Victorian Dusky Flathead symposium and recreational fishery online survey 2018 Recreational Fishing Grants Program Research Report

Victorian Dusky Flathead symposium and recreational fishery online survey 2018

Recreational Fishing Grants Program Research Report

May 2019

Recreational Fishing Grants Program Research Report

Published by the Victorian Government, Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA), May, 2019 © The State of Victoria, Victorian Fisheries Authority, Melbourne 2019 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne. Preferred way to cite this publication: Hamer, P., Conron, C., and Simpson, K. (2019). Victorian Dusky Flathead symposium and recreational fishery online survey 2018. Recreational Fishing Grants Program Research Report, Project No. 161787. ISBN 978-1-76090-122-6 (Print) ISBN 978-1-76090-127-1 (pdf/online/MS word)

Author Contact details: Dr Paul Hamer Fisheries Management and Science Branch, Victorian Fisheries Authority P.O. Box 114, Queenscliff, Vic 3225. Copies are available by emailing [email protected] For more information contact the VFA Customer Service Centre 136 186

Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, such as large print or audio, please telephone 136 186, or email [email protected] Deaf, hearing impaired or speech impaired? Call us via the National Relay Service on 133 677 or visit www.relayservice.com.au

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Contents

Executive summary ______1

Introduction ______2 Objectives 2

Methods ______3 2018 Victorian Dusky Flathead Symposium 3 Review of scientific literature on biology and ecology 5 Stock status summary 5 Online Survey 5

Results ______5 2018 Victorian Dusky Flathead Symposium 5 Summary of scientific literature on biology and ecology 13 Stock status summary 14 Online survey 14

Discussion ______19

Acknowledgements ______22

References ______22 Appendix 1. Symposium flyer 24 Appendix 2. Symposium proceedings 25 Appendix 3. “The life of a Dusky Flathead what science has told us” 26 Appendix 4. “A recent history of recreational fishery management in Victoria” 31 Appendix 5. “Status of Dusky Flathead populations in Victoria” 33 Appendix 6. “Dusky Flathead stocking feasibility” 40 Appendix 7. “Healthy catchments healthy fisheries” 44 Appendix 8. Summary of key scientific literature on biology and ecology of Dusky Flathead 47 Appendix 9. Online survey data figures 54 Appendix 10. Survey Additional Comments Question 20. 61

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Executive summary

Dusky Flathead is a highly valued recreational fishing target species in east Gippsland estuaries. The popularity of fishing for Dusky Flathead has grown over the last 10-15 years with the creation of recreational only estuaries in Lake Tyers (2007) and Mallacoota Inlet (2004), and the introduction of highly effective soft plastic lures to the arsenal of most estuary anglers. The risks to sustainable recreational fishing for Dusky Flathead were magnified when studies of age, growth and reproductive biology showed that large Dusky Flathead greater than about 50 cm are virtually all females, and tagging studies showed little movement between estuaries, highlighting the risk of local depletion. From 2003, slot limit regulations and reduced bag limits were introduced in Victoria specifically for Dusky Flathead to ameliorate the risks of overfishing. The regulations have been tweaked over time as more information became available, with the current regulations (minimum legal length 30 cm, maximum legal length 55cm, daily bag limit of 5) being established in 2012. The regulations are important for limiting ‘individual’ angler impacts on Dusky Flathead, but in recent times there have been concerns about ‘overall’ fishing pressure and uncertainty over the current condition of Victoria’s Dusky Flathead populations. This project aimed to shine new light on Victoria’s Dusky Flathead fisheries by convening a free and open public symposium on Dusky Flathead in Victoria (2018 Dusky Flathead Symposium) and reviewing the current state of knowledge on Dusky Flathead biology and ecology, and stock status in Victorian estuaries. An important focus of the projects’ approach was to provide anglers with an opportunity to contribute information to support better understanding of the status of Dusky Flathead fisheries through the symposium (that was also live streamed) and an online survey. The first Victorian Dusky Flathead Symposium was held at Lakes Entrance of Saturday 10th March 2018. A total 155 people registered, with 100 people attending on the day. Seven keynote presentations were delivered, covering: • Welcome to country and indigenous perspectives (Wayne Thorpe, traditional custodian of the Gunnai culture) • Perspectives on the changes in Dusky Flathead recreational fishing (Kaj “Bushy” Busch, Dusky Flathead fishing expert and recreational fishing personality) • Information on the biology/ecology of Dusky Flathead (Paul Hamer, VFA) • Recent recreational fishery management history (Kate Simpson, VFA) • Update on status and perceptions of Dusky Flathead fisheries in east Gippsland estuaries (Simon Conron and Paul Hamer, VFA) • Dusky Flathead stocking feasibility (Brett Ingram, VFA) • Catchment management to support healthy estuaries and Dusky Flathead populations (Graeme Dear, East Gippsland CMA) Presentations were followed by a Q & A session with all the speakers and the CEO of the Victorian Fisheries Authority, Travis Dowling, followed by a demonstration and Q & A session on angling techniques for Dusky Flathead presented by Kaj Busch. Abstracts and presentation slides are included in this report. The presentations can also be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKo29JSp_KfQxxYYUFq_V7RytNJXeLhEy This report provides summaries of the scientific literature on Dusky Flathead biology and ecology, and information on stock and fishery status, primarily derived from the “Diary Angler Program”, but also commercial catch rates from the Gippsland Lakes where diary angler coverage for Dusky Flathead is lacking. The report also presents the results from 194 respondents to the 20-question online survey. Review of the status of Dusky Flathead fisheries in key east Victorian estuaries showed similar declines in catch rates of slot limit (retainable fish) size fish since the late 2000’s. This suggested a regional reduction in recruitment rates driven by processes operating at a larger-scale than individual estuaries. Catch rates have stabilised since 2014, however, future trends are uncertain as there is a lack of reliable information of recent recruitment. While there were signs that slot limit regulations may have influenced the increased proportions of larger female fish in diary angler catches in Lake Tyers, this was not evident for Mallacoota Inlet. However, there is uncertainty as to the representativeness of the diary angler data on larger fish for Mallacoota Inlet. None-the-less the online survey responses and comments supported a decline in availability of larger fish in Mallacoota Inlet compared to Lake Tyers. Overall the survey responses and information from diary anglers were consistent in indicating that the Dusky Flathead fisheries in all major estuaries were not performing as well as they did during 2000-2010 period. The reliance on diary anglers to collect information on the status of Dusky Flathead stocks is problematic, as diary angler effort is difficult to maintain. There is currently insufficient coverage of Dusky Flathead by diary anglers in Gippsland Lakes and Mallacoota Inlet and declining diary angler effort for Dusky Flathead in Lake Tyers. This presents a risk to ongoing monitoring and management of these important fisheries. Increased angler involvement in monitoring Dusky Flathead stocks and fishery performance may be facilitated through the addition of the GoFishVic app. and a schedule of regular meetings with anglers to discuss status and ongoing management of the Dusky Flathead fisheries. A properly structured tagging program should also be considered as an option for periodic estimation of fishing mortality rates.

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Introduction

Dusky Flathead is an important recreational target species in the estuaries of eastern Victoria. The status of the Dusky Flathead fisheries in east Gippsland is currently unclear. Declines have been observed in recent commercial fishery data from the Gippsland Lakes and there have been concerns expressed by recreational anglers as to the status of Dusky Flathead populations in both the Gippsland Lakes and Mallacoota Inlet. An evaluation of the current status of Dusky Flathead in east Victorian estuaries is required to better understand management issues/risks, identify the need for additional data collections, new research, and opportunities for enhancement of recreational fishing opportunities. Due to the limited monitoring data for Victorian Dusky Flathead fisheries, reviewing the status of local fisheries requires the inclusion of angler views and knowledge on the status/trends and or perceived drivers of changes in their local fisheries for this species. While this project aimed to capture these views and knowledge, it is also recognised that a longer-term plan for engagement and involvement of anglers in monitoring the status of Dusky Flathead is essential to improving the information base required to make informed fishery assessments and management advice. Moreover, constructive discussions with recreational fishers interested in Dusky Flathead are essential to support the development of ‘objectives’ to guide and ‘optimise’ the long-term management of the Dusky Flathead fisheries in Victoria's eastern estuaries.

Objectives This initial project proposal had the following objectives: 1. Characterise the recreational Dusky Flathead fisheries in the Gippsland Lakes, Lake Tyers and Mallacoota Inlet, and assess their current status and angler perceptions, 2. Convene the first Victorian ‘Dusky Flathead Symposium' to discuss state of knowledge on Dusky Flathead biology and fisheries, recreational fishery characteristics, perceptions, issues, future aspirations and opportunities, 3. Develop objectives for long-term management of the Dusky Flathead fisheries in eastern Victorian estuaries, 4. Develop a plan for improving engagement and involvement of anglers in monitoring and assessing local Dusky Flathead fisheries. This report largely focuses on Objectives 1, and 2. Objective 3 is not dealt with specifically and will require further work by Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) management and science to engage anglers on management objectives. It would be appropriate that this occurs after the current process to remove commercial netting from Gippsland Lakes is completed. The success of the symposium indicated this type of forum is an effective way to engage with Dusky Flathead anglers, and similar periodic angler forums would be a good model to explore in the future. Objectives 3 and 4 are related and will require further work to formalise an ongoing approach for assessment and management engagement that satisfies the needs of VFA and stakeholders. Objectives 3 and 4 were not adequately dealt with in this project, and project funds were returned to the RFL trust to account for this. Through this project interested recreational fishers: • gained a greater understanding of the biology, and status of the Dusky Flathead recreational fisheries and populations in various Gippsland estuaries, • had the opportunity to provide their views on local fishery status and issues, and, • provided ideas for improving performance and or management of recreational Dusky Flathead fisheries. The Victorian Fisheries Authority will be in a better position to identify the need to: • direct resources towards enhancing Dusky Flathead stock assessment, including increased angler involvement in data collections, • consider targeted management of Dusky Flathead recreational fisheries, and other strategies to optimize fishery performance for recreational anglers.

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Methods

2018 Victorian Dusky Flathead Symposium

The ‘2018 Dusky Flathead Symposium’ provided a forum for delivering a range of information related to the project objectives, directly to interested anglers and general public. The symposium covered the following key areas: • indigenous perspectives on the Dusky Flathead, and environmental stewardship • perspectives on the changes in Dusky Flathead recreational fishing • information on the biology/ecology of Dusky Flathead • update on the status of Dusky Flathead stocks and fisheries in the major east Gippsland estuaries • recent recreational fishing management history • stocking feasibility • catchment management to support healthy estuaries and Dusky Flathead populations • angling techniques for Dusky Flathead The symposium included a half hour Q & A session with all the guest speakers and the CEO of the VFA, Travis Dowling. The symposium was held in Lakes Entrance on 10th March 2018, at Bellevue on the Lakes, and was open to anyone to register via an ‘Eventbrite’ web booking system (https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/dusky-flathead-symposium-2018- tickets-42105709310?aff=efbeventtix) The symposium was advertised via the VFA facebook, and flyers (appendix 1) distributed to local tackle outlets and angling clubs, and further picked up in online forums such as Fishing World. It was also promoted on Channel 31 “Talking Fishing”. The chair for the symposium was Craig Ingram, VFA. The symposium presenters were chosen for their expertise and knowledge of Dusky Flathead and the east Gippsland fisheries. The seven presentations and speakers were: 1. Wayne Thorpe, ‘Wayne Thorpe Eco-education’, traditional custodian of the Gunnai culture. Title: Welcome to country and story of the lakes 2. Kaj “Bushy” Busch, recreational fishing personality and Dusky Flathead fishing expert. Title: The evolution of the amateur Dusky Flathead fishery 3. Dr Paul Hamer, Victorian Fisheries Authority, fisheries biologist. Title: The life of a Dusky Flathead – what science has told us 4. Kate Simpson, Victorian Fisheries Authority, fisheries manager Title: Dusky Flathead - A recent history of recreational fishery management in Victoria 5. Simon Conron, Victorian Fisheries Authority, recreational fisheries scientist. Title: Status of Dusky Flathead populations in Victoria 6. Dr Brett Ingram, Victorian Fisheries Authority, aquaculture and fish stocking scientist. Title: Dusky Flathead stocking feasibility study 7. Graeme “Gus” Dear, CEO East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, expert Dusky Flathead angler. Title: Healthy catchments healthy fisheries After the seven presentations and the panel Q & A session, Kaj Busch provided an informative and entertaining clinic and Q & A on Dusky Flathead angling techniques. To increase the opportunity for anglers and public to view the conference presentations and contribute to the Q & A sessions, the event was filmed and live-streamed via the VFA’s facebook page. Videos of the presentations and Q & A

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are available for viewing at the VFA you tube site: (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKo29JSp_KfQxxYYUFq_V7RytNJXeLhEy)

Table 1. Dusky Flathead Symposium agenda

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Review of scientific literature on biology and ecology The symposium presentation “The Life of a Dusky Flathead – what science has told us” (appendix 3) was based on a review of published scientific literature on Dusky Flathead ecology and biology. The key articles used to inform this presentation are documented in appendix 8. Some of the lead authors of the studies were also contacted to provide further information and context.

Stock status summary The presentation “Status of Dusky fathead populations in Victoria” (appendix 5) relied mostly on data from the Victorian Diary Angler Program, for which recent data on Dusky Flathead was available for Lake Tyers and Mallacoota Inlet. Since 2010 there has been no diary angler data for targeted Dusky Flathead fishing in Gippsland Lakes as the diary anglers in this water body all focus on Black Bream. Therefore, for Gippsland Lakes the status assessment is limited, and relies solely on commercial mesh net catch rates which are selective of Dusky Flathead in the size range 30-55 cm, with most fish caught using this method being between 35 and 50 cm. The mesh net catch rates therefore mostly represent abundance of fish within the recreational legal slot limit of 30-55 cm. The diary anglers collect data on catch rates and length composition of all Dusky Flathead they catch each trip. Diary angler and commercial catch rate data is interpreted as an index of relative abundance to track trends in stock abundance across time. Length compositions from the dairy anglers provides information on recruitment (i.e. frequencies of small fish) and mortality rates (i.e. frequencies of larger fish).

Online Survey A series of 20 questions were developed to obtain information about Dusky Flathead anglers and their perceptions on aspects of the status of the Dusky Flathead fisheries and other issues, focussed on Gippsland Lakes, Lake Tyers and Mallacoota Inlet. The survey questions are included within the results figures in the main text and in the appendices. The survey was implemented using SurveyMonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.com) and ran for approximately two months, from the 7th February until 31st March 2018. The survey was promoted via the same means as the symposium, and all people who registered to attend the symposium were prompted to complete the survey.

Results

2018 Victorian Dusky Flathead Symposium Summaries of all presentations are included below and were published via a symposium proceedings document (appendix 2, Hamer, P (eds) (2018). 2018 Dusky Flathead Symposium: Proceedings, Victorian Fisheries Authority, 1 Spring St, Melbourne). The presentation power point slides are included as appendices 3-7, excluding the presentations by Wayne Thorpe and Kaj “Bushy” Busch who did not use a power point format. A total of 155 people registered for the conference via the Eventbrite registration, of which 100 attended the symposium.

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Symposium Presentation Abstracts

Presentation 1: Wayne Thorpe

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Presentation 2: Kaj “Bushy” Busch

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Presentation 3: Dr Paul Hamer (see appendix 3)

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Presentation 4: Kate Simpson (see appendix 4)

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Presentation 5: Simon Conron and Paul Hamer (see appendix 5)

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Presentation 6: Dr Brett Ingram (see appendix 6)

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Presentation 7: Graeme “Gus” Dear (see appendix 7)

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Symposium Q & A session

The symposium question and answer session involved discussions on a number of general issues of concern to anglers, including: • Habitat and catchment management, • Freshwater flows/water allocation – with particular emphasis on flows into the Gippsland Lakes, • Management of commercial fishing impacts in the Gippsland Lakes, • Temporal closures as an alternative management approach to protect spawning Dusky Flathead, • Fishing pressure on slot limit size Dusky Flathead in Lake Tyers, • Insufficient signage about Dusky Flathead recreational fishing regulations, • Appropriate handling of Dusky Flathead for catch release, and the need for more education/information to promote best practice catch and release of larger Dusky Flathead. The Q and A session can be viewed at: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3ksCvFG-E&list=PLKo29JSp_KfQxxYYUFq_V7RytNJXeLhEy&index=8&t=0s) Several of these issues are directly related to fisheries management. Since the symposium the State Labour Government announced a commitment to remove commercial net fishing (excluding the bait fishery) from the Gippsland Lakes and invest in science and habitat restoration in the Gippsland Lakes to ensure the environment remains healthy. The transition to recreational only fishing for Dusky Flathead in east Gippsland is expected to create opportunities for review of Dusky Flathead management, including current regulations, along with other species, within the context of the entire east Gippsland region. In relation to signage, this issue has been referred to the fisheries education and enforcement group within VFA to consider the need for a review of Dusky Flathead related signage. Summary of scientific literature on biology and ecology The scientific literature mostly involves studies from NSW locations, and on the basic fisheries biology, focussed on age, growth, and reproduction (Coulson et al. 2017, Gray and Barnes 2008, Gray and Barnes 2015, Gray et al. 2002, Pollock 2014, SPCC 1981). Two studies, one with age and growth data (Stokie et al. 2010) and the other on reproductive biology (Hicks et al. 2015), were focussed on Victorian locations and supported the introduction of the current slot limit regulations for Victoria to protect larger females. Detailed studies of ecology, such as habitat and prey dependencies are limited to earlier studies in a few NSW locations and provide limited information of the ecology of the small juvenile stages (Gray et al. 1998, SPCC 1981). Although more recent studies have used stable isotopes to look at the trophic dependencies (Raoult et al. 2018), again these have been limited in geographic scope and do not span juvenile to adult life-stages. There have been some studies of movement behaviour; at larger scales using external tag recapture (Gray and Barnes 2015), and within estuaries using acoustic tagging (Gannon 2016), including in the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria (Hindell 2008). The author also reviewed the available unpublished tag-recapture data from the now defunct VicTAG program, that confirmed observations from tag-recapture data for NSW (Gray and Barnes 2015) that exchange of sub-adult and mature-sized individuals among estuaries does occur, however, it is relatively rare (appendix 3). Accelerometer tags have been used to study activity patterns, particularly in relation to water temperature variation and tidal flows in one estuary in NSW (Gannon et al. 2014). Other studies, not specifically focussed on Dusky Flathead, have documented the occurrence of their larval stages in coastal waters and the entrance regions of estuaries, again in NSW (Gray et al. 1992, Keane and Niera 2008, Miskiewicz 1987, Trnski 2001). There have been no studies documenting the timing and locations of occurrence of Dusky Flathead larval stages in Victorian waters. Based on the observation of limited inter-estuary movement of older Dusky Flathead, the main opportunity for inter-estuary connectivity would likely be during the larval phase. There are limited observations that suggest small (young-of-year) Dusky Flathead occur in shallow muddy sheltered areas in the middle regions of Mallacoota Inlet (Kent et al. 2010a) and in similar muddy/seagrass environments in the Gippsland Lakes (Lead author, personal observation). Butcher et al. (2003) repeatedly sampled a cohort of 0+ age Dusky Flathead (10-20 cm standard length) in the Marooochy River, QLD, over one year, but the field sampling methods, locations and habitats are not described in the paper. Overall, while the age, growth and reproductive biology has been well studied, there has been limited research on the ecology, in particular; food, habitat and environmental dependencies of Dusky Flathead in Victorian estuaries. A key gap in the knowledge of Dusky Flathead biology and ecology is the early life-history from the egg and larval phase until the end of the first year of life. Poor understanding of the implications of freshwater inflows and estuary conditions for

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spawning behaviour and juvenile recruitment success are perceived as an important focus for further research, as these processes can be influenced by catchment management activities and the open/closed status (including manual opening) of estuary entrances.

Stock status summary

The presentation “Status of Dusky fathead populations in Victoria” (appendix 5) informed the following key conclusions: • Catch rates have declined across all three main estuaries (Gippsland Lakes, Lake Tyers, Mallacoota Inlet) since the most recent peaks during the mid-late 2000’s. This suggests regional declines in recruitment and population sizes, • Catch rates have stabilised over the last 4 years at 20-50% of the mid-late 2000’s peak, • Regionally consistent catch rate trends are consistent with lower juvenile recruitment being the main driver of recent declines, likely driven by unfavourable climate/environmental factors for successful spawning/survival of early life-stages, • Recent increasing trend in proportions of larger fish (>55 cm total length) in the Lake Tyers diary angler catches suggests that the slot limit is being successful in protecting bigger fish, but may also be influenced by the lower numbers of smaller fish due to recent lower juvenile recruitment, and improved targeting practices for larger fish by diary anglers, • Unlike Lake Tyers, there was no trend for increasing proportions of large Dusky Flathead in diary angler catches in Mallacoota Inlet. This may suggest high fishing pressure on Dusky Flathead within the slot limit or may relate to size selective methods used by the diary anglers that fish in Mallacoota Inlet, who mostly catch Dusky Flathead when targeting bream. Uncertainty over representativeness of diary angler data for Dusky Flathead in Mallacoota Inlet is an issue for ongoing population assessments, • There are very few diary anglers that target Dusky Flathead in the Gippsland Lakes, and the creel survey data/program for Gippsland Lakes predominantly targets the Black Bream fishery. With the imminent buy-out of commercial fishing and loss of associated data from that fishery sector, there is a clear need to increase the diary angler participation by Dusky Flathead anglers in the Gippsland Lakes, and/or augment the current creel survey program with additional surveys locations to target Dusky Flathead anglers, • Overall the data to assess the status of Dusky Flathead fisheries in East Gippsland estuaries is reliant on a small number of diary anglers that regularly target Dusky Flathead in Lake Tyers and even fewer in Mallacoota Inlet. In the absence of fishery independent sampling or creel survey programs, increasing the numbers of diary anglers in all systems is essential to support an informed assessment of the status of Dusky Flathead fisheries in Victoria, • There is no monitoring of fishing pressure in terms of fishing mortality, overall harvests or effort targeted at Dusky Flathead in Victorian estuaries. As such assessing risk of current or increasing fishing pressure to biological sustainability and long-term performance of these fisheries is problematic. The future trends in the major east Victorian Dusky Flathead fisheries (Lake Tyers, Mallacoota Inlet, Gippsland Lakes) are unclear as there is limited information on recent juvenile recruitment. Relative catch rates of juveniles (15-30 cm length) by diary anglers in Mallacoota Inlet and Lake Tyers indicate several moderate recruitments have occurred over the last 10 years, but that recruitment has likely been relatively low for at least the last 5 years. The limited information on juvenile recruitment processes and dynamics, including factors that influence recruitment success, is a clear risk to fishery management and limits the capacity of managers and stakeholders to make informed advocacy for improved, or targeted, fishery and environmental management to increase the resilience of Dusky Flathead populations.

Online survey

194 people participated in the online survey. Data figures related to satisfaction questions and perceptions of trends and key influences on Dusky Flathead populations are included within the results section (Figs, 1-5), all other data figures for the online survey are in Appendix 9.

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Questions about the anglers and their fishing practices The majority of survey respondents were between the ages of 31-69 years, with 75% of all respondents requiring a Victorian recreational fishing license (Appendix 9 - Figs. 1, 2). The largest representations by area were from the Gippsland region (40% from Gippsland areas) (Appendix 9 - Fig. 3). Other notable contributions were from the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne (13% of respondents). Consistent with the target of the survey, 62% of the respondents chose Dusky Flathead as their preferred (rank 1) target species (Appendix 9 - Fig. 4), and 55% indicated they had more than 10 years’ experience fishing for Dusky Flathead (Appendix 9 - Fig. 5). Most (67%) anglers who responded to the survey caught Dusky Flathead when they were specifically targeting the species (Appendix 9 - Fig. 6). In terms of recent fishing activity, there was a relative even spread of effort levels across the respondents, with 38% participating in less than 5 targeted Dusky Flathead trips, 34% participating in 1-10 trips and 28% participating in more than 10 targeted trips from January 2017 to January 2018 (Appendix 9 - Fig. 7). The highest individual location chosen for the question ‘I mostly fish here for Dusky Flathead’ was Lake Tyers, followed by Mallacoota Inlet (Appendix 9 - Fig. 8). However, despite survey question 8 requesting that respondents only select one location for “I mostly fish here” a number of respondents selected ‘I mostly fish here’ for both Gippsland Lakes and Lake Tyers. Overall, the majority of survey respondents fished in the Gippsland Lakes and/or Lake Tyers (Appendix 9 - Fig. 8). The motivations of the survey respondents for going fishing were rated highest for non-catch motivations; ‘To relax and unwind’ and “To be outdoors, in the fresh air, to enjoy nature”. These two motivations were rated as “Very Important” by, 64% and 70% of respondents respectively (Appendix 9 - Fig. 9). The next most important motivation was “For the enjoyment or sport of catching fish”, for which 63% of respondents rated as “Very Important”. In terms of what respondents ‘valued’ about targeting Dusky Flathead specifically, 41% of respondents indicated “They provide good sport”, 40% “I like to eat them” and 40% “There is a chance of catching a larger trophy fish” as being “Very Important” (Appendix 9 - Fig. 10). 40% of respondents also indicated that “They provide good sport”, 43% “They are a challenge to catch” and 31% “I like to eat them” were “quite important” aspects they valued about targeting Dusky Flathead (Appendix 9 - Fig. 10). Overall, the results of questions around fishing motivations and values of Dusky Flathead fishing indicated that: relax and unwind, enjoy the environment and the sport of catching fish, were most important to the survey respondents, however, catching fish to consume was still an important motivation for many respondents. The way people fish for Dusky Flathead was considered by questions 11-13, that indicated most Dusky Flathead fishing is carried out from vessels (60-85% of respondents, depending on locations) (Appendix 9 - Fig. 11) and using lures (61- 74% of respondents, depending on locations) (Appendix 9 - Fig. 12). Furthermore, 72% of respondents that mostly used lures indicated they mostly used soft-plastic lures (Appendix 9 - Fig. 13). In terms of what respondents do with captured Dusky Flathead, 36% indicated they mostly released fish, 33% mostly retained, and 32% roughly equally released and retained them (Appendix 9 - Fig. 14).

Questions about satisfaction and perceptions of the fisheries Satisfaction levels with per trip catches of Dusky Flathead within the 30-55 cm retainable slot range were highest for respondents who indicted they mostly fished in Lake Tyers, with 77% of these respondents indicating they were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied (Fig. 1). On the unsatisfied spectrum, 44% of respondents that indicated they mostly fished in Gippsland Lakes or Gippsland Lakes/Lake Tyers (Gipps/Tyers) were either ‘not very’ satisfied or ‘not at all’ satisfied (Fig. 1). For respondents that mostly in Mallacoota Inlet, similar to Lake Tyers, 73% were either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with per trip catches of Dusky Flathead within the 30-55 cm retainable slot range (Fig. 1). For the >55 cm size range, 88% of respondents that mostly fished in Lake Tyers were either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied, compared to 40% for Mallacoota Inlet and 43% for Gippsland Lakes (Fig. 2). For those who indicated they mostly fished in Gippsland Lakes and Lake Tyers, 57% indicated they were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with per trip catch rates of Dusky Flathead > 55 cm (Fig. 2). The least satisfied respondents for catch rates of larger fish were those who mostly fished in Mallacoota Inlet, 53% being ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ satisfied, followed by those that only indicated they mostly fished in Gippsland Lakes, where 50% were ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ satisfied with their per trip catches of larger fish (Fig. 2). In terms of what respondents perceived as key factors influencing Dusky Flathead numbers in east Victorian estuaries; 54% of respondents rated “fishing pressure’ as ‘very important’ and 33% rated it as ‘quite important’. Environment and habitat conditions were rated as ‘very important’ by 60%, and ‘quite important’ by 32% of respondents. Natural variation in spawning success was also considered ‘very’ and ‘quite important’ by 45% and 32% or respondent respectively, whereas 52% of respondents considered natural predators ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ important (Fig. 3) When considering the longer-term condition of the east Victorian Dusky Flathead fisheries, the most positive response was from respondents that mostly fished in Lake Tyers, where 66% considered the fishery was ‘stable’ or ‘improving’. For respondents that mostly fished Gippsland Lakes and Mallacoota Inlet, around 15% indicated they perceived the fishery

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was ‘deteriorating’. For Gippsland Lakes most (66%) respondents indicated a perception of ‘stability’ or ‘variable, no long-term trend’. For Mallacoota Inlet most (63%) respondents indicated a perception of ‘improving’ or ‘variable, no long- term trend’ (Fig. 4). Finally, in terms of ‘overall’ satisfaction with Dusky Flathead fishing, 50-58% or respondents indicated they were quite satisfied across the major estuaries, less than 20% indicated they were ‘very satisfied’ (Fig. 5). The least satisfied respondents were those who only indicated they fished in Gippsland Lakes, for which 37% indicated they were “not very” or “not at all” satisfied.

Specific comments Of the 194 respondents, 80 chose to provide specific written responses in relation to other comments/issues they would like to raise regarding the status of the Dusky Flathead fisheries in their main or other fishing locations. These comments are provided in appendix 10 and discussed further in discussion section.

Figure 1 Question 15. Now considering the location you fish mostly (the location you put as "I mostly fish here"), how satisfied are you with the “number” of Dusky Flathead you have caught each trip over the last 12 months (January 2017 - January 2018): Firstly fish from 30-55 cm (legal retainable size)

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Figure 2 Question 16. Now considering the location you fish mostly (the location you put as "I mostly fish here"), how satisfied are you with the “number” of Dusky Flathead you have caught each trip over the last 12 months (January 2017 - January 2018): And now for fish longer than 55cm (must be released), how satisfied are you with the “number” of larger Dusky Flathead you have caught each trip over the last 12 months (January 2017 - January 2018):

Figure 3 Question 17. What do you perceive as key factors that influence Dusky Flathead numbers in east Victorian estuaries, please indicate an importance rating, or unsure, for each factor:

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Figure 4 Question 18. And thinking back over your years of experience of fishing for Dusky Flathead in your main fishing location(s) would you say that the quality (i.e. combination of numbers and size of fish caught per trip) of Dusky Flathead fishing has been: Options – listed along x-axis. Data for each location relate to the respondents who selected “I mostly fish here” for that location in question 8 (Appendix 9, Fig. 8).

Figure 5 Question 19. And thinking back over your years of experience of fishing for Dusky Flathead in your main fishing location(s) would you say that the quality (i.e. combination of numbers and size of fish caught per trip) of Dusky Flathead fishing has been: Options – listed along x-axis. Data for each location relate to the respondents who selected “I mostly fish here” for that location in question 8 (Appendix 9, Fig. 8).

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Discussion

The first Victorian Dusky Flathead symposium was successful in attracting 100 participants on a weekend day to Lakes Entrance. The initial registration of 155, and survey completion by 194 people, indicates the strong interest in the east Victorian Dusky Flathead fisheries. The symposium was valuable in providing a focal point for this project to guide the review of scientific and population/fishery status information and the development of presentations suitable for an audience of anglers and general public. Live streaming of the event and video recording of presentations provided greater accessibility and long-term availability of the symposium presentations. The synthesis of information from scientific studies of Dusky Flathead (appendix 3, 8) showed that most of the investigations to date have focussed on basic biology, in particular; age and growth and reproductive biology. These studies have provided important information for understanding the vulnerability of the species to fishing and have underpinned current recreational fishing regulations (appendix 4). Tagging studies have also indicated that once Dusky Flathead recruit to estuaries, most are likely to remain resident. While some adult movement has been detected among estuaries, the extent of adult movements among estuaries is not thought to be sufficient to influence local population dynamics within an estuary. This means that the populations of Dusky Flathead in each estuary and the impacts of fishing on each population should be assessed and managed independently. One caveat to the previous suggestion that populations in individual estuaries are largely independent is that spawning takes places in the lower reaches/entrance regions of estuaries (during the spring/summer months) and larval stages have been shown to occur in coastal waters along NSW. This suggests that some connectivity between populations in different estuaries likely occurs via larval dispersal in coastal waters. However, the importance of larval exchange among estuaries to local population replenishment and dynamics is unclear. For Victorian estuaries, the implications of estuary opening and closing regimes for larval retention within, or exchange between, estuaries is unknown. Overall, there was a clear lack of information on the early life-history of Dusky Flathead – from the egg and larval stages to the end of the first year of life. The larval biology/ecology of Dusky Flathead has not been studied in the field, although they have been bred in aquaculture facilities (see appendix 6). For most coastal and estuarine fish species, this critical early life period is when year-class strength is established and therefore has a major influence on the temporal dynamics in abundance of the older life stages targeted by anglers. In the Victorian context, the influence of entrance conditions (i.e. open or closed) on spawning behaviour, larval survival, and retention or exchange between estuaries, is an important area for future research. Most of the east Victorian estuaries (excluding Gippsland Lakes) undergo prolonged periods of entrance closure over the spring/summer months when Dusky Flathead spawn. Entrance closure may be beneficial in retaining larvae from local spawning, or detrimental in preventing ingress of larvae derived from spawning in other estuaries. Tidal exchange of estuarine and marine waters, and estuary flushing, may also have implications for dynamics of plankton communities and habitats in the estuaries that support the early life stages. Further, the degree of linkage between Dusky Flathead populations in Victorian estuaries and those in NSW through north-south larval transport via the East Australian Current (EAC) are unknown. Dusky Flathead spawning in permanently open NSW estuaries could potentially be important sources of recruitment to east Victorian estuaries, similar to the situation with eastern King prawn where recruitment into east Victorian estuaries is thought to be mostly derived from spawning areas in northern NSW (Montgomery 1990). Understanding the potential for inter-state connectivity among Dusky Flathead populations requires greater understanding of the larval period and dates of birth for larvae sampled in Victorian coastal waters to condition dispersal modelling studies. Sampling for larval stages within the lower reaches of east Victorian estuaries and in coastal waters immediately adjacent to estuary mouths, across summer/autumn periods with open and closed entrances would be informative on the implications of entrance conditions for Dusky Flathead recruitment and inter-estuary connectivity. Furthermore, larval samples collected in such a program could be used to determine larval prey dependencies, and distributions of larval stages within estuaries, and indicate important larval development and settlement areas. This is important for focussing further studies to identify critical areas and habitats for the early benthic life stages. The only information of very small benthic juveniles in Victorian estuaries is from limited sampling in Mallacoota Inlet (Kent et al. 2010a), and if stocking of fingerlings was to be considered (discussed below) it would be important to release the fingerlings in the appropriate region of an estuary and adjacent to their preferred habitat(s). Review of the status of Dusky Flathead fisheries and stocks in east Victorian estuaries showed similar declines since the late 2000’s in catch rates of slot limit (retainable fish) size Dusky Flathead. This suggested a regional reduction in recruitment rates driven by processes operating at a larger-scale than individual estuaries. Catch rates have stabilised since 2014, however, future trends are uncertain. Diary angler catch rates of juvenile fish (15-30 cm) suggest two moderate recruitment events in Mallacoota Inlet since 2010, but generally lower recruitment in Lake Tyers since 2010 compared to the strong recruitments prior to 2010. However, diary angler catch rates of smaller fish may not be a reliable

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indicator of recruitment and may be influenced by variation in the diary angler personal, fishing practices, locations, and methods employed by general angler diarists. The available data from diary anglers also indicated that larger fish were more available in Lake Tyres than Mallacoota Inlet, although the reason for this is unclear. To improve the data on abundance of small (i.e. juvenile recruitment) and large fish (i.e. female spawning biomass), it would be valuable to conduct targeted creel surveys (including data on released and retained fish) and enhance the diary angler program by recruiting more ‘research’ diary anglers who are willing to conduct targeted fishing for large and small Dusky Flathead using standardised methods. The indication of declining trends in larger female Dusky Flathead in Mallacoota Inlet, despite introduction of the slot limit regulations, was consistent with comments from the survey respondents who mostly fished Mallacoota Inlet (below) and could be indicative of high fishing mortality rates on fish within the legal slot limit. The historical data (100+ years) on commercial fisheries production for Gippsland Lakes and Mallacoota Inlet indicated that Dusky Flathead abundance varies greatly over time. Variation is due to the combination of the environmental influences on juvenile recruitment success and fishing pressure. Sustainable management and optimisation of fishery performance would benefit from information on both juvenile recruitment success and recreational fishing pressure for the most valuable Dusky Flathead fisheries. Neither of these processes is currently captured in the monitoring/assessment of Dusky Flathead stocks that relies largely on catch rates and length composition from a very limited number of highly valued volunteer diary anglers, mostly in Lake Tyers. Fishing mortality rates are not known for Dusky Flathead populations in any Victorian estuaries. An appropriately designed tag/recapture program would be a suitable approach for estimating fishing mortality in Victorian estuaries and could be considered for the Mallacoota Inlet fishery to assess the current overfishing risk.

Recruitment variation is a key process that drives variation in Dusky Flathead stocks and fishery performance, and while the environmental/climatic factors that influence recruitment variation are unclear, it is unlikely they could be readily artificially manipulated. Dusky Flathead are not very long-lived, with the oldest individuals detected by age sampling so far being up to 16 yrs old, and fish within the retainable slot limit are between 2-7 yrs age (appendix 3, slide 4). As a result, the populations can fluctuate over sub-decadal time scales, and periods of low recruitment for 5 or more years would see major declines in fishery performance. In this situation stocking of Dusky Flathead could be considered an appropriate option for limiting declines or rebuilding declining stocks to maintain the social and economic value of these fisheries. An investigation into the feasibility of stocking Dusky Flathead in Victorian estuaries was conducted as part of another RFL project (Ingram 2019, Feasibility of stocking to enhance flathead fisheries). The feasibility study (see appendix 6) indicated that Dusky Flathead fry can be produced in aquaculture, and that previous small-scale stockings (100,000 fingerlings) have been trialled in the Maroochy River in Queensland, however, an economic assessment concluded that continued stocking was unfavourable. Consequently, a responsible approach to stocking, with well- defined management objectives and rationale for stocking, and plans for monitoring and evaluation, is promoted by fisheries scientists and managers. Stocking to recover declining or depleted stocks would need to be significant in order to replicate “good” natural recruitment events. Estimates by the stocking feasibility study indicated that stocking of the Mallacoota Inlet to ameliorate poor recruitment would require 800,000 – 1,000,000 fingerlings per year with an estimated cost of $625,000 to $1.25 mil. (Ingram 2019). While stocking is a management option to consider when natural recruitment is failing, it may or may not be considered economically justified depending on consideration of the social and economic value of the recreational fishery in the estuary to be stocked, and alternative uses of the same funds, such as habitat improvements, and research to understand the natural/environmental processes that influence recruitment success. The feasibility studied also highlighted the need to obtain genetic information on Dusky Flathead populations to support choice of brood stock locations, further work to assess stocking numbers required to have population level impacts, and the lack of a current hatchery engaged in ongoing production of Dusky Flathead fingerlings.

The first online survey targeting Dusky Flathead anglers indicated that recreational anglers mostly fish for Dusky Flathead from boats using soft plastic lures. The survey indicated that general satisfaction levels were moderate, with between 58-67% of respondents indicating they were very or quite satisfied with the overall quality of Dusky Flathead fishing in east Victorian estuaries. The survey results regarding availability of larger Dusky Flathead (>55 cm) were consistent with the angler diary information in indicating higher satisfaction for anglers fishing in Lake Tyers. Overall the survey responses and information from diary anglers were consistent in indicating that the Dusky Flathead fisheries in all major estuaries were not performing as well as they did during 2000-2010.

The current online survey results for ‘overall’ satisfaction can be compared with the same question and answer options from earlier creel surveys of boat-based anglers (the dominant fishing platform used by the respondents in the online survey) fishing in Mallacoota Inlet (2007/08) (Kent et al. 2010a) and Lake Tyers (2008/09) (Kent et al. 2010b). These earlier surveys were consistent with the recent surveys in indicating that non-catch values still rated higher than catch values as primary reasons for going fishing in these waters. While these earlier surveys were not targeted directly at Dusky Flathead fishing, Dusky Flathead was the dominant target species by boat-based anglers in summer and autumn

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in Mallacoota Inlet, and was of similar importance to black bream in Lake Tyers in spring and summer. Therefore, the quality of Dusky Flathead fishing would have been important in influencing the results of the earlier satisfaction surveys. For boat-based anglers 84% of surveyed anglers fishing in Mallacoota Inlet in 2007/08 indicated they were either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with their overall fishing experience, compared to 61% in the current Dusky Flathead targeted survey. For Lake Tyers, the result was the same for the earlier survey, with 84% of surveyed anglers fishing in 2008/09 indicating they were either ‘very’ of ‘quite’ satisfied with their overall fishing experience in Lake Tyers, compared to 67% in the current Dusky Flathead targeted survey. While the contribution that other species made to the satisfaction levels in the earlier surveys is unclear, the lower proportion of very/quite satisfied anglers in the online survey is consistent with an impact of the lower catch rates of Dusky Flathead in both estuaries in recent years compared to when these earlier surveys were conducted (appendix 3).

Concerns were expressed by survey respondents over the perceived high level of fishing pressure by both commercial (Gippsland Lakes) and recreational fishers (particularly in Mallacoota Inlet), and the need to consider greater protections for Dusky Flathead stocks (Appendix 8). While the survey responses and discussion at the symposium indicated the current recreational regulations are well supported, in particular, the slot limit approach to protect large females, numerous survey comments indicted that increased legal minimum length and or review of bag/possession limits should be considered, and that greater compliance effort was important. Given that stocks of Dusky Flathead are estuary specific it would be justifiable to consider different regulations for different estuaries depending on the level of fishing pressure (i.e. fishing effort) risk and local stock status. Adaptive management in response to ‘local’ recruitment variation and fishing pressure could improve the quality of fishing over the long-term but would need to be underpinned by information on these two processes and clear performance objectives developed by fisheries managers in collaboration with recreational angler stakeholders.

Improving engagement and involvement of anglers in monitoring and assessing local Dusky Flathead fisheries Dairy anglers are currently the main source of information to inform assessments of Dusky Flathead stocks and fisheries in east Victoria’s estuaries. However, recent review of participation in the diary angler program by anglers who target Dusky Flathead indicated that there is now insufficient numbers of angler diarist who undertake targeted Dusky Flathead trips in Mallacoota Inlet to make any reliable inferences on stock or fishery status in this location. Lack of ongoing reliable information on stock status for Dusky Flathead in Mallacoota Inlet presents a significant management risk, more so in light of the concerns expressed by local anglers of high fishing pressure and declining abundance of larger females. The ‘lack of data’ situation will soon be the same in Gippsland Lakes when commercial fishery catch and effort records cease to be available. Again, diary anglers in Gippsland Lakes mostly target Black Bream, that are also the target of the creel surveys in Gippsland Lakes. Until recently diary angler information targeted at Dusky Flathead has been sufficient in Lake Tyers but is now highly vulnerable, being reliant on just a few anglers. There is a clear and present need to improve the information base, and consistency of information flow for monitoring and assessing Victoria’s Dusky flathead fisheries. Exploring tag/recapture programs is an obvious option for estimating fishing mortality that should be explored. Increasing the involvement of keen Dusky Flathead anglers in the diary angler program is important and will require a targeted recruitment effort and an ongoing program of local feedback to encourage anglers to continue to stay involved. The trial of the “GoFishVic” phone app. catch recording system for recreational anglers will gauge whether or not this approach will be useful in attracting new diary anglers using an electronic reporting platform. Ultimately there is need for VFA science and management personal to have a greater presence in east Gippsland. A biannual program of recreational fishery status workshops in east Gippsland could be a valuable way to build and maintain relationships with the local angling community and diary angler/phone app. users. The recent State Government commitment to remove commercial netting from Gippsland Lakes will mean that fishing of scale-fish in estuaries to the east of Corner Inlet Nooramunga will eventually be recreational only. Management of recreational fisheries in the estuaries of east Gippsland, both for sustainability and optimisation of socio-economic benefits, would benefit from a planned approach with objectives developed and identification of data requirements to measure performance and risk against objectives. Stakeholders will be critical to promoting and contributing to this process.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the recreational fishing licence (RFL) trust for providing funding support for this project, and all the guest speakers who made the symposium informative and engaging. We would like to thank the Victorian Fisheries Authority ‘Recreational Fishing Improvements/Target One Million team’, in particular, Belinda Yim and Julie Morgan for their incredible support in organising, promoting and running the symposium and survey. They were ably supported on the day by Lauren Hall (live streaming), Mary Ehavandi, Belinda Lorensini and Stephanie Balint. We would also like to thank Craig Ingram for being the symposium chair. Funding from the State Governments Target One Million election commitment was used to support the symposium. Louis Hogarth provided valuable assistance with compiling results and figures for the online survey. Importantly, we would like to acknowledge the dedicated group of diary anglers, past and presently active, who without which we would have little information to support assessment of the valuable Dusky Flathead fisheries in eastern Victoria. Finally, we would like to thank all those who completed the online survey, attended the symposium and contributed to discussion and Q & A on the day.

References

Butcher, A., Mayer, D., Willett, D., Johnston, M., and Smallwood, D. (2003). Scale pattern analysis is preferable to OTC marking of otoliths for differentiating between stocked and wild Dusky Flathead, Platycephalus fuscus, and sand whiting, Sillago ciliata. Fisheries Ecology and Management 10, 163-172. Coulson, P.G., Hall, N.G. and Potter, I.C. (2017). Variations in biological characteristics of temperate gonochoristic species of Platycephalidae and their implications: A review. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 190, 50-68. Gannon, R. (2016). Habitat and spatial ecology of two iconic estuarine fishes using acoustic telemetry. PhD thesis, University of New South Wales. Gannon, R., Taylor, M.D., Suthers, I.M., Gray, C.A., van der Meulan, D.E., Smith, J.A. and Payne, N.L. (2014). Thermal limitation of performance and biogeography in a free-ranging ectotherm: insights from accelerometry. The Journal of Experimental Biology 217, 3033-3037. Gray, C.A. and Barnes, L.M. (2015). Spawning, maturity and movement of Platycephalus fuscus (Cuvier, 1829) (Platycephalidae): fishery management considerations. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 31, 442-450. Gray, C.A. and Barnes, L.M. (2008). Reproduction and growth of Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) in NSW estuaries. NSW Department of Primary Industries – Fisheries Final Report Series, No. 101. Gray, C., Gale, V., Stringfellow, S.and Raines, L. (2003). Variations in sex, length and age compositions of commercial catches of Platycephalus fuscus (Pisces: Platycephalidae) in New South Wales, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 53, 1091-1100. Gray, C., Chick, R. and McElligott, D. (1998). Diel changes in assemblages of fishes associated with shallow seagrass and bare sand. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 46, 849-859. Gray, C.A., Otway, N.M., Laurenson, F.A., Miskiewicz, A.G. and Pethebridge, R.L. (1992). Distribution and abundance of marine fish larvae in relation to effluent plumes from sewage outfalls and depth of water. Marine Biology 113, 549-559. Hicks, T., Kopf, R.K., and Humphries, P. (2015). Fecundity and egg quality of Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) in East Gippsland, Victoria. Institute for Land Water and Society, Charles Sturt University. Report number 94. Prepared for the Recreational Fishing Grants Program, Fisheries Victoria. The State of Victoria Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. Pp. 1-34. Hindell, J.S. (2008). Gippsland Lakes Dusky Flathead tracking project: R/05/06/01. Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Sustainability and Environment. Ingram, B.A. (2019). Feasibility of stocking to enhance flathead fisheries. Recreation Fishing Grants Program Research Report. Keane, J.P. and Niera, F.J. (2008). Larval fish assemblages along the south-eastern Australian shelf: linking mesoscale non-depth-discriminate structure and water masses. Fisheries Oceanography 17, 263-280.

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Kent, J., Hindell, J., and Conron S. (2010a). Recreational fishery monitoring and fish habitat research needed to facilitate management of the Mallacoota Inlet Fisheries Reserve. Recreational Fisheries Grant Program Final Report. Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. Kent, J., Stokie, T., MacDonald, M., Bridge, N. and Conron, S. (2010b). Recreational fishery monitoring needed to facilitate management of the Lake Tyers Fisheries Reserve. Recreational Fisheries Grant Program Final Report. Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. Miskiewicz, A.G. (1987). Taxonomy and ecology of fish larvae in Lake Macquarie and New South Wales coastal waters. PhD Thesis. The University of New South Wales, Sydney. Montgomery, S.S. (1990). Movements of juvenile eastern king prawns, Penaeus plebejus, and identification of stock along the east coast of Australia. Fisheries Research 9, 189-208. Neira, F.J., Miskiewicz, A.G. and Thomas Trnski, T. (1998). Larvae of temperate Australian fishes: laboratory guide for larval fish identification. Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press. Pollock, B.R. (2014). The annual spawning aggregation of Dusky Flathead Platycephalus fuscus at Jumpinpin, Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 119, 23-45. Raoult, V., Gaston, T.F. and Taylor, M.D. (2018). Habitat–fishery linkages in two major south-eastern Australian estuaries show that the C4 saltmarsh plant Sporobolus virginicusis a significant contributor to fisheries productivity. Hydrobiologia 811, 221-238. State Pollution Control Commission (1981). The ecology of fish in Botany Bay – biology of commercially and recreationally valuable species. Technical Report BBS23B. Government Printer, Sydney Stokie, T.K., Bridge, N.F., MacDonald, M. and Conron, S. (2010). Evaluation of changes to Dusky Flathead catch limits in Mallacoota Inlet. Recreational Fishing Grant Program – Research report Trnski, T. (2001). Diel and tidal abundance of fish larvae in a barrier-estuary channel in New South Wales. Marine and Freshwater Research 52, 995-1006.

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Appendix 1. Symposium flyer

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Appendix 2. Symposium proceedings Full document available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331727894_VFA_Dusky_Flathead_Symposium_Proceedings_2018

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Appendix 3. “The life of a Dusky Flathead what science has told us” Slide 1 Slide 3

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Slide 17 See Appendix 8 for supporting literature that informed this presentation.

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Appendix 4. “A recent history of recreational fishery management in Victoria” Slide 1 Slide 3

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Appendix 5. “Status of Dusky Flathead populations in Victoria”

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Appendix 6. “Dusky Flathead stocking feasibility” Slide 3

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Appendix 7. “Healthy catchments healthy fisheries” Slide 3 Slide 1

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Appendix 8. Summary of key scientific literature on biology and ecology of Dusky Flathead

Authors, year Citation and weblink where available Abstract / relevance

Butcher et al. Butcher, A., Mayer, D., Willett, D., A pilot programme to evaluate the effect of stocking Dusky Flathead, Platycephalus fuscus (Cuv. & Val.), and sand (2003) Johnston, M., and Smallwood, D. (2003). whiting, Sillago ciliata (Cuv. & Val.), began in the Maroochy River estuary in 1995. Two possible methods of mass marking; oxytetracycline (OTC) marking of otoliths, and scale pattern analysis (SPA) were investigated. A range of Scale pattern analysis is preferable to OTC OTC trials was conducted, with limited success. High concentrations (1000 mg L−1) of OTC and low salinities marking of otoliths for differentiating (≤9°/00) produced acceptable marks on the otoliths of both species, but at the expense of fingerling survival and between stocked and wild Dusky Flathead, environmental health risks. SPA provided better results, with wild to hatchery misclassification rates of 25 and 11%, Platycephalus fuscus, and sand whiting, respectively, for P. fuscus and S. ciliata. The reverse misclassification rate of hatchery to wild was equal or better for Sillago ciliate. Fisheries Ecology and both species. Field trials demonstrated that SPA was able to differentiate between the two sources of fingerlings (wild Management 10, 163-172. and hatchery). These results indicated that OTC was impractical, while SPA was acceptable for this pilot programme. The implications of these results are discussed.

Note: this study repeatedly sampled a cohort of 0+ age Dusky Flathead (10-20 cm standard length) in the Marooochy River, QLD over one year, but field sampling methods are not described in the paper. Coulson et al. Coulson, P.G., Hall, N.G. and Potter, I.C. This review provides a composite account of the biological characteristics of the temperate gonochoristic species of the (2017) (2017). Variations in biological Platycephalidae. Initially, data were obtained for the five abundant platycephalid species in south-western Australia, which each came from either over bare substrata or seagrass and from either estuaries, marine coastal waters or characteristics of temperate gonochoristic marine embayments. The von Bertalanffy growth curves for females and males of each species differed significantly, species of Platycephalidae and their with females having a greater TL∞ and lower growth coefficient k. From tests using their upper deciles, the total length implications: A review. Estuarine, Coastal (TL) attained by the largest females of each species was significantly greater than that of their males, whereas such a and Shelf Science 190, 50-68. trend did not occur with age. The ratio of females to males in each abundant age class, and overall, exceeded parity for four of the five species (typically P<0.001) and increased with increasing TL. Mortality estimates, which were similar for https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0 each sex of each species, suggest that Platycephalus speculator has been substantially exploited in a seasonally- 272771416307740?token=B0FB13F827E5 closed estuary in which it completes its whole life cycle. The above and other biological data for the five species were 1255FB13C0E5232B7998E3192C7908514 collated with those published previously for two of those species and five other platycephalid species in south-eastern CB4580FD362D5195DDD98F32D456F80 Australia and one in Japan and another in the Suez Canal, yielding the following conclusions for gonochoristic species AA86BD610B9ABB4F90E9 of the Platycephalidae. Females attain a larger size than males, the extent varying markedly among species, whereas the longevities of the two sexes of each platycephalid species are similar. The maximum TLs and ages of the various species range widely, with values for females, for example, extending from 221 mm for Ambiserrula jugosa to 985 mm for Platycephalus fuscus and from four years for A. jugosato 26 years for Platycephalus conatus. The overall ratio of females to males is positively related to the extent to which both the maximum TLs and TL∞s of the females exceed those of males. The above trends imply that growth, rather than differences in longevity and/or mortality, is the main factor contributing to the marked differences in sex ratios, which ranged widely from parity to 3.2:1. As the length at maturity, but not typically age at maturity, was greater for females than males, maturity is also related mainly to growth. The spawning periods of the various species overlapped, commencing as early as late winter/early spring, as temperatures started rising with four species and later in late spring/early summer with the three species found in estuaries, which would be advantageous as spawning in estuaries would occur when environmental conditions are most favourable for spawning success and larval retention. Gannon 2016 Gannon, R. (2016). Habitat and spatial Fishing, urbanisation and climate change all contribute to ecosystem change. Despite these substantial pressures, ecology of two iconic estuarine fishes using little is known about the ecology of many estuarine fish populations throughout eastern Australia. Two contrasting estuarine fishes were selected in this study, for their iconic status, varying degree of estuary use, and the dearth of acoustic telemetry. PhD thesis, University

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of New South Wales. information on their basic biology and ecology throughout their distribution. Acoustic telemetry was used to investigate the home range, habitat use and movement patterns of yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis, and Dusky Flathead Platycephalus fuscus. Space use for yellowfin bream was not related to fish length; although movement of each fish increased with fish length and decreased with water conductivity. The distance between tagged fish and mangrove habitat was correlated with time-of-day and tide level with fish moving closer to mangroves during the daytime and on high tides. Fish movements, residency and site fidelity revealed the nature of decision-making for yellowfin bream, and the conservation value of small patches of estuarine habitats. The fine-scale movements and space use of acoustically tagged Dusky Flathead P.fuscus revealed relative movement was significantly related to fish size, tide and time of day. Space use was also positively correlated with fish size with two larger fish using multiple core areas of the estuary. Coupling spatial and relative movement trends with changes in prey mobility suggested an ontogenetic shift in foraging pattern for Dusky Flathead To assess factors influencing the circadian rhythm of Dusky Flathead, acoustic accelerometers evaluated the activity of free ranging fish in relation to environmental parameters. The key factors influencing the activity rhythms of Dusky Flathead were the diel and tidal cycles. Increased activity occurred during daytime and twilight periods with peaks of activity occurring during changes of tidal phase (i.e. at slack water). Theoretical and laboratory studies generally show that ectotherm performance increases with temperature to an optimum, and subsequently declines. I used internally implanted accelerometers near the middle of a species geographical distribution and gill-net catch data near the species latitudinal extremes to quantify temperature-related activity levels of Dusky Flathead. Acceleration data approximated a thermal performance curve, with activity peaking at 23°C but declining rapidly at higher temperatures. Gill-net catch data displayed a similar trend, with a temperature- associated increase and decrease in catch rates in temperate and tropical regions, respectively. These data highlight the influence of temperature on ectotherm performance, and how thermal performance limits may shape a species geographic range. Research conducted for this thesis was centred on two methods of acoustic telemetry. When carried out in conjunction with monitoring environmental conditions, each method provided quantitative data used to increase the knowledge of fine scale space and habitat use, movement and activity of two estuarine fish species. Future development of methods used in these studies may allow for further observations of biotic and abiotic factors driving shifts in aquatic animal behaviour. Gannon et al. Gannon, R., Taylor, M.D., Suthers, I.M., Theoretical and laboratory studies generally show that ectotherm performance increases with temperature to an (2014) Gray, C.A., van der Meulan, D.E., Smith, optimum, and subsequently declines. Several physiological mechanisms probably shape thermal performance curves, but responses of free-ranging animals to temperature variation will represent a compromise between these J.A. and Payne, N.L. (2014). Thermal mechanisms and ecological constraints. Thermal performance data from wild animals balancing physiology and limitation of performance and biogeography ecology are rare, and this represents a hindrance for predicting population impacts of future temperature change. We in a free-ranging ectotherm: insights from used internally implanted accelerometers near the middle of a species’ geographical distribution and gill net catch data accelerometry. The Journal of near the species’ latitudinal extremes to quantify temperature-related activity levels of a wild predatory fish Experimental Biology 217, 3033-3037. (Platycephalus fuscus). We examined our data in the context of established models of thermal performance, and the relationship between thermal performance thresholds and http://jeb.biologists.org/content/jexbio/217/1 biogeography. Acceleration data approximated a thermal performance curve, with activity peaking at 23°C but declining 7/3033.full.pdf rapidly at higher temperatures. Gill-net catch data displayed a similar trend, with a temperature-associated increase and decrease in catch rates in temperate and tropical regions, respectively. Extrapolated estimates of zero activity (CTmin and CTmax) from the accelerometers were similar to the minimum and maximum mean monthly water temperatures experienced at the southern and northern (respectively) limits of the species distribution, consistent with performance-limited biogeography in this species. These data highlight the fundamental influence of temperature on ectotherm performance, and how thermal performance limits may shape biogeography. Biologging approaches are rarely used to examine thermal performance curves in free ranging animals, but these may be central to understanding the trade-offs between physiology and ecology that constrain species’ biogeographies and determine the susceptibility of ectotherms to future increases in temperature. Gray and Gray, C.A. and Barnes, L.M. (2015). The Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) is an important teleost harvested by recreational and commercial fishers

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Barnes (2015) Spawning, maturity and movement of throughout its endemic distribution along eastern Australia. This study indicates that the species has an extended Platycephalus fuscus (Cuvier, 1829) spawning period throughout the austral summer, with females in spawning condition occurring in lower estuarine and coastal waters. Total length (L50) and age (A50) at which 50% (±1 SE) of the population was mature was 31.72 (±1.08) (Platycephalidae): fishery management cm TL and 1.22 (±0.44) years for males and 56.75 (±0.60) cm TL and 4.55 (±0.13) years for females. The von considerations. Journal of Applied Bertalanffy growth parameters differed significantly between sexes; females grew faster and attained a greater Ichthyology 31, 442-450. maximum TL and age than males. The largest female was 98.5 cm TL (7.5 kg), and the oldest 16 years, whereas the https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j largest male was 61.5 cm TL (1.58 kg) and 11 years of age. A tag‐and‐release study identified the exchange of sub‐ ai.12703 adult and mature‐sized individuals among estuaries. Determinations of length‐based management regulations for the species are compounded by the large gender‐based differences in growth and length‐at‐maturity. Current minimum legal lengths of 30–40 cm TL protect approximately 3–9% of the female spawning population. Alternative management options, including harvest slot sizes, need to be investigated and tested. Gray and Gray, C.A. and Barnes, L.M. (2008). Dusky Flathead is an important finfish species harvested by recreational and commercial fishers in NSW. Because of Barnes (2008) Reproduction and growth of Dusky concerns over the long-term sustainability of the resource in NSW, the minimum legal length (MLL) of Dusky Flathead was increased from 33 to 36 cm total length (TL) in July 2001, with further increases (to 40 cm TL) proposed. The initial Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) in NSW change in minimum legal length was based on available information concerning the length that Dusky Flathead spawn. estuaries. NSW Department of Primary However, detailed information of the reproductive biology of Dusky Flathead from NSW was lacking. This study was the Industries – Fisheries Final Report Series, first step to redress this situation. Dusky Flathead were sampled from various locations throughout NSW between 2001 No. 101. and 2006 to investigate aspects of their biology. The study identified that female Dusky Flathead have an extended http://fish.gov.au/2012/reports/Documents/ reproductively active period between November and March while male reproductive activity occurs mainly between Gray_and_Barnes_2008_Dusky_Flathead_ September and March. Female Dusky Flathead in spawning condition were caught only near the entrance of estuaries and in adjacent coastal waters. It was determined that the length at which 50 percent of the population is mature (L50) Final_Report_REPORT.pdf during periods of peak reproductive activity was 31.72 cm TL for males and 56.75 cm TL for females. The corresponding estimated age at which 50 percent of the population is reproductively mature (A50) during these same periods was 1.22 years for males and 4.55 years for females. Females grew faster and attained a greater overall maximum TL, weight and age than males. The largest observed female was 98.5cm TL (7.5 kg), and the oldest was estimated to be 16 years, whereas the largest male was 61.5cm TL (weight) and 11 years of age. Although the growth rates and maximum attained lengths varied between sexes, the relationship between length and weight of fish did not differ between sexes. The current MLL of 36cm TL appears to protect approximately 5 % of the female and 75% of the male spawning population. To provide greater protection to mature females so to allow 50% of females to spawn at least once would require an increase in the MLL to 57cm TL. Such an increase would virtually eliminate males from the fishery. Many other factors, such as the survival rates of released fish from recreational and commercial fishing gears, need to be considered in critiquing future management options, including changes in the MLL, for this species. Gray et al. Gray, C., Gale, V., Stringfellow, S.and This study documented age, sex and length compositions of commercial caught Dusky Flathead in NSW. Showed that (2002) Raines, L. (2003). Variations in sex, length the fishery selected more for females, with most commercially caught fish 33-50 cm length, with most > 45 cm being females. Fish aged 2-4+ years were most common in the catches. Catch curve analysis was used to estimate total and age compositions of commercial mortality, suggested it was high and indicated heavy exploitation at that time. Oldest fish sampled was 11 years. catches of Platycephalus fuscus (Pisces: Platycephalidae) in New South Wales, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 53,1091-1100. http://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/pdf/MF0203 6

Gray et al. Gray, C., Chick, R. and McElligott, D. The evaluation and management of fisheries resources requires knowledge of spatial and temporal changes in the (1998). Diel changes in assemblages of habitat-associations of fishes. However, most studies concerning habitat associations of small fishes in the shallow

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(1998) fishes associated with shallow seagrass regions of estuaries have been limited to daytime sampling strategies. Diel changes were investigated in assemblages and bare sand. Estuarine, Coastal and of fishes associated with shallow seagrass (Zostera capricorni) and bare sand in two estuaries in south-eastern Australia Habitat-related differences in assemblages were strong day and night, and were greater than diel changes in Shelf Science 46, 849-859. assemblages. The seagrass-associated assemblages remained similar day and night and consistently differed from https://ac.els- those associated with bare sand. In contrast, the assemblages over sand varied on a diel basis as larger individuals of cdn.com/S0272771497903218/1-s2.0- several species (e.g. Gerres subfasciatus, Platycephalus fuscus) that resided over other (deeper) habitats during the day were caught over shallow sand at night. Further, some species (e.g. Ambassis jacksoniensis) that resided in S0272771497903218- seagrass during the day occurred over sand at night. Both habitats were utilized by newly recruited juveniles of main.pdf?_tid=ae46e029-7f5e-4cba-8e0d- economically important species and the habitat associations of these species generally did not differ on a diel basis. 993627d29e0c&acdnat=1552358216_1678 Therefore, both habitats are considered important to the fisheries resources of south-eastern Australia. Inclusion of 8523a169c4f3ff96132dd9b85067 night-time sampling provided a greater understanding and appreciation of the use of the unvegetated habitat by fishes than has previously been acknowledged from studies based solely on daytime sampling. This study indicates that greater consideration of temporal changes in habitat associations of fishes is required in other geographic regions Gray et al. Gray, C.A., Otway, N.M., Laurenson, F.A., This study of fish larvae along the NSW coast compared regions near sewage outfalls and a control site. It observed (1992) Miskiewicz, A.G. and Pethebridge, R.L. Dusky Flathead larvae in coastal waters in the upper 20 m. (1992). Distribution and abundance of marine fish larvae in relation to effluent plumes from sewage outfalls and depth of water. Marine Biology 113, 549-559. https://www.academia.edu/19441244/Distri bution_and_abundance_of_marine_fish_lar vae_in_relation_to_effluent_plumes_from_ sewage_outfalls_and_depth_of_water

Hicks et al. Hicks T., Kopf R.K., and Humphries P. Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) are harvested commercially and recreationally throughout their distribution (2015) (2015). Fecundity and egg quality of Dusky between Cairns, Queensland and the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria. As a precautionary management measure to conserve large and mature females, Fisheries Victoria implemented a recreational slot limit of 300-550mm total length Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) in East (TL) in 2012. Prior to this study, there was no information available on the reproductive potential (fecundity or egg Gippsland, Victoria. Institute for Land quality) of different size-classes of Dusky Flathead, and therefore it was uncertain whether the slot limit was effective in Water and Society, Charles Sturt protecting the most productive size-class of females. The objectives of this study were to: University. Report number 94. Prepared for • Quantify the relationship between fecundity (number of eggs) and body size in Dusky Flathead the Recreational Fishing Grants Program, • Assess whether egg quality-based on egg diameter, total lipid content, lipid class concentration, fatty acid Fisheries Victoria. The State of Victoria concentration and energy density-varies with body size of Dusky Flathead. Department of Economic Development, These objectives were met by sampling412Dusky Flathead from commercial fisheries in the Gippsland Lakes and a Jobs, Transport and Resources. Pp. 1-34. combination of mesh-netting and recreational anglers in Mallacoota Inlet in Victoria from November 2014-January https://www.csu.edu.au/research/ilws/publi 2015. Analyses included macroscopic staging of reproductive condition, gonadosomatic indices and histology of cations/ilws-reports/2015/Hicks-et-al- ovaries, the last of which was used to identify actively spawning females suitable for fecundity and egg quality Fecundity-and-egg-quality-of-dusky- analyses. Results showed that: flathead.pdf • Small females produced exponentially fewer eggs than larger females. Potential annual fecundity ranged from 112,264 eggs in a 323 mm female to 4,793,077 eggs in a 764 mm female. However, fecundity, in terms of numbers of eggs per g body weight, did not differ with size. • Egg quality–as measured by egg diameter, total lipid content, lipid class concentration, fatty acid concentration and

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energy density-did not change with body size. •The length at 50% maturity estimated for female Dusky Flathead in Victoria here, 328 ± 24 mm SE, was substantially smaller than the L50568 ± 6 mm estimated in a previous study from New South Wales.

Contrary to various studies which suggest that larger, older females contribute disproportionally to fish stocks, Dusky Flathead egg quality and relative fecundity did not change with body size. Based on these results alone, management of Dusky Flathead fisheries could focus solely on maintaining viable levels of spawning biomass irrespective of body size. However, slot limits have proven to be effective in protecting trophy fish and in promoting a more natural age- structure which may have important implications for maintaining stock resilience that must also be considered. An important factor determining whether the slot limit is set at an appropriate size range for Dusky Flathead is whether the length-at-50% maturity in Victoria is different to New South Wales. Hindell (2008) Hindell, J.S. (2008). Gippsland Lakes Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) have been designated as one of Victoria’s iconic recreational species by Dusky Flathead tracking project: Fisheries Victoria, and is a focus species in developing Fishery Management Plans for eastern Victoria’s bays and inlets.The pressure on Dusky Flathead by recreational fishers is not expected to decrease, especially given the R/05/06/01. Arthur Rylah Institute, increasing use of “soft plastic” lures (and the susceptibility of Dusky Flathead to capture). Information on the basic Department of Sustainability and biology of this species is useful in designing the most appropriate management regimes. Environment. Acoustic telemetry was used to document patterns of movement by Dusky Flathead throughout Australia’s largest https://vfa.vic.gov.au/about/publications- estuary, the Gippsland Lakes. Forty fish were surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters and monitored over 18 and-resources/fisheries-reports/your- months (December 2006 to June 2008). licence-fees-at-work-reports/2003- The rates of fish ‘loss’ in this study were around 25%. Overall, results of the present study suggest that many of the fish were largely sedentary, and remained in single regions of the Gippsland Lakes for extended periods (up to several 2008/gippsland-lakes-dusky-flathead- months). This was particularly evident for fish tagged in the lower Lakes region, between Metung and Lakes Entrance. tracking-project Fish appeared to spend most of their time in the Lakes. However, fish often moved into the lower and middle reaches of major tributaries such as the Tambo, Mitchell and Nicholson Rivers, and appeared to ‘reside’ in these regions for periods of up to several weeks. Larger movements up to 30 km over two to three days were shown, but were not common. One fish moved from McLennan Strait to Lakes Entrance in December 2007, but did not exit the estuary. During the large flood of June 2007, fish moved in subtle ways, with several fish moving to more saline regions of the Lakes, however, no fish were recorded to exit the Gippsland Lakes during this flood. This is the first study to evaluate the movements of Dusky Flathead using acoustic telemetry. The generally limited movement of fish throughout this study suggests that a more spatially focussed program, undertaken at a scale of kms rather than 10s of kms, is required to better understand details on specific habitat affinities and identify likely spawning locations. Acoustic telemetry is suitable, however, in demonstrating how far and when fish move, and the results of this study provide valuable information that can be used in assessing population structure and broad-scale affinities for this species. Keane and Keane, J.P. and Niera, F.J. (2008). Larval This study has information on occurrence of Dusky Flathead larval stages in coastal waters along the east Australian Niera (2008) fish assemblages along the south-eastern continental shelf, spring and winter.

Australian shelf: linking mesoscale non- depth-discriminate structure and water masses. Fisheries Oceanography 17, 263- 280. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1 111/j.1365-2419.2008.00478.x

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Kent et al. Kent, J., Hindell, J., and Conron, S. (2010). This study was largely focussed on surveys work the review the status of the recreational fishery in Mallacoota Inlet (2010) Recreational fishery monitoring and fish and recommend monitoring and research approaches/need after it became a recreational only fisheries reserve. However, one aspect of the project aimed to: Identify important habitats which support production of key recreational habitat research needed to facilitate target species in Mallacoota Inlet, to enable more effective advocacy for protection of fish habitat to maintain fishery management of the Mallacoota Inlet values. The initial focus in Mallacoota Inlet has been on identifying habitat associations of Dusky Flathead. Fisheries Reserve. Recreational Fisheries Grant Program Final Report. Department of The report showed that by 2007, Dusky Flathead had become the most popular target species. Primary Industries, Victoria. Also, sampling in Mallacoota Inlet revealed there is an apparent preference by small juvenile Dusky Flathead for shallow, largely unvegetated muddy backwaters; however, they were only found in the middle regions of the inlet, even though this habitat type exists elsewhere. Further research is required to assess the strength of this association throughout the Inlet. Highest numbers of very small juveniles (young-of-year) were sampled in May, consistent with the summer spawning period. The deeper sandy channels in Mallacoota Inlet do not appear to be used by juvenile Dusky Flathead. A small seine net was most effective at sampling the smallest flathead.

The report also concluded: Factors affecting variability in year class strength and recruitment of Dusky Flathead also require further examination.

Miskiewicz Miskiewicz, A.G. (1987). Taxonomy and Chapter 5 of this thesis provides data on the annual timing of occurrence of dusky fathead larvae in Lake Macquarie, (1987) ecology of fish larvae in Lake Macquarie NSW and cross shelf distribution in coastal water off NSW (Jan, March, May). Larval stages most common Lake Macquarie in the entrance channel from November – May. Larvae were mostly found in near shore coastal samples, and New South Wales coastal waters. PhD but in some areas were found to beyond the shelf break. Thesis. The University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Niera et al. Neira, F.J., Miskiewicz, A.G. and Thomas Includes the description of Dusky Flathead egg and larval stages. (1998) Trnski, T. (1998). Larvae of temperate Australian fishes: laboratory guide for larval fish identification. Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press.

Pollock (2014) Pollock, B.R. (2014). The annual spawning Dusky Flathead Platycephalus fuscus form seasonal spawning aggregations where estuaries meet the ocean in aggregation of Dusky Flathead eastern Australia. The present study at Jumpinpin in south Queensland shows that Dusky Flathead have a protracted spawning period with serial spawning during summer (November to April). They are rudimentary hermaphrodites with Platycephalus fuscus at Jumpinpin, sex determined at an early juvenile stage. Sex ratios are skewed with males most common in the smaller size-classes Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal (< 50 cm TL). Mid-sized females (45 cm - 69 cm TL) dominate the production of eggs due to their abundance in the Society of Queensland 119, 23-45. spawning aggregation. Within the female component of the spawning aggregation, the occurrence of individuals exceeding the current maximum size limit of 75 cm TL is low (2.6%). Parasitic nematodes (philometrids) occurred in https://marine.uq.edu.au/filething/get/47597 8% of ovaries. Degenerated ovaries, in which atretic oocytes are common, are present in half of the very large females /Pollock_2014.pdf (70 cm – 75cm TL) examined. The current minimum size restriction of 40 cm TL for Dusky Flathead provides protection for 73% of males and 15% of females within the spawning aggregation.

Raoult et al. Raoult, V., Gaston, T.F. and Taylor, M.D. This study used stable isotopes to demonstrate the role of salt marshes in supporting the diet of Dusky Flathead in a (2018) (2018). Habitat–fishery linkages in two NSW estuary (Clarence). major south-eastern Australian estuaries show that the C4 saltmarsh plant

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Sporobolus virginicusis a significant contributor to fisheries productivity. Hydrobiologia 811, 221-238. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2 Fs10750-017-3490-y

SPCC (1981) State Pollution Control Commission (1981). This study includes information on ecology of dusky of flathead in Botany Bay, NSW, including juvenile recruitment, The ecology of fish in Botany Bay – biology growth and reproduction, diet, habitat preferences and seasonality. It is one of the only studies that has looked at the early juvenile stages, indicating that small juveniles were mostly found in the mangrove habitat, and nearby shallow of commercially and recreationally valuable mud and Zostera seagrass habitats. The small juveniles (>25 mm length) first appeared in samples in April. Spawning species. Technical Report BBS23B. was suggested to occur from October to April. Government Printer, Sydney

Stokie et al. Stokie, T.K., Bridge, N.F., MacDonald, M. This project was concerned with a review of impacts of changes to the Dusky Flathead recreational regulations. It (2010) and Conron, S. (2010). Evaluation of conducted surveys of anglers and sampled fish for age and growth. The age and growth curves and Von Bertalanffy growth parameters are included for Mallacoota Inlet. changes to Dusky Flathead catch limits in Mallacoota Inlet. Recreational Fishing Grant Program – Research report

Trnski (2001) Trnski, T. (2001). Diel and tidal abundance This study has records of Dusky Flathead larval stages in the entrance channel of a major NSW estuary, Lake of fish larvae in a barrier-estuary channel in Macquarie, in June-July. New South Wales. Marine and Freshwater Research 52, 995-1006. http://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/pdf/MF0014 8

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Appendix 9. Online survey data figures

Figure 1 Question 1. What is your age bracket?

Figure 2 Question 2. Are you exempt from requiring a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence?

Figure 3 Question 3. What is the postcode of your main residence? Note: postcodes have been grouped by broader geographical regions.

Figure 4 Question 4. Please select and rank the top 3 species that you prefer to fish for in east Victorian estuaries. Rank 1 being your most preferred species, rank 2 your second most preferred, and rank 3 your third preference. If you have no preferred species select " no preferred species".

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Figure 5 Question 5. How many years of Dusky Flathead fishing experience do you have?

Figure 6 Question 6. I mostly catch Dusky Flathead when:

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Figure 7 Question 7. How many fishing trips did you undertake where Dusky Flathead was a desired or target species in Victorian waters over the most recent year: January 2017-January 2018?

Figure 8 Question 8. Where did you conduct most of your Dusky Flathead fishing trips in Victoria over the last 3 years - please indicate a category for each location below. Note: only one location can be "I mostly fished here".

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Figure 9 Question 9. This question is about understanding the reasons why you go fishing in general. Please indicate a rating for each of the eight reasons listed below (i.e. x-axis labels):

Figure 10 Question 10. This question is about why you ‘value’ catching Dusky Flathead specifically. Please indicate an importance rating for each of the five reasons (listed on x-axis), and if you have other reasons you would like to indicate please add them in the 'other' box.

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Figure 11 Question 11. I mostly undertake Dusky Flathead fishing from:

Figure 12 Question 12. I mostly fish for Dusky Flathead using: Options: bait or lures.

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Figure 13 Question 13. If I mostly fish for Dusky Flathead using lures, I mostly use:

Figure 14 Question 14. This question asked what people do with Dusky Flathead they catch within the legal retainable slot sizes. Within the legal retainable size: a) data pooled by all locations, b) Data for each location relate to the respondents who selected “I mostly fish here” for that location in question 8 (Fig. 8).

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Appendix 10. Survey Additional Comments Question 20. Are there any other comments/issues you would like to raise regarding the status of the Dusky Flathead fisheries in your main or other fishing locations. If so, please provide your brief comments below. (Note - any personal information, people’s names or comments deemed inappropriate were removed)

2 I believe the size limit of 30 cm is too small. In NSW the size is 36 cm this is a much more realistic figure for capture. The meat on a small 30 cm to me wouldn’t be worth having. I never take Dusky Flathead. Considering the size they can grow 30 cm seems far too small in my opinion

3 Fisheries really need to crack down on people not releasing Dusky Flathead over 55

5 Adjust slot limits 35-60cm for example

6 No commercial fishing within lakes or estuaries

7 I may be better informed and able to provide clearer feedback after the symposium

8 The Gippsland Lakes Dusky Flathead fishing (in commercially fishable areas) has been deteriorating slowly for many decades. I suspect this is because of relentless ecological pressure from commercial netting. In addition to netting, two main factors have changed over time affecting Dusky Flathead. Firstly the salinity levels have changed over the years in the lakes and now they are marginally saltier at the middle to entrance end regions. This is compared to what they historically have been prior to the permanent entrance - which is here to stay and everyone enjoys it. I believe this salinity may push the flathead further back in the system at most times. The dwindling remnant flathead who do survive are somewhat caught in a sandwich of increased salinity at one end and devastating impacts of carp at the other (lake wellington, McLennan strait, and even well past Loch Sport). People don't associate the Gippsland Lakes with "good" fishing anymore. It is now a watersport recreation playground that lost its fishing appeal years ago. Answer me this, have you recently heard anyone say? "Wow I caught plenty of Dusky Flathead on the weekend in the lakes! Even got one over X cm" - Rarely. If you think otherwise, you don't have the mental capacity to grasp the situation overall. Solution: 1. Heavily reduce the number of commercial licences on the lakes via a properly arranged buy back. This is a start only, and commercial netting shouldn't stop all together. 2. Heavily reduce the per annum quantity of commercially caught Dusky Flathead, Black and Yellowfin bream. 3. Hold some decent fishing competitions targeting Dusky Flathead in the lakes. This will encourage support from fishers and help secure future licence buy backs to eventually net free the waterway here. I hope my son actually gets to catch one when he is showing his son how to fish.

9 Commercial netting should not be permitted in any estuary or within 2nm of the entrance at Lakes Entrance.

10 During my trip to east Victoria February 2018 I was unable to catch any flathead in approx. 12 hours fishing from my kayak. Contrast this with my average of 10 fish per outing in my local Camden Haven River on the north coast NSW. I was astounded at the massive level of fishing pressure on Vic coastal lakes. I am amazed that there are any fish left at all in Mallacoota!!!!

11 I think the legal size could go up.

12 1. minimum size too small 2. absolute possession limit should be introduced and enforced 3. spawning fish should be protected 4. more research on Dusky Flathead

13 I want to tag fish

14 only 9 months of the year for fishing Dusky Flathead. let them breed. ban fishing for them from Easter for 3 months.

15 Dusky Flathead populations continue to get “hammered” by fishers who cannot resist the opportunity to take their full bag. Despite the increase of catch and release, as well as the slot limit, more people are taking more fish - and some are “doubling up” by taking fish in both morning and afternoon sessions which total more than 5. I believe the decline in flathead stocks can be halted by: - increased policing by Fisheries - increased policing by Fisheries - increased policing by Fisheries - serious fines for offenders - greater education - further research re spawning success, like for King George Whiting in Port Phillip Bay (I understand the limitations of this, but it CAN be done effectively) - closed season around spawning time, reinforced by knowledge gained through research - seasonally adjusted regulation, reinforced by knowledge gained through research (eg poor recruitment years may warrant reduced or zero bag limits for following seasons) - somehow get governments to pay due (and increased) respect to our environment by acknowledging that we are having a negative impact, and to actually do something fair dinkum about it (good luck with that one).

16 This fishery saw a fantastic leap forward shortly after the netting was stopped but has been on the decline

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since then. I would like to see a 12 month no take on Duskies in Mallacoota. I know for a fact that people take far more than is legal and also under and oversize fish. This is common practice with people coming in after hitting their limit then heading out again to get another lot. No point taking the nets out if people take so many.

17 Size limit needs to be displayed in more locations around Lake Tyers. A lot of people don't know the legal size and bag limit.

18 Stop the excessive commercial fishing that is occurring in gippsland lakes, they take the large breeders and have no regard for future fish planning in the system. I have seen them return to Paynesville ramps with obscene amounts of fish, and all they say is we're allowed so too bad. Contribute nothing to our local economy. No commercial fishing in Tyers, bemm river tamboon, marlo and Mallacoota and look how good the fishing is there. Look at the catch quotas recorded by local fisheries and you'll be disgusted.

19 I fill out a diary on trips to Mallacoota. Flathead are a by-product when fishin for bream

20 Raise min to 35cm. You can get a good fillet at that size. Release all under this size

21 We fish out of Port Albert

22 Keep the current limits. More public awareness of catch & release particularly NESB people.

23 Raise the size limit to 33cm

24 The number of cormerants (shags) need to be reduced dramatically to improve the quality of fishing

25 Lake tyers really needs to be opened up at the entrance for a good clean out. It does need a good flush out.

26 People keeping over size fish. As fisheries are only at tamboon for one day a year.

27 Professional fishermen have decimated Dusky Flathead numbers in recent years in the Gippsland Lakes.10 years ago I could catch a feed most days and also release several fish. I am about ready to give up on the lakes.the Pros need to be bought out asap before it's too late.

28 I believe there should be more protected zones for not only flathead but other estuarine species and although it’s difficult to enforce, a possession limit be reinstated as a deterrent

29 Thanks for the survey, keen to understand any plans to stock juvenile Dusky Flathead in the future?

30 Keep making all anglers aware of being vigilant to poachers.

31 Based on how the Gippsland lakes is fishing I think it’s absolutely appalling there is still commercial fishing. I know of many people who will not fish the Gippsland lakes because of this and I can guarantee it severely effects the local economy.

32 minimum length should be 35cms ON ALL FLATHEAD

33 In the past 10 years myself and mates have really noticed a decline in large flathead from mallacoota inlet (mainly the upper parts of the system, above the top lake). Every trip we see less and less, we fish the system a lot and the biggest in the past 3 years running are in the 70s. Whereas before that a lot in the 80s even on back to back days. We think ppl are uneducated and are keeping the large breeders, or they just don’t care. Fisheries need a larger prescience here, I’ve been checked once in 10 years for my license. Not good enough, on the other hand lake tyres is fishing amazing for big fish. In 3 days fishing myself and friend caught a 98, 74, 73 and 65. Plus many smaller models. One big difference I have noticed between the two places is that lake tyres has a huge amount of weed which is great habitat for duskies. Whereas mallacoota is just snags, mud and sand. Cheers guys hope this helps! I love dusky fishing, it’s all I ever want to do

34 Netting Gippsland lakes should be phased out, all the fish would benefit.

35 A possession limit as well as a daily bag limit

36 In Lake Tyers over the last ten yrs I'm thrilled to see a healthy increase in the size of dusky's, however i have noticed a steady decline in numbers and size of duskys in the gippsland lakes

37 Stop netting the Gippsland Lakes. I fish the lakes and rivers twice a week and cannot believe, we put the local pro fishermen before tourism! It’s poor form. Flatties are my by-catch, I’m definitely more worried about black bream.

38 Tamboon Inlet needs to be patrolled by fisheries as much as the water police visit. The number of over bag limit hauls I have seen at the ramp for both bream and Dusky Flathead is appalling and no doubt reduces the

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quality of this very fine fish habitat.

39 I think the keeper size for flathead should be 40-55 cm when you fillet a 30cm there’s not much there so give them another year to grow

40 Definitely noticed over the past 10 years the number of flatties have deteriorated

41 I feel they should stop all netting in the Gippsland lakes.

42 No

43 IMO slot limit has been great. Bream need this kind of protection also.

44 Removing the commercial fishing nets from the gippsland lakes would boost tourism and fish numbers. Our kids need this resource in the future.

45 New slot limits for both min/max size and bag limits have seen a massive improvement in both numbers and quality. Also great to see L/Tyers with large numbers of fish in the 150-200mm size range.

46 The installation of fish houses to increase all fish numbers will improve Dusky Flathead quality and also if size limit of 55cm should be kept in place because it is doing wonders for the species

47 Plenty of evidence seen of breeding fish (over 55cm) being taken and killed. Too little enforcement.

48 legal size could be increased, seemed to have worked well with whiting

49 Bag limit reduction!

50 Would like to see numbers increase.

51 I do not have a problem if fisheries chose to raise the legal size limit to 33cm. To be honest we throw back 30cm as you really don’t get much of a fillet. Happy to keep duskys between 33cm - 50cm.

52 Tighten the rules on the commercial fishers taking them in the Gippsland Lakes.

53 Nil

54 I believe the legal size should be increased, no point taking a 28 flatty for a feed when the fillets are tiny, give them more time to grow and spawn

55 I’m pleased to see numbers increasing throughout the Mallacoota lake system. Not just in size but number of legal fish caught. I applaude VFA for introducing the slot limit in the take of Dusky Flathead. It should have been implemented years ago.

56 No comments. But think fisheries are doing a great job

57 Should be allowed to take one between 30 and 60cm per boat for a feed.

58 I believe the introduction of the min and max size limits are a worthwhile but overdue initiative. We are not yet seeing the full impact yet but it should increase numbers to some extent. However dusky f/head locations in Vic are fairly limited and therefore under pressure so I would like to see lure fishing for duskies banned in the peak breeding season (2 months?) or lure fishing banned on a rotational basis for the summer/autumn period in the major systems. This would I believe see a nett increase in future dusky numbers but still allow fishers to target duskies with bait at all times. There is no doubt that the dusky population has declined with the massive increase in lure fishing and that there should be some respite available from this angling method.

59 What is the number of flathead caught in the Gippsland Lakes by commercial fishermen?

60 The last three months have been very poor compared to the same period last year. Not sure why but some fish have had spawn still in them. One theory may be we need a good rain to flush out the lake.

61 Stop netting Gippsland Lakes. Participant - Angler Diary Program

62 All netting in estuaries should be banned and better policing of anglers taking fish.

63 I see many large well over 55cm Dusky Flathead for sale at footscray market at times and don’t believe it is fair that large fish can be taken commercially but recreationally we have to release them.

64 Hoping to learn to target fish them.

65 The numbers of the fish in this area are reducing. I believe this is due to contaminated waters draining into the lake. For some reason, since the seismic testing started, the fish in the Gippsland Lakes have all but

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disappeared.

66 The slot size has been hugely successful and now must be made compulsory Black Bream (eg 28cm to 40cm for example) for pro fishermen as well as amateurs. These are the genetic heritage of the waterways, don't select them out, breed from them.

67 Minimum size should be increased to 35cm

68 Commercial netting needs to be stopped in the Gippsland Lakes. Exclusion zones where catch and release only should be applied in Cunningham arm, Duck arm, the narrows and the section opposite the Grange. Flathead restocking needs to start in the North Arm and Lake Tyres where commercial netting is not permitted. There has been a large decline in slot limit sized flathead in Lake tyres. Do the math on how many people take their bag limit every day over summer in tyres. It's definitely not sustainable! I’m semi retired, I have all the gear and I'm also one of the 5 people that consistently fish Lake Tyres and the North Arm year round.

69 I still see a lot of people spear fishing in our estuaries and a lot of people that just don’t understand the rules but no fisheries inspectors in sight

70 Loss of seagrass in Mallacoota Inlet over last 5 years is a major concern, growth in recreational effort in Mallacoota over last 10 years, incidence of multi-tripping is possibly an issue, particularly with people out of the caravan park, upper size limit could be reduced to 50 cm, 5 per day is Ok.

71 The Dusky Flathead have declined so very much over the years in the East Gippsland Lakes and rivers,the netters have nearly whipped them out. Something needs to be done about this urgently

72 None but the netters in the Gippsland lakes need to be removed to improve the fishing the same as port Phillip

73 It's not like it used to be..... It's "alright" at best. Commercial fishing for Dusky Flathead should be banned. Especially in the Gippsland Lakes. The commercial netters should go and net Sand and Blue-spotted Flathead out the front in Bass Strait. Same rule should apply in any Eastern Victorian estuary too.

74 Stop trying to get more people fishing.

75 There needs to be tighter controls on the number of Dusky Flathead being taken. Both the slot size and number allowed are about right but, there is not enough monitoring of fish taken eg, boat ramp or cleaning facility inspections...

76 Keep up the good work fisheries.

77 Lakes Entrance fishes very poorly for Dusky Flathead when compared to Lake Tyers. I believe this is due to commercial fishing pressure in the lakes system. Perhaps some further exclusion zones and limits for commercial fishing could be considered

78 Remove professional fishermen from the Gippsland lakes. Pros catch enough fish offshore to feed the world. There is no need to flog an estuary to death.

79 Current regulations are good, keep them.

80 Dusky Flathead in the Gippsland Lakes are in obvious decline but gradually improving in Lake Tyers.

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vic.gov.au/fisheries