Agriculture,Fisheries andForestry Department of Review of the harvest of CITES listed taxa in the Queensland Coral Fishery 2013–14 Effort Year Wildlife Trade Operation Condition 7 © State of Queensland 2014. The Queensland Government supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of its information. The copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY) licence. Under this licence you are free, without having to seek our permission, to use this publication in accordance with the licence terms. You must keep intact the copyright notice and attribute the State of Queensland as the source of the publication. Note: Some content in this publication may have different licence terms as indicated. For more information on this licence visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en WTO Condition 7 Report for the Queensland Coral Fishery 2013–14 1 Introduction The Queensland Coral Fishery (QCF) is a harvest (hand collection) fishery managed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). This report has been compiled to meet the requirements of Condition 7 of the Wildlife Trade Operation (WTO) for the QCF which states that by 31 December each year Queensland DAFF is to: a) review the harvest of CITES-listed taxa in the Queensland Coral Fishery in the preceding fishing year b) report the results of the review to Australia’s CITES Scientific Authority for Marine Species (Department of the Environment). The report should include at a minimum: • analysis of harvest and harvest trends by species/species group • spatial analysis of harvest by species/species group Figure 1. Map of the Queensland Coral Fishery • updated risk assessments for species/ groups significant spatial diversification in recent years; most c) revise management arrangements as appropriate notably in the Mackay region. The CCAs are monitored following each review. for trends in catch and effort levels against thresholds in This report covers fishing activity during the 2013–14 the fishery Performance Measurement System. Effort in financial year. It includes a summary of all species the Keppel CCA has continued to recover from the low collected, not just CITES-listed species. effort days when the area was effectively closed through a voluntary moratorium designed to allow Fishery description recovery from flood impacts in 2010–11 (Figure 2). The QCF is a small scale, quota managed, hand Effort in the Cairns CCA has stayed reasonable stable harvest fishery. The QCF commenced as a licenced over this period. Collection from areas outside of the fishery on 1 July 2006. two CCAs (‘Other’) has increased beyond the peak observed in 2010–11. Most of this increase in effort has The fishery extends from the tip of Cape York to the been in the Mackay region. southern extent of the (GBRMP) at a latitude of 24 degrees 30 minutes south (Figure 1). Commercial coral QCF - regional effort history harvesters can harvest from all tidal waters (under 2006-07 to 2013-14 500 Queensland jurisdiction) that are open to coral 450 harvesting under Great Barrier Reef Marine Park 400 (GBRMP) zoning. This is referred to as "roving 350 300 harvest". Two small areas south of the GBRMP are 250 Cairns open to harvesting under specific licences. 200 Keppel Effort (no.of days) (no.of Effort 150 Other The fishery has two Coral Collection Areas (CCA): 100 Cairns and Keppel. These CCAs encompass the 50 0 historical effort hotspots; however the fishery has seen Figure 2. History of effort in the Coral Collection Areas and outside of these in the Queensland Coral Fishery. WTO Condition 7 Report for the Queensland Coral Fishery 2013–14 2 Main features of the fishery in 2013–14 Feature Details Species targeted The commercial Coral Fishery is based on the collection of a broad range of species from the classes Anthozoa and Hydrozoa. The key components of the fishery are: • Specialty live corals (includes anemones, soft and hard corals) • Ornamental corals • Live rock (i.e. dead coral skeletons with algae and other organisms living on them) • Coral rubble (i.e. coarsely broken up coral fragments) • Coral sand (i.e. finely ground up particles of coral skeleton)–only taken as incidental catch and may not be targeted within Marine Park waters. Fishery symbol D Current management Fisheries Act 1994 ; Fisheries Regulation 2008, Policy for the Management of the Coral Fishery regime Gear Coral may only be taken by hand or by using hand-held non-mechanical implements, such as a hammer and chisel. Licence holders may also use underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA or hookah) when taking coral. Main management The following management measures are in place for the commercial fishery under legislation and policy: methods • Limited entry: 59 Commercial Harvest Fishery Licences are endorsed for the coral fishery. • Quota managed: 200 t Total Allowable Commercial Catch [split between specialty coral (30%) and other coral (70%)]. • Limits on the number of boats and collectors operating under a licence at any one time. • Collection by hand or hand-held implements only. Since 1 July 2006 the commercial coral fishery has operated under the Policy for the Management of the Coral Fishery (the Coral Policy). Queensland DAFF implemented several changes to the operation and management of the fishery on 1 July 2009 following the review of the Coral Policy in 2008. Quota Total Allowable Commercial Catch = 200 t [split between specialty coral (30%) and other coral (70%)] Fishing season 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 Commercial fishery Total number of licences in the fishery –59 licences Number of active licences – 34 Management changes None in 2013–14 Accreditation under the Part 13: accredited 27 June 2012 EPBC Act (Part 13 and Part 13A: current accreditation (Wildlife Trade Operation) expires 26 June 2015 13A) Total annual harvest 98 t (comprised of 40 t specialty coral and 58 t other coral [including 50.5 t live rock and 7.5 t ornamental]) by sectors GVP No estimate for 2013–14. The GVP for the Queensland Coral Fishery (QCF) and the Marine Aquarium Fish Fishery (combined) was estimated to be $10–12 million in 2008–09. Stock status Queensland DAFF assesses the risk to species collected in the QCF at periodic Ecological Risk Assessment workshops as a proxy for stock status. The 2013 workshop found that from a total 220 species assessed, there were no high risk species, 17 species at moderate risk, and 63 species at low risk in the fishery. Species greater than negligible risk are closely monitored through the PMS. Monitoring Real-time quota monitoring Catch and effort data Routine – logbook data entry checks, data extraction checks and range checks validation Complementary The fishery operates in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Co-managed with the Great Barrier Reef WTO Condition 7 Report for the Queensland Coral Fishery 2013–14 3 management Marine Park Authority. Table 1: Number of individual pieces and weight of Speciality General catch statistics Coral species collected in the Queensland Coral Fishery from 2006–07 to 2013–14 (Source: Queensland DAFF CFISH Approximately 98 t (comprised of 40 t specialty coral database, 1 December 2014). and 58 t other coral [including 50.5 t live rock and 7.5 t ornamental]) was reported harvested in the QCF in Year No. of pieces Weight (kg) 2013–14 (Figure 3). This represents an overall 5 t 2006–07 71,848 14,410 increase since 2012–13. The collection of Specialty 2007–08 119,125 18,880 Coral increased by 30% (9 t) over the reporting period 2008–09 150,800 19,289 (Figure 3). This has continued the increasing trend in 2009–10 176,457 23,063 Specialty Coral collection that has been observed since 2010–11 204,321 25,729 2011–12 219,048 28,356 2006–07 (Figures 3 & 4, Table 1). The driver of this 2012–13 258,457 31,097 change appears to be increases in the number of small 2013–14 281,853 39,908 pieces of coral (reporting category LC2 and LC3 hard coral pieces). 90 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 80 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 70 60 50 40 Total harvest (t) harvest Total 30 20 10 0 Coral Products* Ornamental Specialty Coral Figure 3: Catch composition (QCF Logbook categories) of all coral collected in the QCF for the quota years 2006–07 to 2013–14 (Source: Queensland DAFF CFISH database, 1 Dec 2014). * includes Live Rock, Coral Rubble and LC1. 180000 LC2 LC3 LC4 LC5 LC6 160000 140000 120000 100000 80000 Number of specimens 60000 40000 20000 0 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 Figure 4: Number of individual pieces of Specialty Coral categories for the quota years 2007–08 to 2013–14. Note the LC6 size category has only been in use since 2009–10 (Source: Queensland DAFF CFISH database, 1 December 2014). WTO Condition 7 Report for the Queensland Coral Fishery 2013–14 4 Table 2: Number of individual pieces and weight of coral species collected in the Queensland Coral Fishery for the quota years 2010–11 to 2013–14 (Source: Queensland DAFF CFISH database, 1 December 2014). Number of individual pieces Weight (kg) Species or common name 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 Acanthastrea lordhowensis 13073 12050 20791 29213 2151 2258 3123 4582 Acroporidae 27313 33440 35956 49569 8145 8276 12692 14463 Actinaria 458 443 237 247 56 60 30 58 Agariciidae 1133 623 486 444 139 102 55 78 Alcyonacea 7703 7621 6927 7943 459 467 354 472 Antipathidae 19 1 6 7 0 0 Blastomussa spp 5254 5524 5271 5008 759 808 774 845 Catalaphyllia jardinei 15485 14213 15999 15937 1601 1668 1699