Coral Sea Fishery
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.
Visit
https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/australian-fisheries-management-authority/reporting-year/2019-20-16