NESP MaC Project 4.18 – Indigenous Ranger-led monitoring of threatened sawfish in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria 2024-2026 (CSIRO & CLCAC)

Research Project

Researchers: Booth, Simon, Mr (Principal investigator) ,  Pillans, Richard, Dr (Principal investigator) ,  eAtlas Data Manager (Point of contact)

Brief description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project Indigenous Ranger-led monitoring of threatened sawfish in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. This project will partner scientists with First Nations Ranger groups to assess population abundance, distribution and by-catch survival for sawfish species in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. This project will develop capability in First Nations Ranger Groups that will directly assist with developing baseline status and trends for sawfish species in Australia (including the largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis, which is a priority species: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/threatened-species-action-plan-2022-2032.pdf). Developing sampling and monitoring capability within First Nations Ranger groups in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria will increase the number of tissue samples for close kin mark recapture (CKMR) population estimates, potentially reducing the present reliance on the fishing industry to collect samples, and ultimately enable sawfish population trajectories to be measured. The CSIRO project team will facilitate capacity building of four Ranger teams within the CLCAC Normanton, Gangaliida and Garawa (Burketown), Wellesley Islands and Ngumari Waanyi (Gregory) to undertake sawfish surveys in the Southern Gulf. The training will build the skills of the Rangers to undertake sawfish surveys to collect tissue samples, distribution data and satellite tagging on CLCAC sea country. Tissue samples collected will contribute directly to the current NESP Sawfish project 3.11 “Multi-fishery collaboration to assess population abundances and post-release survival of threatened sawfish in northern Australia”, which is focused on working with the commercial fishing industry. These samples will be used to obtain baseline estimates of sawfish population status required to monitor population trends. Planned Outputs • Catch data from research surveys and/or indigenous ranger programs (Tabular data) • Tissue samples collected by research and or indigenous ranger programs • Final technical report with analysed data and a short summary of recommendations for policy makers of key findings [written]

Notes Credit
{Team members: Richard Pillans (CSIRO), Simon Booth (CLCAC), Russel Bradford (CSIRO), Toby Patterson (CSIRO), Mark Hogno (CLCAC)}

Notes Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Notes Credit
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government

Notes Credit
In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Notes Purpose
• Build trust between research and the fishing Industry in Northern Australia with respect to the bycatch and management of interactions with threatened species. • Improved reporting of sawfish (and other TEPS) within northern Australian gillnet and trawl fisheries • Industry-led tissue sampling and data collection that will enable population structure and adult abundance of all four Australian sawfish species to be determined in populations where sufficient tissue samples are collected. • Post-release survival estimates of sawfish captured as bycatch in commercial gillnet and trawl fisheries. • Estimate the sustainability of sawfish bycatch and provide industry and managers with the data required to make decisions on acceptable levels of bycatch.

Data time period: 2024-02-01 to 2026-12-11

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139.67901443096,-15.670945439785