WP 3 Deepwater snapper Towards improved stock assessments

WP 3: Deepwater snapper Towards improved stock assessments and management

Outline • • • Background Results achieved Project sustainability Work plan for 2015 Recommendations

Background • Deepwater snapper are an important fisheries resource in many PICTs • Declines in catches in some PICTs have raised concerns about sustainability • Lack of adequate biological and fisheries data has limited development of quantitative assessments and management plans

Background • At 2011 Ho. F meeting, members endorsed SPC efforts to seek funding to support a deepwater snapper project • SPC obtained funding from: – Australia, Fisheries for Food Security (2012 -2015) • Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands – French Pacific Fund (2011 -2013) & French Development Agency (2012 -2013) • New Caledonia

Deepwater snapper workshop • • Deepwater snapper workshop held at SPC in July 2011 Identify priority information and training needs Participants from 12 PICTs The agreed outcomes from the workshop included a work plan for SPC’s deepwater snapper activities

Work Plan There are 4 priority areas: 1. 2. 3. 4. Fisheries data collection Improving biological knowledge Fisheries assessment and management Capacity development

Results achieved

Fisheries Data Collection

Catch and Effort Data • SPC’s artisanal fisheries database (TUF-ART) considered best option to manage deepwater snapper data • Standardises data collection & management • Provides consistency in how and what data are collected • Minimises development and maintenance costs • Facilitates comparisons of fisheries among countries

Data management • TUF-ART database installed in many countries (Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu) Fishing Logsheet TUF-ART Database

Port sampling programs • Established & supported development of fisheries monitoring programs in Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledonia & PNG • Fisheries officers trained in biological sampling • Successful ongoing data collection programs will require continued support from Fisheries Departments

Improving Biological Knowledge

Biological Sampling • Scientific cruises • Port sampling

Biological Sampling • Samples collected from >4000 fish • Samples collected include: • Otoliths – age, longevity & growth, • Gonads – sex, maturity, fecundity & spawning • Fin clips & muscle – genetics, define stocks

New Species • Identified new species – Pygmy Ruby Snapper (Etelis marshi) • Developed methods to distinguish from similar species – Ruby snapper (Etelis carbunculus) Black tip on tail Pygmy Ruby Snapper (Etelis marshi) Ruby Snapper (Etelis carbunculus) Operculum spine Otolith shape

Species Identification • Waterproof species identification cards for fishers and port samplers • Distributed to Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu

Deepwater Snapper Habitat • Fishers know where to catch deepwater snapper, but the full extent of their habitat is unknown • Knowledge of deepwater snapper habitat can help make informed management decisions – i. e spatial planning, development opportunities • We used fisheries and oceanographic data used to model potential distribution of deepwater snapper across WCPO

Deepwater Snapper Habitat • We produced maps of the predicted distribution of deepwater snapper across the WCPO

Deepwater Snapper Habitat

Deepwater Snapper Habitat

Main Target Species Ruby snapper (Etelis carbunculus) Pygmy ruby snapper (Etelis marshi) Flame snapper (Etelis coruscans) Crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus)

Age estimation • Age information needed to estimate longevity, growth rates etc. • We estimate age by counting bands in sectioned otoliths 1 mm

Age estimation E. carbunculus E. marshi E. coruscans P. filamentosus

Growth • Slow growth rates • Extended longevity (> 30 years) 180 160 Fork length (cm) 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 10 20 30 40 Age (years) 50 60 70

Fisheries assessment and management

Fisheries assessment and management • Traditional stock assessments require a long time series of reliable catch and effort data • For deepwater snapper, the cost of collecting these data is not commensurate with the economic value of most fisheries • Need an alternative approach for deepwater snapper • For other data-poor fisheries, simple indicators (e. g. % mature fish in catch) have been used • Indicators could be an appropriate method for evaluating the sustainability of deepwater snapper fisheries

Back to Growth. . . 200 180 Fork length (cm) 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 10 20 30 40 Age (years) 50 60 70

Age-based indicators • Length is a poor indicator of age for deepwater snapper • Need to develop age-based indicators Problem. . . • Age estimates from counting bands in sectioned otoliths is time consuming and costly A cost effective solution. . . • Otolith measurements (weight, thickness etc) are good predictors of age • Cheaper, easier and quicker

Otolith Measurements Weight Length Width Thickness • We measured otoliths from 4 species • Simple and rapid procedure

Number of fish Age Composition Age (years)

Age Composition • Otolith measurements can be used to obtain age compositions of deepwater snapper • Measuring otoliths is cheaper, easier and quicker than sectioning otoliths – $10, 000 to section and read 500 otoliths – $100 to measure 500 otoliths • Fisheries officers have been trained in removing otoliths • Otolith sampling programs ongoing in Tonga and Vanuatu • Age compositions provide valuable information about the stock

Age-based Indicators - Mortality 100 90 Fished population Unfished population Number of fish 80 fishing mortality Information on natural mortality 70 60 50 40 30 20 101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 0 1 2 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 Age (years) High Fishing mortality Moderate Fishing mortality Low Fishing mortality

Other age-based Indicators • If we know about growth, maturity and fecundity, other indicators include: Ø % mature age fish ‘Let them spawn’ Ø % fish at optimum age ‘Let them grow’ Ø % very old fish ‘Let mega-spawners live’

Age-based Indicators • Mature at 8 years • Optimum age 14 -18 years 80 70 Number of fish 60 Immature Mature 71% 29% Optimum Mega Age Spawners 12% 16% 50 40 ` 30 20 10 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 Age (years)

Age-based Indicators • Mature at 8 years • Optimum age 14 -18 years 80 70 Number of fish 60 Immature Mature 30% 70% Optimum Mega Age Spawners 0% 0% 50 40 ` 30 20 10 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 Age (years)

Age-based Indicators • Age-based indicators can inform us about the sustainability of the fishery • And they can be used to trigger the implementation of harvest control rules, e. g. Fishing mortality (F) Harvest rule F < 50% Natural mortality Number of licenses may increase

Age-based Indicators • Age-based indicators can now be used for deepwater snapper because: Ø Cruises have provided reference age composition data from near unexploited populations – natural mortality Ø Methods have been developed to derive age compositions from otolith measurements Ø Monitoring programs have been established and are ongoing in Tonga and Vanuatu Ø Reproductive biology will be available in 2015

Capacity development

Capacity development • Supported 4 Pacific Islanders to complete postgraduate degrees • Samoa – Ueta Fa’asili Jr (MSc, University of Wollongong) - 2013 “Review of Samoa’s Deepwater Snapper Fisheries Data” • Tuvalu – Etuati Poulasi (MSc, Australian Maritime College) – 2013 “Age, growth and reproductive biology of saddleback snapper Paracaesio kusakarii” • Vanuatu – Jeremie Kaltavara (MSc, Australian Maritime College) - 2014 “Biology and Fishery of the Deepwater Eteline Snappers in Vanuatu” • Tonga – Hau Halafihi (Ph. D, University of Canterbury) - 2015 “Ecology and biology of Etelis coruscans and Pristipomoides filamentosus at seamounts: Case Study at Tonga Deepwater Drop-line Fishery”

Project Sustainability • Monitoring – Maintaining data collection and using TUF-ART to manage data (on track for Vanuatu and Tonga) • Assessments – Trained staff are retained in the Departments to continue the assessment work (on track for Vanuatu and Tonga) • Project extension – Extension of project to other countries (PNG, New Caledonia, Fiji, Wallis & Futuna) • Knowledge generation – project has seeded Pacificwide collaborations

Project Sustainability Knowledge area Collaborator Stock Structure: Genetics University of Canterbury, New Zealand University of Hawaii, USA Otolith Chemistry James Cook University, Australia Otolith Shape Department of Renewable Marine Resources, Spain Coastal Fisheries Programme, SPC Parasites Biology/Ecology Department of Fisheries, Western Australia Economic analysis, adaptive management (Tonga) National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand

Work Plan for 2015 • Project concludes in November 2015 • Priorities for 2015: – Process the remaining otoliths and gonads – Provide estimates of growth, mortality and reproductive biology of key deepwater snapper species – Provide the first evaluation of the sustainability of a deepwater snapper fishery using age-based indicators

Recommendations • Heads of Fisheries are invited to note: • The progress that has been made to date • The project will end in November 2015 • Project sustainability is dependent on continued data collection programs and port sampling activities. Resources for these activities will need to be sourced once the current project is completed. • The indicator approach for assessing deepwater snapper fisheries would also be suitable for other data -poor coastal and oceanic fisheries

For more information. . . SPC Deepwater snapper webpage: http: //www. spc. int/fame/en/projects/fisheries-fo-food-security/improving-the-mgt-ofdeepwater-snapper-resources • Project objectives & strategies • Project outputs • Journal publications • Newsletter articles • Fact sheets • Species ID booklet