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Government of Western Australia - Department of Fisheries

Glossary - C

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CAESS
Catch and Effort Statistical System, as used by the Department of Fisheries to record catches by commercial fishers.

Caiman
Large reptiles of the genus Caiman. They differ from alligators by the absence of a bony septum between the nostrils, and the ventral armour is composed of overlapping bony scutes.

Camouflage
Coloration or patterns of an animal that helps it to blend in with its natural surroundings.

Cannibal
Any animal that eats its own kind.

Capes Current
A seasonal northward travelling coastal current originating near Cape Leeuwin, caused by prevailing southerly winds over summer months.

Carapace
A protective plate or shell covering the upper (dorsal) surface of an animal’s body.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)
An odourless, colourless atmospheric gas composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms.

Carbonic acid (H2CO3)
A weak, unstable acid formed when CO2 is dissolved in water.

Carnivore
An animal that eats or feeds upon animal matter, e.g., flesh or meat.

Carnivorous
To eat or feed on flesh or meat.

Cartilage
Dense supportive tissue, which is heavily calcified in shark and ray skeletons, and resembling bone.

Cartilaginous fish
Fish with a skeleton made of cartilage. i.e. sharks and rays

Capillary action
The means by which liquid moves through the porous spaces in a solid, such as soil, plant roots, and the capillary blood vessels in our bodies due to the forces of adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension.

Casting
Act of throwing a fishing line into water.

Catch (total)
Total number or weight of fish caught in a specified time.

Catch per unit effort
The number or weight of fish caught by a unit of fishing effort, such as the number of trap or pot pulls, length of net or amount of time.

Catch rate
The amount of fish caught in relation to fishing effort.

Catch returns
Obligatory records kept by fishers giving details of their catch, such as area fished, species caught, time spent fishing, gear used and total catch.

Catchment
An area drained by a river or river system.

Caudal fin
Tail fin of fishes and some other vertebrates, used for propulsion.

CDR
Catch and Disposal Record

Cellulose
carbohydrate compound that gives plants a rigid and fibrous structure.

CELR
Catch, Effort and Landing Return

Centrifugal force
The outward force on a body moving in a curved path around another body.

Cerata
Outgrowths on the sides and top of the body of aeolid nudibranchs.

CFL
See Commercial Fishing Licence

Chevron
Pattern consisting of stripes meeting at an angle.

Chimera
Cartilaginous fishes in the order Chimaeriformes that are characterised by a tapering body, whip-like tail and the upper jaw fused to the skull.

Chitin
A hard material found in the shells of crustaceans, molluscs and other animals.

Chlorophyll
A green pigment found in photosynthetic organisms, that is able to capture the Sun’s energy.

Chondrichthyes
Class of fishes comprising the cartilaginous fishes, including sharks, rays, skates and chimeras (also called ghost sharks).

Chordate
Animals that display a hollow dorsal nerve cord, gill slits, and a notochord.  Includes the protochordates and vertebrates.

CITES
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Clasper
A copulatory organ along the inner edge of each pelvic fin in male sharks and other cartilaginous fishes.

Classification
The organising or sorting of things, such as living organisms, into groups according to their common characteristics and attributes.

Climate
Typical weather conditions at a particular time.

Climate change
Long-term change in global weather patterns attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, which is in addition to natural climate variability.

Closed aquaculture systems
Removal of fish waste products is through a filter system that provides the recirculation of water. Low level of water exchange.

Closed season
The closure of a fishing ground for a defined period of time, used as a tool in the management of a fishery, frequently to protect a stock during a spawning season or reduce fishing effort.

Cnidaria
A phylum of animals that includes jellyfish and corals.

Coastal (Coast)
The geographical area of contact between land and marine environments.

Coastal erosion
The permanent loss of land along the shoreline.  This is observed as the landward movement of the shoreline vegetation.

Collapse
Reduction of a stock abundance by fishing and / or other causes to levels at which the production is negligible compared to historical levels.

Colony
Plant or animal organisations where individuals live together and interact in mutually advantageous ways.

Commercial fishing
Fishing for a commercial purpose, i.e., to sell the catch.

Commercial fishing licence
A licence authorising a person to engage in commercial fishing.

Commercial value
The landed value of the catch to fishers.

Common sense
Sound practical judgement, independent of specialised knowledge.

Competition
An interaction between organisms or species, in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another.

Compound eye
Eyes made up of many image forming elements.

Conservation
The management of human use of the biosphere so that it may yield the greatest sustainable benefit to present generations while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations.

Conserve
To keep in a safe, unimpaired state (especially natural resources)

Consultation
A two way process between two or more people to consider a particular question or idea.

Continent
Large land masses of Earth, regarded as including Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

Continental rise
A gently sloping transitional area of the continental margin between the continental slope and the abyssal plain.

Continental shelf
Flat, wide margin around every continent, from the shore to the edge of the continental slope.

Continental slope
Relatively steep, downward slope of the ocean floor from the outer edge of the continental shelf.

Contingency
A possible event or occurrence.

Control
Regulation or management of a species defined as a pest

Convection
The process through which heat energy is transferred through currents within a liquid or gas. The cyclical nature of the process in an enclosed system like the mantle of the Earth results in convection cells – local regions of liquid or gas that form a relatively stable cycle (heating, rising, moving aside, cooling, and sinking in roughly the same location over and over again).

Coral
Hard, stony skeleton secreted by certain marine polyps, often deposited in vast quantity to form extensive reef systems.

Coral Bleaching
The loss of zooxanthellae through either expulsion or loss of algal pigmentation. Corals may expel their zooxanthallae when under stress, which leads to a lighter or completely white appearance, hence the term "bleached”.

Coral reef
A reef composed mainly of coral and other organic matter of which parts have solidified into limestone.

Coralline algae
Algae with a coral-like hard outer covering.

Coriolis Effect
Deflection of objects or substances moving along the surface of the earth, rightward in the Northern Hemisphere and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere.

Cost recovered fishery
A financial contribution by the participants in a fishery towards the cost of it management.

Counter-shading
The colouration pattern found in open water animals, usually the upper surfaces are darkly coloured and lower surfaces are lighter or silvery.

CPUE
See Catch per unit effort

Creel Survey
Survey of recreational fishing catch, usually involving interviewing fishers at fishing sites.

Crepuscular
Active at twilight, or just after sunset.

Critically endangered
A species that is at an extremely high risk of becoming extinct, or dying out.

Crust
The outermost solid shell of a rocky planet. The oceanic crust of the sheet is different from its continental crust. The oceanic crust is 5 km to 10 km thick. The continental crust is typically from 30 km to 50 km thick, and is mostly composed of slightly less dense rocks than those of the oceanic crust.

Crustacean
Class of arthropods with a hard, jointed external skeletons, such as crabs, shrimp, prawns and lobsters.

Crytogenic
Species that have become so wide spread over a long period of time that their natural ranges cannot be determined.

CSIRO
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

CSIRO AAHL
CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory (Geelong, Victoria)

Cultured pearl
Pearl produced with human intervention. The natural process of the pearl oyster are initiated by inserting a bead or core into the oyster by means of a graft.

Cyanobacteria
Photosynthetic bacteria previously called blue-green algae.

Cyst
A closed sac often containing liquid or a semi-solid material.

Cytoplasm
The living matter of a cell, excluding the nucleus

 

Last modified: 27/11/2012 11:51 AM

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