16 results
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-036
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Implementation of dynamic reference points and harvest strategies to account for environmentally-driven changes in productivity in Australian fisheries

The need to adapt stock assessment methods and harvest strategies to explicitly and justifiably account for shifts in productivity has been recognised by the AFMA Resource Assessment Group for the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), not least as a result of clearly evident...
ORGANISATION:
Pisces Australis Pty Ltd
TAGS
Stock Assessment
Reproduction
Rac Cmwth
Oceanography
Harvest Strategy
SPECIES
Gemfish
Jackass Morwong
Bight Redfish
Redfish
Blue Grenadier
Blank

Demand Conditions and Dynamics in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery: Empirical Investigation

Project number: 2018-017
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $146,216.00
Principal Investigator: Sean Pascoe
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 4 Nov 2018 - 29 Jun 2020
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Supply &Amp; Demand
Rac Cmwth
Human Dimensions Research
Economic
SPECIES
Gemfish
Jackass Morwong
Silver Trevally
John Dory
Mirror Dory

Need

The FRDC HDR has identified the lack of information on markets and price formation in Australian fisheries as a major research gap. The need for such analyses has also been discussed within the AFMA Economics working group, as such information was seen as essential in supporting fisheries management.

This project is an attempt to reduce this research gap. In doing so, the information produced will be of benefit to fisheries managers, fishers and the broader community as we move our fisheries closer to maximising net economic returns.

The focus of this study is on the markets relevant to the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF), which is the main supplier of fresh fish to the Sydney and Melbourne markets. To date, only very limited empirical research has been conducted for these fisheries in Australia [4-6], most of which is now fairly old and is unlikely to be valid for current market conditions. Since the early 2000s the seafood market in Australia has changed, for example, due to increasing seafood imports and increasing domestic aquaculture production. Hence, market dynamics for products supplied by domestic fisheries may have also altered.

This case study was identified by the FRDC HDR as of high importance due to the current challenges facing the fisher in terms of unfilled quotas. One potential contributing reason that quotas are not being taken is that to do so would result in lower prices; of potential benefit to consumers but not to producers. Instead, the lower catches may be supporting higher prices. The outcomes of this project can provide insights into the extent of to which the marker is contributing to quota undercatch.

The study will focus on the impact of changes in supply on the price received on the markets. While the potential response of fishers to these changes in price (including avoiding large catches) is also of relevance to fishery managers, this will require further bioeconomic modelling work that is beyond the scope of this study, but may be seen as a high priority for future research.

Objectives

1. Estimate the degree of integration between the different species and between the markets for fresh fish in Sydney and Melbourne
and
2. Estimate the short term and long term effects of changes in quantity supplied of key species in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) on the price received on the Sydney and Melbourne fish markets

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-925994-20-9
Authors: Sean Pascoe Peggy Schrobback Eriko Hoshino and Robert Curtotti
Final Report • 2021-02-01 • 5.37 MB
2018-017-DLD.pdf

Summary

This final report, a collaboration between economists from CSIRO, CQU and ABARES, is the first detailed analysis of the interrelationship between fish prices on the Sydney and Melbourne fish markets. In addition, the study derived empirical estimates of the own and cross-price flexibilities for the main species on the Sydney Fish Market.
Data for the Melbourne market were limited following the closure of the central market in 2010. Despite this, the results of the cointegration analysis indicate that the Sydney and Melbourne markets were highly integrated over the period of the available data. That is, prices for a given species on each market tended to move together. Hence, the two markets can effectively be considered a single market, at least for the key Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery species examined. Differences in prices on the markets can still exist due to differences in transport costs, but price variations beyond these transportation cost differences are temporary.
On the Sydney market, prices of most species were found to be not cointegrated (i.e., not substitutes), but some cointegration was observed. In particular, Blue-eye Trevalla was cointegrated with several species suggesting this may be a market leader or at least a highly influential species in the market. 
Imports were also found to be cointegrated with many of the species on the Sydney Fish Market, particularly imports of fresh fish. This indicates a strong substitution potential between imports and domestically caught fish, with increased import supply most likely having a negative impact on prices of Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery species.
From the results of the aggregated demand model, the increase in the quantity of imports has had a negative effect on the price of wild-caught species on the Sydney Fish Market over the last two decades, supporting the results of the cointegration analysis. Imports of fresh fish was found to have had a significant negative impact on the prices of species in the lower valued group in both the short and long term. While no short-term impact on high valued species was found, a small but significant negative impact was found in the long term. This suggests direct competition and potential for substitution between imports of fresh fish and the lower valued domestic fish species. In contrast, imports of frozen fish were found to complement lower valued species. That is, increased imports of frozen fish were related to increased prices for these lower valued species. No significant relationship between frozen fish and higher valued species was found. 
The increase in salmon production was also found to have had a negative impact of prices of both groups (high and low valued) on the Sydney Fish Market, more so that imports. 
At the species level, own-price flexibilities were generally found to be between -0.3 and -0.6, indicating that prices change less than proportionally with quantity landed (i.e., are relatively price inflexible). That is, a 10 per cent increase in quantity landed, for example, of each species would result in a 3 to 6 percent decrease in its own price. Cross-price flexibilities – the impact of landings of one species on the price of another – were also found to be small, mostly between 0 and -0.1. 

Project products

Brochure • 2021-02-01 • 2.89 MB
2018-017 - How demand analysis can help improve fisheries and aquaculture performance - SUMMARY BROCHURE.pdf

Summary

As it is currently applied in Australia, fisheries management is mainly focused on ensuring the sustainability of the resource while maximising the output from the fishery. This is largely achieved through setting total allowable catch (TAC) or equivalent effort restrictions to limit the quantity of landings from the fishery. In jurisdictions where economic outcomes are also important, more conservative catch and effort limits are generally set in recognition of the additional cost of harvesting the resource as stock size declines.
Conclusions: Changes in the quantity produced at the level of the industry can have an impact on the prices that producers receive. These price changes may extend beyond just one species in question, impacting also on potential substitute species. 
The critical measures of this change are the own and cross-price flexibilities. Own-price flexibilities define the percentage change in the price of a species due to a 1 per cent change in landings or production, while cross-price flexibilities represent the percentage change in a different species due to the production change of a given species.
Individually, own and cross-price flexibilities are generally small. In the case of key fish species, they are mostly between -0.5 and zero, indicating a less than proportional change in price with landings or production. However, this means that changes in revenues from, say, a TAC increase will result in a less than proportional change in revenue, and with cross-price impacts also, increasing TACs may result in negligible revenue improvements. Fisheries managers in particular need to be aware of these changes, as increasing a TAC does not necessarily mean better returns to the fishery. Conversely, higher returns may be earned at lower levels of catch due to the combination of higher prices and less cost in catching the fish.
While lower prices may be bad for producers, lower fish prices provide benefits to consumers. Hence, what is optimal for the fishery or aquaculture industry may not be optimal for the community overall. Including consumer benefits into economic analyses underlying TAC and other decisions that impact production is an area of further consideration by fisheries and aquaculture managers.
Environment
Environment

SESSF Monitoring and Assessment – Strategic Review

Project number: 2014-203
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $266,838.76
Principal Investigator: Ian Knuckey
Organisation: Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA)
Project start/end date: 17 Jul 2014 - 30 Jun 2016
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Rac Cmwth
Policy
Market Opportunities
Harvest Strategy
Electronic Monitoring
SPECIES
Gemfish
Banded Morwong
Silver Trevally
Mirror Dory
Bight Redfish

Need

There is increased awareness of the need for ecosystem-based fisheries management, with increased public expectations for sustainable management of fished stocks. However, reduced catch levels and increasing costs have stimulated industry calls for reductions in management costs, or for more effective use of the existing cost-recovered funds. Budget limitations have already led to annual fishery independent surveys (FIS) carried out less frequently, reduced observer monitoring (ISMP) to fund other projects, alternation of FIS and ISMP from year to year, use of Crew Member Observers (CMOs) to collect on-board length frequencies, retaining species at lower tier assessments instead of Tier 1 assessments, ad-hoc implementation of more multiyear TACs combined with adhoc implementation of break-out rules, reduction of the frequency of Tier1 stock assessments, and the postponement of critical Tier 1 stock assessments. Whilst all of these approaches are feasible and practical responses, their combined influence on the effectiveness of the monitoring and assessment at achieving desired management objectives has not been tested or demonstrated.

Current budget restrictions on AFMA have resulted in a departure from scheduled monitoring and assessment work, with increasing ad-hoc decisions about which components of that work undertaken each year. There is growing concern by stakeholders that the present monitoring and assessment program is incapable of addressing these developments. SETFIA and other industry associations are particularly concerned that fishing concession levies funding current arrangements will become unaffordable.

Given AFMA's legislative objectives to ensure ecologically sustainable development, to maximise net economic returns and to ensure cost-effective fisheries management, AFMA has proposed this project to develop proposals for a structured and cost-effective research, monitoring and assessment program to respond to requirements and emerging issues in the SESSF over the next 5 years. It may be possible to extend this horizon should a fully quantitative project follow this proposal.

Objectives

1. In consultation with the project Reference Group, SESSFRAG and SEMAC, identify priorities, key concerns, perceived shortcomings and opportunities for improvement in monitoring and assessment arrangements for the SESSF fishery.
2. Review the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of current monitoring, assessment and management arrangements for the SESSF, and the extent to which they meet the requirements of fisheries policies, including implications of recommendations arising from the reviews of the Commonwealth Fisheries: Legislation, Policy and Management, Commonwealth Fisheries Harvest Strategy Policy and Guidelines and Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch.
3. Conduct a qualitative assessment and initiate design of the suite of rationalised monitoring and assessment options currently being trialled against reference points implied under the revised fishery policies for target, byproduct, bycatch and TEP species groups.
4. Review recent relevant regional and international fishery developments to identify future options for improvement in the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of monitoring, assessment and management arrangements for the SESSF.
5. Provide a report using the results of the reviews to support recommendations for revised, implementable and cost-effective monitoring, assessment and management arrangements for the SESSF. These recommendations will seek to optimise the outcomes for the fishery in terms of monitoring and assessment efficiency, while meeting the objectives of the Fisheries Management Act and government policy. The report may recommend further quantitative ‘next step’ analyses as part of the implementation process.

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-9954122-4-8
Authors: Ian Knuckey Andrew Penney Malcolm Haddon Sean Pascoe Simon Boag Matthew Koopman Daniel Corrie George Day Nick Rayns and Trevor Hutton
Final Report • 2019-01-17 • 9.84 MB
2014-203-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) is a multi-species, multi-gear, multijurisdictional Commonwealth fishery. It is a fishery of substantial economic and social importance to Australia, as a key provider of high quality fish products to Australian markets. More than 600 species are caught or interacted with, including bycatch (discards) and byproduct (minor commercial) species. Commercially-important species targeted in the SESSF include 34 species which are managed under Total Allowable Catches (TACs). TACs are periodically adjusted by the management agency, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), in response to biomass estimates, or proxies thereof, derived from monitoring and assessment activities. These include the collection of data (principally catch and effort) from fisher records (log books and catch disposal records).  Additional management requirements reflecting the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy 2007, the Commonwealth Policy on Fisheries Bycatch 2000, and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 require additional information from monitoring and assessment activity. It is now a requirement to record any impacts on bycatch; byproduct; and threatened, endangered and protected species (e.g. seals, seabirds, dolphins). Most monitoring and assessment costs are borne by the Industry (those licencees holding statutory fishing rights to participate in the SESSF). Recently, expanding monitoring and assessment activity has coincided with decreasing commercial returns (primarily as a result of falling prices for some commercial species and the failure to fully catch TACs). It is important that future monitoring and assessment activity applicable to the SESSF is cost-effective for all sectors. This review evaluates existing monitoring and assessment arrangements and provides recommendations on future monitoring and assessment to cost-effectively meet management and legislative requirements.
Environment

FRDC-DCCEE: preparing fisheries for climate change: identifying adaptation options for four key fisheries in South Eastern Australia

Project number: 2011-039
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $655,000.00
Principal Investigator: Gretta T. Pecl
Organisation: University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date: 14 Jan 2012 - 31 Aug 2013
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Population Dynamics
Harvest Strategy
Ecosystem
Distribution
Climate Change
SPECIES
Snapper
Blue Grenadier
Southern Rock Lobster
Blacklip Abalone
Greenlip Abalone

Need

A project to inform fisheries adaptation to climate change is needed in the South East region because:
1) it is an international ‘hotspot’ for marine climate change, which is currently displaying signs of perturbation and where further shifts, shrinkages and expansions of ecosystems and species distributions are expected;
2) it produces >50% of Australia’s seafood and is home to 60% of the Australian population;
3) a formal risk assessment identified fisheries species at highest risk from climate changes are also those with highest economic importance to the region;
4) its fisheries are managed by five separate jurisdictions whose adaption responses will need to be well coordinated if negative impacts are to be reduced effectively and opportunities that arise are to be seized.

Objectives

1. Identify likely key effects of climate change on four major fisheries species in SE Australia (rock lobster, abalone, snapper and blue grenadier), particularly where these effects may impact the harvest strategies for these species.
2. Identify options for improving assessment and management frameworks (e.g. fisheries models, performance measures, decision rules, and harvest strategies) to ensure that they perform effectively under likely climate change scenarios (e.g. account for assumptions of temporal stability in temperature-influenced parameters such growth and recruitment).
3. Evaluate options for adjusting management arrangements to reduce negative impacts and maximise uptake of opportunities that climate change may provide to commercial and recreational fisheries (including improvements in coordination and consistency among jurisdictions).
4. Identify improvements to current monitoring systems for rock lobster, abalone and snapper and their habitats to ensure that they are suitable for measuring the likely impacts of climate change and other drivers.

Final report

Final Report • 6.39 MB
2011-039-DLD.pdf

Summary

Over the next century, the marine ecosystems of south-eastern Australia are expected to exhibit some of the largest climate-driven changes in the Southern Hemisphere. The effects of these changes on communities and businesses will depend, in part, on how well fishing industries and resource managers adapt to these challenges. 
 
This project was developed using the results of a formal assessment of the relative risk to climate change impacts on key fisheries species of south east Australia. Species selected as case studies in this project were identified as being at high (rock lobster, abalone, blue grenadier) or medium (snapper) risk to climate change impacts and having high commercial value and/or recreational importance. The case study species were also identified as being likely to provide useful insights into how fisheries can adapt to changes in productivity (rock lobster) and/or distribution (snapper). Two species (rock lobster and abalone) are considered potential ecological indicators for rocky reefs, whereas snapper is an important component of coastal fish assemblages and blue grenadier occurs further offshore. The goal of the project was to identify adaptation options to enhance the profitability of commercial fisheries and maximise opportunities for participation in recreational fishing.
Environment

Use of otolith chemistry to assess the stock structure of blue grenadier (Macruronus novaezelandiae) in the Commonwealth Trawl and Great Australian Bight fisheries

Project number: 2007-030
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $74,800.00
Principal Investigator: Paul A. Hamer
Organisation: Agriculture Victoria
Project start/end date: 29 Jun 2007 - 1 Aug 2008
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Stock Assessment
Reproduction
Modelling
Data
Biomass
SPECIES
Blue Grenadier

Need

In July 2006, the Great Australian Bight Industry Association (GABIA) discussed the need for further research to assess the stock structure of blue grenadier between the GAB and other fisheries, particularly the West Tasmanian region of the CTF. With total allowable catches for blue grenadier in the CTF under review, GABIA commented that it is very important for both the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery (GABTF) operators and management (AFMA) to better understand grenadier stock structure. GABIA suggested that assessing the stock structure of blue grenadier was one of the highest of priorities if it was going to be robust and likely to show differences if they exist. This view was taken too and noted by GABMAC. AFMA also support the need for this research - determining the stock structure of blue grenadier is a very high priority for management, and results of this project (whatever they are) will influence the management of blue grenadier in the GABTF, with the two most likely options being a global TAC apportioned between the GABTF and SETF or separate management of stocks in each zone. In short, both industry and management support the need for research to assess the stock structure of blue grenadier between the Great Australian Bite and Commonwealth trawl fisheries.

Objectives

1. Use stable isotope and elemental otolith chemistry to assess stock structure of blue grenadier across the GABTF and CTF

Final report

ISBN: 9.78E+12
Author: Paul Hamer
Final Report • 2010-02-01 • 1.77 MB
2007-030-DLD.pdf
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