Tasmanians are setting cray pots for rock lobster and diving for abalone—but how often do they do it, and are they satisfied with the catch and the health of the fishery? The latest survey reveals most fishers are seeing stability or improvement in these fisheries.
Researchers from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) recently released the Tasmanian Recreational Rock Lobster and Abalone Fisheries 2023/24 Fishing Season survey, which has been undertaken since 1996.
The survey aimed to understand rock lobster and abalone fisheries in terms of participation, fishing effort and catch during the fishing season from November 2023 through to April 2024.
Almost 80% of respondents who fished for rock lobster in the 2023-24 season noted that the overall quality of the fishery was similar or improved from the previous year, with 78% being at least quite satisfied with their catch rates.
For over two decades, there have been concerns about declining rock lobster stocks in Tasmania, particularly as East Coast stocks were assessed to have reached historically low levels in 2011/12.
In response to these challenges, new size limits were introduced for the 2022/23 rock lobster season.
"It's encouraging to see that most rock lobster fishers now perceive the quality of the fishery as stable or improved," said Professor Sean Tracey, who leads the IMAS Fisheries & Aquaculture Centre.
"This level of satisfaction suggests that current management practices and the results on the rock lobster stocks are resonating positively with the fishing community," Professor Tracey said.
This season saw the largest recreational catch since 2015, reaching almost 108 tonnes, with most caught on the East Coast.
"The East Coast is a popular region for recreational fishers for good reason. Fishers spent about 61,000 days fishing for rock lobster in the area during the survey period," Professor Tracey said.
Over 78 tonnes of rock lobster were recreationally caught in the East Coast Stock Rebuilding Zone, surpassing a notional recreational catch allocation that was previously set in the East Coast Stock Rebuilding Strategy, by 123%. The statewide total allowable recreational catch (TARC) was not exceeded.
"The combined commercial and recreational catch limits have seen good rebuilding of stocks on the East Coast but there is still a way to go to get the stock up to target level," he said.
"While commercial fishers report their catch in near real time, historically, we don't know what recreational fishers have caught until after the season when we compile the survey results.
"This is why it's important that recreational fishers use the new Fishing Tas app to report their catch , so we can have a better understanding of how recreational catch is tracking through the year. Reporting zero catch days is also important as this data can help us determine catch rates to see how the stock status is tracking."
Potting was the most popular choice for rock lobster catch, accounting for 75% of the days fished and contributed 58% to the total harvest.
"We found that dive collection accounted for 25% of the effort and 41% of the harvest, while ring usage contributed to less than 1% of the effort and 1% of the harvest," said IMAS researcher and lead author of the survey report, Dr Samantha Twiname.
"The average catch rate across the state was 1.09 lobsters per fishing day, with divers catching 1.80, potters 0.82 and ring fishers averaging four lobsters.
The number of licence holders during the 2023/24 season was slightly lower compared to the year before.
"About 17,550 people held at least one recreational rock lobster licence in 2023/24 which was a 3.1% decrease compared to the previous season. But across the fishery, almost 79,000 days were spent fishing for lobster," Dr Twiname said.
During the same period, 11,452 individuals held a recreational abalone licence, a 2% decrease compared to the 2022/23 season. A total of almost 13,000 dive days were done during the survey period and just over 27 tonnes harvested – a small fraction relative to the total allowable catch (TAC) of 773.5 tonnes.
Blacklip Abalone was the most popular recreational catch across the state, accounting for 90% of harvest. Greenlip Abalone made up 10%.
"The East Coast is once again the most popular location for recreational fishing, with 74% of the abalone catch taken from there," Dr Twiname said.
"Just 17% of the abalone catch was from the North Coast and only 9% from the West Coast."
Cover image: Southern Rock Lobster.
Credit: Antonia Cooper
