Oral Presentation Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2018

The movement of mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) around the Great Australian Bight Marine Park inferred from satellite telemetry (#88)

Tom Barnes 1 2 , Bronwyn M Gillanders 3
  1. Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, TAS, Australia
  2. Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  3. Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, Darling Building, School of Biological Sciences and Environment Institute , University of Adelaide,, Adelaide, , South Australia 5005, , Australia

Very little information is available on the movement ecology of predatory demersal fish. This is concerning as many demersal fish species provide important ecosystem services and support significant commercial and recreational fisheries. Consequently, improved information on movement of these species has the potential to underpin more informed environmental and resource management outcomes. Implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) is increasingly being used as a management tool and has the potential to enhance the sustainability of demersal fish populations. Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) is a fish species that could potentially benefit from MPAs as there are concerns that they may be declining in some areas. Although this is an iconic species, little is known about their movements. During the Austral summers and autumns from 2011 to 2014 we deployed 19 pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) on mature mulloway at an aggregation site in the Great Australian Bight Marine Park (GABMP), with the main objective to examine their movement patterns. Approximately 58% of the tags transmitted useful data. Pop-up location data revealed that the fish moved up to ~550km from the tagging location. The acquisition of movement information will support decision making for management of this important species.