The relationship between shell shape and reproductive investment: can shell shape be used as a management tool for the Victorian abalone fishery?
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2005
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Melbourne Authors
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Department of Zoology
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Masters Coursework thesis
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Given the immense value of the Victorian abalone fishery, and the collapse of many commercial abalone fisheries worldwide, it is surprising that so few management tools for sustainability are currently employed by the Victorian fishery. This study considers shell shape as an alternative management tool for sustainability for the Victorian abalone fishery. Considering that the shell constrains the size of the gonad in abalone, shell shape has the potential to be an indicator of fecundity and this is the first study to test this relationship. The hypothesis tested is that abalone that have rounder and higher shells would have higher fecundity than abalone with flatter, more oblong shells of the same length. The results of this present study appear inconclusive with respect to the value of shell shape as potential indicator of fecundity, and may be a function of poor sampling technique with respect to sample size, range of sizes sampled or the fact that areas were combined.