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Having spent considerable time during my childhood snorkeling and fishing along the coast of Western Australia in locations such as Perth, Augusta and Ningaloo, I developed a fascination for marine ecosystems at a very young age. Following the completion of my Bachelor of Science (Honours) at the University of Western Australia, I worked at the Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratory for two years. During this time, I took part in a number of molecular ecology projects which led to my interest in the application of genetics and genomics in fisheries management. This interest led me to undertaking a PhD at MELFU with snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), a species that supports major commercial and recreational fisheries across its range and therefore has significant cultural and economic importance. During my project, I will investigate patterns of connectivity, structure and abundance of snapper across Australia and New Zealand using genomic data. The results from this research will allow me to identify stock boundaries and therefore inform fisheries researchers and managers across Australia and New Zealand on the appropriate spatial scales at which to carry out stock assessment, fundamental to the management of wild fisheries. Additionally, the abundance estimates will help me to assess the genetic health of each snapper stock and contribute to existing understanding of the reproductive biology of the species. I also hope that this information will be useful to fisheries researchers for stock monitoring and assessment purposes.
Research Project
– Fisheries genomics of Snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) across Australia and New Zealand.
Research Experience
– Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology and Zoology), Honours (First Class), University of Western Australia
– Technical Officer, Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia
– Bertram AM, Bell J, Brauer CB, Fairclough D, Hamer P, Sandoval-Castillo J, Wellenreuther M, Beheregaray LB (2024) Estimation of effective population size and effective number of breeders in an abundant and heavily exploited marine teleost. Evolutionary Applications 17,e13758.
– Bertram A, Bell J, Brauer C, Fowler A, Hamer P, Sandoval-Castillo J, Stewart J, Wellenreuther M, Beheregaray LB (2023). Biogeographic provinces and genomically delineated stocks are congruent in snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) from southeastern Australia. ICES Journal of Marine Science 80, 1422-1430.
– Bertram A, Fairclough D, Sandoval-Castillo J, Brauer C, Fowler A, Wellenreuther M, Beheregaray LB (2022) Fisheries genomics of snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) along the west Australian coast. Evolutionary Applications 15, 1099-1114.
– Bertram, A, Dias, PJ, Lukehurst, S, Kennington, WJ, Fairclough, D, Norris, J & Jackson, G (2015) Isolation and characterisation of 16 polymorphic microsatellite loci for Bight redfish Centroberyx gerrardi (Actinoptertgii, Berycidae) and cross-amplification in two other Centroberyx species. Australian Journal of Zoology 63 (4): 275-278.
– Partridge, GJ, Ginbey, BM, Woolley, LD, Fairclough, DV, Crisafulli, B, Chaplin, J, Prokop, N, Dias, J, Bertram, A & Jenkins, GI (2016) Development of techniques for the collection and culture of wild-caught fertilised snapper (Chrysophrus auratus) eggs for stock enhancement purposes. Fisheries Research 186 (2): 524-530.
– Wakefield, CB, Moore, GI, Bertram, AE, Snow, M & Newman, SJ (2015) Extraordinary capture of a Randall’s snapper, Randallichthys filamentosus, in the temperate southeastern Indian Ocean. Journal of Fish Biology 88 (2): 735–740.
