Selective fishing and its impacts on growth of sand flathead

Supervisory Team:

• A/Prof Chris Brown
• Dr Alyssa Marshell

Brief project description:

Southern sand flathead are an important species for recreational fishers in Tasmania, but have recently been classified as depleted. Evidence from long-term data suggests flathead growth rates are slowing. In this project you will analyse long-term fisheries monitoring data to identify the trend in flathead growth rates and study the cause of slowing growth. You will then apply this information to develop population models that account for variation in flathead growth, and use these to study the implications of changing growth for fishery management. This project will require use of the R program. Training in the R program will be provided during the project, but applicants should be enthusiastic about learning statistical analysis techniques and their application to fishery management.

Skills students will develop during this research project:

Research communication to policy makers, fisheries science, data analysis and modelling.