Management of Australia’s Tropical Tuna fisheries is complex because of the cross-jurisdictional nature of the stocks and governance through the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy and
Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). Recent work (Kolody et al 2010) has indicated that uncertainty in the connectivity between the fish caught in the Australian fishery and the wider region may make the harvest strategy (HS) unsuitable for use for the tuna species, in particular yellowfin. Currently the HS is not applied to the tuna species for precisely this this reason and further work is required to explore if and how this issue can be resolved.

Recent levels of total allowable commercial catch (TACC) set by the current HS have the potential to increase risk to the regional stock biomass for Striped Marlin, and the upcoming closure of the Coral Sea to long-lining may combine with uncertain connectivity levels to increase localised risk to stock biomass for all species, so the HS urgently needs to be re-evaluated using updated Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) models to ensure that the adopted HS meets the HS Policy guidelines and any Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Conservation Management Measures (CMMs).

Clarification of different policy settings and processes for development of CMMs by the RFMOs, and their interaction with the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy and implementation via the Australian fisheries Management Authority, is required for improved stakeholder understanding of domestic HS management application. An evaluation of the costs and benefits of further stock structure and connectivity research, and a detailed examination of the existing data, is needed to provide transparent priorities and trade-offs for research focussed on the primary uncertainties underpinning management arrangements of these valuable stocks and for confidence in implementation of management advice based on MSE tested HS.