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This project has successfully developed a range of scripts and procedures to automate FRDC Final Report 2006/029 Page 5 the processing of raw spatial data, to provide spatial performance measures useful for abalone fisheries assessment. Importantly, the data that can be obtained using GPS and depth data loggers is highly quantitative, and not subject to bias of any kind. It is also a low cost system, with the cost of GPS and depth logger expected to reduce to around $700 per diver. The data, logger management and preliminary analysis tasks for the Tasmanian fishery should be achievable by a single full time Technical Officer. The GPS and depth logger has minimal impact on the catching sector operations, with the exception of remembering to turn the GPS logger on and off, and recharging the GPS. This project has also developed and established a multi-purpose RDBMS that can a) maintain a register of loggers and fishers using unique identifiers, b) manage the deployment of loggers to individual fishers, and c) provide an upload portal to a secure database in SQL Server 2008. The tools developed have intentionally utilised the capacity of free and open source software (FOSS), such that uptake of the concept is not limited by the financial cost required if they were developed entirely within more commonly used but corporate RBDMSs such as Oracle (with Oracle Spatial), or corporate GIS software such as ESRI’s ArcGIS. This project has established the logic process behind the use of an objective fisherydependent data collection program focusing on acquiring spatial data of fishing events. Spatial methods of this type have not previously been applied to small vessel fisheries. While there has been some spatial analysis of VMS derived fishery dependent data to date, such analyses are limited by the low temporal resolution of sampling. The advantage of the system outlined here is that it is designed specifically for the needs of fishery assessment, rather than for compliance. The development of these methods facilitate the use of low-cost spatial performance measures to assess abalone dive fisheries at one tenth the cost of a fisherydependent density estimation program to achieve similar management outcomes. In addition to activities in Tasmania, the project has also provided an extension service to New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, that has included provision of the AbTrack RBDMS, SQL Server 2008 SQL and R scripts, and training.

Item Type:	Government or Industry Research
Keywords:	Spatial Management, Spatial Analysis, GPS, Data logger, Abalone, Fishery dependent data
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Ecology
Research Field:	Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
Objective Division:	Animal Production and Animal Primary Products
Objective Group:	Fisheries - wild caught
Objective Field:	Fisheries - wild caught not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Mundy, CN (Dr Craig Mundy)
ID Code:	81136
Year Published:	2012
Deposited By:	Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration
Deposited On:	2012-11-23
Last Modified:	2014-10-29
Downloads:	524 View Download Statistics