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.
Incidental catches of species whilst fishing includes the take of both quota and non-quota species. Generally these species are relatively data poor but the Harvest Strategy Policy still requires a determination of whether these species are at risk of overfishing.
In addition, bycatch TACs are set for seriously depleted species to allow for those catches taken when legitimately targeting associated species. The objective is to provide a mechanism that would prevent useless discarding while minimizing fishing mortality. However, current regulations do not prevent targeting the bycatch-only species given sufficient quota. This has been observed with School Sharks. It is currently unknown if taking the bycatch TACs for the species concerned will permit the required stock recovery. As a minimum, methods are needed for determining whether an observed level of bycatch and discarding, in any given fishery, is sustainable; these methods need to be able to be applied irrespective of the different life history characteristics of the wide array of bycatch species found across Commonwealth fisheries.
There is a need to explore the conditions under which severely depleted species may fail to recover. If it is the case that for some species even small incidental catches are sufficient to maintain a species in a depleted state then different management may be required. Management options include 1) status quo, 2) spatial and/or seasonal closures, 3) increased cooperation from Industry, 4) changing regulations about bycatch –only species, and 5) reducing the quotas for those species with which the depleted species make up a significant bycatch. The issue of incidental catches is present in all Australian fisheries; there is a need for general solutions that can be applied to a wide range of cases that minimize the impact on the fishery while minimizing the impact of the fishery on the bycatch-only species.
Commercial and recreational fishers are permitted to use gillnets in Tasmania. There are several classes of gillnet distinguished by mesh size - commercial gillnets include, small mesh, graball and shark nets, while recreational gillnets include mullet and graball nets. During the past 5 years around 150 commercial operators each year have reported gillnet use, for an average catch of 200 tonnes of scalefish. Recent information for the recreational sector is limited though recreational netting remains popular, with over 10,000 net licences issued in 2009. Previous surveys indicate that recreational fishers target much the same species as commercial operators.
Over the past decade there have been several management initiatives, including a prohibition on night netting for most areas and, more recently, the introduction of maximum soak times. These initiatives have been designed to improve gillnetting practices, and reduce wastage and impacts on non-target species. Despite this, there have been conspicuous declines in the abundance of several key gillnet species along with increasing community concern about the ecological impacts of gillnetting. This concern has been particularly evident in the debate surrounding the introduction of marine protected areas, with gillnetting identified as a key threat to biodiversity. Furthermore, in the 2009 Scalefish Fishery review DPIPWE identified the need to develop strategic policy in relation to no-netting areas to address issues including resource sharing, wildlife interactions and stock management.
In view of the above, there is an urgent need to better understand how recent management initiatives have influenced netting practices, and to objectively assess the risks and impacts on target and non-target species. Ultimately such an understanding will be pivotal in informing the on-going debate over the future management of gillnetting in Tasmania.
