Commercial scale invertebrate fisheries enhancement in Australia: Experiences, challenges and opportunities

Seascape genomics reveals adaptive divergence in a connected and commercially important mollusc, the greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata), along a longitudinal environmental gradient

“…These findings were recently utilized in two ways by the Western Australian government: first, in a successful application for MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification of its greenlip abalone fishery (Hart et al., ), and secondly in its aquaculture management policies (DoF ). The greenlip abalone fishery in Western Australia is in a unique developmental trajectory as it is slowly evolving from a “pure wild harvest” fishery to an integrated enhancement fishery, in which the catch is comprised of both wild and aquaculture products (Hart, ). The MSC accreditation process recognizes that the use of juveniles from aquaculture facilities in sea ranching and the sea ranching process per se, implicates a genetic risk to wild greenlip abalone populations (Laikre, Schwartz, Waples, & Ryman, ).…”

“…It is found in patches of suitable habitat forming relatively large populations that occupy hundreds of square metres with highly variable densities (e.g., 1-10 individuals per m 2 ; Mellin, Russell, Connell, Brook, & Fordham, 2012;Hart, Fabris, Strain et al, 2013). The high economic importance and a decline in fisheries abundance for greenlip abalone have raised interest in the development of restocking and stock enhancement programmes for the species (Hart, 2015). In southeastern Australia, neutral genetic data indicate that the species comprises metapopulations that, despite showing self-recruitment, are connected by larval dispersal across hundreds of kilometres in a stepping-stone model of isolation by distance (Miller, Mundy, & Mayfield, 2014).…”