Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

Concerns about the ecological and economic sustainability of Australia’s Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) prompted major structural readjustment of the fishery in 2006 that significantly reduced the number of operators in demersal trawl, Danish seine and gill net sectors of the fishery.  A decade later, many of the ecological sustainability issues have been addressed and despite declining Gross Value of Production (GVP), there has been variable but overall improvement in net economic returns (NER) of the fishery.  There remains, however, a number of indicators in the fishery that may point to significant sub-optimal performance in terms of stock sustainability and fishery profitability as outlined below. 

At the end of the 2015/16 year, 23 of the 34 species groups under TACs were less than 50% caught. Of the major quota species, only four had catches above 80% of the TACs (Flathead, Gummy Shark, Pink Ling and School Whiting).

There has been a continual decline in catch rates for many quota species with a range of life histories.  Similar trends in decline over the last two decades have been observed for Jackass Morwong, Redfish, Blue Eye Trevalla, Silver Warehou, Blue Warehou, John Dory and Ribaldo, despite the lowest historical effort and catch levels in the fishery. Unstandardised CPUE across the fishery has declined for several years hitting an all-time low in 2015 and has remained at this level in 2016. Moreover, optimised CPUE standardizations for 23 species (including grouped species) and 43 different stocks, methods, or fisheries revealed 29 of the 43 SESSF stocks were found to have declining standardised catch rates.  

Historically overfished species (Eastern Gemfish, School Shark, Blue Warehou and most recently Redfish) have shown little sign of recovery despite over a decade of the lowest catches on record resulting from significant management changes under relevant rebuilding strategies
(including bans on targeting, implementation of industry driven avoidance measures, and implementation of spatial closures).  The overfishing and subsequent recent recovery of the eastern Orange Roughy stock over the last two decades is well documented – but it is an exception.  

There are many and varied reasons to explain these issues in the SESSF, but there has been no attempt at a coordinated approach to identify which factor/s may be the cause, much less how these may be addressed.  This project was designed to start this process.

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery

The commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery (LCF) operates at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin where the river system meets the Southern Ocean, encompassing a diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats and communities.  This multi-gear fishery targets a range of species including Pipi (Goolwa cockle - Donax deltoides), Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yelloweye Mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), Black Bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri), Greenback Flounder (Rhombosolea tapirina), Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua), and Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi) as well as the introduced fish species European Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Redfin (Perca fluviatilis).  

The outputs of this project will be used to improve the performance of the LCF and will be directly incorporated into the development of harvest strategies developed for finfish species under the new fishery management plan due in 2015. The longer term outcome from this project is that the approach used to develop this management framework can be adapted to other similar fisheries around Australia. Using the capacity of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum, the development of fishery management frameworks and performance indicators will be provided to other jurisdictions to support fishery management improvement in other small-scale, multi-species, multi-method, community-based fisheries.

Keywords: Harvest Strategy, small-scale fisheries, Lakes and Coorong Fishery, data-poor fishery