HDR Scholarship - Investigating abalone populations of south west Victoria

Location

Warrnambool Campus

Research topic

Abalone is one of the most important fisheries in South West Victoria, with most of the catch’s each year, exported to markets overseas. Abalone licenses are valued in excess of $6 million (AUD), and in the 2016/17 fishing season, $162 million worth of rock lobster and abalone was exported from Victoria (VFA) to overseas markets.

This research will focus on the short, medium, and long-term economic potential of the abalone fishery of south west Victoria and incorporate anthropological perspectives on the social costs and benefits of the fishery, as well as perspectives of its economic costs and benefits. Further, scientific methods will be applied to support a continued sustainable abalone harvest.

The project will attempt to present an historic, a current, and an estimated future evaluation of the size, abundance and distribution of the abalone fishery of South Western Victoria, through an anthropological, economic, and scientific lens. Such a holistic approach has not previously been attempted. This research will address the interrelated environmental, economic and social issues associated with the long-term sustainable productivity and profitability of harvesting this species.

Project aim

This project aims to incorporate analytical summary perspectives that have as yet not been considered inclusively or collectively in the abalone fishery of South West Victoria Australia. We will attempt to included perspectives of the social and economic costs and benefits of the fishery, its continued productivity, its profitability and sustainability, in an effort to provide an original, multi-disciplinary summary perspective.

Important dates

Applications close 5pm, Thursday 31 December 2020

Benefits

This scholarship is available over 3 years.

Stipend of $28,092 per annum tax exempt (2020 rate)
Relocation allowance of $500 - $1500 (for single to family) for students moving from interstate or overseas

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible you must:

be a domestic candidate (domestic includes candidates with Australian Citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency or New Zealand Citizenship).
meet Deakin's PhD entry requirements
be enrolling full time and hold an honours degree (first class) or an equivalent standard master's degree with a substantial research component.

Please refer to the research degree entry pathways page for further information.