Research improving animal welfare

Government agencies, universities, non-profit organisations, commercial and recreational fishers and many other groups are conducting research to improve the welfare of individual seals, seabirds, dolphins and sharks and the sustainability of their populations as well as those of fish stocks in Australia.

Unfortunately, we can’t always tell the public about all of the work that we are doing. We will use this website to describe how we are working to ensure that iconic marine animals like seals, seabirds, dolphins and sharks will always be in our coastal waters for future generations to enjoy. At the same time, we are working to ensure that we will always be able to buy fresh locally caught Australian seafood.

Sometimes animals other than fish are caught in fishing gear. Many researchers and managers are working with the fishing industry and recreational fishers to minimise the impact of bycatch on populations of seals, seabirds, dolphins and sharks in Australia. Some projects involve designing improved fishing gear, or helping fishers to modify their fishing practices or fishing locations and help to ensure that their practices are sustainable.

Recent research into the entanglement of seals in southern Australia sparked changes in the practices of many fisheries. For example, some fisheries started using packing-strap-free bait boxes, because of the potential for the packing straps to end up floating in the ocean and entangling seals. Prior to this research, nobody had realised how big the entanglement problem was. The changes in packaging did not cost the fishing industry any money. Before these changes more than 300 seals were killed as a result of getting entangled in packing straps!

Some commercial and recreational fisheries have modified their fishing gear, in order to stop seals, seabirds, dolphins and sharks becoming caught and drowning. We work with fishers to ensure their fishing gear is still effective but does not catch the wrong animals.

Entanglement is a huge problem. As many as 1-2% of the Australian sea lion population at Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island become entangled in marine debris each year. The debris comes from a range of sources, even including a string of burst balloons and a tyre inner tube! Wildlife Rangers are constantly on the lookout for entangled seals, so at least at Seal Bay most seals are freed from otherwise-lethal entanglements.

In other parts of the world, Marine Protected Areas have provided new sanctuaries, where fish grow bigger and have more babies, which in turn move outside the protected areas. We are all keen to see the marine parks initiative happen in a way that ensures conservation objectives can be met while recreational and commercial fishing continue pretty much as they do today. That way, we can all continue to relish our wonderful seafood.

By letting you know about the work that is being done on to ensure the sustainability of our marine ecosystems, we hope that you will gain a greater appreciation of them and the predators (including humans) that rely on the health of these environments for food.