I & I NSW Wild Fisheries research Program and Latchets (Triglidae)

Exploitation Status Undefined

Red gurnard is the primary species landed in NSW waters. There is little local information to assess status.

Scientific name Standard name comment

Chelidonichthys kumu red gurnard Majority of the NSW landings.

Deepwater species; minor landings only in andertoni painted latchet NSW. Minor landings in NSW. Sometimes called Pterygotrigla polyommata latchet sharpbeak gurnard.

Chelidonichthys kumu Image © Bernard Yau

Background The gurnard family (Triglidae) comprise about 200 and 400 m depth, and is distributed around 120 species worldwide with more than southern Australia and other areas of the south 30 species found in Australian waters. Gurnards west Pacific, including New Zealand. are benthic found primarily in depths less Red gurnard grow to about 55 cm in length and than 200 m. Off NSW, several species of small almost 2 kg in weight, while the two species butterfly gurnards ( spp.) are a major of latchet seldom reach 50 cm in length. There component of trawl-bycatch. However, there is no biological information on red gurnard or are three species of gurnards in NSW waters latchet in Australia, but New Zealand studies that grow large enough to be marketed. The red of red gurnard found that they reached around gurnard (Chelidonichthys kumu) occurs mainly 23 cm fork length (FL) after 2-3 years and could in deeper estuarine and inner continental live for 15 years. shelf waters in depths less than 100 m around most of Australia. Red gurnard are also found Historically in NSW, the names for red gurnard through much of the tropical and temperate and latchet were confused and reported waters of the Indo-Pacific region, including New catches were often ascribed to the wrong Zealand. Latchet (Pterygotrigla polyommata) species. Consequently, landings of all three are a more temperate species, occurring off species were combined for catch statistics. A all southern Australian states but generally new catch reporting system introduced in July inhabiting deeper waters, from100 to 400 m. 2009 requires catches of the three species to be The painted latchet (Pterygotrigla andertoni) reported separately. is found mainly on the upper slope between

status of fisheries resources in nsw, 2008/09 RED Gurnard and LatchetS | p 237 wild fisheries research program

The NSW catch of red gurnard and latchets is Historical Landings of Red Gurnard and Latchets taken almost totally by the fish-trawl sector of the Ocean Trawl Fishery, with recent landings remaining relatively stable at around 400 25 to 30 t per annum. Significant quantities of mainly latchet are also taken in the Southern 300 and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery from grounds south of Sydney. The recreational catch 200 of red gurnard and latchet is estimated to be Landings (t) less than 10 t per annum. 100

Additional Notes 0 • Monitoring of the size composition of NSW 48/49 58/59 68/69 78/79 88/89 98/99 08/09 commercial landings of red gurnard was Financial Year recommenced in 2008/09 at the Sydney Fish Commercial landings (including available historical Markets. records) of red gurnard and latchets for NSW from 1946/47 to 2008/09 for all fishing methods. Note that the • Landings by NSW trawl fishery are low decline in reported catch during the 1990s was due to (< 50 t), and catch rates are low but changes in catch recording requirements for fishers with both NSW and Commonwealth licences. reasonably stable (however changes may be masked by the combination of past catch data for three species). Landings by Commercial Fishery of Red Gurnard • These species are also harvested by and Latchets Commonwealth fisheries (latchet - 80 tonnes per annum, red gurnard - 100 tonnes per Ocean Prawn Trawl (Key Secondary Species) annum) but are not managed by catch quota, Fish Trawl (Key Secondary Species) therefore major assessment projects have not been undertaken and few biological data

have been collected. 50

• Species aggregate at certain times of the year, 40 and sometimes large catches can be taken. • Red gurnard are also taken incidentally by 30

recreational fishers in both estuarine and Landings (t) 20 ocean waters. 10

Catch 0 97/98 99/00 01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08 Recreational Catch of Red Gurnard and Latchets Financial Year The annual recreational harvest of red gurnard Reported landings of red gurnard and latchets by NSW and latchets in NSW is likely to be less than commercial fisheries from 1997/98. Fisheries which contribute less than 2.5% of the landings are excluded 10 t. This estimate is based upon the results for clarity and privacy. of the offsite National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey (Henry and Lyle, 2003) and onsite surveys undertaken by I & I NSW.

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Catch Per Unit Effort Information of Red Gurnard Further Reading and Latchets Harvested by Fish Trawling in NSW Elder, R.D. (1976). Studies on age and growth,

1.0 reproduction and population dynamics of red gurnard, Chelidonichthys kumu (Lesson and Garnot), in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Fisheries Research 0.8 Bulletin 12: 62 pp.

0.6 Ferrell, D. (1993). Pilot study on the feasibility of ageing snapper, rubberlip morwong, red gurnard and banjo (fiddler) rays. Unpublished report. 0.4 Cronulla, NSW Fisheries Research Institute: 22 pp. Relative Catch Rate

0.2 Henry, G.W. and J.M. Lyle (2003). The National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey. Final Report to the Fisheries Research & Development 0.0 Corporation and the Fisheries Action Program 88/89 93/94 98/99 03/04 08/09 Project FRDC 1999/158. NSW Fisheries Final Report Financial Year Series No. 48. 188 pp. Cronulla, NSW Fisheries. Catch rates of red gurnard and latchets harvested using fish trawling for NSW. Two indicators are provided: Klaer, N.L. (2001). Steam trawl catches from south- (1) median catch rate (lower solid line); and (2) 90th eastern Australia from 1918 to 1957: trends in percentile of the catch rate (upper dashed line). Note that catch rates and species composition. Marine and catch rates are not a robust indicator of abundance in Freshwater Research 52: 399-410. many cases. Caution should be applied when interpreting these results. Klaer, N.L. (2004). Abundance indices for main commercial fish species caught by trawl from the Length Frequency of Red Gurnard south-eastern Australian continental shelf from 1918 to 1957. Marine and Freshwater Research 55 1992/93−1994/95 (6): 561-571. 0.06 n = 2645 Staples, D. J. (1970). Methods of ageing red gurnard 0.05 (Teleosti: Triglidae) by fin rays and otoliths.New

0.04 Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 5(1): 70-79. 0.03

Proportion Sutton, C.P. (1997). Growth parameters, and estimates 0.02 of mortality for red gurnard (Chelidonichthys

0.01 kumu) from off the east and west coasts of the South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Fisheries 0.00 Assessment Research Document 97/1: 15 pp. 10 20 30 40 50 60 FL (cm)

The length distribution of red gurnard caught during Please visit the CSIRO website, trawl surveys by the Fisheries Research Vessel Kapala http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/ and search for was comprised mainly of fish between 20 and 50 cm fork the species code (CAAB) 37 288001, 37 288005 and length (FL). 37 288006, common name or scientific name to find further information.

0.07 2008/09 n = 898 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03 Proportion 0.02 0.01 0.00

20 30 40 50 60 FL (cm) The length distribution of red gurnard landed by NSW commercial fishers in 2008/09 comprised mainly fish between 25 and 45 cm fork length (FL). There is no minimum legal length for red gurnard in NSW.

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (April 2010). However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up to date and to check currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Industry and Investment NSW or the user’s independent adviser. RED Gurnard and LatchetS | p 239 wild fisheries research program

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