IMAS fisheries research now has a digital home, with the launch of a new website reporting the health of Tasmania’s fish stocks and the research used to underpin the Government’s management decisions.
The Tasmanian Wild Fisheries Assessments website presents information on over 30 assessed fisheries, including scalefish, Southern Rock Lobster, Blacklip and Greenlip Abalone, Southern Calamari, Longspined Sea Urchins and Commercial Scallops. Historically, these assessments have only been accessible separately and were updated infrequently, limiting their accessibility to the Tasmanian community.
“There are species-specific webpages outlining our research and how it informs the government’s management of marine resources, thus ensuring the long-term 
sustainability of our fisheries,” IMAS researcher and website project manager Dr Karlie McDonald said.
“This includes information on stock status, fishery background, commercial and recreational catch, modelling, biology, ecosystem impacts, socio-economic indicators and research that supports current management measures.
“Users can also easily access and deep dive into interactive graphs and maps of catch data around Tasmania at different locations and times and can download data from our graphs and analyses.”
Dr McDonald said increasing transparency around data and methods used in fisheries stock assessments was a major consideration during the website’s development.
“The website makes our fisheries assessment information, and the data informing them, quickly available and caters to the needs
of a much broader audience in the community, including commercial and recreational fishers, consumers interested in stock sustainability, scientists and students,” she said.
“This also allows our fisheries scientists to build closer relationships with fishers, government resource managers, the community and everyone with an interest in Tasmanian fisheries.”
Fisheries information will be continuously added to keep the website updated and diverse.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania provided funding for this project through the Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration Agreement between the Tasmanian Government and the University of Tasmania.
 |  |
|---|
Images:
Published 21 July 2023
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Phone: +61 3 6226 6379
ABN: 30 764 374 782 CRICOS Provider Code: 00586B