The capability to identify individual shark species from processed body parts is necessary for the WA Department of Fisheries to ensure the compliance of all WA fisheries with both existing protected species regulations and proposed new management measures for commercially important shark species....

This report summarises the scientific and consultation work undertaken to identify a new species name (Octopus djinda) and new common name (Western Rock Octopus) for the species that supports Australia’s largest octopus fishery, with 734 tonnes harvested in 2022. The species had been...

The management of fisheries in Western Australia requires an understanding of the status of the fisheries stocks. For many species, the only available data are catch, effort and CPUE history. For these and other fisheries, time series methods may improve the stock assessment methods. Biological...

The Western Rocklobster fishery was one of the first to be made limited entry with the number of licences restricted since 1963. Historically, the main focus of the assessment and management of the fishery has been on the status of the breeding stock to ensure biological sustainability. In the...

The fishery for western lobster (Panulirus cygnus) has supported an annual catch of about 10 500 tonnes per annum over the last twenty years and is worth between $200-300 million per annum. The fishery has been experiencing increasing exploitation rates over time and estimates in the...