Ecological Assessment of the South Australian Marine Scalefish Fishery 2019
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Ecological assessment of the South Australian Marine Scalefish Fishery Reassessment report prepared for the Department of the Environment and Energy Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia Fisheries and Aquaculture March 2019 Ecological assessment of the South Australian Marine Scalefish Fishery - Reassessment report prepared for the Department of the Environment and Energy. Information current as of March 2019 © Government of South Australia 2019 DISCLAIMER PIRSA and its employees do not warrant or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use, of the information contained herein as regards to its correctness, accuracy, reliability and currency or otherwise. PIRSA and its employees expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or advice. ALL ENQUIRIES: Jonathan McPhail Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) Level 15, 25 Grenfell Street GPO Box 1671, Adelaide SA 5001 T (08) 8429 0508 E [email protected] - 2 - Purpose The purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of commercial South Australian Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF) for the purposes of Part 13 and 13(A) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This report updates information provided to the then Australian Government Department of Sustainability Environment, Water Population and Communities (now known as Department of the Environment and Energy, DotEE) in 2016. The report has been prepared by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) in accordance with the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries 2nd Edition, and particularly addresses the level of change that has occurred since the 2016 assessment. Level of assessment The South Australian MSF was assessed as an approved Wildlife Trade Operation in 2016. Since the last assessment, there have been changes in some areas of interest or particular issues as outlined in the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries These have been reported in the annual fishery reports to DotEE. Table 1: Level of assessment required by South Australian MSF Issue Area of Interest Yes No Has there been any change to management Fishery X arrangements, and/ or fishing practices? Has there been any change to an environmental External Influences issue/influence outside of the fishery X management agencies control? Has there been any change in the nature, scale, Interaction with intensity of impact, and/or management X protected species response? Has there been any change in the nature, scale Ecosystem impact or intensity of impact, and/or subsequent X management response? Target Stock Has there been any change in the target stock X Status status? By-product/ Has there been any change in the by-product X bycatch status. and/or bycatch stock status? Considering the above, the level of submission requirement for the South Australian MSF is ‘Standard’. - 3 - Background The regulations that govern the management of the Marine Scalefish Fishery are the Fisheries Management Act 2007, the Fisheries Management (Marine Scalefish Fisheries) Regulations 2017, the Fisheries Management (General) Regulations 2017 and the Fisheries Management (Fish Processor) Regulations 2017. The current management plan for the MSF, the Management Plan for the South Australian Commercial Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF Management Plan), was adopted in 2013 and applies for a period of 10 years. A comprehensive review of this management plan for the purpose of determining whether the plan should be amended, replaced or reinstated without amendment, will be undertaken after the fifth anniversary of the commencement of the plan. The MSF Management Plan, and other Marine Scalefish Fishery documents can be found at: http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/commercial_fishing/commercial_fisheries/marine_scalefish_fishery Fishery The MSF includes the take of most marine species of fish, molluscs, crustaceans, annelids and sharks that occur in South Australia, but excludes Rock Lobster, Prawns, Abalone, and freshwater fish species, all of which are managed separately. There are more than 50 species of ‘scalefish’ taken by commercial fishers in South Australia, however, for the purpose of this report the main target species will be considered in three categories (primary, secondary and tertiary – see appendix A), as identified in the MSF Management Plan (PIRSA 2013). Commercial Fishery The total commercial catch of marine scalefish species in South Australia 2016/17 was 2,519 tonnes (Figure 1), valued at almost $23 million. The Marine Scalefish Fishery was responsible for the employment of around 576 full-time equivalent (fte) jobs through direct employment and jobs in flow-on businesses (Econsearch, 2018). As at 1 March 2019 there were 304 Marine Scalefish Fishery licences and 3 Restricted Marine Scalefish Fishery licences. The number of licences in the fishery has decreased significantly from 865 licences in 1984. A number of other separately managed fisheries maintain some level of access to marine scalefish species. The level of access and restrictions on access varies between each fishery and, as with the MSF, these restrictions are implemented through a mix of regulations, licence conditions and other legal instruments. Further details on this access can be found in the MSF Management Plan (PIRSA 2013). - 4 - The MSF is a multi-gear fishery that uses up to 21 types of fishing gear. The majority of fishing effort occurs in the line gear category including longlines, rod and lines and handlines. The use of nets including accounts for around 16% of fishing effort (Mackay 2018). The MSF commercial fishery is primarily managed through input controls, however, a number of output controls are also used. A heterogeneous mixture of participants, fishing devices and licence conditions, make the task of managing this fishery complex. The large number of licence holders, the large number of species being targeted and variations and permutations of licence endorsements compounds the complexity of the current management arrangements. A description of the management arrangements, gear types and access arrangements for the MSF are provided in the MSF Management Plan (PIRSA 2013). The State Government has established a 'Commercial Marine Scale Fisheries Reform Advisory Committee' to guide the development and implementation of a reform package for the South Australian commercial Marine Scalefish Fishery. Measures that may be considered include zoning, fleet rationalization and introduction of a modernised fisheries management system. As the Advisory Committee develops reform options, consultation will be undertaken with all licence holders to ensure all fishers have the opportunity to have input to the reform process. Recreational Fishery The South Australian recreational fishery is primarily managed through output controls in the form of daily bag and boat limits, and minimum and/or maximum size limits for all key species as well as a number of spatial and temporal closures that apply to both commercial and recreational fishers. The most up to date information regarding the participation rates and demographics among recreational fishers is derived from the ‘South Australian Recreational Fishing Survey 2013/14’ (Giri and Hall, 2015). The survey estimated that approximately 277,000 South Australians recreational fished in 2013/14. This represented a participation rate of 18.3% of the South Australian population. A total of 89 individual species or species groups were reported as caught by recreational fishers in the survey period. The survey provided statistically robust estimates of recreational fish catch and effort for key species including King George Whiting, Snapper, Southern Garfish and Blue Swimmer Crabs among other species. This data is considered in stock assessments and other reports used in managing the commercial fishery. See www.pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/publications/rec_fishing_survey for the full report. For further details on the recreational fishing rules please go to; http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/recreational_fishing. - 5 - Management changes in the fishery There have been a number of changes in the management of the MSF since the last assessment, including: Large Mesh Nets PIRSA has introduced management arrangements to monitor the use of large mesh nets, which may include fishery area closures if effort levels in marine fisheries areas breach triggers. These arrangements have been implemented to address risks of Australian Sea Lion interactions in the MSF. King George Whiting In December 2016, PIRSA implemented the following management changes for King George Whiting in response to declining stock status in some areas of the State: • A reduction in the state-wide recreational daily bag limit to 10 (from 12) and the boat limit to 30 (from 36) to improve the sustainability of the species and to return the recreational catch to within its allocated share of the resource; • An increase in the legal minimum size limit to 32 cm (previously 31 cm) for all fishers, east of 136°E, which is adjacent to Cape Catastrophe on the tip of the Eyre Peninsula to allow more juvenile fish to reach the spawning areas near lower Yorke Peninsula; • The introduction of an annual spawning spatial closure for the month of May over an area of southern Spencer Gulf, southern Gulf St Vincent and Investigator Strait, where the take and possession