Feeding and breeding: Rainfall effects on connectivity and fidelity of iconic coastal fishes

Funding: 2010: $27,222
2011: $37,222
2012: $37,222
2015: $16,851

Project Member(s): Booth, D.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC Linkage Projects)

Start year: 2010

Summary: Large predatory fish are of great significance to recreational anglers, not only for their trophy status but also for their disproportional fecundity and contribution to future fishing. Remarkably, the distribution and movements of large estuarine fish in estuaries and the coastal ocean are unknown, despite their importance to the national economy. We will determine the role of freshwater discharge and oceanography on the coastal and estuarine habitat requirements, movements and home ranges of mulloway, flathead and bream from the scale of hours to years, and extend these findings to evaluate population sub structuring and connectivity in the context of a changing climate.

Keywords: Acoustic tracking; otolith microchemistry; habitat fidelity; fish migration; fish ecology; estuarine landscape

FOR Codes: Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity, Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology), Marine biodiversity

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.