Quantification of changes in recreational catch and effort on inner Shark Bay snapper species following implementation of responsive management measures
Assessing and managing interactions of protected and listed marine species with commercial fisheries in Western Australia
Incidental mortality in commercial fishing activities is acknowledged as an issue for many protected and endangered species throughout the world. Whilst Australia is considered a world leader in managing
these interactions, further improvements and development of additional knowledge is still required to
meet the expectations of the community. Within WA, to address the variety of interactions with protected
and listed marine species across all our commercial fisheries in a cost effective manner, an holistic and
integrated approach needs to be taken. Several protected species issues have already been identified through existing management processes, including entanglement of whales in fishing ropes and interactions between seals and demersal gillnets. These two issues involve protected species on the Commonwealth threatened list (i.e the Australian sea lion, Humpback and Southern Right Whale) which generates attention from both an ecological and political respect. A greater understanding of the factors involved in these interactions will be needed to design mitigation programs. Assessments at both the individual fishery and bioregional level will be required to input into the ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) frameworks that are being developed for each WA bioregion. There is also the ongoing requirement for all fisheries to satisfy the protected species criteria under the EPBC Act which for some is vital to maintain their export certification. Moreover, there is the potential for significant pressure from advocacy groups to press for regulation of fishing effort or methods unless well-formulated management systems to address these pressing issues are developed.
Final report
Management and monitoring of fish spawning aggregations within the West Coast Bio-region of Western Australia
Modelling to explore management strategies to optimise the value of the rock lobster fishery of Western Australia
ASFB workshop: towards sustainability for data limited multi-sector fisheries
The current ESD case studies project has identified multi-sector fisheries, often with limited data, as posing one of the most difficult areas for assessment of stock status. These fisheries are typically fished by a small number of commercial operators taking small catches of a diverse range of species. Comprehensive commercial databases are generally lacking, and recreational catches are poorly known. Such stocks are often significantly impacted by environmental variation both man made and natural.
There is an urgent need for researchers and managers responsible for future fisheries ESD reporting and assessment to examine techniques for data gathering (both catch/effort and biological) and assessment for these types of fisheries. The historical approach of dealing with the data and assessments of fisheries from a single sector perspective is no longer compatible with ESD requirements.
This ASFB workshop will bring scientists, managers, and other stakeholders together to investigate innovative ways of providing reliable assessments of the stocks and sustainable harvest levels for our coastal, estuarine, and inland fish resources.
Final report
Despite the collapse of Ansett, and travel bans by US government employees, 69 delegates attended. All papers were presented, albeit some not by the author, with the written papers and discussion published in July 2003. First drafts were reviewed by Stephen Newman, Daniel Gaughan, Gary Jackson, Micheal Mackie, Brett Maloney, and Jill St John from Department of Fisheries WA, final editing by Patricia Kailola, and print set up by Sandy Clarke.