scholarly journals Plastic Ingestion in Sardines (Sardinops sagax) From Frenchman Bay, Western Australia, Highlights a Problem in a Ubiquitous Fish

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Crutchett ◽  
Harriet Paterson ◽  
Benjamin M. Ford ◽  
Peter Speldewinde
1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 617 ◽  
Author(s):  
WJ Fletcher ◽  
SJ Blight

Otoliths (sagittae) of the pilchard (Sardinops sagax neopilchardus) from the Albany region of Western Australia were examined on a monthly basis during 1989 to 1991. When read consecutively, with the month of capture known, a clear annual cycle of an increase in marginal increments to October followed by a decline was recorded. This pattern was, however, severely distorted when samples were re-examined after having been jumbled and the month of capture concealed. Younger age groups (≤3) showed evidence of multiple rings being formed annually, but not in all years or individuals, and this was not evident in older individuals (≥4). Agreement between readings was low (43-53%), especially between different readers. Resultant growth curves showed that males grow to a smaller size (L∞ =164, K = 0.805, Φ = 1.03) than females (L∞ = 174, K = 0.584, Φ= 0.95). Agreement between counts of annuli and ages estimated by using otolith weight and length was only 54% for all individuals, but increased to 76% for individuals assigned the same age by different readers. Given the poorer predictions of future catch rates from the relative number of 2-year-olds in the commercial catch using annuli (implying lower accuracy) and increased complexity in preparation, otolith weights will be the method adopted for future ageing.


1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 819 ◽  
Author(s):  
WJ Fletcher ◽  
NCH Lo ◽  
EA Hayes ◽  
RJ Tregonning ◽  
SJ Blight

The daily egg production method was used to estimate the spawning biomass of the sardine Sardinops sagax in the Albany region of Western Australia. Plankton surveys covering 10000 - 14000 km² were completed in July of 1991 and 1992 in three to five days using up to three boats. Adult sardines were obtained from the local purse-seine fleet. The spawning area was similar in both years at approximately 3800 km² (1100 nmile²), but the number of eggs collected was larger in 1991 with egg production values of 6.5 per 0.05 m2 day-1 compared with 3.9 per 0.05 m2 day-1 in 1992. The average batch fecundity values were similar (approximately 11000 eggs female-1) as were the proportions spawning (0.13 in 1991; 0.09 in 1992). The calculated biomass estimates were 23 121 t (CV = 0.51) and 16 121 t (CV = 0.44) in 1991 and 1992 respectively.


1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1437 ◽  
Author(s):  
WJ Fletcher ◽  
RJ Tregonning

The pattern of abundance of eggs and larvae of the Australian pilchard, Sardinops sagax neopilchardus, collected by plankton tows in the region off Albany, Western Australia, was investigated. In 1989, surface tows were undertaken at five localities extending from the marine embayment of Princess Royal Harbour to the continental shelf just outside King George Sound. In 1990, oblique tows were undertaken at six localities extending from just inside King George Sound to beyond the edge of the continental shelf. Eggs and larvae of pilchards were found in many months, but peaks in egg numbers were found in July and December of both 1989 and 1990. There was, however, only one peak in larva abundance, during December. Most eggs and larvae were found in the region 2-8 km offshore from the entrance to King George Sound. Few were found either well inside King George Sound and Princess Royal Harbour or in outer-shelf localities. Spawning in the Albany region therefore occurred inshore of the main influence of the eastward-flowing tropical waters of the Leeuwin Current. The implications of this spawning activity in relation to the fishery for this species and the potential for stock separation along this coast are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 646 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
RE Scheibling ◽  
R Black

Population dynamics and life history traits of the ‘giant’ limpet Scutellastra laticostata on intertidal limestone platforms at Rottnest Island, Western Australia, were recorded by interannual (January/February) monitoring of limpet density and size structure, and relocation of marked individuals, at 3 locations over periods of 13-16 yr between 1993 and 2020. Limpet densities ranged from 4 to 9 ind. m-2 on wave-swept seaward margins of platforms at 2 locations and on a rocky notch at the landward margin of the platform at a third. Juvenile recruits (25-55 mm shell length) were present each year, usually at low densities (<1 m-2), but localized pulses of recruitment occurred in some years. Annual survival rates of marked limpets varied among sites and cohorts, ranging from 0.42 yr-1 at the notch to 0.79 and 0.87 yr-1 on the platforms. A mass mortality of limpets on the platforms occurred in 2003, likely mediated by thermal stress during daytime low tides, coincident with high air temperatures and calm seas. Juveniles grew rapidly to adult size within 2 yr. Asymptotic size (L∞, von Bertalanffy growth model) ranged from 89 to 97 mm, and maximum size from 100 to 113 mm, on platforms. Growth rate and maximum size were lower on the notch. Our empirical observations and simulation models suggest that these populations are relatively stable on a decadal time scale. The frequency and magnitude of recruitment pulses and high rate of adult survival provide considerable inertia, enabling persistence of these populations in the face of sporadic climatic extremes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-203
Author(s):  
Roy Jones ◽  
Tod Jones

In the speech in which the phrase ‘land fit for heroes’ was coined, Lloyd George proclaimed ‘(l)et us make victory the motive power to link the old land up in such measure that it will be nearer the sunshine than ever before … it will lift those who have been living in the dark places to a plateau where they will get the rays of the sun’. This speech conflated the issues of the ‘debt of honour’ and the provision of land to those who had served. These ideals had ramifications throughout the British Empire. Here we proffer two Antipodean examples: the national Soldier Settlement Scheme in New Zealand and the Imperial Group Settlement of British migrants in Western Australia and, specifically, the fate and the legacy of a Group of Gaelic speaking Outer Hebrideans who relocated to a site which is now in the outer fringes of metropolitan Perth.


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