Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
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The economics of safe stocking rates in Central Australia
No full textIn the semi-arid rangelands of Central Australia, research undertaken at the Old Man Plain Research Station (OMP) has shown that managing stocking rate at a safe utilisation level allows land condition improvement given two La Niña years in a row. The first year provides a high rate of vegetation growth and consequent seed and the second-year results in a recruitment event from the first year \u27s seed bank. The aim of this paper is to contrast the economics of OMP grazing strategies to an industry business-as-usual scenario. A bioeconomic model has been developed which encompasses a pasture growth model ; the GRASs Production (GRASP) model linked to herd structure modelling using Breedcow and Dynama. The herd performance and other baseline data was derived from industry consultation, whereas the OMP data was derived from published data from the research station. The analysis shows that there are economic incentives to run safe stocking rates. Besides the unequivocal environmental (land condition) benefits of running a safe stocking rate, the economic benefits are dependent o n the initial status of the station and how it transition s to a safe stocking rate. The analysis concludes that there are economic benefits of running safe stocking rates, however implementation should be carefully managed by pastoralists to maintain a positive cash flow
Evaluation of dietary additives on yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) gut and skin health and disease resistance against photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae
No full textThe present study evaluated the effectiveness of five dietary additives in improving growth performance, gut and skin health and disease resistance against Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (Pdd) in yellowtail kingfish (YTK) (Seriola lalandi). The additives were top-coated onto a commercial diet. The five additives evaluated were brewer’s yeast (BY), a yeast-based mannan oligosaccharide (MOS), a polyphenol product, a monoglyceride product and a combination of MOS and a superoxide dismutase (SOD) product. The monoglyceride and polyphenol products were trialled at both a low and high inclusion level. Diets were fed to YTK in triplicate tanks for 55 days. The results found that growth, feed utilisation and somatic indices were unaffected by additive inclusion. None of the additives affected the health of YTK liver, skin or the gut as determined by various histological metrics. These histological findings were supported by results of hindgut gene expression (TNF-α, IL-10, Hsp70, mucin 2 and i-mucin and SOD), all of which were unchanged across the dietary treatments. Similarly, the additives did not stimulate the skin mucus quantity and skin mucosa barrier measurements (epidermis thickness and mucus cells), consistent with the results of relevant skin health gene expression measurements (TNF-α, IL-8, calreticulin, Hsp70, mucin 2, CAT and SOD). However, the MOS and low inclusion polyphenol treatments increased survival against Pdd challenge relative to control treatment. The immuno-modulating capacity of the polyphenol product was indicated by the absence of Pdd in faeces following a mucosal (bathe) challenge at the high inclusion; however, this did not translate to enhanced survival under systemic infection. However, further studies are needed to understand if optimisation of the inclusion levels of each additive might more strongly influence the health of YTK
Self-mustering yards for pastoral livestock management
No full textSelf-mustering yards (SMYs) are an important component of effective total grazing management in the pastoral regions. These yards are used to self-muster cattle, sheep and goats, as well as native browsers and feral animals as they enter the yards to access the water point
South-west Western Australia average annual rainfall zones 2000-2024 compared to 1910-1999
No full textMap of the south-west of Western Australia (intensive land use zone) showing change in average annual rainfall for the period 2000-2024 compared to 1910-1999.https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_climate/1007/thumbnail.jp
Predator management with a single bait? Use of Eradicat for the simultaneous management of feral cats, red foxes, and wild dogs
No full textContext In Western Australia, there are three invasive predators that require management for agriculture and biodiversity protection, feral cats, wild dogs, and red foxes. These three predators often coexist in the same locality, suggesting potential efficacy gains can be made via simultaneous control. While Western Australian native species have evolved a high tolerance to poison baiting (1080), invasive predators have not. Therefore, landscape-scale baiting is commonly used for predator management. Aims Eradicat baits designed for feral cat control have also been known to be consumed and control wild dogs and foxes. In this trial, we aimed to evaluate Eradicat as an all-predator bait, determine if there is a preferential time for the use of the bait and assess non-target impact(s) of baiting. Methods We aimed to control all three predators on an agricultural property adjacent to a conservation reserve over 16 months with eight baiting events using Eradicat as an all-predator bait. Twenty one Reconyx camera traps monitored some of the baits deployed. Key results A total of 300 baits had a known outcome with minimal uptake by all three predators. Many issues were encountered when working on a smaller-scale including interference with farming activities and management, flash flooding, and non-target uptake of the Eradicat baits. Wetter than anticipated environmental conditions likely increased alternate prey availability, negatively impacting bait uptake. Conclusions More work is required to determine if Eradicat baits can be used as an all-predator bait
Advancing fishery dependent and independent habitat assessments using automated image analysis: A fisheries management agency case study
No full textAdvances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have revolutionised data analysis, including in the field of marine and fisheries sciences. However, many fisheries agencies manage sensitive or proprietary data that cannot be shared externally, which can limit the adoption of externally hosted artificial intelligence platforms. In this study, we develop and evaluate two residual network-based automatic image annotation models to process fishery specific habitat data to support ecosystem-based fisheries management in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery in Western Australia. Using an extensive dataset of 13,128 manually annotated benthic habitat images, we train a grid-based annotation model and an image-level object detection model. Both models demonstrated high overall accuracy, with the grid-based model achieving 90.8% and the image-level model 92.9%. Patch-wise accuracy of the image-level model was 74.2%, highlighting its ability to classify broader spatial context without requiring point-based labelling. Precision and recall values for both models often exceeded 70% for dominant habitat classes such as unconsolidated substrate, macroalgae, and seagrass. The development of these models supports the potential for cost-effective, robust, and scalable in-house habitat classification for fishery or ecoregion specific habitat data to support timely decision-making. Further, the grid-based model uniquely integrates spatial precision with compatibility to existing manual data workflows, enabling seamless adoption within many existing fisheries monitoring programs. Despite limitations, such as a class imbalanced dataset, both models present a scalable, data secure solution for fisheries management agencies. This study establishes a foundation for integrating artificial intelligence driven image analysis of proprietary fisheries data, to further support responsive, standardised and data-informed decision making
Fisheries Research Report No. 352: Boat-based recreational fishing in Western Australia 2023/24
No full textThe integrated survey of boat-based recreational fishing includes three components: off-site phone surveys (encompassing an initial screening survey, a longitudinal phone-diary survey, and post-enumeration surveys), on-site boat ramp surveys and remote camera surveys. The recent phone-diary survey from September 2023 to August 2024 (inclusive) provides comparisons with previous surveys in 2020/21 (September 2020 to August 2021), 2017/18 (September 2017 to August 2018), 2015/16 (September 2015 to August 2016), 2013/14 (May 2013 to April 2014) and 2011/12 (March 2011 to February 2012)
Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 149 - Economic Contribution of Wild-catch Fishing in Western Australia, 2024: Beyond Gross Value of Production
No full textThe wild-catch fishing industry plays a significant role in Western Australia’s economy, particularly in regional communities. This report summarises the economic contribution of the commercial wild-catch fishing sector in 2024, based on REMPLAN’s input-output (I-O) modelling methodology and DPIRD data and analysis. This report focuses on key economic indicators including total economic output, gross value added (GVA), and employment (FTEs).
Key findings: Total Economic Output of the wild-catch fishing industry is 487 million (value of profit, wages, salaries and net taxes) Employment within the wild-catch fishing industry is 3,275 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs )https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/fr_fop/1091/thumbnail.jp