PhD Position, Australian Seafood CRC : Molecular assessment of spawning cues in temperate abalone, Flinders University, Australia

June 11, 2010

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In collaboration with Flinders University, SARDI Aquatic Sciences and the University of South Australia, the Australian Seafood CRC invite applications for a PhD top-up scholarship to complete research on product-quality-based harvest strategies designed to increase the profitability of greenlip abalone.

Greenlip abalone support valuable wild-harvest fisheries, primarily in SA, Tas and WA. The

largest of these is in SA, where the greenlip abalone TACC is ~390 t.yr-1. Increasing the volume of “premium” greenlip abalone product to the market will enhance market share and product image, and increase the current profitability of the fishery. This is due to the large beach price difference (up to $10.kg-1) between “premium” and “non-premium” greenlip abalone, which is important in the current economic climate that includes a strong Australian Dollar and rising harvest costs.

Current knowledge on appropriate quality characteristics and measures, along with the cost and potential value of spatial and temporal variability in quality, is not well understood.

Similarly, approaches to exploit this variation through targeted harvest strategies to improve product quality and consistency, and increase profitability are not well developed.

Consequently, this project is focussed around understanding and predicting spatial and temporal variation in quality, and to use this information to develop harvest strategies .The objectives of the project are: 1. Document current knowledge and perceptions of spatialand temporal variation in greenlip abalone product quality characteristics; 2. Identify a suite of measures for industry-based indexing of greenlip abalone product quality traits;

3. Determine the range of variation, and associated scale of spatial and temporal variability, in greenlip abalone product quality characteristics from wild populations;

4. Model and evaluate the profitability, practicality and predictability of harvest strategies that maximise product quality attributes; and 5. Test effectiveness of current freezing technology usingmeasures identified in Objective

2. This scholarship will provide an indexed, tax-free, PhD top-up of $6,500 pa for up to three

years, subject to satisfactory progress. If the successful applicant is an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or Australian Permanent Resident, they will receive a Research Training Scheme place, which provides an exemption from tuition fees. The scholarship has an additional operating budget of $22 000 per year for 3 years and $300 towards thesis binding in the 3rd year. A further $1 000 per year is also available for defined mentor activities to be approved by the CRC. As a Seafood CRC student the successful candidate will be fully engaged in the CRC PhD program which will support the development of the student as a scientist in a number of innovative ways through annual workshops and mentoring programs.

This scholarship will only be available to those who: are in receipt of or will be in receipt of a base rate scholarship at Flinders University such as an APA, FURS or FSERA; have completed at least four years of tertiary education studies at a high level of achievement and have an appropriate Honours 1 or high 2A (or equivalent) undergraduate degree; and are enrolled as full-time students in a PhD by 1 September 2010.

For further information:

Scholarship Tags: abalone, assessment, Australia, Australian, CRC, cues, Flinders, Molecular, PhD, Position, Seafood, spawning, temperate, University