Both the Tasmanian and Commonwealth scallop fisheries are recovering from severe depletion. In an attempt to ensure future sustainability of the fishery, a form of spatial management has been implemented in both jurisdictions, however, specific management protocols are still evolving. This proposal follows naturally from some of the results of FRDC 2003/017, which is investigating some of the management rules used in scallops. One conclusion from 2003/017 will be that the optimal management regime for widely dispersed scallop beds is to close most of the fishable area only opening a limited number of beds each year in a rotational fashion. One essential requirement for such management is the need for detailed information about the size and abundance of scallop beds across the entire fishery. Fishery-independent surveys would be far too expensive in a cost-recovery management regime - in Commonwealth waters relatively small surveys have cost at least $45000 to $50000 a year and that would not cover the area now available. Therefore, the only economically viable means of providing this information is to devise some means of encouraging Industry members to collect the necessary information both prior-to and during fishing seasons. Ad hoc trials were attempted in Tasmanian waters in 2003, which led to the identification of many operational problems with such surveys. Once these practical problems have been overcome, credibility and authority also need to be added to such fishery dependent surveys.
The vision of this project is of an on-going Commonwealth and Tasmanian scallop fishery managed at a small spatial scale using information provided by Industry itself in the absence of formal independent observers. Such a vision relies on Industry becoming a vital component of the management, and thus requires the development of protocols to ensure the growth in participation and expertise for industry-run sampling. This vision has still to be developed in detail but reflects the needs and wishes of Industry for better economic returns to fishers, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the fishery.
If the general principles of such Industry initiatives are developed in the scallop fishery, then other spatially managed fisheries should be able to develop similar regimes, leading not only to better management but greater industry involvement in management.