The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) welcomes the defence of Australia's fisheries record in a paper authored by prominent fisheries scientists.
The paper upholds the assessments of fish stock health published bi-yearly in the Status of Australian Fish Stocks Reports , and contributed to by more than 100 of Australia's fisheries scientists. Australia's fisheries are internationally regarded as some of the healthiest and best managed in the world, underpinned by robust and independent science.
The FRDC's Managing Director, Dr Patrick Hone, said it is pleasing to see the scientific process working. Researchers defending the integrity of Australian fisheries science, by critically analysing research that was clearly deficient.
The paper, published in the Journal of Aquatic Conservations, Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2992 refutes the claims made by Edgar et al. in the scientific paper Rapid declines across Australian fishery stocks indicate global sustainability targets will not be achieved without an expanded network of 'no‐fishing' reserves.
Initial study lacked scientific rigor
