SCS Global Services Report WESTERN AUSTRALIA ABALONE FISHERY MSC FULL ASSESSMENT PUBLIC CERTIFICATION REPORT Abalone Industry Association of WA P.O. Box 66, Augusta, Western Australia 6290 Australia Contact: Nathan Adams (Executive Officer) Email: [email protected] DATE OF FIELD AUDIT: 13-15th June 2016 PCDR released: 20th December 2016 Final report released: 23rd March 2017 PCR released: 27th April 2017 Prepared by: Dr. Sabine Daume, Team Leader, P2 Expert Dr. Caleb Gardner, P1 Expert Dr. Stephen Leporati, P2 Expert Mr. Peter Trott, P3 Expert Sustainable Seafood Program – Australia & NZ Victoria 3068 Australia +61 497943304 [email protected] 2000 Powell Street, Ste. 600, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA +1.510.452.8000 main | +1.510.452.8001 fax www.SCSglobalServices.com SCS Global Services Report Table of Contents Glossary of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................. 1 1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 3 2. Authorship and Peer Reviewers .......................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Assessment Team ......................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Peer Reviewers .............................................................................................................................. 7 3. Description of the Fishery ................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Unit(s) of Assessment (UoA) and Scope of Certification Sought .................................................. 8 3.1.1 UoA and Proposed Unit of Certification (UoC) ...................................................................... 8 3.1.2 Final UoC(s) ............................................................................................................................ 9 3.1.3 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Catch Data ......................................................................... 9 3.1.4 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Enhanced Fisheries ..................................................... 10 3.2 Overview of the fishery ............................................................................................................... 11 3.2.1 Species ................................................................................................................................. 11 3.2.2 Fishery Development and Current Activities ....................................................................... 11 3.2.3 Fishing Methods and Gear ................................................................................................... 11 3.2.4 Catch and Effort ................................................................................................................... 11 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background ................................................................................. 13 3.3.1 Roe’s Abalone ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.3.2 Greenlip and Brownlip Abalone ........................................................................................... 15 3.3.3 Stock Status .......................................................................................................................... 19 3.3.4 Stock Indicators and Biological Limits .................................................................................. 24 3.4 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background ....................................................................................... 27 3.5 Principle Three: Management System Background .................................................................... 36 4. Evaluation Procedure ........................................................................................................................ 76 4.1 Harmonized Fishery Assessment ................................................................................................ 76 4.2 Previous assessments ................................................................................................................. 77 4.3 Assessment Methodologies ........................................................................................................ 77 4.4 Evaluation Processes and Techniques ........................................................................................ 79 4.4.2 Evaluation Techniques ......................................................................................................... 81 5. Traceability ........................................................................................................................................ 84 5.1 Eligibility Date ............................................................................................................................. 84 5.2 Traceability within the Fishery .................................................................................................... 84 5.3 Eligibility to Enter Further Chains of Custody ............................................................................. 86 6. Evaluation Results ............................................................................................................................. 86 6.1 Principle Level Scores .................................................................................................................. 86 6.2 Summary of PI Level Scores ........................................................................................................ 87 Version 1-0 (May 2016) | © SCS Global Services | Full Assessment Report MSC V2.0 SCS Global Services Report 6.3 Summary of Conditions ............................................................................................................... 88 6.4 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 88 6.5 Determination, Formal Conclusion and Agreement ................................................................... 89 7. References ........................................................................................................................................ 90 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 96 Appendix 1. Scoring and Rationales ..................................................................................................... 96 Performance Indicator Scores and Rationale ................................................................................... 96 Procedure for Scoring and Rationales........................................................................................... 96 Principle 1...................................................................................................................................... 98 PI 1.1.1 – Stock status: Greenlip abalone ..................................................................................... 98 PI 1.1.1 – Stock status: Brownlip abalone ................................................................................... 100 PI 1.1.1 – Stock status: Roe’s abalone......................................................................................... 102 PI 1.1.2 – Stock rebuilding: Greenlip abalone ............................................................................. 104 PI 1.1.2 – Stock rebuilding: Brownlip abalone ............................................................................ 106 PI 1.1.2 – Stock rebuilding: Roe’s abalone .................................................................................. 107 PI 1.1.3 – Genetics: Greenlip abalone ......................................................................................... 108 PI 1.2.1 – Harvest strategy: Greenlip abalone ............................................................................ 109 PI 1.2.1 – Harvest strategy: Brownlip abalone ............................................................................ 112 PI 1.2.1 – Harvest strategy: Roe’s abalone ................................................................................. 115 PI 1.2.2 – Harvest control rules and tools: Greenlip abalone ..................................................... 117 PI 1.2.2 – Harvest control rules and tools: Brownlip abalone..................................................... 119 PI 1.2.2 – Harvest control rules and tools: Roe’s abalone .......................................................... 121 PI 1.2.3 – Information and monitoring: Greenlip abalone .......................................................... 123 PI 1.2.3 – Information and monitoring: Brownlip abalone ......................................................... 125 PI 1.2.3 – Information and monitoring: Roe’s abalone ............................................................... 127 PI 1.2.4 – Assessment of stock status: Greenlip abalone ........................................................... 129 PI 1.2.4 – Assessment of stock status: Brownlip abalone ........................................................... 131 PI 1.2.4 – Assessment of stock status: Roe’s abalone ................................................................. 133 PI 1.2.5 – Genetics component: Greenlip abalone ....................................................................