I & I NSW Wild Fisheries research Program Ocean Perch ( spp.) Exploitation Status fully fished

Two relatively long-lived species comprise the majority of the catch of this group. Significant in both the Ocean Trawl and Ocean Trap and Line Fisheries but most of the catch comes from the Commonwealth South East Trawl fishery. Status in NSW is consistent with the Commonwealth status of ‘not overfished’.

Scientific name Standard name comment

Helicolenus barathri bigeye ocean perch Also known as offshore ocean perch.

Helicolenus percoides reef ocean perch Also known as inshore ocean perch.

Helicolenus barathri Image © Bernard Yau

Background Five species of ocean perches (family The two species of Helicolenus found off NSW Sebastidae) are found offshore along the NSW are very similar in appearance. However, the coast but two species comprise the bulk of the ‘inshore’ reef ocean perch tends to be orange landings. The reef ocean perch (Helicolenus in colour with small dark spots on the head percoides) is distributed across the continental and more defined darker vertical bands on shelf and onto the upper slope in depths the body, compared to the ‘offshore’ bigeye between about 80 and 350 m while the bigeye ocean perch which has a more overall pink-red ocean perch (H. barathri) is an upper-slope colouration with greenish flecks on the scales. species found in 250-800 m. The deepsea The reef ocean perch seldom exceeds 30 cm in ocean perch ( capensis) occurs length and is commonly 20-25 cm, whereas the mostly in midslope depths greater than 800 bigeye ocean perch can reach more than m and, because there is little fishing at such 40 cm in length (1.5 kg) and live for 60 years. depths off NSW, few deepsea ocean perch are Most catches of bigeye ocean perch now caught locally. Two similiar species (Neosebastes comprise in the 25-35 cm range which are incisipinnis and N. scorpaenoides) are smaller fish less than 15 years of age. which occur closer inshore, and are sometimes caught incidentally by trawl fishers.

status of fisheries resources in nsw, 2008/09 Ocean Perch | p 217 wild fisheries research program

Ocean perch are lecithotrophic viviparous, Catch meaning that egg fertilization and larvae development occur inside the female fish. The Recreational Catch of Ocean Perch larvae are released when they reach about The annual recreational harvest of ocean 1 mm in length. The ocean perch breeding perch in NSW is likely to be less than 10 t. season extends from June to November and a This estimate is based upon the results of the single female can produce between 150,000 offshore trailer boat survey (Steffeet al. 1996) to 200,000 larvae per season. Ocean perch and onsite surveys undertaken by I & I NSW. are ambush predators, rising quickly from the ocean floor to capture prey. Main food sources for ocean perch are royal red prawns, squid and Historical Landings of Ocean Perch smaller fish. 300 Ocean perch inhabit reef and areas of flat, hard seabed. Commercial catches are primarily 250 taken by trawl although the quantity taken by line fishing methods is increasing. The two 200 species of Helicolenus are important trawl 150 fish around south-east Australia and the Landings (t) annual total allowable catch (TAC) for ocean 100 perch (combined for the two species) in the Commonwealth managed Southern and 50

Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery is around 0

500 t; the actual bigeye ocean perch catch is 78/79 83/84 88/89 93/94 98/99 03/04 08/09 about 250 t and the catch of reef ocean perch, Financial Year mostly taken south of NSW, is around 50-100 t. Because of its generally small size, relatively Commercial landings (including available historical records) of ocean perch for NSW from 1976/77 to 2008/09 large quantities of reef ocean perch are for all fishing methods. Note that the decline in reported discarded. catch during the 1990s was due to changes in catch recording requirements for fishers with both NSW and NSW landings are comparatively small, ranging Commonwealth licences. between 15 and 30 t per annum since 2000. Most of the landings are reported by Ocean Trap and Line and Ocean Trawl Fisheries, and Landings by Commercial Fishery of Ocean Perch comprise mainly bigeye ocean perch. Ocean Trap and Line

Ocean Prawn Trawl (Key Secondary Species) Additional Notes Fish Trawl (Key Secondary Species) • Two main species in this group: the inshore 70 form () and the offshore form (H. barathri). 60 • NSW has a small line fishery, which targets 50

the offshore species, though both species 40 30 are sometimes harvested in the trawl fishery Landings (t) north of Sydney. 20 • Stock appears relatively stable after an 10 initial fish-down – possibly due to existence 0

of ‘refuges’ (reefs which are not able to be 97/98 99/00 01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08

trawled). Financial Year • Monitoring of the size composition of NSW Reported landings of ocean perch by NSW commercial dropline catches is continuing at the Sydney fisheries from 1997/98. Fisheries which contribute less Fish Markets. than 2.5% of the landings are excluded for clarity and privacy.

p 218 | Ocean Perch status of fisheries resources in nsw, 2008/09

Length Frequency of Bigeye Ocean Perch Growth Curve of Bigeye Ocean Perch

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1987/88−1991/92 ● ● ● 40 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● n = 9008 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 0.15 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 0.10 30 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Proportion ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 0.05 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● FL (cm) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 20 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 0.00 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 10 20 30 40 50 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 10 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

1995/96−1997/98 ● n = 731 0.15 0 10 20 30 40 50

Age (years) Age-length data with fitted growth curve for big eye 0.10 ocean perch (internal data). Lengths are presented as fork length (FL). Proportion 0.05

0.00 Further Reading 10 20 30 40 50 Knuckey, I. A. and J. M. Curtain (2001). Estimation of the current age structure of mirror dory and 2005/06−2008/09 ocean perch. Final report to the Australian Fisheries n = 683

0.15 Management Authority. ARF Prject R99/0377. Queenscliff, Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute, Victoria.

0.10 Liggins, G.W. (1996). The interaction between fish trawling (in NSW) and other commercial and Proportion recreational fisheries. FRDC Project 92/79. Final 0.05 Report to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Cronulla, NSW Department of Primary Industries. 0.00 10 20 30 40 50 Park, T. (1992). Morphological identification of ocean FL (cm) perch (Helicolenus percoides). Newsletter of the Australian Society of Fish Biology 22 (2): 45-46. The length distribution of bigeye ocean perch (H. barathri) landed by NSW commercial fishers was Park, T.J. (1993). A comparison of the morphology, relatively stable from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, growth and reproductive biology of two colour and comprised mainly fish between 20 and 40 cm fork forms of ocean perch (Helicolenus percoides), NSW, length (FL). The majority of fish measured during this Australia. Faculty of Science, University of Sydney. period were caught in demersal trawl nets. A smaller M.Sc: 201 pp. number of ocean perch were measured during the late 1990s and recently (2005 to 2009) - these fish were Paul, L. J. and P. L. Horn (2009). Age and growth of sea mostly caught on droplines and were larger, between perch (Helicolenus percoides) from two adjacent 30 and 40 cm FL. There is no minimum legal length for areas off the east coast of South Island, New ocean perch in NSW. Zealand. Fisheries Research 95 (2-3): 169-180.

Ocean Perch | p 219 wild fisheries research program

Steffe, S., J. Murphy, D. Chapman, B.E. Tarlington, G.N.G. Gordon and A. Grinberg (1996). An assessment of the impact of offshore recreational fishing in New South Wales on the management of commercial fisheries. FRDC Project 94/053. Final report to Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Sydney, NSW Fisheries Research Institute: 139 pp. Wilson, D., R. Curtotti, G. Begg and K. Phillips, Eds. (2009). Fishery Status Reports 2008: status of fish stocks and fisheries managed by the Australian Government. Canberra, Bureau of Rural Sciences & Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Please visit the CSIRO website, http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/ and search for the species code (CAAB) 37 287093, 37 287001, 37 287005, 37 287019 and 37 287046, common name or scientific name to find further information.

© 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. p 220 | Ocean Perch