Project number: 1996-257
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $836,338.00
Principal Investigator: Ilona Stobutzki
Organisation: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart
Project start/end date: 29 Dec 1996 - 14 Nov 2000
Contact:
FRDC

Objectives

1. To undertake a literature review of prawn trawl bycatch, and methods of estimating and monitoring bycatch of prawn trawl fisheries from published information to add to the already substantial literature database on bycatch reduction devices.
2. To develop cost-effective, accurate and feasible methods of describing and monitoring prawn trawl bycatch that would be acceptable to all stakeholders.
3. To compile a detailed description of the bycatch in the NPF and Torres Straits tiger and banana prawn fisheries and Queensland East Coast banana prawn fisheries to provide a reference against which future assessment can be made.
4. To measure the impact of prawn trawling on the sustainability of important vertebrate bycatch species, particularly those that may be vulnerable or endangered, and for those bycatch species for which no significant reductions can be achieved.
5. To assess the effects of prawn trawling on the biodiversity of key fish and other vertebrate communities.

Final report

ISBN: 0-643-06223-8
Author: Ilona Stobutzki
Final Report • 2000-07-27 • 3.63 MB
1996-257-DLD.pdf

Summary

Prawn trawl fisheries are under increasing public and legislative pressure to manage their bycatch sustainably. Although this is now explicit in the fisheries management acts and the new Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, there is little information on which to base sound management decisions. Bycatch cannot be managed without knowing what and how much is caught. This information is critical to determining the impact of trawling on the sustainability of bycatch species and its potential impact on biodiversity. Monitoring bycatch is also important as it provides vital baseline information for assessing changes in the catch rates of bycatch.

This project focused on these issues in the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF), the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (TSPF) and the Queensland Banana Prawn Fishery.

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