Review and update harvest strategy settings for the Commonwealth small pelagic fishery

Funded Activity Summary

The SPF has been the focus of considerable stakeholder scrutiny in 2012. Part of this focus has been on the harvest strategy, which has been in place since 2009. Two questions have arisen about the current harvest strategy: 1) What reference points for exploitation rates are appropriate for the species exploited in this fishery, taking into account their ecological role in the food chain? 2) Is the maximum exploitation rate specified in the strategy appropriate for all the target species, given their different productivities, life histories and trophic importance? Questions have also been raised about the possibility and impacts of localised depletion in this fishery, but these will not be dealt with in this proposal.

There is an urgent need to review and if necessary update the harvest strategy settings for the SPF. Specifically, there is a need to answer the two questions outlined above, both of which involve settings in the current harvest strategy. One concerns appropriate choice of target (and limit) reference points, while the other concerns selecting individual harvest rates for each of the target species in the fishery, appropriate to its life history and productivity.

Notwithstanding that the vessel which caused the high level of scrutiny on the fishery has departed Australian waters, answering the two questions remains fundamental to proper implementation of the Commonwealth Harvest Strategy Policy for this fishery. The need for a review of the harvest strategy settings had been flagged by SPF RAG ahead of the contorversy with the "super trawler".

Objectives:
1. Provide advice on best practice reference points for the four main target species in the SPF
2. Provide advice on suitable exploitation rates to achieve management targets for the four main target species in the SPF

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-08-2013

End Date: 29-07-2014

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $122,741.00

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Biomass | Ecosystem | Harvest Strategy | Productivity | RAC CMWTH | Stock Assessment

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