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Key monitoring times for the ewe flock
No full textTo ensure sheep are in the right condition at the right time, they should be frequently monitored and their nutrition adjusted throughout the year. Frequent monitoring is especially important at times of drought, or at the change of season when paddock condition can change rapidly
Wind erosion control after fire in Western Australia
No full textFirst steps after a fire
Act to limit further erosion:
• Remove livestock and keep them off burnt paddocks: they can be put into a confinement feeding area, an unburnt paddock or agisted.
• Minimise vehicle traffic on burnt areas
• Protect highly susceptible and valuable areas, such as house, garden, sheds, yards, gateways and laneways with binding spray, clay, gravel, old hay, or straw to give a full cover. A dust-free living and working environment is particularly important after a fire.
Leave burnt residue on roadsides, revegetation and bush areas to decrease the risk of wind erosion
Rabbit control: bait products
No full textThis factsheet is part of the bait and poison directory for vertebrate pests in Western Australia (WA). It provides information on bait, poison, and toxin (bait) products available for use in WA to control rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
For information on how to access bait, poison and toxin (bait) products, training required, animal welfare considerations and legal requirements, refer to the Bait and poison directory for vertebrate pests’ page on the website at dpird.wa.gov.au. Information on bait, poison, and toxin (bait) products available for use in WA for rabbits, is provided below
Applying data-limited assessment methods to charter logbook length data
No full textMarine waters along the Western Australian coastline are characterised by low ecosystem productivity and high species diversity of fishes. With over 3,000 known species comprising estuarine, nearshore, demersal and pelagic fishes in the region, many contribute to important commercial and recreational fisheries (Lenanton et al. 1991; Molony et al. 2011; Newman et al. 2018). As it is logistically and economically infeasible to conduct intensive monitoring and high-level stock assessments of all exploited fish species in Western Australia, indicator species are used to assess the sustainability of suites of species of biological and ecological similarity, for optimal use of available resources (Newman et al. 2018).
In recent years, there has been increased demand for quantitative stock assessments of a greater number of species to meet national reporting in the Status of Australian Fish Stocks Reports (SAFS; www.fish.gov.au), used to inform Australia’s progress against UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.4.1, on the proportion of fish stocks within biological sustainable levels. The types of assessment analyses that can be applied to provide stock status estimates for a species vary depending on a range of factors including; the identified level of sustainability risk, species biology, characteristics of the fishery, data availability and level of resourcing for conducting quantitative assessments. There are five levels of stock assessment methodology of increasing complexity that are used by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), from Level 1 (L1) which comprises a relatively simple simulation (i.e. Catch-MSY) to Level 5 (L5), which involves a dynamic, integrated stock assessment model (see Newman et al. (2023)). For many species however, no long-term reliable abundance indices and/or age composition data are available that would allow age-based equilibrium assessment approaches (L3, age-based catch curve and per recruit analysis) or dynamic assessment approaches (L4, biomass dynamics models, or L5, integrated models). Length data are available, however, for many of these species.
Compared to collecting age data, obtaining length data requires far less resourcing and thus is highly cost effective. However, the utility of length information (without catch and abundance indices) for providing stock status estimates can be limited, depending on factors such as reliability of available life history information, species biology and the dynamics of the fishery targeting the stocks of interest. As with all data used for assessment, it is also important to evaluate how representative the available length data are of the overall stock.
Unlike for commercial logbooks, Tour operator returns (charter logbooks) contain self-reported length measurements. These data, which first started being recorded in 2001/02 by charter operators from all four bioregions, provide an opportunity to raise the level of assessment for a number of fish species in Western Australia from catch only (L1) to length-based equilibrium assessment models (L3, length-based catch curve and per recruit analysis), and thereby provide more robust scientific advise for those species.
In this study, several length-based empirical analyses and models were applied to test the applicability of these methods and the available length data in charter logbooks for providing stock status information for fish species targeted by charter operators. The assessment methods include: empirical length-based indicators (Froese 2004), length-converted catch curves (Pauly 1990), length-based catch Fisheries Research Report [Western Australia] No. 331 | Page vi curve (Hesp 2023), mean length mortality estimators (Gedamke and Hoenig 2006), the length-based spawning potential ratio method (Hordyk et al. 2015a) and Bayesian biomass estimators (Froese et al. 2018)
Three-horned bedstraw
No full textThree-horned bedstraw (Galium tricornutum), otherwise known as bedstraw, rough bedstraw, rough fruit corn bedstraw, and corn cleavers, is an annual weed that poses a significant threat to Western Australia’s grains industry. It is a declared pest in Western Australia (WA). A weedy member of the Rubiaceae (madder family), it is closely related to cleavers (Galium aparine)
Bedstraw is a high priority eradication target for Western Australia
Physical dormancy alleviation at room temperature storage is influenced by the initial moisture content of the seeds
No full textIn seeds with impermeable coats, i.e., physical dormancy (PY), dormancy break may occur at room temperature during ex-situ storage or when seeds experiencing similar conditions when buried in the soil. Here, we tested the influence of initial seed moisture content and storage on dormancy break in the seeds of Adenanthera pavonina, Bauhinia racemosa, Cassia fistula, Dodonaea viscosa, and Delonix regia. Drying results in most seeds of these species becoming water-impermeable. We arbitrarily chose two moisture ranges, shallow (impermeable, high moisture content) and absolute (impermeable, low moisture content) PY, and stored the seeds at room temperature for 8.5 years. The moisture content at which the permeable to impermeable transition occurred and the range constituting shallow and absolute PY varied between species. Across species, the shallow PY group had a significantly higher number of nondormant seeds at the end of storage, whereas the absolute PY group did not show any germination, except c. 20% germination in A. pavonina and C. fistula. Thus, PY break in seeds stored at room temperature may occur after several years, but this largely depends on the initial seed moisture content
Barber’s pole worm in sheep
No full textBarber\u27s pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is a potentially harmful roundworm parasite of sheep which can cause a disease called haemonchosis. It is mainly found in coastal and high rainfall areas of Western Australia.
In some cases large worm burdens can develop very rapidly and cause sheep deaths without warning. Whether specific pre-emptive action for barber\u27s pole worm is needed depends on the risk level
Sheep lice spread and detection
No full textThe most common lice affecting sheep are body lice (Bovicola ovis).
Knowledge of the lice life cycle and relevant features of their biology assist in our understanding of how lice survive and spread.
Better understanding and ability to find and monitor lice populations will improve sheep farmer decision making around eradicating lice.
Knowledge of when an infestation may have occurred, or alternatively that lice was not eradicated at the last shearing, is important information that will assist future treatment decisions
Fisheries Research Report No. 347: Recreational fishing for Marron in south-west Western Australia from 2000 – 2024: estimates of participation, effort and catch
No full textThe Smooth Marron (Cherax cainii) (‘Marron’) is endemic to freshwater dams and rivers of south-west Western Australia. The Recreational Marron Fishery is managed as a single stock within the South-West Recreational Freshwater Resource and is highly vulnerable to over-exploitation due to the biological characteristics of the species (e.g., low fecundity, localised populations) as well as external environmental (e.g., habitat loss, reduction in rainfall) and human factors (e.g., fishing, land clearing).
Due to this vulnerability, this species has been the focus of research, monitoring and management since the 1970’s. Recreational fishing for Marron was first licensed under the Amateur Fisherman’s licence in 1963, with a fishery-specific licence introduced in 1986. The fishery is currently managed using input controls to restrain effort (e.g., seasonal and spatial closures, gear restrictions and licences) and output controls to restrain catch (e.g., minimum size limits, daily bag limits, possession limits).
The Marron licence database has been used as a sampling frame to select fishers for phone-recall (2000 – 2021) and online-recall (2022 – 2024) surveys. This report provides a time series of annual estimates of participation (number of licensed fishers), fishing effort (days fished) and the retained and released catches (by numbers) of Marron statewide and by waterbody (public dams, rivers) across 25 years of monitoring the recreational fishery.
Participation in the Recreational Marron Fishery (Marron licence holders aged five years or older) in 2024 (8 January – 5 February 2024) 66% or 8,592 fishers (95% CI 8,226 – 8,957). Total fishing effort by licensed fishers for Marron in 2024 was 28,272 days fished (95%CI 26,375 – 30,170); of which 64% or 18,186 (16,538 – 19,833) was in rivers and 36% or 10,087 (8,681 – 11,492) in dams.
The retained catch (numbers) of Marron by licensed fishers in 2024 was 82,435 individuals (95%CI 74,680 – 90,191); of which 67% or 54,825 (48,211 – 61,438) was caught in rivers and 33% or 27,611 (22,394 – 32,828) in dams. The released catch (numbers) of Marron by licensed fishers in 2024 was 102,461 individuals (95%CI 91,244 – 113,678); of which 62% or 63,244 (53,705 – 72,782) was released in rivers and 38% or 39,217 (32,075 – 46,360) in dams. The overall release rate in 2024 was 55%.
Although the retained catch has fluctuated across years, the catch range (defined by the 95% confidence intervals for the retained catch) has been within the acceptable catch range of 50,000 – 100,000 since 2003. Therefore, the Recreational Marron Fishery is currently deemed sustainable.
Ongoing monitoring and management of the Recreational Marron Fishery is required to ensure it continues to be sustainable in an era of changing environmental conditions. A key part of this is ensuring that the annual online-recall surveys continue to provide information at scales appropriate to support management decisions
Western Australian soil groups - a diagnostic key to identify soils in Western Australia (5th edition)
No full textThe aim of the Western Australian soil groups (WA soil groups) is to classify soils of Western Australia into a limited set using criteria that are easy to recognise in the field. It is a general-purpose classification with a focus on agronomic and rangeland grazing potential. The WA soil groups are designed for WA needs. It complements the Australian Soil Classification (ASC) by grouping the continuum of soils into a limited set of soil types, which simplifies soil variability for generalists, allows soil surveyors to create standardised soil-type legends for mapping products and permits further analyses of spatial data for land evaluation. The WA soil groups are each assigned a ‘closest matching ASC’ in the WA digital soil information system to introduce a generalist audience to the official Australian soil classification without needing to understand technical details.
This report documents the WA soil groups and the procedure used to classify them, and provides: a method to identify soils using soil morphology information from field investigations standardised common names for soils of WA a standardised and definitive classification for statewide soil observations and soil mapping data.
Central to this report is a diagnostic key to distinguish profiles into one of 12 soil supergroups and then into one of 155 soil groups. The key is an instruction set that must be followed sequentially, from the top down. Soil features that act as classification criteria in the key are stratified by fixed depth increments deemed important to the growth of annual and perennial crop roots. These criteria are explicit, being either present, absent or not diagnostic. Each criterion within the key is explicitly defined to help with classification. The combination of soil features present or absent makes the key definitive – every adequately described soil can be classified and named.
This fifth edition includes major changes and extra detail. The suite of classes available now encompass the complete range of soils found throughout WA. Previous editions listed common soils relevant for the rain-fed and irrigated agricultural land in the south-west without explicitly defining all aspects of their morphology. The addition of numerous calcareous soils and shallow soils broadens the utility of the classification to rangelands and the arid interior. The expansion of classes of ironstone gravel soils better distinguishes these soils across south-west WA. Changes in this edition improve alignment with the ASC.
An accompanying report (Resource management technical report 430) is being prepared to assist users of the diagnostic key by providing additional information to cross-reference the soil identification using visual aids, descriptive text, location maps and soil management information