Small Pelagic Fishery catch limits threaten game fishing in Australia

The Australian Fish Management Authority (AFMA) has set frightening total allowable catch limits (TACs) for slimy aka blue mackerel and Australian sardines in the Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) on Australia’s east coast.

These two baitfish also form the cornerstone of game fisheries from Queensland to Tasmania, where commercial catches will increase more than four fold in the 2017-18 fishing season commencing May 1, 2017.

As we reported in this article, recreational fishing and boating add billions to Australia's Blue Economy and the direct and indirect expenditure and value of rec fishing is exceeds that of commercial fishing and aquaculture.

For the last two years in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the TAC for slimy mackerel in the Eastern Sub-Area of the SPF, which extends from just north of the NSW-QLD border down the East Coast of Tasmania, has held steady at 2630t.

This remained the case even when the supertrawler was dragging 300m long nets through the ocean within earshot of key recreational fishers. That ill-conceived move cost the scalp of several foolhardy politicians and the company behind the supertrawler was found to be anything but clean.

But now AFMA is allowing a 12,090t harvest of slimy mackerel, up more than 450 per cent from the previous 2630t harvest, and the allowable Australian sardine catch will go from 1880t to 9550t or fivefold.

Anglers along the Eastern Seaboard and key fishing towns like Port Stephens and Bermagui and St Helens are dismayed by the massive increase in the harvest. Localised depletion of baitfish stocks would be catastrophic to the coastal towns that depend on fishing tourism. Yet AFMA seems hellbent on expanding the SPF at all costs.

AFMA says it considers the latest available science and data for its Harvest Strategy in the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF), which is divided into Eastern and Western Sub-Areas for the separate fisheries and biomass.

The Harvest Strategy uses Daily Egg Production Method (DEPM) surveys to provide an estimated biomass for each of the SPF stocks.

In 2015, results from new DEPM surveys became available for blue mackerel east and Australian sardines which resulted in these species moving to the highest tier of the Harvest Strategy, AFMA says.

But while AFMA also says the surveys are considered best practice internationally for determining the biomass of small pelagic stocks, global small pelagic fisheries are among the most overfished and decimated in the world. The have a shocking track record of boom and bust.

Anglers on Australia’s east coast are dumbfounded over the massive increase in the allowable catch of the baitfish that form the cornerstone of their sport and game fisheries. Remove the bait and the game fish are gone or simply move on.

Traditionally, commercial fishing efforts for small pelagic fish centre on midwater trawl and purse seine gear. But there are also fears that a controversial application for pair trawling, where a huge net is dragged between two boats for a supertrawler-like catch effort, is part of this massive allowable increase in the harvest.

Species taken in the SPF included Australian sardines, blue mackerel, jack mackerel and redbait. The fish are sold for human consumption on domestic and, moreover, international markets, and most definitely for fishmeal for aquaculture ventures.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science biennial industry update found that Australia’s marine industries contributed $74.2 billion to the national economy in 2013-14.

According to the report, recreational fishing contributed a staggering $2164.8m to the economy in 2013-14, compared with $1503.3m for commercial wild-capture fisheries.

An additional $1523.8m was attributed to recreational fishing as indirect value, amounting to a total value of $3688.6m, more than twice that of commercial wild fisheries and four times the value of marine-based aquaculture.

It’s high time the economic and social values of recreational fishing were recognised, rather than pandering to the short-term interests on commercial ventures that stand to benefit a few fat cats.

More at
AFMA's Small Pelagic Fishery page.