guideline (the Guideline) was released in March 2018 as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017–2027. This Guideline provides an overview of strategy being employed to develop Ecological Risk Assessments (ERAs) for Queensland’s fisheries. The Guideline describes a four-stage framework consisting of a Scoping Study; a Level 1, whole of fishery qualitative assessment; a Level 2, species-specific semi-quantitative or low-data quantitative assessment and; a Level 3 quantitative assessment (if applicable). A Scoping Study and Level 1 ERA for the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fishery was released in December 2019 (Jacobsen et al., 2019). The Level 1 assessment identified ecological components at higher risk from net fishing activities, and these were progressed to a Level 2 assessment. Level 2 ERAs are focused at the species level with risk evaluations based on a Productivity & Susceptibility Analysis (PSA). The PSA evaluates risk for each species through an assessment of seven biological attributes and up to seven fisheries-specific attributes. Based on the outputs of the Level 1 ERA and following a species prioritisation process, the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fishery Level 2 ERA assessed risk for 15 target & byproduct species: eight teleosts and seven sharks. All target & byproduct species were found to be at medium to high risk from net fishing activities. The risk profiles for sharks were heavily influenced by the biological attributes (productivity); particularly those relating to their longevity and reproductive outputs. The Level 2 ERA made a list of recommendations to assist in the management and mitigation of risk in the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fishery. A number of these measures are already being discussed and considered as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017–2027 and will be progressed through the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fishery Working Group

Tunnel Net Fishery Level 2 Ecological Risk Assessment

The Queensland Ecological Risk Assessment Guideline (the Guideline) was released in March 2018 as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017–2027. This Guideline provides an overview of strategy being employed to develop Ecological Risk Assessments (ERAs) for Queensland’s fisheries. The Guideline describes a four-stage framework consisting of a Scoping Study; a Level 1, whole of fishery qualitative assessment; a Level 2, species-specific semi-quantitative or low-data quantitative assessment and; a Level 3 quantitative assessment (if applicable). A Scoping Study and Level 1 ERA for the East Coast Inshore Fishery was released in May 2019 (Jacobsen et al., 2019). The Level 1 assessment identified ecological components at higher risk from net fishing activities, and these were progressed to a Level 2 assessment. Level 2 ERAs are focused at the species level with risk evaluations based on a Productivity & Susceptibility Analysis (PSA). The PSA evaluates risk for each species through an assessment of seven biological attributes and up to seven fisheries-specific attributes. Based on the outputs of the Level 1 ERA and following a species prioritisation process, the Tunnel Net Fishery Level 2 ERA assessed risk for 16 target & byproduct species, and seven Species of Conservation Concern (SOCC). All target & byproduct species were found to be at low to medium risk, while the SOCC were found to be at medium to high risk from tunnel net fishing activities. The risk profiles for SOCC were heavily influenced by the biological attributes (productivity); particularly those relating to their longevity and reproductive outputs. The Level 2 ERA made a list of recommendations to assist in the management and mitigation of risk in the Tunnel Net Fishery. A number of these measures are already being discussed and considered as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017–2027 and will be progressed through the East Coast Inshore Fishery Working Group

East Coast Inshore Large Mesh Net Fishery Level 2 Ecological Risk Assessment [Target & Byproduct Species]

The Queensland Ecological Risk Assessment Guideline (the Guideline) was released in March 2018 as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017–2027. This Guideline provides an overview of strategy being employed to develop Ecological Risk Assessments (ERAs) for Queensland’s fisheries. The Guideline describes a four-stage framework consisting of a Scoping Study; a Level 1, whole of fishery qualitative assessment; a Level 2, species-specific semi-quantitative or low-data quantitative assessment and; a Level 3 quantitative assessment (if applicable). A Scoping Study and Level 1 ERA for the East Coast Inshore Fishery was released in May 2019 (Jacobsen et al., 2019). The Level 1 assessment identified ecological components at higher risk from net fishing activities, and these were progressed to a Level 2 assessment. Level 2 ERAs are focused at the species level with risk evaluations based on a Productivity & Susceptibility Analysis (PSA). The PSA evaluates risk for each species through an assessment of seven biological attributes and up to seven fisheries-specific attributes. Based on the outputs of the Level 1 ERA and following a species prioritisation process, the East Coast Inshore Fishery Level 2 ERA assessed risk for 50 target & byproduct species: 35 teleosts and 15 sharks. Target & byproduct species ranged from low to high risk, while all sharks were found to be at high risk from large mesh net fishing activities. The risk profiles for sharks were heavily influenced by the biological attributes (productivity); particularly those relating to their longevity and reproductive outputs. The Level 2 ERA made a list of recommendations to assist in the management and mitigation of risk in the East Coast Inshore Fishery. A number of these measures are already being discussed and considered as part of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017–2027 and will be progressed through the East Coast Inshore Fishery Working Group

Latitudinal variation in growth rates and limited movement patterns revealed for east-coast snapper Chrysophrys auratus through long-term cooperative-tagging programs

Understanding the spatial ecology of exploited fish stocks is key to their sustainable management. Here we used a long-term cooperative tag and recapture dataset that encompassed the entire distribution of the stock to examine patterns of movement and growth of Chrysophrys auratus (Sparidae) along eastern Australia. More than 24 000 individuals were tagged, with 2117 being recaptured with information suitable for analysis of movements and 1440 with information suitable for analysis of growth rates. Individuals ranged in size between 120- and 620-mm fork length at tagging and were at liberty for up to 5.9 years before being recaptured. Results indicated population characteristics of partial migration, whereby the majority (~71%) of fish did not move any detectable distance and a small proportion (~4%) moved between 100 and 1000 km. Specific growth rates were significantly affected by the latitude at tagging, with higher growth rates at lower (more northern) latitudes. Our findings suggest that Australian east-coast C. auratus are mainly resident on a subdecadal time scale and at reasonably small spatial scales. When considered with information on latitudinal variation in growth and reproductive biology, localised recruitment and a history of localised fishery declines, assessment and management at local scales may be appropriate

Identifying the Social Costs of Tobacco Use to Australia in 2015/16

In the twentieth century the tobacco epidemic killed an estimated 100 million people globally; in the twenty-first century it may kill one billion people (World Health Organization, 2008). The scientific evidence is clear: smoking causes significant adverse impacts on human health, and the main driver of continued consumption of tobacco by smokers is nicotine dependence. The purpose of this study was to update the estimated social costs of tobacco use in Australia given the changing prevalence of smoking, the length of time since the last national estimate was conducted (for 2004/05 (Collins and Lapsley, 2008)), and new evidence on tobacco caused conditions and costs of tobacco outside the health domain. The tobacco epidemic, although past its peak in Australia in terms of the prevalence of smoking, still extracts a considerable toll on the health and economic welfare of Australians. Given that there wereapproximately 2.4 million daily smokers at the time of the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household survey, this scale of harm could be expected to continue for some time if prevalence is not reduced considerably. From the international evidence, we identified 46 conditions wholly or partially caused by active smoking, three where it was protective and nine conditions caused by involuntary or secondhand smoking, with the harms from the caused conditions substantially outweighing the benefits from the prevented conditions. In twelve months (financial year 2015/16) there were 20,032 deaths from smoking-related causes in Australia and there were about 1.7 million smoking-related hospital inpatient episodes. Net tangible costs of smoking in 2015/16 were estimated to be $19.2 billion (range$16.3 billion to $24.0billion). The tangible costs in the calculation included the reduction in economic output due to premature mortality, hospital separation costs, other medical and social care costs including the cost of informal care provided by family and friends, costs arising from workplace absenteeism and presenteeism, and spending on tobacco by dependent smokers.In addition to the tangible costs of smoking, there are very significant intangible costs (e.g. the value of life lost, pain and suffering), both from premature mortality and from the lost quality of life of those experiencing smoking attributable ill-health. These intangible costs of smoking were estimated at$117.7 billion in 2015/16 (range $52.0 billion to$375.8 billion) with the total cost of smoking being $136.9 billion (range$68.3 billion to $399.7 billion) (see Summary Table 1 and Summary Figure 1). The most significant individual cost item within the tangible costs was the spending on tobacco by dependent smokers, which was estimated at$5.5 billion, followed by workplace costs ($5.0 billion) and the reduction in the present value of future economic output due to premature mortality ($3.4 billion). Other health costs were also estimated and these included outpatient treatment, specialist care and possible excess general practitioner visits. Further, we developed an estimate of informal carer costs, which is the unpaid care provided by family members to those with smoking-related conditions