sign in sign up
<<
Home , Tasmanian giant crab, Wild fisheries

APPLICATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE TASMANIAN GIANT

Against the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of (2007)

June 2019

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES, PARKS, AND ENVIRONMENT, TASMANIA

1. Background The purpose of this submission is to update the Department of Environment on the current status and management changes in the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery to enable its reassessment against the Guidelines for Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries.

The Tasmanian Giant Crab fishery was initially assessed by the then Environment against the guidelines for the ecological sustainable management of fisheries in 2003 and the fishery was declared an approved Wildlife Trade Operation (WTO), under Part 13A of the EPBC Act. This declaration would allow the export of product from the fishery under permits for the next three years. The Fishery has since been re-assessed against the guidelines by the Department of Water and Environment in 2006, 2009 and 2014, where the fishery was given an exemption for export approval for a further five years. The current approval expires in July 2019.

This report should be read in conjunction with:

Previous assessments of the Giant Crab fishery under part 13A of the EPBC Act which can be found at http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/fisheries/tas/giant-crab

The current Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery Management plan (Fisheries (Giant Crab) Rules 2013) which can be found at http://www.thelaw.tas.gov.au/tocview/index.w3p;cond=ALL;doc_id=%2B2%2B2013%2BAT%40EN %2B20140522150000;histon=;prompt=;rec=;term=Giant%20Crab%20Rules%202013

Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

2. Fishery Overview The table below is a summary overview of the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery:

Publicly available information relevant to  Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 the fishery  Fisheries Giant Crab Rules 2013 (Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery Management Plan)  Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) giant crab assessment and research reports  Application to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for the re-assessment of the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery 2014 (2014 Submission)  Application to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for the re-assessment of the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery 2009 (2009 Submission)  Department of the Environment and Heritage, Assessment of the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery 2006 (2006 Assessment)  Assessing the Ecological Sustainability of the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery (2006 Submission)  Department of the Environment and Heritage, Assessment of the, Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery 2003 (2003 Assessment)

Area

Figure 1: Map of the TGCF (Source, IMAS)

The area of the fishery includes surrounding the state of Tasmania generally south of 39º12′ and out to the outer edge of the Australian . The vast majority of the TCGF is in Commonwealth waters; however the entire fishery is managed by

Prepared by Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 3 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

Tasmania under an Offshore Constitutional Settlement (OCS) between the Australian Government and the Government of Tasmania.

Fishery status The 2019 Status of Australian Stocks Report reported the Tasmanian part of the giant crab fishery as depleted.

Where the report states: This level of egg production is considered to be inadequate relative to benchmarks in most fisheries [Fogarty and Gendron 2004]. Since the 2013–14 assessment the model has not been updated due to a lack of data, and analyses have focused instead on CPUE trends. CPUE has decreased almost continually since the inception of the Tasmanian fishery. Due to its slow growth and longevity, Giant Crab is particularly susceptible to becoming recruitment overfished. The above evidence indicates that the stock is likely to be depleted.

In an effort to increase and reverse declining CPUE trends the total allowable catch for the fishery has been reduced since the last assessment from 38.3t to 20.7 t, a TAC reduction of 46%.

Target Giant Crab (Pseudocarcinus gigas)

Byproduct Species As of the 1 June 2007, giant crab byproduct has been reported in the Giant Crab Catch Record Book. This procedure has made for effective recording of byproduct as now fishers only have to fill in a single log book for their giant crab operations.

An audit of Giant Crab Catch returns for the 2016/17 and 2018/19 season for fishers who caught more than one tonne indicated that no byproduct had been retained.

Gear Giant crab from the TGCF are harvested using a heavy steel trap (modified rock pot) usually set in strings of 10-20. There are limits on the number; dimensions and structure of giant crab traps that can be deployed form each licensed vessel. Each trap must have one or two escape gaps of defined minimum dimensions.

Season The quota year commences on 1 March and concludes on the last day of February the following year. Fishing for male giant is permitted year round. A spawning closure for females applies between 1 June and 14 November inclusive. Highest catches occur in the months of summer and autumn.

Prepared by Wild Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 4 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

Commercial harvest Below is the harvest of giant crab since the 2014 assessment

Quota year Total catch (tonnes) % of TAC (March – Feb) 2014/15 TAC 38.3t 23.14 60.4 2015/16 TAC 38.3t 20.5 53.5 2016/17 TAC 38.3t 29.6 77.4 2017/18 TAC 20.7t 16.5 80.4 2018/19 TAC 20.7t 19.8 96.3

Since the 2014 assessment there has been a steady rise in the giant crab beach price, which has seen the beach price generally maintained at greater than $90/kg often peaking at greater than $100/kg. This has resulted in a greater proportion of the TAC being taken in recent years along with the reduced TAC, as the remaining participants in the fishery look to maximise their catch by seeking out all available quota. A higher quota lease price (as a result of the higher beach price) is making it attractive for quota owners to lease out or sell giant crab quota.

Value of commercial harvest For 2018/19 $1.89 million

Take by other sectors Due to the nature of the TGCF, operating in deep water off the (120 – 250 ), Indigenous and recreational fishing catch are negligible. Recreational fishers are permitted to a possession limit of one giant crab.

The Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishery has historically taken giant crab where limits have been in place, no more than 10 giant crab could be taken on a fishing trip or no more than 50kg in a season by a rock lobster fisher. The provisions for the take of giant crab as bycatch in the rock lobster fishery have been suspended for three years commencing in the 2018/19 season.

Take of giant crab has also been reported by the Commonwealth South East Trawl Fishery (SETF). The available data suggests that the crab catch landed by the SE Trawl Fishery is low.

Commercial licences issued A total of 78 licences are currently issued in the TGCF and some fishers may hold more than one giant crab licence. The TGCF is linked to the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishery through the requirement to hold a rock lobster licence as well as a giant crab licence to target giant crab.

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 5 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

42 giant crab licence are listed with a vessel. 18 vessels reported a catch of giant crab during the 2018/19 season of which six recorded catch of greater than 1t and three took greater than 50% of the landed catch for the 2018/19 season.

Management arrangements The TGCF is managed under the Tasmanian Fisheries (Giant Crab) Rules 2013, which obtains its authority from the Tasmanian Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995.

Input Controls:  Limited entry  Limited trap numbers  Seasonal spawning closure

Output Controls:  Quota management including individual transferable quotas (ITQs) for giant crab.  Annually set TAC  Minimum size limits  Catch limits for recreational fishers.  Prohibition on the take of egg-bearing female

Export As best can be determined, no giant crab from the TGCF has been exported during the period of the 2014 assessment due to quota reductions resulting in reduced supply (in Tasmania and other jurisdictions) and the crackdown on Chinese Government extravagance under President Xi Jinping.

Bycatch Low – bycatch in the TGCF is considered negligible and assessed as low risk to other species due to the small amount of trapping effort. The majority of bycatch consists of species that can be returned to the unharmed, with the most abundant species being Hermit Crab (Trizopagarus strigimanus), and Draughtboard (Cephaloscyllium laticeps).

Interaction with Protected Species In the 2003 Assessment, the then Department of the Environment and Heritage (DEH) noted that the TGCF had no interactions with protected species. Since this time, reporting procedures have shifted slightly and now the TGCF records all protected species interactions directly in the giant crab logbook. No protected species interactions were reported by fishers targeting giant crab in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 which is expected given that the fishery operates in deep water away from coastal areas.

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 6 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

Under sections 199, 214, 232 and 256 of the Environment Protection and Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), persons who interact with a protected species must report that interaction within seven days of the incident occurring to DEWHA.

Ecosystem Impacts The TGCF is based mainly on found along the edge of the continental shelf; on bryzoan turf growing on sand and mud sediments. The impact of TGCF on habitat is considered to be low because gear is not dragged and the fishing footprint is insignificant relative to the size of the habitat area.

3. Key Changes to the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery since the last assessment Since the last assessment, the Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery Management Plan remains unchanged. The current Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery Management Plan expires at the end of February in 2023.

Since the last assessment the giant crab fishery the TAC has been reduced once. The TAC was reduced from 38.3t to 20.7t for the 2017/18 season and has remained at that level since, this was reduction of 46%. TAC was reduced in response to declining catch rates and to increase biomass. Over the term of the 2014 assessment giant crab catch rates have continued to decline at a moderate rate and are currently at a record low, Figure 2 below illustrates the trend in giant crab standardised catch rates for east, west and state wide.

Since the last assessment the rock lobster bycatch provisions for giant crab have been suspended for three years commencing on 1 March 2018.

Figure 2: TGCF standardised catch rates.

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 7 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

4. Progress in implementing recommendations from the previous assessment.

Recommendation 1: Operation of the fishery will be carried out in accordance with the Fisheries (Giant Crab) Rules 2006 made under the Tasmanian Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995.

Since the last assessment, operation of the TGCF has been carried out in accordance with the Fisheries (Giant Crab) Rules 2013.

Recommendation 2: DPIW to inform DEWHA of any intended amendments to the TGCF management arrangements that may affect the assessment of the fishery against the criteria on which EPBC Act decisions are based.

Throughout this period of accreditation DPIPWE notified the Department of Environment of changes to the TGCF management arrangements.

Recommendation 3: DPIW to produce and present reports to DEWHA annually as per Appendix B to the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries - 2nd Edition.

DPIPWE has submitted reports annually to the Department of Environment as required each year along with supporting documentation outlining progress in meeting the recommendations for the fishery.

Recommendation 4: The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment to a) work collaboratively with AFMA to investigate the impacts of on Giant Crab stock and if necessary, implement appropriate spatial management arrangements, and b) continue to work with relevant fishery management agencies in the management of the shared giant crab stocks. a) DPIPWE has worked collaboratively with AFMA to investigate the impacts of trawling on Giant Crab stock. AFMA and DPIPWE officers have met on a number of occasions, to discuss the issue of the impact of on the TGCF.

To progress the DPIPWE commissioned research undertaken by IMAS to investigate the interactions between the TGCF and the south east benthic trawl fishery where AFMA provided data containing trawl track locations and giant crab catch by trawlers. AFMA were also given an opportunity to comment on the draft report before it was published. The outcomes from the study are:

 There appeared to be high potential for interactions between trawl and crab trapping on the west where approximately 80% of the trawl effort occurred in grounds used for giant crab fishing between 2008 and 2012 (this dropped to 65% in 2014).  It is clear from the report that trawl sector has not adhered to the voluntary agreement where the swept area was higher in areas where trawling was to be excluded than the agreed open area.  Analysis of swept area for the bryozoan turf/thicket (as mapped and identified from William et al 2009) shows that trawl effort was concentrated over bryozoan habitat, with up to 50% of the bryozoan habitat receives trawl effort in a single year.

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 8 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

A copy of the report can be found at: http://www.imas.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/1056466/SMRCA_GC- Trawl_fisheries_final_dec17.pdf

DPIPWE has recently highlighted its concerns to AFMA regarding the impact of bottom trawling on giant crab habitat citing the IMAS study along with recent and past research such as:

 FRDC report titled Putting potential environmental risk of Australia's trawl fisheries in landscape perspective: exposure of assemblages to trawling, and inclusion in closures and reserves (Pitcher et al 2018), which identified western Tasmania as an area of high trawl exposure and with low protection, with a trawl foot print of greater than 30% and a total swept area of greater than 45%.  Evaluating impacts of fishing on benthic habitat (Williams etal 2011) where bryozoan habitat was identified as being vulnerable to damage or complete removal. The interaction with otter trawls rated as a higher risk because trawling had a relatively high overlap and created a higher level of disturbance.  Understanding shelf-break habitat for sustainable management of fisheries with spatial overlap (Williams et al 2009)

It has been agreed that further detailed analysis of waters adjacent to Tasmania as outlined in the 2018 Pitcher et al report is required to progress the issue. DPIPWE and AFMA are currently working on a project scope to progress with this analysis.

Mortality of non-retained crabs that come in contact with trawl gear is unknown and is of great concern to DPIPWE. This has not been addressed in any research and is likely to be significant and impact the ability of giant crab stock to recover. This has been identified as a research need for the giant crab fishery but will require significant resources to achieve.

DPIPWE is seeking a coordinated and targeted management response that would mitigate the identified risks and believe that it is now necessary limit bottom trawl activities in the 150-350m depth band around Tasmania to mitigate damage to the giant crab fishery and bryozoan habitat.

As yet appropriate spatial management arrangements have not been developed, but this is an outcome that DPIPWE is working towards. b) DPIPWE has continued to work with Victoria and South Australia in the management of giant crab stocks. The three jurisdictions have met on a number of occasions discuss issues of mutual interest across our giant such as management arrangements, harvest strategies and stock assessments.

The collection of biological data has been identified as gap across the three jurisdictions, with all three experiencing challenges with getting giant crab fishers to collect the data that is needed.

The three jurisdictions have been working on a project proposal which will look at the use and development of enhanced data collection methods to collect size frequency, sex and tagging making use of the distinct mottled shell with a unique “fingerprint” on each crab that is carried through the moult.

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 9 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery

Recommendation 5: The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment to finalise and implement the harvest strategy for the fishery.

Whilst DPIPWE had intentions to finalise the TGCF draft harvest strategy as presented in the 2014 assessment, unfortunately this has not progressed as the draft harvest strategy primarily relied on biomass estimates from the giant crab stock assessment model.

The giant crab stock assessment model has not been run since 2015 due to the lack of giant crab size population data. Since 2013, the stock assessment model has primarily relied on giant crab fishery catch and effort data along with population size frequency data that was collected pre 2013. An additional issue is that the spatial coverage of the catch and effort data across the fishery has contracted as the giant crab fleet has reduced due to the significant TAC reductions.

As such the model is not able to produce reliable giant crab biomass estimates to enable the TGCF to operate under the draft strategy as proposed in the 2014 assessment.

The alternative approach DPIPWE has taken, is to respond to giant crab catch rates in an attempt to reverse the declining catch rate trend. As a result the TAC was reduced significantly for the 2017/18 season by 46%.

DPIPWE is currently waiting to see if there is any response to giant crab catch rates from the most recent TAC reduction. IMAS will be analysing the fishery catch rate data from the 2018/19 quota year in the second half of 2019. Should catch rates show a continued decline then serious consideration will be given to reducing the TGCF TAC further.

It should be noted that the TGF TAC has been reduced by 80% since Tasmania introduced quota management, and catch rates have rarely responded and continued to fall. In that time the fleet has reduced accordingly, especially over the last few years with the exit of some highly experienced fishers. The appropriateness of the use of catch rates as an assessment measure has been questioned, but is the only data currently available.

Utilising towed camera surveys of giant crab populations may be an alternate assessment method for the fishery as undertaken in the 2009 FRDC shelf break habitat study (FRDC project No. 2004/066) (Williams et al 2009). This study found that crab numbers on the seafloor tended to be larger than would be predicted from data collected in trapping surveys. The study also found that crabs were observed in regions where there was little or no commercial effort, demonstrating that the total stock is larger than the fished stock (this likely to be further exacerbated in recent years). The report noted that the abundance of crabs observed from video tows and extrapolated to the extent of the Tasmanian fishery was double the number estimated through length based modelling. However financial cost of sampling effort via towed video relative to the number of crabs observed demonstrated that the technique is unsuitable as a tool for regular collection of assessment data. This cost may be reduced as new technology, such as the use of autonomous underwater vehicles become available.

The mortality of giant crabs that come into contact with bottom trawls but are not caught is likely to be a significant source of mortality that has not been considered as a part of any giant crab

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 10 Tasmanian Giant Crab Fishery assessment and could explain the continued decline in catch rates despite significant TAC reductions. It has been noted by IMAS scientists that the impact of bottom trawl on giant crab is likely to be more than just a steady state background influence, and that this would not be taken into account through general giant crab mortality estimates. The impact of bottom trawl on giant crab mortality likely to be significant, and go some way to explain the lack of stock rebuild given the significant TAC reductions.

From towed camera observations, giant crab did not make any obvious flight response as the towed camera approached and some large adults adopted an aggressive posture (standing up on legs claws raised up above the carapace), increasing their susceptibility to damage by a bottom trawl.

It is noted that of the three south east giant crab jurisdictions, the Tasmanian fishery has significantly greater bottom trawl effort and overlap as is evident in the recent FRDC study by Pitcher et al, possibly going someway to explaining why the Victorian and South Australian fisheries appear to be more stable and assessed as sustainable in the SAFS report.

Recommendation 6: The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment to work with fishers to improve data collection in the fishery.

The DPIPWE has attempted to work with fishers to improve data collection in the fishery. The issue has been raised in discussions with giant crab fishers and DPIPWE has received commitments from fishers to participate in collecting the necessary data.

IMAS has coordinated the distribution of data collection kits and instructions to giant crab fishers, however no data has been forthcoming. Despite making commitments to collect the data, fishers cite the difficulty and time taken in handling giant crab to obtain the necessary measurements as well as hauling and handling the gear as it comes up.

Another attempt has been made to collect data for this season with data collection kits having been sent to fishers.

The issue of collecting fishery assessment data has been recognised as a high priority across the three south east Australia giant crab jurisdictions. The three jurisdictions have supported a project titled Giant Crab Enhanced Data Collection - Innovative approaches to enhance data collection in the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian Giant crab fisheries. The project will focus on individual crab identification from photograph/video images. Giant crabs have a distinct mottled shell with a unique “fingerprint” on each crab that is carried through the moult. Image analysis / machine learning will be used to identify and measure each crab from images collected by fishers and/or automated on-board mounted cameras. Crabs that are released (undersized and berried females) will be tracked at almost no effort by fishers. This data will provide all the standard, valuable information from tagging models such as growth, movement, biomass, natural mortality, size selectivity and catchability. All with greater precision (because all crabs can be tagged) and lower cost (because fishers can collect size and tag data with nothing more than a photograph)

It is expected that the project will be considered by each of the state research advisory groups during the year.

Prepared by Wild Fisheries Management Branch, DPIPWE, MAY 2019

Page 11