Monitoring of remote small vessel fisheries in Australia is often difficult and always costly. Travel costs, observer wages, and operational inefficiencies and restrictions of small vessels in accommodating on-board observers are all factors which act to restrict monitoring coverage while still incurring a relatively high cost to industry. With the a growing need for accurate catch and effort data and the high costs and operational restrictions of using human observers there is a subsequent need to find a cost-effective alternative that will not only improve coverage levels but also reduce costs.

The Nickol Bay Professional Fishermans Association, acting on behalf of the operators in the Western Australian Interim Managed Pilbara Trawl Fishery (PTF) currently contracts Pelagicus Pty Ltd to provide on-board fisheries observers, but given the remoteness of the fishery and the small number of vessels operating, financial restrictions mean that only a portion of the fleet’s fishing activity can be monitored. In response to this problem the PTF and Pelagicus Pty Ltd will be undertaking a pilot project in October 2005 to test the feasibility of using an Electronic Observer System (EOS), incorporating high resolution digital video cameras to collect and collate a range of fisheries independent catch and effort data. If the EOS is deemed a feasible alternative in terms of fisheries data collection capabilities suitable for fisheries monitoring purposes there will be a strong need to ascertain the relative costs-benefits of implementing and operating this form of monitoring in comparison to the use of on-board human observers.

There is a risk that Queensland’s deepwater (>200m) fish stocks are being fished at levels that are not sustainable Increased effort by commercial fishers in deep waters under normal line entitlements and the lack of knowledge of many of the targeted deepwater species (many of these species are presumed to be long-lived, schooling species susceptible to overexploitation) are key threats.

There is also anecdotal evidence that recreational fishers are fishing further offshore in deeper water and that recent improved fishing technologies have increased the effective effort on deepwater fish by all sectors. It is imperative that basic information on these deep-water stocks is collected at a time when management arrangements are being updated for rocky reef species (both shallow and deepwater).

The DEEDI Fisheries Observer Program has 100 days allocated to the deepwater fishery next calendar year, providing a unique opportunity to gather additional biological information on deepwater species that would not normally be collected as part of the routine core functions of the program. The provision of resources via a short-term “Tactical Research Fund” proposal would provide additional information at a time that is critical in the management cycle. It would also enable an assessment of the impact of improvements in vessel and gear technology (braided line, soft plastic lures, GPS etc) that could be used to better standardise catch rates. This is an essential requirement in any future stock assessments.

Fisheries Queensland is currently undertaking a gap analysis to identify information needs for completing an ecological risk assessment of this fishery. The proposed research is critical as it is designed to address the data deficiencies identified by that analysis.

Fisheries Queensland has identified this issue as a priority to be addressed over the next 18 months with a view to review management arrangements in 2012.