ISSN 1441-8487 FISHERY ASSESSMENT REPORT TASMANIAN ABALONE FISHERY 2008 Compiled by David Tarbath and Caleb Gardner May 2009 National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry: Tarbath, David Bruce, 1955- Fishery assessment report: Tasmanian abalone fishery. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 7246 4770 8. 1. Abalones - Tasmania. I. Tarbath, D. B. (David Bruce), 1955- . II. Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute. Marine Research Laboratories. (Series: Technical report series (Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute)). 338.37243209946 This report was compiled by D. Tarbath and Caleb Gardner TAFI Marine Research Laboratories, PO BOX 252-49, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia. E-mail:
[email protected]. Ph. (03) 6227 7277, Fax (03) 6227 8035 Published by the Marine Research Laboratories, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, 2009. Abalone Fishery Assessment: 2008 Abalone Fishery Assessment: 2008 Executive summary Abalone landings to the end of 2008 were 2,461t of blacklip (Haliotis rubra) and 122t of greenlip (H. laevigata), amounting to a total of 2,583t. This was 10.5t below the TAC of 2,593.5t but represented an increase in catch of almost 150t over the previous year. The increase in catch was due to TAC increases of 38.5t in the Eastern Zone, 52.5t in the Northern Zone and the reopening of the Bass Strait Zone following its closure in 2007. The 2008 catch had a gross landed value of $90 million, which was approximately $8 million less than the previous year. Consequently the royalties collected by the Tasmanian government were $6.2 million, down from the $7.3 million collected in the previous year.