(Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation Approval Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999

Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999

A report prepared by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

This publication has been compiled by Brad Zeller of Fisheries Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. © State of Queensland, 2015. 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. For more information on this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The Queensland Government shall not be liable for technical or other errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information.

Fishery Description The Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery (FFTF) is a demersal otter trawl and Danish seine net fishery targeting stout whiting (Sillago robusta) and red spot whiting (Sillago flindersi) and retaining permitted by-product species. The FFTF area lies between the 20 and 50 fathom [36 and 90 m] depth contours off southern Queensland (from Sandy Cape south to the NSW border). With currently only two active operators in the fishery, there is a high level of industry involvement in management and stock monitoring processes. An annually revised Total Allowable Catch (TAC) applies to whiting, goatfish and yellowtail scad and in possession limits apply to by-product species.

Management The FFTF is managed by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) under the Fisheries Act 1994, Fisheries Regulation 2008, and the Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Management Plan 2010.

Management changes over the previous WTO period In March 2012 Fisheries Queensland advised licence holders that it intended to transition the individual allowable catch quotas in the stout whiting finfish trawl fishery from licence conditions into a legislated Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ). On 19 December 2014, amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008 were made; formalising ITQs, and certain other management arrangements that were previously conditions of licence or permit, as Regulations under the Fisheries Act 1994. These changes to management came into effect on 1 January 2015 and are summarised in the table below. Details may be found at the Queensland Government internet site www.legislation.qld.gov.au1.

Catch data Stout Whiting makes up almost all of the FFTF catch. Small quantities of other byproduct species are also taken. The 2014 FFTF catch is shown in the table below. Earlier commercial catch statistics for this fishery can be found in the Queensland Fisheries Summary 2014 report (see https://www.daff.qld.gov.au/fisheries/monitoring-our-fisheries/datareports/sustainability- reporting/queensland-fisheries-summary).

Status of target stock On average, 80 per cent of the annual commercial catch from the eastern Australian biological stock of Stout Whiting is taken in Queensland, and 20 per cent is taken in New South Wales2. The status of the Stout Whiting biological stock in Queensland waters is therefore adopted as representative of the whole biological stock in any given year3.

In 2014, DAF completed a quantitative stock assessment for the FFTF4, incorporating new data on changes to the fishery area, fishing gear and otolith weight. The assessment included New South Wales catch data on Stout Whiting, and Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery Stout Whiting bycatch estimates. The assessment model estimated stock status ratios in 2013 for the exploitable biomass and for spawning egg production and found these to be at sustainable levels. In addition, catch-at-length frequencies have been similar over the long term, with age structures dominated by 1–3-year-old fish (longevity is 8 years). There have been no declining trends in catch per unit effort over time. The 2012-14 total FFTF commercial catches have averaged 696 t or approximately 53 per cent of the annually adjusted total allowable catch (set to Maximum Sustainable Yield). The current level of fishing pressure is

1 https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/SLS/2014/14SL328.pdf 2 Roy, D. and Smoothey, A. 2014. Stout Whiting Sillago robusta in M Flood, I Stobutzki, J Andrews, C Ashby, G Begg, R Fletcher, C Gardner, L Georgeson, S Hansen, K Hartmann, P Hone, P Horvat, L Maloney, B McDonald, A Moore, A Roelofs, K Sainsbury, T Saunders, T Smith, C Stewardson, J Stewart & B Wise (eds) 2014, Status of key Australian fish stocks reports 2014, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra. 3 Rowling, K, Hegarty, A & Ives, M 2010, Status of fisheries resources in NSW 2008/09, New South Wales Industry & Investment, Cronulla. 4 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2014 unpublished, Queensland Stout Whiting Fishery Commercial quota setting for 2014. DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 3

therefore unlikely to cause the biological stock to become recruitment overfished. On the basis of this evidence, the biological stock was classified as a sustainable stock in 20141.

The annual total allowable catch (TAC) is reassessed before the start of each fishing year using a decision-support model. In 2014 the model recommended reducing the TAC from 1,350 t to 1,150 t. The 2015 TAC remains at 1,150 t while the fishery transitions to the new quota management arrangements.

Impacts on the fishery on the ecosystem The seabed where the fishery occurs lacks major reef structures5. Anecdotal information from research trawls and commercial fishers indicates that the seabed in the fishery area is predominantly bare sand6. Consequently, the impact of trawling on benthic habitats in the fishery area is likely to be relatively low6. The fishery has potential for interactions with sea turtles, but these occur infrequently7. Compulsory use of turtle excluder devices in otter trawls minimises the impact of interactions with turtles. Turtle excluder devices are not required in Danish seine nets; however, due to the nature of this type of fishing, nets are hauled at a much slower speed, for a shorter time and pose minimal risks to turtles that are able to outswim the nets when used in this manner. Although Danish seine is legislated as an acceptable method for targeting Stout Whiting in Queensland, it is only used by one vessel. Compared with trawling, Danish seining harvests Stout Whiting more efficiently, has less physical contact with the seabed, and more effectively reduces some forms of bycatch, including prawns, bugs, squid, sea snakes and pipefish7. However, there is evidence that the proportion of small sharks and rays caught in Danish seine apparatus can be higher than the proportion captured in otter trawl apparatus7.

5 Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia Technical Group 1998, Interim marine and coastal regionalisation for Australia: an ecosystem-based classification for marine and coastal environments, version 3.3, Environment Australia, Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Canberra. 6 Robins, J & Courtney, AJ 1998, Status report on bycatch within the Queensland Trawl Fishery, in Establishing meaningful targets for bycatch reduction in Australian fisheries, Proceedings of the Australian Society for Fish Biology Workshop, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, Hobart. 7 Rowsell, N & Davies, J 2012 unpublished, At-sea observation of the stout whiting fishery 2009-2010, Fisheries Queensland, Queensland Department of Employment Economic Development and Innovation, Brisbane. DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 4

Main features of the fishery in 2014

Feature Details

Species targeted Stout whiting (Sillago robusta)

Fishery symbol T4

Current Fisheries Act 1994; Fisheries Regulation 2008, Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Management management regime Plan 2010

Gear Stout whiting may only be taken by otter trawl or Danish seine nets.

Main management The following management measures are in place for the Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Fishery under legislation: methods • 270,000 ITQ units issued for each commercial stout whiting fishing symbol (T4) held (1,350,000 units in total); • ITQ units made fully tradeable with individuals requiring a T4 symbol to buy T4 ITQ units and to fish them; • The Total Annual Catch (TAC) of stout whiting is set annually via declaration by the Chief Executive; • 20,000 kg non-transferable annual catch quotas for each of the main permitted byproduct species, i.e. yellowtail scad and goatfish, have been issued for each T4 symbol held; • in-possession limits for other permitted byproduct species (260 kg for cuttlefish, squid and threadfin bream and 100 kg for octopus) have been transitioned into legislation and are enforceable; • Stout whiting fishers are required to provide prior and unload notices to Fisheries Queensland at completion of each fishing trip via the Automated Integrated Voice Response (AIVR) system. A prior report is lodged before landing the vessel indicating what catch is on board and after unloading the catch the actual catch weights for stout whiting, yellowtail scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae) and goatfish (species of family Mullidae) are lodged via the AIVR system. The AIVR system is used both for quota monitoring and for compliance checks;

• Stout whiting fishers are authorised to attach multiple T4 symbols to an individual commercial fishing boat licence - to acquire additional ITQ units; • The previous 60 mm maximum mesh size requirement has been removed; • The fishing season has been extended to a full calendar year i.e. January to December, beginning 2016; • Vessel Monitoring System installation and maintenance requirements on T4 licensed vessels has been formalised in legislation.

Quota Total Allowable Commercial Catch = 1,150 t [split between 5 licences as ITQ units] DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 5

Fishing season 1 April–31 December - commuted to 1 January - 31 December from 20168.

Commercial fishery Total number of licences in the fishery – 5 licences Number of active licences – 2

Accreditation Part 13: accredited 16 August 2011 under the EPBC Part 13A: current declared Wildlife Trade Operation expires 14 August 2015 Act (Part 13 and 13A)

Total annual harvest 583 t (581 t of Stout Whiting and 2 t of byproduct species [cuttlefish, octopus, squid, by species Moreton Bay Bug, Threadfin Bream, Balmain Bug and Yellowtail Scad]

GVP $1.47 million

Monitoring Real-time quota monitoring

Catch and effort Routine – logbook data entry checks, data extraction checks and range checks data validation

Progress in implementing conditions and recommendations (as of April 2015)

Condition 1: Operation of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery will be carried out in accordance with the management regime for the fishery in force under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994 and the Queensland Fisheries Regulation 2008.

Progress: Ongoing Operation of the fishery in 2014 was carried out in accordance with the management arrangements in force under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994 and the Queensland Fisheries Regulation 2008.

Compliance with the management arrangements for the FFTF was high. From 2012 to present, 20 units were inspected and a total of two offences detected (both Cautions for contravening a condition of an authority involving boat marks). This equates to an inspection compliance rate of 90%.

Condition 2: Fisheries Queensland to inform the Department of Sustainability Environment Water Population and Communities of any intended amendments to the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery management arrangements that may affect the assessment of the fishery against the criteria on which Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 decisions are based.

Progress: Ongoing (see also progress against Recommendation 1) On 19 Dec 2014 Fisheries Queensland wrote to the DoE advising that in accordance with the condition of the Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval, amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008 had been made; formalising ITQs, and certain other management arrangements that were previously conditions of licence or permit, as Regulations under the Fisheries Act 1994.

These changes to management took effect on 1 January 2015. Details can be found at the Queensland Government internet site www.legislation.qld.gov.au.

8 https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/SLS/2014/14SL328.pdf DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 6

Condition 3: Fisheries Queensland to produce and present reports to the Department of Sustainability Environment Water Population and Communities annually as per Appendix B to the Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable Management of Fisheries – 2nd Edition.

Progress: Ongoing (including this report)

Recommendation 1(i): Taking into account all available information, including, but not limited to: • relevant risk assessments for bycatch species; and • the results of analyses of bycatch data from the Fishery Observer Program, Fisheries Queensland to complete the review of future management directions for the Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery and: • ensure that appropriate measures to ensure sustainability of bycatch species are implemented;

Progress: Completed

On 19 Dec 2014 amendments to the Fisheries Regulation 2008 were made; formalising management arrangements that were previously conditions of licence or permit. These included mandating the use of best practice turtle excluder devices as prescribed under the Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Fishery Management Plan 2010 and Danish seine net gear.

With relatively few boats & low effort compared to the spatially co-existing shallow water eastern king prawn sector of the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery (SWEKPF), mandatory use of turtle excluder devices (in otter trawls), more precise targeted fishing with larger mesh gear (Danish seine) and onboard mechanical hoppers, the FFTF presents a low risk to bycatch species.

Effort Effort (a proxy for fishing pressure) is much greater in the SWEKPF. Lower fishing pressure in the FFTF poses minimal risk to bycatch species and particularly those found at higher relative risk from overfishing in the southern East Coast Trawl Fishery (Jacobsen et al. 2015, in review).9

The magnitude of effort in the SWEKPF is much greater than the FFTF, on average 16 times greater. Since 2012, only two boats in the FFTF have operated delivering on average 316 days of effort annually (cf. an average 129 boats delivering 5,245 days per year in the SWEKPF). Figure 1 shows the level of effort in both the FFTF & SWEKPF has been decreasing in recent years.

9 Jacobsen, IJ, et al. 2015, in review, An Ecological Risk Assessment of the East Coast Trawl Fishery in Southern Queensland Including the River and Inshore Beam Trawl Fishery, Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Brisbane. DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 7

Figure 1. Effort in the FFTF & SWEKPF, 2000-14. Note: y-axis is a logarithmic scale. Turtle excluder devices (TEDs) Before 2015 as a mandatory condition of licence, and beginning in 2015 by regulation, FFTF otter trawl nets are fitted with TEDs. From 1 January 2015, new TED requirements have taken effect in the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery and the FFTF.

Danish seine gear Since 2007, Danish seine nets have been used in the fishery and are known to significantly reduce bycatch by 50% (DPIF, 2008). Danish seine nets are used to target stout whiting schools by encirclement with the net being retrieved at much slower speeds than otter trawling. This minimises dragging ground gear over the ocean floor and reduces the incidental capture of sedentary bycatch.

Danish seine (and otter trawl) operations now use nets with 100 mm mesh a substantial increase from the 60 mm maximum mesh size requirement which was omitted from the regulation in December 2014. The escape of small nektonic species is facilitated by the large mesh used in both Danish seine and otter trawl gear.

In 2014, only two vessels operated in the fishery; Danish seine took over 90% of the stout whiting catch and applied the majority of fishing effort (Figure 2). In 2015, three out of the five T4 licences were transferred to the vessel using Danish Seine gear with one licence holder using otter trawl gear. The remaining licence has not been assigned a vessel and its holder is not currently fishing with it. As at May 2015, the Danish seine operation has majority access to the 1150 t TAC with 60% of allocated Individual Transferable Units (cf. 40% of ITQ units allocated to the trawl vessel). This highlights the already low but reducing impact on bycatch species in the stout whiting fishery.

DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 8

Figure 2. Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery effort, 2000-14.

Hoppers Mechanical hoppers which improve the survival of bycatch species before being returned to the water are used routinely aboard all stout whiting fishing vessels (DPIF, 2008).10

Risk to bycatch In 2009-10, 105 bycatch species/species groups were identified in the FFTF by fishery observers, 31 of these have also been recorded in the SWEKPF bycatch. Catch rates of FFTF bycatch species are generally comparable with SWEKP bycatch catch rates. Species with higher catch rates are either large numbers of small FFTF byproduct species, e.g. yellowtail scad, goatfish and squid, or are a few individuals of large species that can reach up to 125 kg in weight and more than 2 metres in length, e.g. shark ray and zebra shark11. Large sharks and rays observed in the Danish seine catch have a high (>80%) survival rate12. Compared to otter trawl, Danish seine gear also catches higher numbers of smaller ray species, especially eastern shovelnose rays and common stingarees, mainy attributable to the occasional capture of large aggregations rather than to consistently higher interaction rates.

Higher risk species While few bycatch species likely to be taken in both the FFTF and the SWEKPF received higher than an intermediate risk of overfishing finding in the southern Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery ecological risk assessment9, several elasmobranch species at higher risk in the SWEKPF are also part of the FFTF bycatch (Rowsell and Davies, 2012). However, fishing related mortality of these species in the FFTF compared to the SWEKPF is almost certainly far lower due to lower effort, use of Danish seine gear and hoppers in the FFTF (see above). In addition, fewer elasmobranchs are captured by fish trawl gear operating with a TED than Danish seine gear12. Research is currently underway to further investigate the effects of FFTF gear types on the release condition of higher risk elasmobranch bycatch species 13.

10 DPIF, 2008, Annual status report 2008 Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery, The State of Queensland, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. 11 Last, PR, and Stevens, JD, Sharks and Rays of Australia, Second Edition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 12 Rowsell, N. and Davies, J. 2012, unpublished, At-sea observation of the stout whiting fishery 2009–10, Fisheries Queensland, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Brisbane, Australia. 13 FRDC 2015-014 “Estimating the impacts of management changes on bycatch reduction and sustainability of high- risk bycatch species in the Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery”. DAF | Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl FisherySubmission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999Submission for the reassessment of the Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Fishery Wildlife Trade Operation approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999 9

Recommendation 1(ii): Taking into account all available information, including, but not limited to: • relevant risk assessments for bycatch species; and • the results of analyses of bycatch data from the Fishery Observer Program, Fisheries Queensland to complete the review of future management directions for the Fin Fish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery and: develop and implement appropriate performance measures related to the minimisation of bycatch of species determined to be at risk of adverse impacts from fishing.

Progress: Delayed Fisheries Queensland is awaiting priorities from the independent review of fisheries management conducted by consultants MRAG Asia Pacific that will facilitate development of a sustainability monitoring framework for the FFTF (and other fishery) ecosystems.