In October 1998, key demersal fishers and NT Fisheries Division officers held a meeting to review the current knowledge and understanding of the Demersal Fishery and the areas of knowledge that are still required to assure its viable development. Participants identified two impediments to the expansion of the demersal fishery:

1. the inability to consistently supply fish to the market; and
2. catching fish at a profitable rate.

The variation in catch rates are substantial enough make the difference between profit and significant loss. Sensitivity analysis on projected catch rates and cost structures support the view that there is potential to achieve an adequate, if not attractive, level of profitability in the fishery with passive fishing methods (Cann, 1996). This work has shown that profitability is quite sensitive to catch rates and market prices, with a marginal increase in either prices or landings, making the difference between a profitable or uneconomical fishing operation.

There is no long-term trend apparent in the CPUE data, and fishers have presented a number of reasons why both seasonal and inter-annual catch rates are so variable. These include water temperature changes in concert with El Nino events, seismic surveys conducted by oil exploration companies and limited experimentation with a wider range of gear types. Further, there are other factors, which may affect profitability such as vessels used, operating costs, debt structure and training/skill of industry members. The meeting agreed that these and other issues must be formally addressed if the fishery is to develop further. It also identified a number of specific research projects (see B14).

Industry and government agreed that the best way address issues affecting profitability would be to employ relevant specialists to participate in a workshop with industry, researchers and managers. This was seen as the most effective way to exchange ideas, share experience, reach agreement on how to best improve profitability and identify what research is needed to improve industry viability.

For the WRL fishery, this situation has resulted primarily from a relatively static beach price for lobster and increasing fuel, labour and other input costs. A major driver for input costs in this fishery is the number of pot lifts, which is currently about 10 million annually, equating to a total cost of ~$60 million (average cost per potlift - $6.00). If a lobster trap could be introduced into this fishery with a volume approx twice that of traditional pots, thereby enabling fishers to capitalise on the gregarious nature of the animal whilst preventing escapees, the fishing behaviour of the fleet would adapt accordingly to focus on primarily extended soaks i.e. 48 and 72 hours. It is envisaged that the cost savings associated with this shift in fishing behaviour would translate to a more economically viable fleet.

The introduction of a lobster trap which causes a reduction in the number of pot lifts has the potential to enhance the primary measure of exploitation in the WRLF namely, catch per unit effort (CPUE). A 10-20% reduction in pot lifts over an entire season would result in cost savings to the tune of $6-12 million annually. This project aims to trial a lobster trap which will encourage fishers to alter their fishing behaviour thereby increasing their CPUE which translates directly to cost savings in fuel and bait usage.

The decision to use more efficient pots could be undertaken at an individual fisher level, but this requires robust conversion rates for any modified design(s) to ensure that the integrity of the fishery's input based management system is not compromised. The potential for further cost savings arising through the purchase and maintenance of licences containing lesser numbers of entitlements is also likely.