West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Tuesday 16 December 1952, page 7


Scientists Will Study Crayfish Migration A group of scientists will spend the next three months catching and marking crayfish in the waters off the south-west coast from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Hamelin.

Marine biologists of the Com-monwealth Scientific and In-dustrial Research Organisation will estimate the numbers of crayfish and study their move-ments in those waters. The work will be under the direction of the officer-in-charge of the West Australian branch laboratory of the C.S.LO.R. division of fisheries (Mr. K. Sheard). He said last slight that if and when weather conditions be-. came favourable, the research: would be extended : to Albany and as far east as Cheyne Bay. This survey had been under-taken so that the industry could avoid over-fishing the crayfish grounds. Mr. Sheard said that Russell Pty. Ltd., of Perth, had contri-buted substantially to the cost of the expedition, and had sup-plied ' a special ultra-violet fluorescent microscope for laboratory work. The survey would be carried out in the chartered motor fishing vessel Suda Bay, with Busselton as base.. Starting some time in March. he added, the W.A. division would also conduct a repeti-tion of continuous crayfishing tests made in-the seasons 1947 and 1948 at the Abrolhos Islands. This work had been made pos-sibl by generous donations from the Crayfish Processors Association.