title: The good, the bad and the recovery in an assisted migration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Assisted migration or translocation of species to ameliorate effects of habitat loss or changing environment is currently under scrutiny as a conservation tool. A large scale experiment of assisted migration over hundreds of kilometres was tested on a morph from a commercial fishery of southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii, to enhance depleted populations, improve the yield and sustainability of the fishery, and test resilience to a changing climate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 10,000 lower-valued, pale-coloured lobsters were moved from deep water to inshore sites (2 in Tasmania [TAS] and 2 in South Australia [SA]) where the high-value, red morph occurs. In TAS this was a northwards movement of 1° latitude. Growth was measured only in TAS lobsters, and reproductive status was recorded in lobsters from all locations. Pale females (TAS) grew 4 times faster than resident pale lobsters from the original site and twice as fast as red lobsters at their new location. Approximately 30% of translocated pale lobsters deferred reproduction for one year after release (SA and TAS), and grew around 1 mm yr(-1) less compared to translocated pale lobsters that did not defer reproduction. In spite of this stress response to translocation, females that deferred reproduction still grew 2-6 mm yr(-1) more than lobsters at the source site. Lobsters have isometric growth whereby volume increases as a cube of length. Consequently despite the one-year hiatus in reproduction, increased growth increases fecundity of translocated lobsters, as the increase in size provided a larger volume for producing and incubating eggs in future years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Assisted migration improved egg production and growth, despite a temporary stress response, and offers a tool to improve the production, sustainability and resilience of the fishery.
authors.affiliation: Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. bridget.green@utas.edu.au
authors.forename: Bridget S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Caleb
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linnane
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hawthorne
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D005398:Fisheries / Q000379:methods*; D005843:Geography; D008297:Male; D033521:Palinuridae / Q000254:growth & development*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013021:South Australia; D013648:Tasmania