Australia's Northern Territory Seafood Council (NTSC) will conduct a scientific voyage on board a commercial barramundi fishing vessel that will depart Darwin later this week, heading to Arnhem and Buckingham Bay with the aim to tag adult sawfish.
Personnel from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) will charter the commercial barramundi vessel North Islander with experienced commercial fishers, crew, and scientists to undertake the tagging, said Northern Territory Seafood Council CEO Katherine Winchester.
The operation is outside the commercial barramundi fishing season in the region.
Winchester said the researchers used the combination of existing information alongside the knowledge captured in interviews with professional fishers to aid in identifying regions that would best suit the trip for environmental monitoring, to safely capture, release, and satellite tag up to six adult sawfish.
Any sawfish that are not large enough for the tags that are caught in the commercial gillnet, will be safely released following the collection of important data such as measurement, gender, and a small genetic sample for DNA analysis.
Dr Vinay Udyawer, research scientist at AIMS, said the tagged sawfish data will be collected and used to better understand the movements of the species, including their use of near-and-offshore habitats. This will aid in the overall understanding of these protected and endangered species and can assist in developing improved management.
Dr Udyawer said sawfish species have been prioritised for protection and there is a lack of information on adult movements. He expects tagging six adult Green or Largetooth sawfish will fill any gaps of knowledge.
The objective of the project is to tap into the knowledge of professional fishers' to inform research and management of sawfish and river sharks The project focuses on fishing grounds of northern Australia, including areas in and adjacent to the North Network of Australian Marine Parks.
This project is a partnership involving NTSC, AIMS, the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University (CDU), and Parks Australia.
The project received funding from the Australian Government through the Our Marine Parks Grant scheme.
