Optimizing the management of tropical reef fish through the development of an integrative approach

This project is funded by the Australian Government through the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation to work on the stock structure of commercially exploited coastal reef fish. This is a collaborative project involving Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland governments, Charles Darwin University and RIEL, NAMRA, Molecular Fisheries Laboratory (University of Queensland, Brisbane), C2O Fisheries and the Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture. In this project, Dr Taillebois looked at the genetic structure of the species of interest using analytical tools for the de novo discovery and development of microsatellite markers, genotyping and downstream population genetics analysis. Those genetic results were combined to other parasites and otolith data to assess stock structure in these commercially exploited fish. This work will provide guidance to fisheries managers and policy makers.