Gemfish facing extinction?
Have your say on proposed determination of Gemfish as a vulnerable speciesThe Fisheries Scientific Committee (FSC) has made a proposed determination to list Gemfish (Rexea solandri) in the Threatened Species Schedules of the Fisheries Management Act 1994.
In accordance with criteria prescribed by the Fisheries Management (General) Regulation 2010, the FSC reviewed information and found that the Gemfish is facing extinction in NSW in the medium-term future, and the species is eligible to be listed as Vulnerable in Part 1 of Schedule 5 of the Act.
Australian Fish Management Authority (AFMA) listed Eastern Gemfish in 1999 as conservation-dependent subject to a review in five years. At the time, there was no state protection, only catch management strategies to help rebuild stocks. That hasn't worked, so now the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee has recommended its Eastern Gemfish stock be declared threatened.
While NSW waters extend only three kilometres offshore, the NSW ruling will likely have a bearing on future fishing restrictions and allowable catches landed here. At present, NSW anglers are permitted to keep two Gemfish each and there is a 10-boat catch limit. The gemfish season starts now with winter aggregations of the fish a popular deep-water fishing target.
Vulnerable species are considered to face a high risk of extinction in the medium-term future. A species is eligible for listing as vulnerable if it has undergone a large reduction in abundance, geographic distribution or genetic diversity and is affected by a threatening process.
Most existing vulnerable species in NSW are subject to strict fishing restrictions, no-take bans and high levels of protection. They include:
>> Black Rockcod --
With Eastern Gemfish, the Atlantis models, which take a whole ecosystem approach that includes both fishing and climate parameters, show that there is a risk of extinction by 2040.
Atlantis modelling shows that large closures would be required for the Eastern Gemfish stock to increase relative to the current level, and future declines are likely if recruitment doesn't increase.
Recruitment of Eastern Gemfish has been very weak over the past 25 years.
The length distributions of Eastern Gemfish caught in the commercial fisheries show that a large proportion of the Eastern Gemfish caught, including both landed and discarded fish, are juveniles or immature fish that have not yet spawned.
While the current management strategies may prevent further significant depletion of the stock, the stock may still decline to extinction due to low stock sizes or environmental conditions that prevent rebuilding or recovery.
Email: fsc@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Post: Fisheries Scientific Committee
c/- NSW Department of Primary Industries
PO Box 1305
CROWS NEST NSW 1585
Submissions must be received before 6:00 pm on Friday 13 June 2014.
Note that all submissions may be made public unless confidentiality is specifically requested.
For further information contact the FSC's Executive Officer by emailing: fsc@dpi.nsw.gov.au
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