Rebuilding Southern Rock Lobster stocks on the east coast of Tasmania: informing options for management

Funded Activity Summary

Rock lobster stocks off the east coast of Tasmania are in a depleted state and as a consequence a stock rebuilding strategy has been implemented. This has involved adopting a 200 tonnes east coast catch limit, comprising a catch cap for the commercial sector and a notional catch share for the recreational sector. While the commercial catch limit can be monitored and controlled directly, management of the recreational catch share is more problematic.

The recreational rock lobster fishery has been monitored for two decades, during which time there have been significant management changes and variability in stock abundance. The greatest changes have occurred in the east coast, which has traditionally attracted 60-70% of the state-wide recreational catch and effort. In an effort to restrict catches from that region there have been drastic reductions in bag and possession limits and a progressive reduction in season. Furthermore, major biotoxin events have resulted in closures of key areas during peak fishing periods.

High and varying levels of participation has made management of the recreational component of the fishery difficult. This situation is likely to be further exacerbated as stocks rebuild; higher catch rates are expected to attract increased effort and overall catches for the sector. For the commercial sector, the catch cap effectively represents a competitive or “Olympic” catch quota which, as catch rates improve, is likely to influence fleet dynamics and timing of catches as fishers ‘race’ to take the limited catch.

Understanding relationships between fisher behaviour, their expectations/aspirations, responses to changes in stock status and to management intervention is critical when implementing effective management strategies. This project aims to inform on the practical challenges to achieving the stock rebuilding objective and provide options to assist managers and both fishing sectors in achieving the ecological, social and economic goals for the fishery.


Objectives:
1. Determine the relationships between recreational fisher behaviour (effort and participation) and Rock Lobster catch rates and abundance
2. Assess fisher attitudes and compliance behaviour to management scenarios designed to achieve the east coast stock rebuilding objective
3. Model the effectiveness of alternative management scenarios in constraining recreational catches as stock rebuild
4. Model the impact on fleet dynamics, including economic implications, of the expected shift to an "Olympic" quota.
5. Evaluate the costs and benefits of short- and long-term management options for the east coast Rock Lobster fishery

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-10-2017

End Date: 15-12-2018

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $103,800.00

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

Compliance | Fisheries Management | Fishing Effort | Human Dimensions Research | RAC TAS | Recreational Fishing | Resource Access And Allocation | Responsible Fishing | Stakeholder | Stock Assessment | Stock Recovery | Survey | Wild Catch

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