ATEC News

Aquaculture in the pacific is expanding and diversifying rapidly. Activities range from highly commercial operations such as pearl culture to subsistence farming of fish.

Pearl aquaculture in particular is greatly expanding. It is seen by many countries as an industry worthy of targeted development, especially for remote island communities, given that the products are non-perishable, easily transportable and most have high value with the potential to add significantly to regional economies.

While many atoll lagoons are able to support pearl oyster production, previous periods of over-exploitation have reduced wild stocks to levels too low to support commercial operations. For the industry to revive, stocks must be re-established or supplemented from wild and cultured stocks.

Aquaculture researchers at JCU have led major projects in the Pacific Islands for over 20 years. Giant clams were an early feature. More recently, the focus has shifted to ensuring the environmental, social and economic sustainability of aquaculture in the Pacific Islands.

Pacific region aquaculture faces insufficient capacity, particularly government capacity, to support the increasingly sophisticated needs of the sector. Many countries have the physical infrastructure to support aquaculture, but don’t have enough staff with the right skills and experience to support the emerging industry. Without these skills, the growth and sustainability of the industry may be constrained.

With this in mind, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), a regional inter-governmental organisation whose membership includes 22 Pacific Island nations and territories, has developed a Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan.

Professor Paul Southgate from JCU’s School of Marine and Tropical Biology has led a number of projects funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) on developing sustainable aquaculture in the Pacific. The research aims to help the industry grow, in the context of the SPC Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan.

Working in partnership with SPC, the Worldfish Centre and the University of the South Pacific, JCU researchers are engaged in wide-ranging projects, from rehabilitating research facilities in PNG to researching specific sectors such as pearl, tilapia, microalgae, giant clam, eel, coral reef fish and trochus. The ACIAR-funded research has the potential to deliver significant economic benefits to Pacific Island economies. The challenge is ensuring that these benefits are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.

Turtles and dugongs are integral to the culture, economy and diet of Torres Strait Islander and coastal Aboriginal communities in northern Australia.

The distribution and abundance of dugongs and some species of sea turtle are reduced in many parts of their ranges, with some populations close to extinction. Globally, the dugong is now listed as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the green turtle is listed as endangered. Despite being legally protected in most countries, many dugong and turtle populations are declining, with hunting often a contributing cause. For example, population estimates based on a 20-year time series of aerial surveys for dugongs in the northern Great Barrier Reef region and Torres Strait conducted by JCU researchers suggest that Indigenous dugong harvests in these regions are not sustainable.

JCU researchers led by Professor Helene Marsh, Dr Mark Hamann and Dr Ivan Lawler have studied the conservation science of dugongs and turtles over many years. Their advice to government and Indigenous communities has helped shape new strategies to conserve these culturally-important species. Crucial to the turtle and dugong conservation research has been a partnership with Indigenous communities in Torres Strait, Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Indigenous Australians have provided expert assistance, acting as observers on aerial surveys to determine dugong distribution and abundance, assisting with catch monitoring and specimen collection, facilitating community workshops and representing their communities at national and international conferences.

Effectively managing dugong and turtle stocks requires ownership and implementation by Indigenous communities. PhD research by Melissa Nursey-Bray and Jillian Grayson has informed the development of processes for community-based management and monitoring of dugong and turtle harvesting.

Another PhD student, Alana Grech, is using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a basis for developing community-based Decision Support Systems integrating western science with Indigenous knowledge. She has also trained more than 90 of Torres Strait Indigenous communities in GIS techniques.

Mariana Fuentes’ PhD is investigating the impact of climate change on green turtles. Kristen Weiss is investigating ways to overcome the mismatch between geopolitical scales of management and the ecological scales at which dugongs and turtle populations operate. Aurelié DeLisle is investigating the social and economic values associated with the Indigenous harvest of dugongs and turtles under the supervision of Dr Natalie Stoeckl from JCU’s School of Business and Professor Marsh.

Complementary research by Professor Paul Havemann and Dominique Thiriet from JCU’s School of Law has established a legal framework for reconciling the traditional rights of Indigenous peoples to hunt dugongs and turtles with the obligations of Commonwealth and State governments under international treaties and Commonwealth and State laws.

Reconciling these rights and obligations means recognising the need to empower Indigenous people to engage in the conservation process. The legal framework provides an exemplar for other parts of the world to show how the traditional rights of Indigenous peoples may be reconciled with the need for government to regulate in areas such as conservation by adopting a cooperative approach that empowers communities.

This approach is embodied in the Australian government’s National Partnership arrangements for managing dugong and turtle hunting. JCU PhD graduate Dr Donna Kwan, a former member of this research group, is taking a leading role in implementing this policy.

Service and approved produce providers are encouraged to attend a briefing session outlining the tropical expertise business matching opportunities that will be available on a trade mission to Guam in May.

The four-day mission, starting on May 14, will see Advance Cairns partner with Tourism Tropical North Queensland and the Cairns Chamber of Commerce to pursue tourism links with the developing Pacific island, and undertake direct business to business matching sessions.

Businesses interested in identifying export opportunities into Guam can hear more about the trade mission at the briefing session to be held on Friday, March 13 from 2pm to 3pm in the board room at MacDonnells Law, corner of Shields and Grafton streets.

To lodge your interest in attending the briefing session call Advance Cairns on 4080 2900.