Murdoch University is looking for two motivated PhD candidates to join a team working on a Fisheries Research and Development Corporation project entitled “Golden Fish; evaluating and optimizing the biological, social and economic returns of small-scale fisheries”. The project will investigate the social and economic values generated by recreational and commercial fishing for participants and local communities based on case-studies of two iconic estuarine fisheries in Western Australia, i.e. Blue Swimmer Crabs and Black Bream. Benefit-cost analysis will be employed to estimate the potential change in biological, social and economic value that release programs (restocking/stock enhancement) could provide. This project is highly topical given the increasing number of release programs occurring across Australia and lack of information on the social and economic values of fisheries in Western Australia.
These PhD projects will be supervised by Professor Neil Loneragan, Dr. James Tweedley and Dr. Michael Hughes (School of Veterinary and Life Science) and Professor Malcolm Tull (School of Business and Governance).
Responsibilities:
Qualifications:
Interested applicants should send their CV, along with a brief (max. 1 page) summary of their relevant qualifications and interest in the project, stating which area of the project they are interested in, and contact details of two academic referees, to Dr. James Tweedley ([email protected]) ASAP (preferably by Friday 31st March 2017). The project will start in May 2017.
The successful applicants will receive a living allowance (stipend) scholarship from Murdoch worth $26,682 per annum (tax exempt) and will be eligible to apply for top-up funds. All fieldwork and operating costs are funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and Recfishwest. Tuition fees will also be covered by Murdoch University.