Continuation of the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) accreditation of the Western Rock Lobster
Fishery (WRLF) depends on the fishery addressing issues outlined within the 2006 re-certification action plan. This plan states “no substantive evidence has been presented for assessment about the impacts of the fishery on ecosystem structure, function, diversity, productivity or habitats caused by the removal of target stocks.” The re-certification plan also identified the need to understand the impacts of the fishery on trophic linkages between lobsters and their predators and prey, at each of the main stages of lobster life history.

The need for these types of ecological data was highlighted by the most recent risk assessment, where the effects of removing lobster biomass in deep water was given a “moderate” risk. Re-assessment of the level of risk will require the gaps in the knowledge of deep water ecosystems to be addressed.

Research undertaken during FRDC 2004/049 increased the understanding of the relationship between lobster and their deepwater habitats, however the approach was ineffective in addressing MSC requirements. Therefore the EcoSRG have concluded that there is a need for future research in deep water to use research closures.

Based on the outcomes of FRDC 2004/049, the risk levels and the EcoSRG workshop, this proposal will use closed areas to examine the potential impacts of the rock lobster fishery in deep water, providing baseline information essential for the assessment of the impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem in the future.

This proposal will be conducted in two phases. Phase one will establish fished and unfished areas within deep water in collaboration with industry. Phase two will establish baseline information on lobster stocks, habitat and community structure. If at the end of phase one there is no agreement to establish closed areas, the second phase will not proceed.

The Australian Rock Lobster Industry faces continuing challenges relating to market access, human resources, fisheries management, cost of production and quota implementation.

Issues that need to be addressed include:

1. Continuing the line of successful Congress meetings since 1999.
2. Examine and offer solutions to competing demands of resource allocation.
3. Build on the implementation of common national and international marketing strategies commmenced in Hobart 2005.
4. Address and offer some solutions to common boat costings such as Crew Availability, Fuel costs etc.

Given the current cost-price squeeze, the WA FRAB and the WRL Industry have highlighted business improvement/cost competitiveness within the fishing industry as a priority for research. For the WRL fishery, this situation has resulted primarily from a relatively static beach price for lobster and increasing fuel, labour and other input costs. A major driver for input costs in this fishery is the number of pot lifts, which is currently about 10 million annually, equating to a total cost of ~$60 million (average cost per potlift - $6.00). This is one area where input costs may be reduced.

The fishery currently has strict controls on the pot characteristics to maintain equity among participants and to ensure exploitation rates remain constant. By improving the catching efficiency of the pots the same annual landings could be achieved with a far lower number of pot lifts. For example, an increase in the fishing efficiency of a lobster pot by 10-20% would reduce pot lifts by 10-20% and return to the industry a minimum cost saving in excess of $3-6 million annually. An industry based working group will aim to develop more efficient pots which will provide additional cost savings in fuel and bait usage.

The decision to use more efficient pots could be undertaken at an individual fisher level, but this requires robust conversion rates for any modified design(s) to ensure that the integrity of the fishery's input based management system is not compromised.

In considering issues of allocation and reallocation for rock lobster, the WA IFAAC has made recommendations to the Minister that the recreational and commercial sector’s allocation be based on the predicted proportional catches in 2009/2010 and that a reallocation mechanism be developed ready for implementation by 2009/2010.

To date, although WA has made significant progress on its allocation policy, little progress has been made on the establishment of reallocation principles and mechanisms.

There is clearly a need for the matter of reallocation to be better defined at the principle level, and also a impending timing requirement around the extension of this to practical models suitable for specific fisheries, starting with western rock lobster in order to meet the 2009/2010 deadline.

In SA, rock lobster is also a significant species. With the impending new legislation requiring the allocation and reallocation mechanisms, there is an need to develop reallocation mechanisms for this species in SA. For reasons of cost efficiency and cooperation, it is proposed to conduct a joint project across the two jurisdictions, aimed at developing reallocation mechanisms for rock lobster.

The Investigators are aware of the developing FRDC Resource Access and Allocation Reference Group and Technical Working Group (RF/TWG) structure being established to address matters of allocation and reallocation.

This project will draw heavily on the expertise and outputs of the RF/TWG. While the RF/TWG will be focusing on the matters of principle, this project will be working in parallel making application of these principles through the development of models for rock lobster in WA and SA.

Such an arrangement will have benefits to both projects: the WA/SA project will draw on the expertise of the RF/TWG and will be guided by its outputs; while the National project will benefit from those outputs being ‘tested’ in operational fisheries management scenarios.