Derek Hamer

My earliest experiences of the marine environment stem back to my childhood, growing up on the beaches and in the surf on King Island (Bass Strait, Australia) where I remember attending whale stranding events on the rugged west coast and swimming with fur seals at Reid Rocks.

I have worked on a variety of animal conservation and welfare projects in Australia and overseas, with my career in marine mammal science commencing in 2000 when i spent a year on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, studying the haul-out behaviour and maternal investment in southern elephant seals. In recent years, i have managed a number of projects aimed at mitigating the negative effects of operational interactions (i.e. by-catch and depredation) between marine mammals and commercial fisheries. Most recently, i have worked with common dolphins, Australian fur seals and Australian sea lions in four major commercial fisheries in southern Australia. Some of the resultant journal publications contributed to the completion of my PhD.

In my current role as Project Manager: Marine Mammal - Fishery Interactions, my responsibilities include:
  • Management and policy advice on the conservation of marine mammal interactions with fisheries. Specifically, I am actively involved in discussions in internal and broad stakeholder groups that are focused on rolling out management objectives for the Australian sea lion.
  • Research and development of technologies to mitigate by-catch and depredation of marine mammals in commercial fisheries. Specifically, I am leading a project aimed at mitigating catch depredation by toothed whales of pelagic longlines in the Australian and Indo-Pacific regions, which brings together a diverse group of stakeholders in the fishing, research and conservation community. Our findings may have positive implications and broader applications for pelagic longline fisheries throughout the world.
  • Assisting in the investigation of movements of baleen whales in Australian and Southern Ocean waters. 
 
Contact details for Derek Hamer:
 
Phone: +61 (0) 3 6232 3357
Fax: +61 (0) 3 6232 3449
Address: Derek Hamer, Australian Marine Mammal Centre, Australian Antarctic Division, 203 Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia, 7050.
 
 
Selected publications:
 
 
Journals
 
Hamer, D.J., Litchfield, C., in prep. Behaviour of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) encircled by purse-seine nets.
 
Hamer, D.J., in prep. Are endangered Australian sea lions really targeting sharks caught in demersal gill-nets?: getting to the bottom of why this benthic forager becomes by-catch.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ward, T.M., Goldsworthy, S.D., Linnane, A., in prep. A quantitative assessment of an industry developed exclusion device for mitigating by-catch mortality of pinnipeds in rock lobster pots.
 
Hamer, D.J., Shaughnessy, P.D., Goldsworthy, S.D., Ward, T.M., Costa, D.P., in prep. Mitigating by-catch of Australian sea lions in shark gill-nets: can existing management instruments be used to create effective exclusion zones for protecting this endangered species?
 
Hamer, D.J., Goldsworthy, S.D., Fowler, S.L., Page, B., Sumner, M.D., in review. Impact of shark gill-nets on the endangered Australian sea lion in South Australia: spatial overlap of fishing and foraging effort and level of by-catch mortality. Bogical Conservation.
 
Hamer, D.J., Childerhouse, S.J., Gales, N.J., 2012. Odontocete by-catch and depredation in longline fisheries: a review of the literature and of potential solutions. Marine Mammal Science. DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00544.x
 
Lowther, A.D., Harcourt, R.G., Hamer, D.J., Goldsworthy, S.D., 2011. Creatures of habit: foraging habit fidelity of adult female Australian sea lions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 443, 249-263.
 
 
Izzo, C., Hamer, D.J., Bertozzi, T., Donnellan, S.C., Gillanders, B.M., 2011. Telomere length and age in pinnipeds: the endangered Australian sea lion as a case study. Marine Mammal Science 27, 841-851.
 
Shaughnessy, P.D., Goldsworthy, S.D., Hamer, D.J., Page, B., McIntosh, R.R., 2011. Australian sea lions Neophoca cinerea at colonies in South Australia: distribution, abundance and trends, 2004 to 2008. Endangered Species Research 13, 87-98. 
 
Baylis, A.M.M., Hamer, D.J., Nichols, P., 2009. Assessing the use of milk fatty acids to infer the diet of the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea). Wildlife Research 36, 169-176.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ward, T.M., McGarvey, R., 2009. Objective reporting of scientific results is critical for maintaining relationships with industry and achieving conservation outcomes for fisheries. Animal Conservation 12, 287-288.
 
 
Hamer, D.J., 2006. “Seal-friendly” nets are overrated. Conservation in Practice 7(3), 12-14.
 
 
 
Government reports
 
Hamer, D.J., Childerhouse, S.J., Candy, S.G., Gales, N.J., in review. The use of physical deterrence as a means of mitigating odontocete by-catch and depredation in pelagic longline fisheries: a preliminary investigation. Interim report to Pacific Islands Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA) for the Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFMP). Australian Marine Mammal Centre (AMMC), Australian Antarctic Division. xxpp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ward, T.M., Goldsworthy, S.D., Shaughnessy, P.D., 2010. Mitigating the impact of shark gill-nets on Australian sea lions in South Australia using spatial management options. Final report to Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), project no. 2007/041. 64pp.
 
Ward, T.M., Ivey, A., Hamer, D.J., Burch, P., 2010. Effectiveness of an industry Code of Practice in mitigating the operational interactions of the South Australian Sardine Fishery with short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis). Report to PIRSA Fisheries. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2010/000726-1, SARDI Research Report Series no. 493. 38pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Childerhouse, S.J., Gales, N.J., 2010. Mitigating operational interactions between odontocetes and the longline fishing industry: a preliminary global review of the problem and of potential solutions. Report to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee, Report no. SC/62/BC3. Australian Marine Mammal Centre (AMMC), Australian Antarctic Division. 30pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Shaughnessy, P.D., Goldsworthy, S.D., 2010. Operational interactions between seals and the tuna farming industry in Port Lincoln. In: Goldsworthy, S.D., Page, B., Shaughnessy, P.D., Hamer, D.J., Peters, K.D., McIntosh, R.R., Baylis, A.M.M., McKenzie, J. Innovative solutions for aquaculture and management: addressing seal interactions in the finfish aquaculture industry. Report to Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC). pp. 22-51.
 
Goldsworthy, S.D., Hamer, D.J., Page, B., Shaughnessy, P.D., Ward, T., 2010. The impact and mitigation of Australian sea lion bycatch in the Commonwealth managed shark gillnet fishery off South Australia. Interim report to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) for project no. 2007/041. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2009/000613-1, SARDI Research Report Series no. 405. 151pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ward, T.M., Goldsworthy, S.D., Shaughnessy, P.D., 2009. Effectiveness of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park in protecting the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) from by-catch mortality in shark gill-nets. Final report to the Great Australian Bight Marine park steering Committee. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2009/000227-1, SARDI Research Report Series no. 357. 59pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ivey A., Ward, T.M., 2009. Operational interactions between the South Australian Sardine Fishery with common dolphins: November 2004 to March 2009. Report to PIRSA Fisheries. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2007/000198-2, SARDI Research Report Series no. 354. 32pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ward, T.M., 2008. Operational interactions between the South Australian Sardine Fishery and common dolphins in 2006/07: assessing the effectiveness of the industry code of practice. Report to PIRSA Fisheries. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2007/000198-1, SARDI Research Report Series no. 252. 30pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Ward, T.M., Goldsworthy, S.D., McGarvey, R., Rogers, P.J., 2007. Measurement, management and mitigation of operational interactions between common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and the South Australian Sardine Fishery. Report to PIRSA Fisheries. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2006/000212, SARDI Research Report Series no. 174. 38pp.
 
Hamer, D.J., Page, B., Goldsworthy, S.D., 2007. The spatial distribution of foraging effort in Australian sea lion populations in close proximity to areas of high catch and effort in the SA rock lobster and Commonwealth shark gill-net fisheries. In: Goldsworthy, S.D., Peters, K.J., Page, B. (eds.). Foraging ecology and diet analysis of Australian sea lions. Final report to the Department of Environment and Water Resources, Australian Commonwealth Government. Report to DEWHA. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2007/001024-1, SARDI Research Report Series no. 251. pp. 19-34.
 
Goldsworthy, S.D., Shaughnessy, P.D., Page, B., Dennis, T.E., McIntosh, R.R., Hamer, D.J., Peters, K.J., Baylis, A.M.M., Bradshaw, C.J.A., 2007. Developing population monitoring protocols for Australian sea lions. Final report to DEWR. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2007/000554, SARDI Research Report Series no. 219. 65pp.
 
Goldsworthy, S.D., Hamer, D.J., Page, B., 2007. Assessment of the implications of interactions between fur seals and sea lions and the southern rock lobster and gillnet sector of the South and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) in South Australia. Final report to Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), project no. 2005/077. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication no. F2007/000711-1, SARDI Research Report Series no. 225. 163pp.
 
Tilzey, R., Goldsworthy, S.D, Cawthorn, M., Calvert, N., Hamer, D.J., Russell., S., Shaughnessy, P.D., Wise, B., Stewardson, C., 2006. Assessment of seal-fishery interactions in the winter blue grenadier fishery off west Tasmania and the development of fishing practices and seal exclusion devices to mitigate seal by-catch by factory trawlers. Final report to FRDC. Project no. 2001/008. Bureau of Rural Sciences. 69pp.