This project aims to provide the biological knowledge to sustainably manage a new species in South Australian fisheries production. It also aims to maximise returns for a species which, until recently, yielded low returns to fishers but has significant potential in export markets.

Targeted fishing effort on the cuttlefish Sepia apama has rapidly increased in northern Spencer Gulf during recent years. Annual reported catches have increased from less than 4 tonnes to more than 250 tonnes within 5 years. Licence holders in the fishery have expressed strong concerns over the sustainability of the fishery which is restricted to a spatially small area near Pt Lowly. The fishery is currently managed within the broad management framework of the commercial marine scalefish fishery, which provides for no specific restrictions on either effort or catch for cuttlefish. More stringent management controls, specific to this species, need to be introduced before the commencement of the 1998 fishing season.

There is a complete lack of scientific information regarding the general biology and life history characteristics of S. apama, despite its large size and common occurrence in southern Australian waters. Other commercial cuttlefish species are known to be short-lived and semelparous (spawns once and dies), a lifecycle common to many cephalopods. With this type of lifecycle, overfishing in a single year can cause a stock to collapse (Rodhouse and White, 1995). In addition, the exploited population is understood to be a spawning aggregation, which would further increase the potential to deplete the stock.

An improving market for this species, including the potential for an export market, suggests that exploitation levels will continue to increase. Additionally, other known populations within South Australia and other southern States (currently unfished) may attract fishing effort. There is therefore an urgent need to establish the general life history characteristics of S. apama in South Australian waters, and gather baseline biological data upon which the impacts of fishing on this species may be assessed and any necessary management controls may be based.

Currently South Australian cuttlefish are attracting a much lower market price than other cuttlefish species of a similar size being sold in Japanese and European markets (AUS$1-2 as compared with US$5-7). Therefore, there is a definite need to investigate possible marketing strategies which would increase the price of the current product and/or identify alternative value-added products (especially if they utilise other parts of the cuttlefish currently being discarded). An even more exciting opportunity may exist with the live fish trade.

Rodhouse PG and White MG (1995). Cephalopods occupy the ecological niche of epipelagic fish in the Antarctic polar frontal zone. Biol. Bull. 189: 77-80.

Managers need to be provided with information that will ensure that fishing mortalities remain below the appropriate biological reference points for the key species.

To provide this information, knowledge is required of the relationship between fishing effort and fishing mortality. An experimental approach which provides a clearly measurable level of fishing mortality will achieve this. The fish in the 100-200m depth zone are schooling species and commercial effort will naturally be targeted on schools, so commercial catch rates cannot be used for the abundance measures required to calculate fishing mortality. There is a need therefore for survey fishing before and after the period of intense commercial fishing and for research personnel to oversee the survey fishing, gather samples and information on the survey cruises, process these at the laboratory and analyse the results. Monitoring of the fishing effort through research logbooks during the commercial fishing period is also required.

Statistics on Australian fisheries production and trade provides a source of information for a range of
purposes. The information can be used to meet the needs of the fishing and aquaculture industry, fisheries
managers, policymakers and researchers. It can assist in policy decisions, industry marketing strategies and
the allocation of research funding or priorities. The gross value of production for specific fisheries are used for
determining the research and development levies collected by government. The neutrality and integrity of
GVP estimates is therefore important due to their forming the basis for research levies for each fishery. At the
international level, the Department of Agriculture through Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource
Economics and Sciences (ABARES) contributes to a number of international databases. These include
databases managed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD). Information at the international level can assist in international
negotiations on issues such as transboundary fisheries and analysis of trade opportunities.