Australian Salmon (Arripis Trutta): Population Structure, Reproduction, Diet and Composition of Commercial and Recreational Catches
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Australian salmon (Arripis trutta): Population structure, reproduction, diet and composition of commercial and recreational catches John Stewart, Julian Hughes, Jaime McAllister, Jeremy Lyle and Murray MacDonald Industry & Investment NSW Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre of Excellence PO Box 21, Cronulla, NSW, 2230 Australia FRDC Project Nos. 2006/018 and 2008/056 March 2011 Industry & Investment NSW – Fisheries Final Report Series No. 129 ISSN 1837-2112 Australian salmon (Arripis trutta): Population structure, reproduction, diet and composition of commercial and recreational catches March 2011 Authors: John Stewart, Julian Hughes, Jaime McAllister, Jeremy Lyle and Murray MacDonald Published By: Industry & Investment NSW (now incorporating NSW Department of Primary Industries) Postal Address: Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre of Excellence, PO Box 21, Cronulla, NSW, 2230 Internet: www.industry.nsw.gov.au © Department of Industry and Investment (Industry & Investment NSW) and the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation This work is copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this reproduction may be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owners. Neither may information be stored electronically in any form whatsoever without such permission. DISCLAIMER The publishers do not warrant that the information in this report is free from errors or omissions. The publishers do not accept any form of liability, be it contractual, tortuous or otherwise, for the contents of this report for any consequences arising from its use or any reliance placed on it. The information, opinions and advice contained in this report may not relate to, or be relevant to, a reader’s particular circumstance. ISSN 1837-2112 Note: Prior to July 2004, this report series was published by NSW Fisheries as the ‘NSW Fisheries Final Report Series’ with ISSN number 1440-3544. Then, following the formation of the NSW Department of Primary Industries the report series was published as the ‘NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Final Report Series’ with ISSN number 1449-9967. The report series is now published by Industry & Investment NSW as the ‘Industry & Investment NSW – Fisheries Final Report Series’ with ISSN number 1837-2112. Contents i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 14 1.1. Background................................................................................................................................... 14 1.2. Need ............................................................................................................................................... 15 1.3. Objectives...................................................................................................................................... 16 2. FISHERIES ........................................................................................................................................... 17 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 17 2.2. Materials and methods................................................................................................................. 17 2.3. Results ........................................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1. The NSW fishery ................................................................................................................ 18 2.3.1.1. Landings ....................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1.2. Length composition ................................................................................................................... 21 2.3.1.3. Age composition ....................................................................................................................... 21 2.3.2. The Victorian fishery .......................................................................................................... 22 2.3.2.1. Landings ....................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2.2. Length composition ................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2.3. Age composition ....................................................................................................................... 24 2.3.3. The Tasmanian fishery........................................................................................................ 25 2.3.3.1. Landings ....................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.3.2. Length composition ................................................................................................................... 29 2.3.3.3. Age composition ....................................................................................................................... 35 2.3.3.4. Species mixing ....................................................................................................................... 36 2.4. Discussion...................................................................................................................................... 37 3. AGE AND GROWTH .......................................................................................................................... 38 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 38 3.2. Materials and methods................................................................................................................. 39 3.2.1. Sample collection ................................................................................................................ 39 3.2.1.1. New South Wales ....................................................................................................................... 39 3.2.1.2. Victoria ....................................................................................................................... 39 3.2.1.3. Tasmania ....................................................................................................................... 39 3.2.2. Age estimation .................................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2.1. Annual age estimation ............................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2.2. Daily age estimation.................................................................................................................. 42 3.2.2.3. Back calculation of birth dates.................................................................................................. 43 3.2.2.4. Quality control ....................................................................................................................... 43 3.2.3. Age validation ..................................................................................................................... 43 3.2.3.1. Marginal increment analysis ..................................................................................................... 43 3.2.3.2. Validation of the first opaque zone............................................................................................ 43 3.2.3.3. Daily age validation .................................................................................................................. 44 3.2.4. Growth ............................................................................................................................ 44 3.3. Results ........................................................................................................................................... 45 3.3.1. Sample collection ................................................................................................................ 45 3.3.2. Age estimation .................................................................................................................... 45 3.3.3. Quality control .................................................................................................................... 46 3.3.4. Age validation ..................................................................................................................... 46 3.3.4.1. Marginal increment analysis ..................................................................................................... 46 3.3.4.2. Validation of the first opaque zone............................................................................................ 47 3.3.4.3. Daily age validation .................................................................................................................. 49 3.3.5. Growth ............................................................................................................................ 51 3.4. Discussion...................................................................................................................................... 55 Eastern Australian Salmon, Stewart et al. Project No. 2006/018 and 2008/056 ii Contents 4. REPRODUCTION