Trawl Review – update.
This is a major review for one of the highest value fisheries in Queensland. QSIA wrote to all members in December highlighting the issues at hand being worked through by the QSIA Trawl Committee aimed at developing future management options for the fishery. Fisheries Queensland (FQ) established a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and a Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) with additional industry representation from the QSMA. In addition, this development formation process included a two day industry workshop plus port meetings at Mooloolaba, Hervey Bay, Townsville and Cairns. FQ will use this information when forming a Regulatory Assessment Statement (RAS) to be released in 2011. To date, QSIA has agreed to the following three broad principles of:
1) The current management arrangements for the fishery have not resulted in a resilient and profitable industry, and some change is required.
2) A significant reduction in total allocated effort in the fishery may be required as a key element of any future management strategies.
3) Management tools are required that actively manage effort within each of the key sectors of the fishery towards profitability targets (eg maximum economic yield).
However and most importantly, further analysis and information is required by industry before any agreement is reached regarding the detail of how best to meet these objectives. Some of this assessment includes economic modelling from Treasury which will be made available to industry in order to make informed decisions. This means that before a RAS is distributed to commercial fishers in 2011 this work will be assessed by the QSIA Trawl Committee. FQ has also committed to having flexibility as a major component of the new plan. For example, the stock assessment for the Eastern King Prawn fishery may not be available prior to the release of a RAS in 2011 however the new Trawl Plan will be able to be adjusted to incorporate this data and implement a harvest strategy when appropriate. In short, there is along way to go yet and our priority is to ensure a new Trawl Plan meets the objectives outlined earlier – as one prominent observer recently noted, we have done sustainability really well – it is now time to focus on profitability. This mantra will be watched closely by industry.
The Fishery
Trawling for prawns, scallops, Moreton Bay bugs and a range of other important seafood species is one of the most significant commercial sectors in Queensland. Queensland has important prawn fisheries in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Torres Straits and the East Coast Otter Trawl fishery. Scallops are harvested between Townsville (in North Queensland) and Mooloolaba in the south (Southern Queensland).
The Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery operates under the Queensland East Coast Trawl Plan, one of the most advanced fisheries management plans of it’s kind anywhere in the world. The plan imposes strict caps on the overall amount of fishing effort (measured in “effort units”) that can be applied to the fishery in any one year, as well as individual caps for each licence holder. Two thirds of the fishery is in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park World Heritage Area. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority – the custodian of this World Heritage Area on behalf of the Commonwealth Government has formally accredited the fishery’s management plan as “ecologically sustainable”.
Queensland trawl fishers work closely with fisheries scientists to ensure their catches are sustainable. World’s best practice bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) and turtle excluder devices (TEDs) are mandatory throughout the entire fishery. Recently, the United States granted export approval for Queensland east coast prawns to be marketed to the US.
The amount of their catch is now monitored by leading-edge technology: a satellite based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) that not only tracks a vessels’ position and provides on-board communication and management information but can also allow the amount of catch to be monitored in real time. All vessels in the Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery (except some operating exclusively in Moreton Bay) are fitted with this latest technology.
The fishery is currently going through an Ecological Risk Assessment based on ecosystem based management principles. In addition, the current Trawl Plan is under review which will be completed in 2011.
