By-catch from fishing methods is one of the most significant issues facing the world’s fisheries. Over the past decade or so, researchers in Australia, the US and Canada have been quite successful at reducing some of the more serious by-catch problems, particularly those concerning the huge discarding and wastage problems associated with trawling. Various projects have shown that the most effective way of reducing discards is to follow a staged scientific protocol involving: (i) identifying and quantifying by-catches to determine places and times of particularly problematic by-catches and (ii) doing experimental tests of modified fishing practices that reduce the identified by-catches. The ONLY way to achieve the first, quantification stage accurately is to have scientific observers going out on typical fishing trips to record information on catches and discards (these are termed Observer Programmes). Significant advances in identifying and quantifying by-catches have been made in several countries, including Australia, the US and Canada through Observer Programmes. As well as quantifying bycatches and discarding, Observer Programmes have proven invaluable in providing information on levels of compliance of commercial fisheries to regulations and codes of conduct. They also provide excellent material for biological work on species that would otherwise be very expensive or problematic to collect (e.g. gut contents, sizes, age information, otoliths etc.), operational information on fleet dynamics and changes in fishing effort. Such programmes are also increasingly being used as on-deck extension and educational services, teaching fishers first-hand about a range of scientific, compliance and management issues.

In 1998, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the United States’ NOAA Fisheries sponsored the first of a series of biennial international conferences on Fisheries Observer Programmes. This series of conferences (previously held in Seattle, St. Johns and New Orleans) brings together the key stakeholder groups, scientists, technicians and managers responsible for the design, management and safe delivery of at-sea fisheries observer programs throughout the world. It provides the main international forum to address the many facets of these very important data-gathering programmes. NSW Fisheries has been successful in the bid to host the 4th International Fisheries Observer Conference in Sydney in November 2004.

The hosting of this conference in Sydney has been discussed and endorsed at the last 3 meetings of the AFMF Research Committee.

The Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) received certification under the Marine Stewardship Council in 2013, becoming the first tropical prawn fishery in the world to receive ecocertification under this process. Certification was conditional upon a number of actions being addressed. Included among them was the need to demonstrate, using robust scientific information, that fishing in the JBG sub-fishery is not having adverse impacts on at-risk species, vulnerable habitats or ecosystems.

To maintain certification under the MSC, NPF Industry Pty Ltd must undertake a number of actions by September 31 2013. They include:
- evaluating existing information to confirm its suitability for understanding key ecosystem elements in the JBG, understanding the nature, distribution and vulnerability of main habitat types present, and monitoring at-risk species (where identified). Identify deficiencies/gaps;
- implementing a program of activities to address deficiencies/gaps where required; and,
- using existing and newly implemented (as required) research and monitoring activities to assess the status of at-risk species, vulnerable habitats and ecosystems in the JBG sub-fishery.

This proposal will seek to progress these actions. Failure to do so would jeopardise ongoing certification of the NPF.

At the time of writing this research proposal, many shark gillnet fishermen operating in waters off South Australia are not going out fishing because of the cost of 100% observer coverage (~$1000/day) and because many of their most valuable fishing grounds have been closed to protect Australian Sea Lions. Fishing and onshore businesses that are dependent on the catch of Gummy Shark are suffering extreme financial hardship and some are already up for sale. Although the current AFMA direction may only be in place for 6 months, it is likely to continue in some form, and many fishers cannot see a future for gillnets off SA because of their potential impact on ASLs and the measures that will need to be implemented to protect them. If their businesses are to become viable again and have any future, they need to find another method of targeting gummy shark. Demersal longlines offer that opportunity.

The fishery is now between a rock and a hard place: if it stays with gillnets, it faces an bleak future with concern about ASL and other TEP bycatch requiring, large closures and tighter management; by moving to longlines, ASL bycatch will be negligible but the bycatch of conservation-dependent School Sharks and different TEP species may be an issue as well as concern about high catches of fish targeted by neighbouring fisheries. Also, current management arrangements are critically dependent on the highly size-selective nature of current 6 inch gillnet mesh size which prevents the capture of large mature sharks and hence preserves the breeding population. Whilst it presently has significant opposition, the move to longlines seems the only future for SA gummy shark fishermen. A dedicated research project is required to answer many of the concerns about the use of demersal longlines to target Gummy Shark.