Assessment of the Impacts Associated with the Harvesting of Marine Benthic Invertebrates for Use As Bait by Recreational Anglers
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Assessment of the Impacts Associated with the Harvesting of Marine Benthic Invertebrates for Use as Bait by Recreational Anglers Dr Greg A. Skilleter Project No. 1998/224 Assessment of the Impacts Associated with the Harvesting of Marine Benthic Invertebrates for Use as Bait by Recreational Anglers Dr Greg A. Skilleter Marine and Estuarine Ecology Unit Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Queensland Brisbane, QLD, 4072 April, 2004 Published by: Marine and Estuarine Ecology Unit School of Life Sciences University of Queensland © Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and Marine & Estuarine Ecology Unit, University of Queensland. 2004 This work is copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owners. Neither may information be stored electronically in any form whatsoever without such permission. 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ISBN: 0-646-43443-8 FRDC Final Report Project 1998/224 2 April 2004 Effects of bait-harvesting on benthic assemblages Table of Contents Objectives ........................................................................................................................4 Non Technical Summary:...........................................................................................4 OUTCOMES ACHIEVED .............................................................................................7 Acknowledgments:.....................................................................................................8 Background .................................................................................................................8 Need...........................................................................................................................10 Objectives ..................................................................................................................10 Section 1: Assessment of the Magnitude of the Harvest of Yabbies and Bloodworms................................................................................................11 1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................11 1.1.1. Recreational Bait Harvesting - Global.................................................12 1.1.2. Recreational Harvesting - Moreton Bay .............................................13 1.1.3. Fishing Competitions ...........................................................................13 1.1.4. Commercial Bait Harvesting - Global.................................................15 1.1.5. Commercial Harvesting - Moreton Bay..............................................15 1.2. Methods .........................................................................................................17 1.2.1. Analysis of Logbook Data from Commercial Yabby and Bloodworm Harvesters ..............................................................................................17 1.2.2. Harvesting of Yabbies ..........................................................................17 1.2.3. Harvesting of Bloodworms...................................................................18 1.3. Results. ...........................................................................................................19 1.3.1. Harvesting of Yabbies ..........................................................................19 1.3.2. Harvesting of Bloodworms...................................................................22 1.4. Discussion. .....................................................................................................23 1.4.1. Harvesting of Yabbies ...........................................................................23 1.4.2. Harvesting of Bloodworms...................................................................27 1.5. Conclusions....................................................................................................30 Section 2: Impacts Associated with the Harvesting of Yabbies ...............................62 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................62 2.2. Methods .........................................................................................................63 2.2.1. Spatial Scales..........................................................................................63 2.2.2. Impacts Associated with Recreational Harvesting.............................64 2.2.3. Impacts from Commercialised Fishing Competitions........................65 2.2.4. Impacts from Bait-Harvesting – Controlled Experimental Harvesting..............................................................................................67 2.3. Results ............................................................................................................69 2.3.1. Impacts Associated with Recreational Harvesting-Mudflat..............69 2.3.2. Commercialised Fishing Competitions ...............................................71 2.3.3. Experimental Impacts ...........................................................................73 2.4. Discussion ......................................................................................................75 2.4.1. Impacts from Recreational Bait Harvesting ........................................75 Section 3: Development of Stock Assessment Methods for Yabbies ..................... 107 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 107 3.2. Methods ....................................................................................................... 107 3.3. Results .......................................................................................................... 108 3.4. Discussion .................................................................................................... 109 FRDC Final Report Project 1998/224 April 2004 Effects of bait-harvesting on benthic assemblages 3.4.1. Burrow Opening Counts as an Indirect Measure of Yabby Population Density.............................................................................. 109 3.4.2. Population Density and Stability ....................................................... 111 3.4.3. Reproductive Period and Size at Maturity for Females ................... 112 Section 4: Impacts Associated with the Commercial Harvesting of Bloodworms.............................................................................................. 120 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 120 4.2. Methods ....................................................................................................... 122 4.2.1. Habitat Composition........................................................................... 122 4.2.2. Infauna and Commercial Pits ............................................................. 123 4.2.3. Epibenthos and Commercial Pits ....................................................... 125 4.2.4. Experimental Manipulations of Disturbance and Epibenthos ........ 125 4.3. Results .......................................................................................................... 126 4.3.1. Habitat Composition........................................................................... 126 4.3.2. Infauna and Commercial Pits ............................................................. 128 4.3.3. Epibenthos and Commercial Pits ....................................................... 130 4.3.4. Effects of Experimental Disturbance on Epibenthos ........................ 131 4.4. Discussion .................................................................................................... 132 Section 5: Effects of Disturbance on Macrofauna in Seagrass Beds....................... 182 5.1. Preamble ...................................................................................................... 182 The Effect of Dugong Grazing on Community Composition in Intertidal Seagrass Beds ............................................................................................. 183 5.2. Introduction ................................................................................................. 183 5.3. Methods ....................................................................................................... 184 5.3.1. Study Sites........................................................................................... 184 5.3.2. Small-Scale Disturbance in Seagrass................................................. 185 5.3.3. Experimental Manipulations of Seagrass Density........................... 185 5.3.4. Large-Scale Disturbance in Seagrass................................................. 186 5.3.5. Statistical Analyses ............................................................................