Prev | Next

Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Tasmania Together

Related Issue Reports

Objective

To better understand the impacts of harvesting of wild fisheries on the marine environment, and provide for the sustainability of commercial and recreational fisheries.

Recommendation

It is recommended that:

• wild fisheries are managed, assessed and reported using ecologically sustainable development principles, and these processes are extended to local fisheries, as well as export fisheries;
   
• by-catch estimates from wild fisheries are researched and published. Efforts should also be made to mitigate by-catch, especially where the by-catch species are protected or threatened species;
   
• precautionary approaches are applied in those commercial fisheries whose stock status is unknown, where fishing effort is increasing, or where other trigger points are reached; and
   
• based on the findings of the National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey (Henry & Lyle 2003), strategies are implemented to support the sustainability of these practices in Tasmania, and to support integrated management of commercial and recreational fishing resources.
   

Key issues

While present trends suggest that wild fisheries are relatively stable in Tasmania, this situation can only be maintained with continuing protection of natural resources (see also Ecological Condition of Coastal, Estuarine and Marine Habitats Issue Report). Maintaining sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries provides important economic and social benefits to Tasmania. Proper management of catch and fishing methods aims to minimise the impact of harvesting on biodiversity and the marine environment. Further information is contained in the Wild Fisheries Issue Report. Some of the key points include the following:

• Since 1997-98, effort in the scalefish fishery is down except for jigs and dipnets. Squid jig effort had increased around one hundred fold over the reference period, reflecting increases in effort targeted at southern calamari and especially automatic jig effort targeted at arrow squid. Jig effort has increased to such a large extent because historically catches were very low. As the calamari fishery is a large issue it is being actively managed through closures and other management methods.
   
• Since 1996, recreational licences for abalone have increased by 77%, rock lobster pot and dive licences by 40% and 43% respectively, and recreational gillnet by 24%. Recreational catches for some species exceed that of the commercial fishery. The increase in the number of recreational licences of rock lobster is of concern, as recreational effort tends to be concentrated on shallow accessible areas.
   
• Data on populations of non-commercial species is severely limited. Ideally, wild fisheries assessment would include non-targeted species that may be subject to unintended fishing pressure through by-catch. Species, which may not yet have commercial applications, may be important for the general health of marine ecosystems.
   
• The resource status for most scalefish fisheries is unknown. The status of the 12 of the top 20 valued commercial fisheries in 1996-2000 was unknown. Fishing effort has declined in scalefish fisheries regulated through limited entry, but has increased dramatically in some less regulated fisheries such as squid and calamari. There is uncertainty about whether these trends of increasing recreational fishing effort will continue and, if so, the consequences for the sustainability of these fisheries.
   
• The level of participation in recreational fishing is confirmed by the results of the National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey. The survey identified that Tasmania had a participation rate in recreational fishing of 29.3% of the population, which was well-above the national average participation of 19.5%. Nationally, recreation fishers fished for an average of 6.13 days per fisher between May 2000 and April 2001. Tasmania had the second highest frequency of fishing activity of 6.55 days per fisher (Henry & Lyle 2003).
   

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Since the last SoE Report in 1997, programs and initiatives have included:

• Introduction of management plans for all major wild fisheries and some minor wild fisheries.
   
• Annual fishery stock assessment reports for major fisheries (Tasmania has prepared reports for Environment Australia for both the abalone and rock lobster fisheries).
   
• Recognition and reporting of export fisheries (Rock Lobster and Abalone) against ecologically sustainable development principles, as required under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
   
• Quota management in the rock lobster fishery.
   
• Zoning and separation of greenlip and blacklip abalone in this fishery.
   
• Increased licensing of certain gear, gear restrictions, size limits, and bag limits in the scalefish fishery.
   
• Completion of the National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey, which was a joint initiative of Commonwealth and State Governments to obtain fisheries statistics to support the management of non-commercial fishing in Australia.
   

Tasmania Together

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Coastal, Estuarine and Marine' are listed in the linked file. The Tasmania Together Progress Board reported on progress toward targets for benchmarks set (Tasmania Together Progress Board 2003). Indicators, targets and baseline data are available in the latest Progress Report June 2003. Further information, including progress report updates, is available from Tasmania Together.

Related Issue Reports