WRASSE OCEAN FISHERY HARVEST STRATEGY BACKGROUND ON THE

WRASSE (OCEAN) FISHERY HARVEST STRATEGY

BACKGROUND ON THE FISHERY • • 22 non-transferable licences Entire Victorian coastline out to 20 nautical miles Bluethroat and Purple wrasse are the main species Managed primarily by the legal minimum length and gear restrictions • About 94% of catch is by hook and line; remainder is mainly lobster pots • The majority of the wrasse harvest is by 7 -8 licence holders

THE WRASSE FISHERY AFTER TRANSFERABILITY • From 1 April, all Wrasse licences can be sold, bequeathed or operated by a person other than the holder subject to a harvest strategy being endorsed by the Minister being in place • Activation of the significant amount of latent effort could have a significant impact on sustainability • The degree of the impact is uncertain but it is reasonable to expect that increases will occur as new entrants participate in the fishery • This issue was raised by wrasse fishers in 2001 and in recent discussions

HARVEST STRATEGY • Guides decision-making and assists in achieving management objectives by ensuring that managers and fishers understand how they will respond to various fishery conditions • Widely used internationally and in Australia and represent a best-practice approach • Harvest strategies include: • Objectives • Performance indicators and reference points • Harvest control rules

OBJECTIVES FOR THE FISHERY • Long term sustainability of the wrasse fishery • maintaining the total harvest of wrasse, and harvest of wrasse at individual reefs, at levels which ensures the sustainability of wrasse species and avoids localised depletion; and • allowing fishing for wrasse in a manner that has minimal ecological impact. • Economic efficiency of the fishery • implementing transferable licences. • Cost effective and participatory management • ensuring that the management of the wrasse fishery and the provision of associated services are efficient, effective and responsible using regulatory approaches that are enabling and incentive-based; • users of the commercial wrasse resource pay for the cost of services from which they benefit and services that address risks created by their activities; and • enabling participation by fishers in fisheries management, taking account of the respective responsibilities of government and fishers.

INDICATORS AND REFERENCE POINTS • Standardised catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) is the primary indicator and proxy for biomass and catch is a secondary proxy for fishing mortality • The 3 -year moving average will be used for comparison against the CPUE reference values • Will initially use the combined standardised CPUE of all wrasse species • The reference period- 2004/05 to 2014/15 - is the period during which catches were relatively stable compared with the overall catch history • Trigger and limit reference points will be based on the pattern of CPUE history within each of three zone.

REFERENCE POINTS

PROPOSED WRASSE MANAGEMENT ZONES

HARVEST CONTROL RULES • Harvest control rules are used when the stock status as measured by the performance indicators falls below their trigger and limit reference points • If this occurs, discussions between Fisheries Victoria and industry stakeholders will be held to determine if this reflects stock status or a non-biological aspect • Where stock issues are identified, a harvest control rule will be applied to redress the problem with the expectation that there will be subsequent improvement • There are two options to reduce fishing mortality: restrictions on effort and spatial and temporal closures

HARVEST CONTROL RULES • Where the 3 -year moving average of the CPUE falls between the trigger and limit reference points • Fishing pressure = Effort x [AV 3 y – LRP]/ [TRP – LRP], where: • AV 3 y= the 3 -year moving average for standardised CPUE; • LRP= limit reference point; and • TRP= trigger reference point. • Where the 3 -year moving average of the CPUE falls below the limit reference point • Fishing pressure = Effort x [0. 5 x LRP]/ [TRP]

HARVEST STRATEGY FLOW DIAGRAM > Trigger (B 30) CPUE < Trigger & > Limit < Limit (B 20) Data collection & analysis Catch Effort > 50% change No action Review situation with Industry No stock issue No action review PI Stock issue Apply HCR #1 No stock issue No Action review PI Stock issue Apply HCR #2 No stock issue No action review PI Stock issue Apply % to HCR severity No stock issue No action Stock issue Apply % to HCR severity

WESTERN ZONE PERFORMANCE AGAINST REFERENCE POINTS

CENTRAL ZONE PERFORMANCE AGAINST REFERENCE POINTS

EASTERN ZONE PERFORMANCE AGAINST REFERENCE POINTS

HARVEST STRATEGY REVIEW • The strategy must respond adapt and may evolve as the fishery changes, more data becomes available, the range of indicators increases and there is greater insight about which are the most responsive to stock changes • Sound management dictates that the harvest strategy follows a pattern of plan implement assess revise • The harvest strategy should operates on a 4 -year cycle of formal assessment and that the status of the performance indicators be updated annually or earlier if an assessment is requested