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DAFF
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Commonwealth)
DBIF
Development and Better Interest Fund
Debris
Remains of anything broken down.
Decapod
Has 10 legs.
Decomposers
Organisms that break down dead organic matter into chemical nutrients.
Decompression Sickness
Suffered by deep sea divers. Changes in water pressure cause nitrogen bubbles to form in the blood stream. Also known as ‘the bends’.
DEH
Formerly the Department of Environment and Heritage (Commonwealth). Now Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Deliberate
Intentional; not accidental.
Demersal
Bottom-dwelling, or living near the ocean floor.
Demersal trawling
Operation of a trawl net designed for use on or near the bottom of the sea or lake.
Density
The mass per unit volume of a substance.
Denticles
Small tooth or tooth-like structures.
Deoxygenation
Removal of oxygen from water.
Dependent variable
A factor whose value changes when the independent variable is changed.
Depletion (stock depletion)
Reducing the abundance of members of a fish stock through fishing.
Desalination
The removal of salts from saline water to provide freshwater.
Desiccation
The dehydration of an organism.
Detritivore
An organism that feeds on dead and decaying organic matter.
Detritus
Dead and decaying organic matter.
Development (of fisheries)
Transition from exploratory and experimental fishing, to the establishment of commercial activities and markets, with the ultimate goal of sustained long-term fishing.
Diatom
Microscopic algae with cell walls made of silicon.
Dichotomous
Divided or dividing into two parts or classifications.
Diet
What a person or animal usually eats and drinks.
Dinghy
A licensed fishing boat less than 6.5 metres, usually attached to a lead or mother boat in a fishing unit.
Dinoflagellate
Microorganisms with both plant-like and animal-like characteristics, usually classified as protozoans having two lash-like structures (flagella) used for locomotion.
Dioecious
Having male and female reproductive organs in separate plants or animals.
Discards
Catch that is returned to the water, either dead or alive.
Disphotic zone
The lower depths of the photic zone below the euphotic zone.
Dissolve
To go or cause to go into solution.
Distribution
Geographic area within which a species is generally found.
Diurnal tides
One high and one low tide is experienced each day.
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule located in the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic information that is responsible for running that cell.
Domesticate
To tame from a wild state through a process of selection.
Dormant
Alive but not actively growing.
Dorsal
The upper side of an animal.
Dorsal fin
Fin located on the upper side of fishes and some other vertebrate animals, used for stabilisation and manoeuvrability.
Dory
The common name for a dinghy when it is used in conjunction with a mother boat for troll lining when targeting Spanish mackerel.
Driftnet
A gillnet suspended by floats so that it fishes the top few metres of the water column. Also called a pelagic gillnet.
Dropline
An unattached fishing line with one or more hooks, held vertically in the water column with weights and marked with a buoy. Generally used on the continental shelf and slope. Several droplines may by operated by a vessel, using either manually or mechanically operated vessels.
Drum line
Method of fishing utliising a large hook, which may or may not be baited, attached by a heavy chain to a large floating drum, or buoy, which is anchored to the sea floor.