Final report
Catch statistics for 13 species from commercial and research trawls conducted between 1979 and 1984 in the southern areas of the South-East Trawl fishery are examined. Catch and catch per swept area from demersal trawls were stratified by position, depth and month and shots were subsequently amalgamated into statistically different groupings. It is suggested that these groups be targeted by fisheries managers for particular attention when conducting biological studies of the fish stocks. A novel management regime based on deliberate over exploitation of selected discrete stocks is proposed and it is argued that only a combination of biological studies and experimental manipulation can lead to a reliable management strategy. It is suggested that catch per unit effort of trawl could never be refined to the extent required by any reasonable population model and that CPUE is valid only for models of that part of the fishery that exists above sea level, such as the economic component. This report was prepared for the Tasmanian Department of Sea Fisheries FIRTA Grant 86/45.
