Leslie Amlwch Roberson- Doctor of Philosophy
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland
Leslie Amlwch Roberson
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland
working on bycatch & sustainable seafood
About
29
Publications
13,260
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389
Citations
Current institution
Additional affiliations
January 2013 - June 2016
Education
April 2017 - April 2021
February 2013 - December 2014
August 2007 - May 2011
Publications
Publications (29)
The environmental and social sustainability of seafood is jeopardized by rampant illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Regulations implemented by fishing countries and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations are insufficient to combat illegal fishing; complementary efforts from the consumer end of the supply chain are essential. Despite...
Effective management of shark bycatch is urgently needed to reverse widespread population declines, especially in longline fisheries that are estimated to be responsible for half of global shark catch. Management of shark catch typically focuses on the safe release of landed sharks, with limited attention to reducing the initial catch. Where contro...
Dependence on seafood imports is growing for many nations, effectively exporting the environmental and social impacts from consuming nations to producers. While countries have commitments to national regulations and global sustainability targets, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, sustainability standards for imported seafood...
The protection and regulation of international trade of Australia’s native species is legislated by its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. In response to overwhelming evidence that the Act is ineffective at protecting biodiversity, the Australian Government is currently reforming its environmental laws. One problemati...
Context
Seafood is a nutritious source of protein. However, seafood production can have perverse environmental impacts. Seafood sustainability differs depending on species, origin, and production or fishing method. Australian consumers seeking sustainable seafood rely on independent sustainability guides and detailed labels at point of sale.
Aims...
Bycatch, or the incidental capture in fishing gears, is the most significant threat to marine megafauna in the world's oceans. It is currently the main driver of the decline and extirpation of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in many regions around the globe, both in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems. However, the magnitude of bycatch rem...
By-catch is the most significant direct threat marine megafauna face at the global scale. However, the magnitude and spatial patterns of megafauna by-catch are still poorly understood, especially in regions with very limited monitoring and expanding fisheries. The Indian Ocean is a globally important region for megafauna biodiversity and for tuna f...
Fisheries bycatch continues to drive the decline of many threatened marine species such as seabirds, sharks, marine mammals and sea turtles. Management frameworks typically address incidental catch with fleet-level controls on fishing. Yet, individual operators differ in their fishing practices and efficiency at catching fish. If operators have dif...
Management of the land–sea interface is essential for global conservation and sustainability objectives because coastal regions maintain natural processes that support biodiversity and the livelihood of billions of people. However, assessments of coastal regions have focused strictly on either the terrestrial or marine realm. Consequently, understa...
The availability of relatively cheap, high-resolution digital cameras has led to an exponential increase in the capture of natural environments and their inhabitants. Video-based surveys are particularly useful in the underwater domain where observation by humans can be expensive, dangerous, inaccessible, or destructive to the natural environment....
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the world's most biodiverse regions, but this diversity is threatened by the overexploitation of natural resources and internal social conflicts. In 2018, 33 LAC countries were invited to sign and ratify the landmark Escazú Agreement, which is the first legally binding environmental agreement to expli...
Marine species are declining at an unprecedented rate, catalyzing many nations to adopt conservation and management targets within their jurisdictions. However, marine species and the biophysical processes that sustain them are naive to international borders. An understanding of the prevalence of cross-border species distributions is important for...
Fisheries bycatch continues to drive the decline of many threatened marine species such as seabirds, sharks, marine mammals, and sea turtles. Management frameworks typically address bycatch with fleet-level controls on fishing. Yet, individual operators differ in their fishing practices and efficiency at catching fish. If operators have differing a...
Management of the land-sea interface is considered essential for global conservation and sustainability objectives, as coastal regions maintain natural processes that support biodiversity and the livelihood of billions of people. However, assessments of coastal regions have focused on either strictly the terrestrial or marine realm, and as a conseq...
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, but this diversity is threatened by the overexploitation of natural resources and internal social conflicts. In 2018, 33 LAC countries were invited to sign and ratify the landmark Escazú Agreement, which is the first legally binding environmental agreement to expli...
Industrial-scale harvest of species at risk of extinction is controversial and usually highly regulated on land and for charismatic marine animals (e.g. whales). In contrast, threatened marine fish species can be legally caught in industrial fisheries. To determine the magnitude and extent of this problem, we analyze global fisheries catch and impo...
Marine species are declining at an unprecedented rate, catalyzing many nations to adopt conservation and management targets within their jurisdictions. However, marine species are naive to international borders and an understanding of cross-border species distributions is important for informing high-level conservation strategies, such as bilateral...
Substantial resources are invested in conservation of marine biodiversity globally. Fishing is the primary threat to many marine species and is one we can manage. However, threatened marine species are legally caught in industrial fisheries. To determine the magnitude and extent of this problem, we analysed global fisheries catch and import data an...
Submission to Australia's Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act from Members of the Centre for Marine Science at the University of Queensland
Article impact statement: Urgent gaps in global fisheries monitoring can be addressed with more strategic use of government funds and regional assistance programs.
Inadequate information on the geographical distribution of biodiversity hampers decision-making for conservation. Major efforts are underway to fill knowledge gaps, but there are increasing concerns that publishing the locations of species is dangerous, particularly for species at risk of exploitation. While we recognize that well-informed control...
Systematic conservation planning (SCP) to design marine protected areas (MPAs) has traditionally focused on species distributions or benthic habitat features that drive the determination of conservation priorities. Pelagic ecosystem protection is usually incidental because these ecosystems are often data-poor and are difficult to visualize in a pla...
The first assessment of the baited remote underwater video system (BRUVs) for monitoring rock lobster Jasus lalandii (Milne-Edwards) in South Africa was compared to annual ring net and trap survey data. Count data from 58 BRUVs, 36 ring net and 95 trap samples were fitted with generalised additive models using depth, habitat, time and spatial gradi...
This first survey of fish in the Betty's Bay Marine Protected Area (MPA), on the south coast of South Africa, was conducted using baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs). A total of 58 deployments recorded 42 species in 20 km2, including reef, kelp and sand habitats in protected and exploited zones, at between 5 and 40 m depth. Chondrichthya...
Questions
Question (1)
In partnership with the Marine Megafauna Foundation's Sustainable Seas project in Tofo, Mozambique, I am planning a rapid bycatch assessment for Tofo and 12 nearby villages. The main species of concern are mantas and whalesharks, but sea turtles and cetaceans are likely impacted as well. Looking for anyone with practical advice on rapid bycatch assessments, particularly in small-scale, data-poor fisheries with poor organization and governance.
I've found example surveys in Alfaro-shigueto, J. et al. 2018 (Untangling the impacts of nets in the southeastern Pacific: Rapid assessment of marine turtle bycatch to set conservation priorities in small-scale fisheries) and Moore, J.E. et al. 2010 (An interview-based approach to assess marine mammal and sea turtle captures in artisanal fisheries) - are there other good examples?
Our objectives are 1) get baseline data on the magnitude of the bycatch problem and 2) identify priority gear types and geographic areas to focus mitigation efforts.
Surveys will be conducted by foreign volunteers and Mozambican staff, but we aren't counting on assistance from the fisheries department.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
