CSIRO, Castray Esplanade, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia
Current activities
Pierre is currently research scientist at CSIRO where he works on genetics methods to improve the assessment of sharks and pelagic fish populations.
Pierre used to be a NERP/NAMRA (North Australia Marine Research Alliance, details can be found at http://www.namra.net.au/) postdoctoral fellow working on the Marine Biodiversity Hub project ‘Supporting Management of Listed and Rare Species’, a collaboration between Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory Fisheries and CSIRO. He works on the close-kin component of the project and other molecular techniques. He is based at Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory.
This project will improve the understanding and management of data-poor, low abundance, rarely-encountered threatened euryhaline and estuarine elasmobranch species, through the development of innovative population monitoring and integrated assessment strategies. Threatened sawfishes (Pristis species) and river sharks (Glyphis species) of northern Australia represent the focal species, with an initial focus on Freshwater Sawfish Pristis microdon in several selected rivers of the NT. Details of the project can be found here.
Background
Pierre is an evolutionary ecologist with interests in tropical aquatic systems. He has a background in fish biology, otolith microstructure/microchemistry and genetics. He has particular interest in fish migration and population connectivity.
His PhD examined the evolution of diadromous behaviour, phylogeography and population genetics of genus Kuhlia (Teleostei : Percoidei) in tropical insular systems of the Indo-Pacific region.
Academic qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy (Ecology and Evolution) from the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France.
Master of Science (Sustainable use of coastal ecosystems) from the University of La Rochelle, France
Publications
Sawfish Day is an annual event to raise awareness of these vulnerable animals and to highlight the threats they face in order to safeguard their future. Now in its second year, help raise awareness of this special day and of these magnificent marine animals,by sharing these links with your social networks:
The Marine Hub has created the following two-sided posters from its marine biodiversity research:
In early 2017, a 2.7-metre Largetooth Sawfish was caught by local woman Lisa Smiler at Wattie Creek, a tributary of the Victoria River near the...
MEDIA RELEASE
Australia has two white shark populations, an eastern population ranging east of Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria, to central Queensland and across to New Zealand, and a southern-western population ranging west of Wilson’s Promontory to north-western Western Australia.
CSIRO-led research...
In September 2017, a Marine Biodiversity Hub team worked to rescue a large group of Largetooth Sawfish trapped in a drying floodplain waterhole and relocate the animals to the main channel of the river. The small waterhole where the rangers located the sawfish was completely dry soon after the rescue.
Australia’s northern rivers are a last remaining stronghold for the threatened Largetooth Sawfish (Pristis pristis), but even in this relatively pristine part of the world sawfish...
Two threatened marine species urgently need sustainability assessments before future wild harvests are conducted for public aquarium displays, a Charles Darwin University researcher warns.
PhD candidate Kate Buckley has devised a new three-step approach to inform relevant authorities of the need for sustainability assessments before permitting the removal of threatened, or data-deficient and potentially threatened, shark and ray species (elasmobranchs) from the wild.
She said...
Barry Bruce and Russ Bradford of CSIRO tag a juvenile White Shark off the central coast of New South Wales. Image NSW DPI.
The rescue team: Amos Shields, Christy Davies, Aaron Green, Peter Kyne and Rob Lindsay. Image: Michael Lawrence-Taylor
The trip brought together researchers from Charles Darwin University Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance Ltd (NAILSMA), and Malak...
A new species of giant stingray has been named after being encountered by scientists in northern Australian rivers, coastal Papua New Guinea and the Arafura Sea.
Urogymnus acanthobothrium, is described today in the journal Zootaxa by scientists from CSIRO’s Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC) and Charles Darwin University (CDU).
‘This is one of the world’s largest stingrays, growing to a width of at least 1.6 metres, and it occurs in both rivers and marine waters,’ Dr...
Marine Biodiversity Hub researcher Barry Bruce of CSIRO has been awarded the 2016 Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) Jubilee Award for outstanding contribution to marine research. He will receive his award and deliver a plenary address at the 2016 conference being held jointly by AMSA and the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society on 4─7 July at Wellington, New Zealand.
Barry leads a Hub project that is using cutting-edge technologies to develop a national assessment of white...
Indigenous panellists from Australia and New Zealand will meet in Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday 4 July to consider ways for the marine science and Indigenous communities to engage more effectively in research partnerships.
The panel discussion will take place during the 2016 conference of the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society (NZMSS) and the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA), to be held from 4─7 July at Victoria University, Wellington.
Northern Territory News 26 February 2016
Sawfishes and river sharks are protected species; if they are caught by recreational anglers they must be released safely back into the water. Fishers who are lucky enough to experience a close encounter with one of our protected sawfish or river shark species are meeting with some of the most interesting inhabitants of our northern waterways. By reporting sightings anglers can help researchers better understand the distribution of these...
Australia’s Environment Minister, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, joined University of Tasmania scientists and volunteer divers on a Reef Life Survey at Tinderbox Marine Reserve south of Hobart today.
After the dive, the Minister joined UTAS Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Rathjen, at Hobart’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies to launch the Marine Biodiversity Hub, one of six hubs funded under the National Environmental Science Programme (NESP).
The NESP is a six-...
Vist the sawfish and river shark research pages for up to date news, videos and more
Travel down Kakadu's West Alligator River with Hub scientist Peter Kyne as he surveys the endangered Northern River Shark and critically endangered Speartooth shark.
These river shark surveys have been undertaken during research for the Marine Biodiversity Hub project "Supporting management of listed and rare species", a collaboration between Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory Fisheries and CSIRO.
Wednesday 10 December 2014
The Australian Government has announced the successful organisations to lead research hubs under the $142.5 million National Environmental Science Programme (NESP). The programme will assist decision-makers to understand, manage and conserve Australia's environment by funding world-class biodiversity and climate science. This research will ensure decisions about managing Australia's biodiversity and environmental resources are made on the best available...
https://www.youtube.com/user/NERPMarineHub
Two NERP hubs are participating in this year’s National Threatened Species Day on Sunday 7 September at Darwin Waterfront – the Northern Australia Hub and Marine Biodiversity Hub. Videos, slide shows and brochures will focus on the management of listed and rare species including sawfish and river sharks, and the impact feral cats are having on native mammals. The event is being marketed as a Pop-up-Zoo with experts from a wide range of organisations providing an overview of their work....
Watch the video........Scientists have developed a unique statistical method to measure Australia’s two white shark populations (east and west), vital information to support management and conservation decisions relating to this iconic species. The method is part of a new toolkit of tagging, aerial survey and DNA fingerprinting being used to unlock the mysteries of shark life and death. We’re very close to unlocking the numbers in the east of Australia and now we have begun our work in south...
Sharks and rays are some of the world’s most threatened animals, with a quarter of all species at risk of extinction. Among the sharks and rays, sawfish are some of the most threatened, with all five species listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Read the full story in The Conversation, 18 April 2014.
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The Guide to Sharks of Kakadu Rivers is available as a pdf, web version or request a copy: http://www.nerpmarine.edu.au/document/guide-sharks-kakadu-rivers
In September 2012, as Top End floodplains were drying, NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub and Northern Hub scientist Peter Kyne received an alert from Daly River Traditional Owner Rita Purak that two largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) were stranded in a waterhole near the Daly River. Rita knew the sawfish were uncommon because she had been helping Charles Darwin University scientist Peter Kyne and CSIRO's Richard Pillans with their field work, monitoring the movements of sawfish in the Northern...
In September 2012, as Top End floodplains were drying, NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub and Northern Hub scientist Peter Kyne received an alert that two largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) were stranded in a waterhole near the Daly River.
The call was from the Malak Malak Indigenous Ranger Group who knew the sawfish were uncommon because they had been helping Peter and his colleague Richard Pillans with field research.
‘After a two-hour drive across a rugged dry floodplain, we...
Two NERP hubs are participating in this year’s National Threatened Species Day on Saturday 7 September at Darwin Waterfront – the Northern Australia Hub and Marine Biodiversity Hub. Videos, slide shows and brochures will focus on the management of listed and rare species including sawfish and river sharks, and the impact feral cats are having on native mammals.
Northern Australia Hub scientists will demonstrate how mammal trapping equipment is used to survey small mammals, and there...
Follow Marine Hub PhD student Kate Buckley's blog while she tracks threatened sawfish down the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory.
Watch researchers from the NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub and the Northern Australia Hub investigating the population size and movements of sawfish and river sharks in the waterways of Kakadu National Park. Video
In a collaborative project between these two hubs, researchers are investigating the population size and movements of sawfish, speartooth sharks and northern...
