Dr Phil Crosbie (post-doc)
(Supervisor Associate Professor Barbara Nowak).

Researchers are looking at preventing and reducing the incidence of disease in fish grown on farms which has two benefits – to increase growth rates and to increase the quality of the fish. This unique fish vaccine testing facility at UTAS allows safe research to be carried out on infected fish.

Ms Robin Katersky (PhD student), Dr Ryan Wilkinson (post doc)
(Supervisor Professor Chris Carter)

Most people love eating fish. But have you ever thought that what fish dine on can effect you? Frmed fish are an important part of our diets and it is vital we feed fish efficiently to have the best product for us to buy in the supermarket. Fish meal in fish diets is expensive and researchers are testing replacement Australian grown ingredients to optimise the quality of farmed fish. Ryan is researching the use of lights to extend day length tricking fish into thinking its spring so they improve growth.

Alistair Hobday
Marine Biologist

It can be hard enough catching a fish at times, let alone getting a tag into it while it’s flipping around. Lucky for marine biologist Alistair Hobday, he’s an expert at grabbing tuna and getting them to do what he wants! Alistair’s research is about understanding migration paths, which is vital for stock dynamics and estimating local population sizes. Alistair’s work with tuna involves studies into the movement and migration of juvenile southern bluefin tuna. It requires him to mark animals with acoustic tags. Each tag has a unique code and is then implanted in the fish. The tags last around a year. Alistair then detects the tagged tuna with acoustic receivers over a six- month period.

"Hot and chilly krill-temperature effects on growth and reproduction of krill"
Matthew Brown
IASOS PhD Candidate

What grows quicker, a chilly krill or a warm one? Matthew Brown is on the case to find out! Matt is a krill biologist and he is researching the temperature effects of growth and reproduction of Antarctic Krill that were collected from the Southern Ocean this time last year. He is currently undertaking a long-term experiment over a year with krill in tanks to understand the effect of varying temperatures on their growth.

Matt has been working on krill for the past two and a half years. For more information please visit the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies IASOS.

Heidi Auman: Zoology
Project title: Effects of anthropogenic food sources on the body condition, blood chemistry and stable-isotopes in Tasmanian Silver gulls (Doctorate)
BSc ( Alma College ), MSc ( Michigan State Uni)
Postgraduate
Location: Hobart Campus, Life Sciences Building

Ever been feeding seagulls chips at the wharf and thought "should seagulls eat junk food?" Ornithologist Heidi Auman has compared Hobart seagulls with those on Bass Strait islands which feed on a natural diet of insects, crustaceans and berries.

She says like humans, the result is a good advertisement for a more natural diet, with our local gulls showing higher cholesterol, higher glucose in their blood and weighing more than birds from the Flinders Island control group.

Heidi has been working on human impacts on seabirds worldwide for almost 20 years.

Professor Gustaav Hallegraeff :Plant science
For Gustaav's current and supervised projects, as well as past work, visit his School of Plant Science webpage (also has links to his Harmful Algal Blooms Research group) PhD ( Amsterdam ) DSc (Tas)
Location: Hobart Campus, Life Sciences Building

Imagine if every jet landing in Australia dumped a cargo of animals from its homeland: rabbits, rats, cockroaches. That's what used to happen when ships arrived in Australia . They discharged their ballast water, releasing foreign marine plants and animals into our coastal waters.

The introduction of these foreign creatures can have a devastating impact on marine environments. Fifteen years ago, Tasmanian shellfish farms were being closed due to toxins that could cause human paralysis. Professor Gustaaf Hallegraeff showed that the cause was toxic algae from ballast water discharged at a woodchip port. His warning call was heeded and the government introduced shipping guidelines.

Gustaaf has been working on ballast water topics for 20 years. Further information available here.

Dr George Jackson: IASOS
Project title: Tracking squids from embryos to adults - novel approaches and new directions
(ARC) (Staff BSc Hons, PhD (JCU) Senior Lecturer
Location: Hobart Campus, Centenary Building , 214

Squid. They live fast, and die young, according to Dr George Jackson.

George is looking at how squid are affected by their environment, by looking at data that aims to help manage Australia 's squid fishery. George is using a $261,000 grant from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation to undertake a program of environmental squid modelling.

Because squid “live fast and die young” they can be used as an ecosystem indicator.

George's team will use satellite image data to compare oceanographic activity with the arrow squid's growth and reproduction.

“We're hopeful that this study will give us tools that we can use to predict squid population for squid fisheries management in the future,” George says.

George is an expert on squid and has been researching them for many years.

Dr Arthur Ritar: TAFI
Project title: Microbial control in the culture of southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) phyllosoma (Doctorate) Location: Hobart Campus, Marine Research Laboratories, Taroona

Ever wondered why lobster is so expensive? They're difficult to farm, so it's hard to get hold of them. Southern rock lobster is a premium seafood delicacy. But there is an unmet high demand for this lucrative product. So the farming of lobsters is being attempted in Tasmania and around the world. Progress has been made towards creating an efficient method of capturing the larvae called pueruli from the wild for on-growing. Commercial collectors were developed that were lightweight and easily deployed and coastal areas were looked at.

Arthur has been working on lobster aquaculture for ten years.

Dr Jeremy Lyle : TAFI
Project title: Maximising post-release survival of line caught flathead (FRDC) (Staff)
Location: Hobart Campus, Marine Research Laboratories, Taroona

If you catch a flathead and throw it back, is it going to swim away or go belly up?

Dr Jeremy Lyle heads the Scalefish and Recreational Fishery Research group at TAFI. A recently completed project focused on the post-release survival of flatheads. Flathead are one of the easiest fish to catch, and are caught in massive numbers by recreational fishers, many of which are release fish. Jeremy and his group have examined factors that influence post-release survival rates of flathead and how to ensure more fish stay alive after they're released.

Jeremy has been working on the flathead research for about a year, and has worked on recreational fisheries research for about ten years.  

Sean Tracey: TAFI
Project title: Tracking squids from embryos to adults - novel approaches and new directions (ARC) (Staff)
BAppSci (Fisheries) AMC
Technical Officer
Location: Hobart Campus, Marine Research Laboratories, Taroona

Squid are slippery…how do you keep track of them? By tagging and monitoring them.

Biological traits of southern calamary make it susceptible to overfishing. Research by Sean Tracey and group is looking into protecting spawning squid by means of tagging and monitoring them. An increase in catching has led to more pressure on the southern calamary population.