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Coral Sea Fishery

Map of Coral Sea Fishery - north-east Australia in the Coral Sea

Estimated catch: 25.7 tonnes (excluding aquarium sector)

Stock Status of Target Species

Common name (scientific name)

Latest available status assessment

2018

2019

Fishing mortality

Biomass

Fishing mortality

Biomass

Sea cucumber sector:

Black teatfish (Holothuria whitmael)

Prickly redfish (Thelenota ananas)

Surf redfish (Actinopyga mauritiana)

Aquarium sector:

Multiple species

Lobster and Trochus sector:

Tropical rock lobster (Panulirus ornatus) possibly other species

Not subject to overfishing

Not overfished

Not subject to overfishing

Not overfished

Sea cucumber sector:

Other sea cucumber species (11 spp.)

Not subject to overfishing

Uncertain

Not subject to overfishing

Uncertain

Sea cucumber sector:

White teatfish (Holothuria fuscogilva)

Uncertain

Uncertain

Not subject to overfishing

Uncertain

Line sector:

Mixed reef fish and sharks

Uncertain

Uncertain

Uncertain

Uncertain

Source: Patterson, H, Larcombe, J, Woodhams, J and Curtotti, R 2020, Fishery status reports 2020,S Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra. CC BY 4.0.

Management Plans/Arrangements

There is no statutory management plan for the Coral Sea Fishery. There are four sectors: Sea cucumber, Aquarium, Lobster and Trochus, and Line. These sectors are managed through input and output controls including limited entry, catch limits, spatial closures, move-on provisions, size limits and catch and effort. Fishers must hold permits to fish in the fishery. A revised Aquarium Sector Harvest Strategy came into effect in July 2019 with new catch triggers that better reflect current fishing practices and best available scientific understanding of population sizes across the fishery.

Analysis of Performance

Catch and effort in the Coral Sea Fishery remains relatively low. In the 2018–19 fishing season, six boats were active in the fishery: four in the Line and Trap Sector and two in the Aquarium Sector. No effort was recorded for the sea cucumber or lobster and trochus sector(s) and there was no reported catch of white teatfish. On this basis, white teatfish is classified as not subject to overfishing.

In the Aquarium Sector, there was a total of 10,798 dive hours in 2018–19, which was an increase from 2,204 dive hours in 2017–18, with the same number of boats fishing. In the Line and Trap Sector, there was a total 204,046 hooks and 111 lines set in 2018-19, which was a decrease from 385,616 hooks and 187 lines set in 2017–18. There was six hours of trawl activity recorded in 2018–19 from a single boat, prior to the permits being removed from the fishery as part of a voluntary buy out administered by Parks Australia. Catch in the Coral Sea Fishery decreased from 64.7 tonnes in 2017-18 to 25.7 tonnes of fish products in the 2018–19 season. All of this catch was finfish.