Australian Bonito (Sarda Australis)

I & I NSW Wild Fisheries research Program Australian Bonito (Sarda australis)

Exploitation Status FULLY FISHED

Relatively fast growing species that supports seasonally significant commercial and recreational catches.

Scientific name Standard name comment

Sarda australis Image © Bernard Yau

Background Australian bonito (Sarda australis) are distributed maximum length of about 80 cm and a weight of throughout the waters of southeastern Australia 9 kg, but the majority of fish in landings are (southern Queensland to Tasmania) and Norfolk 30 to 60 cm in length and less than 2 kg in Island. The species has also been reported in weight. Australian bonito mature at about New Zealand. Nothing is known about the stock 36 to 38 cm FL, and spawning occurs during the structure within this range. Leaping bonito spring/summer period. Little is known of the (Cybiosarda elegans) are caught in small numbers early life history of Australian bonito. off NSW - they can be distinguished by the Since bonito was listed separately on catch yellow colour of the second dorsal and anal fins, returns in the early 1990s, annual commercial and dark spots rather than lines on the dorsal landings have generally been between 100 t and surface. Oriental bonito (Sarda orientalis) have a 150 t. Following a peak in commercial landings wide Indo-Pacific distribution and are commonly of bonito in 1998/99 (275 t), landings have caught off western Australia. returned to previous levels. The peak period for Recent research has shown that Australian harvesting bonito is from March to June. Line bonito are fast growing fish which can grow to methods within the Ocean Trap and Line Fishery nearly 40 cm fork length (FL) in one year, and the account for the majority of the catch. majority of fish in landings are less than 3 years of age. Australian bonito grow to a

status of fisheries resources in nsw, 2008/09 Australian bonito | p 9 wild fisheries research program

Additional Notes Landings by Commercial Fishery of Bonito

• Biological, tag/recapture and length data have Ocean Trap and Line (Primary Species) been analysed, confirming the relatively fast * Ocean Hauling (Target Species) growth and short lifespan of Australian bonito. Maximum age of about 5 years. 300 • The fishery is based on just a few age classes, mostly 1 - 3 years old fish. 250

• Length at maturity about 36 to 38 cm fork 200 length (approximately 1 year of age). 150 Landings (t) • Schooling species - availability appears to vary 100 between years and areas. 50 • Bonito are a popular species with recreational fishers. 0 97/98 99/00 01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08

• Length-based monitoring of the commercial Financial Year catch is continuing at the Sydney Fish Market. Reported landings of bonito by NSW commercial fisheries • There is no minimum legal length for bonito in from 1997/98. * Fisheries which contribute less than 2.5% of the landings are excluded for clarity and privacy. NSW, but there is a recreational bag limit of 10 bonito.

Catch Catch Per Unit Effort Information of Bonito Harvested by All Line Methods in NSW Recreational Catch of Bonito

The annual recreational harvest of bonito in 1.0 NSW is likely to lie between 40 and 110 t. This estimate is based upon the results of the offsite 0.8 National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey (Henry and Lyle, 2003) and onsite surveys 0.6 undertaken by I & I NSW. 0.4 Relative Catch Rate

Historical Landings of Bonito 0.2 0.0 250 98/99 00/01 02/03 04/05 06/07 08/09 Financial Year 200 Catch rates of bonito harvested using all line methods

150 for NSW. Two indicators are provided: (1) median catch rate (lower solid line); and (2) 90th percentile of the catch

Landings (t) rate (upper dashed line). Note that catch rates are not a 100 robust indicator of abundance in many cases. Caution should be applied when interpreting these results. 50 0

90/91 92/93 94/95 96/97 98/99 00/01 02/03 04/05 06/07 08/09 Financial Year Commercial landings (including available historical records) of bonito for NSW from 1990/91 to 2008/09 for all fishing methods.

p 10 | Australian bonito status of fisheries resources in nsw, 20008/09

Length Frequency of Australian Bonito Further Reading Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen (1983). Scombrids of the 0.10 2003/04−2004/05 World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue n = 3179 of Tunas, Mackerels, Bonitos and Related Species 0.08 Known to Date. Rome, FAO: 137 pp.

0.06 Henry, G.W. and J.M. Lyle (2003). The National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey. Final Proportion 0.04 Report to the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation and the Fisheries Action Program

0.02 Project FRDC 1999/158. NSW Fisheries Final Report Series No. 48. 188 pp. Cronulla, NSW Fisheries.

0.00 James, G.D. and G. Habib (1979). First record of 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Australian bonito, Sarda australis, from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 13 (3): 425-426. 0.10 2005/06−2006/07 n = 15 136 Relini, L.O., F. Garibaldi, C. Cima, G. Palandri, L. Lanteri

0.08 and M. Relini (2005). Biology of Atlantic bonito, Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793), in the western and central

0.06 Mediterranean a summary concerning a possible stock unit. Col. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT 58 (2): 575-588. Proportion 0.04 Steffe, S., J. Murphy, D. Chapman, B.E. Tarlington, G.N.G. Gordon and A. Grinberg (1996). An 0.02 assessment of the impact of offshore recreational fishing in New South Wales on the management 0.00 of commercial fisheries. Final Report FRDC Project 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 94/053. Cronulla, Fisheries Research Institute: 139 pp.

0.10 2007/08−2008/09 n = 15 893 Please visit the CSIRO website, 0.08 http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/ and search for the species code (CAAB) 37 441020, 37 441008 and 0.06 37 441006, common name or scientific name to find further information. Proportion 0.04 0.02 0.00

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 FL (cm)

The length distribution of Australian bonito in commercial landings comprises mainly fish between 30 and 60 cm fork length (FL), and generally shows 2 or 3 strong modes. The strongest mode usually occurs between 30 and 40 cm FL, and there is good representation of larger fish (> 50 cm) in all years. There is no minimum legal length for Australian bonito in NSW.

© State of New South Wales through Industry and Investment NSW 2010. You may copy, distribute and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute Industry and Investment NSW as the owner.

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

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