Seafood CRC: improving profitability in the Western Rocklobster fishery using a rocklobster trap

Funded Activity Summary

For the WRL fishery, this situation has resulted primarily from a relatively static beach price for lobster and increasing fuel, labour and other input costs. A major driver for input costs in this fishery is the number of pot lifts, which is currently about 10 million annually, equating to a total cost of ~$60 million (average cost per potlift - $6.00). If a lobster trap could be introduced into this fishery with a volume approx twice that of traditional pots, thereby enabling fishers to capitalise on the gregarious nature of the animal whilst preventing escapees, the fishing behaviour of the fleet would adapt accordingly to focus on primarily extended soaks i.e. 48 and 72 hours. It is envisaged that the cost savings associated with this shift in fishing behaviour would translate to a more economically viable fleet.

The introduction of a lobster trap which causes a reduction in the number of pot lifts has the potential to enhance the primary measure of exploitation in the WRLF namely, catch per unit effort (CPUE). A 10-20% reduction in pot lifts over an entire season would result in cost savings to the tune of $6-12 million annually. This project aims to trial a lobster trap which will encourage fishers to alter their fishing behaviour thereby increasing their CPUE which translates directly to cost savings in fuel and bait usage.

The decision to use more efficient pots could be undertaken at an individual fisher level, but this requires robust conversion rates for any modified design(s) to ensure that the integrity of the fishery's input based management system is not compromised. The potential for further cost savings arising through the purchase and maintenance of licences containing lesser numbers of entitlements is also likely.


Objectives:
1. To calculate the potential cost savings which arise through the use of a reduced number of more efficient 1.2m lobster traps in tandem with a modified fishing behaviour. These estimates would be derived by obtaining attaining robust estimates of catch rates (catch per unit effort) using the 1.2m trap compared to traditional pots in the fishery combined with the estimated reduction in operating costs that would arise from the widespread adoption of the 1.2m traps. For instance, a fisherman choosing to deploy a 1.2m trap that is 20% more efficient than traditional methods would lose 20% of his entitlements. This analysis would incorporate both varying estimates of efficiency and degree of uptake by industry.
2. To determine whether a modified 1.2m lobster trap will alter the fishing behaviour of the WRL fleet which is traditionally focused on 24 hour soak times. This would be achieved through an increased reliance on a trap which is greater in volume than the traditional pot, retains 100% of animals and ideally suited to extended soak times i.e. 48 – 72 hours.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 15-11-2008

End Date: 15-11-2009

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $92,276.57

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Biology | Cost | Data | Economic | Fisheries Management | Fishing Gear | Processing & packaging | RAC WA | Resource Access And Allocation | Stakeholder | Trial

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