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Towards Ecologically Sustainable Management of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery, CRC Torres Strait Task T1.5 Final Report

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Towards Ecologically Sustainable Management of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery, CRC Torres Strait Task T1.5 Final Report Queensland the Smart State Towards Ecologically Sustainable Management of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery CRC Torres Strait Task Number 1.5 C Queensland the Smart State Towards Ecologically Sustainable Management of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery CRC Torres Strait Task T1.5 – Final Report Tiger prawn Clive T. Turnbull and Cassandra L. Rose Fisheries Policy and Sustainability Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland ISSN 0727-6273 PR06-2587 This document may be cited as: Turnbull, C.T. and Rose, C.L (2007) Towards Ecologically Sustainable Management of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery, CRC Torres Strait Task T1.5 Final Report. Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland. Acknowledgements The research presented in this report was jointly funded by the Torres Strait Cooperative Research Centre and the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland (DPI&F). The work would not have been possible without the efforts of many people and special thanks go to the trawler owners and skippers who provided details on their vessels’ fishing gears and technologies and copies of their private unload records. We thank Joanne Atfield, Christopher Barber and Bart Mackenzie who conducted the gear surveys. Michael O’Neill provided technical advice for the 2007 update of the tiger prawn assessment. We thank the skipper and crew of the DPI&F RV Gwendoline May and Vincent Brozek and Susan Chalmers for their assistance on the trawl research surveys. Thanks also to Ms Chalmers for photographing the bycatch specimens and Bob Mayer (DPI&F) for the provision of statistical advice on analysis of the bycatch data. General disclaimer: The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) seeks to maximise the economic potential of Queensland’s primary industries on a sustainable basis. This publication provides an overview of all of the research that was conducted as part of the Torres Strait CRC Task 1.5 - Towards Ecologically Sustainable management of the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery and details a comparative analysis of bycatch samples collected from areas of the Torres Strait that were both closed and open to prawn trawl fishing. This publication can be viewed and downloaded from the DPI&F web site http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/ While every care has been taken in preparing this publication, the State of Queensland accepts no responsibility for decisions or actions taken as a result of any data, information, statement or advice, expressed or implied, contained in this report. © The State of Queensland, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries 2007 Copyright protects this material. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth), reproduction by any means (photocopying, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise), making available online, electronic transmission or other publication of this material is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland. Inquiries should be addressed to: Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Unit Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries GPO Box 46 Brisbane Qld 4001 or [email protected] Telephone: +61 7 3404 6999 II Table of contents 1 Non-Technical Summary .......................................................................................................... 1 2 Task Overview .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Background and Need...................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.3 Research Summary .......................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Assessment Recommendations........................................................................................ 6 2.5 Outcomes / Achievements against each objective........................................................... 8 2.6 Utilisation and Application of the Research .................................................................... 9 2.7 Publications...................................................................................................................... 9 3 Description of the fishery........................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Main features of the 2006 fishery.................................................................................. 10 3.2 History and Management............................................................................................... 10 4 Assessment of the status of prawns stocks in 2006................................................................. 13 4.1 Background.................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 Fishery Independent survey data ................................................................................... 13 4.3 Collection of vessel and gear data ................................................................................. 15 4.4 Fishing Power Trends .................................................................................................... 15 4.5 Update of the tiger prawn assessment............................................................................ 16 4.6 Discussion......................................................................................................................18 4.7 References......................................................................................................................18 5 Catch data from unload records .............................................................................................. 19 5.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................19 5.2 Methods .........................................................................................................................19 5.3 Results............................................................................................................................ 21 5.4 Discussion......................................................................................................................22 5.5 References......................................................................................................................23 6 Torres Strait Prawn trawl bycatch........................................................................................... 24 6.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................24 6.2 Methods .........................................................................................................................25 6.2.1 Bycatch Sampling...................................................................................................... 25 6.2.2 Species identification................................................................................................. 27 6.2.3 Sediment type and current stress ............................................................................... 27 6.3 Analyses......................................................................................................................... 27 6.3.1 Data analyses ............................................................................................................. 27 6.3.2 Catch rates ................................................................................................................. 27 6.3.3 Univariate analyses.................................................................................................... 28 6.3.4 Multivariate analysis.................................................................................................. 28 6.4 Results............................................................................................................................ 29 6.4.1 Description of bycatch............................................................................................... 29 6.4.2 Distribution of bycatch species.................................................................................. 33 6.4.3 Protected Species ....................................................................................................... 34 6.4.4 Bycatch species previously identified as at risk from trawling ................................. 35 6.4.5 Environmental variables ............................................................................................ 35 6.4.6 Bycatch community structure .................................................................................... 37 6.4.7 Bycatch community composition .............................................................................. 40 6.5 Discussion......................................................................................................................47 6.5.1 Bycatch description ................................................................................................... 47 6.5.2 Potential impacts of trawling on bycatch................................................................... 50 6.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 52 6.7 References......................................................................................................................52
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