There is a need for a consolidated national report on the status of key wild catch Australian fish stocks, focusing on commercial and recreational target species. One pitfall of guides like the Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide is their focus on entire species, without considering differences among stocks within each species. Consequently, a poor status determination for one stock can result in a poor status determination for all stocks of that species regardless of whether or not the other stocks are healthy. Government can avoid this pitfall by clearly articulating the status of individual fish stocks. Australia’s different jurisdictions have demonstrated their capacity to work constructively together to achieve common goals (e.g. joint stock assessments for shared stocks). However, the current differences in scope, depth, terminology and benchmarking in jurisdictionally based Fishery Status Reports make it difficult to readily compare the status of stocks across jurisdictions and build a coherent national status of key species.
The National Fishery Status Reports would not be promoted as an eco-labelling guide but rather as a government produced instrument designed to simplify comparison of the status of key wild capture fish stocks around Australia both within and among jurisdictions. This information would be available for the general public, policy makers and industry to make informed decisions in relation to the actual health of various stocks. The reports would also provide an important and accurate information source for international organisations (e.g. FAO). The process of producing these reports will improve communication between the jurisdictions, leading to a better understanding of the status determinations made by each jurisdiction and how these compare. One of the main outcomes already achieved from the recent jurisdictional planning workshops is the convergence on a common system of benchmarking and terminology for use across jurisdictions.
There is a critical need to improve the management of the Shark Bay crab fishery, especially since its expansion to become the highest producing blue swimmer crab fishery in Australia. This rapid growth has caused scientific understanding of the stocks to lag behind, raising questions on the viability of current catch levels and a precautionary approach to management in the absence of adequate stock assessment. Recent declines in recruitment and catch rates have highlighted the need to address knowledge gaps on the factors influencing recruitment, biology and stock status of the Shark Bay crab fishery before a decision-rule framework can be developed to allow both sectors to fish this valuable resource to its sustainable level. A recent external scientific review confirmed this lack of knowledge is hindering the development of future effective management strategies and resource sharing arrangements. Determination of key fisheries and biological parameters and development of stock assessment models will empower scientists and managers to better understand the resource and make the best decisions for allocation between the trap, trawl and recreational sectors. A socio-economic analysis of individual fishers and collective industry business operations will identify the role, value and importance of blue swimmer crabs to the viability of the trap and trawl sectors. The social and economic role of the commercial and recreational crab fishery within the wider Gascoyne and Western Australian community will highlight direct and indirect benefits of this fishery, which are not fully understood at present.
A large spawning aggregation of giant Australian cuttlefish (Sepia apama) usually occurs on a discrete area of rocky reef adjacent to Pt Lowly in northern Spencer Gulf. This is the only known dense aggregation of spawning cuttlefish in the world and it is highly valued by local residents, the tourism industry, and recreational divers. A cephalopod fishing closure was established in the spawning area in 1998 due to a rapid increase in catches in the area and concerns about the sustainability of the resource.
A series of anecdotal reports, filtered through various media sources, has indicated that this year’s (2011) spawning aggregation appears significantly reduced. There is considerable speculation as to why breeding cuttlefish have “failed to turn up” on the Point Lowly Peninsula spawning grounds, ranging from natural variation in their population dynamics, localised pollution by coastal industrial development, and environmental irregularities. In order to effectively respond to this decline, it is important to determine whether it is an ongoing trend, and if so, what its cause is. Structured cuttlefish surveys, where the data have been made publically available, have not occurred since 2005 (see Steer and Hall, 2005), therefore, it is has not possible to ascertain the magnitude of the annual variation in cuttlefish abundance and biomass. Furthermore, there has not been any structured environmental monitoring within the broader northern Spencer Gulf area to investigate any potential casual links between local environmental conditions and cuttlefish aggregative behaviour. Clearly there is a need to develop an on-going monitoring program that quantifies the abundance and biomass of cuttlefish on the spawning grounds, coupled with a structured environmental monitoring program. This is of particular importance as the spawning grounds are located in close proximity to coastal industry and proposed further infrastructure development.
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.
