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ASFB Home > The effects of spatial and temporal factors on the abundance of seven key finfish species along south-western Australia.
The South Australian abalone fishery: Overview of the past, current status and future directions
SARDI Aquatic Sciences, HENLEY BEACH, AUSTRALIA
THEME: ASFB
The South Australian abalone fishery for greenlip and blacklip abalone began in 1964. The fishery is divided into three geographical zones, that are further subdivided into smaller areas to facilitate the collection of commercial catch and effort information. The fishery is primarily managed by quotas, minimum legal sizes and limited entry. Throughout the course of the fishery, information on commercial catch and effort has been obtained from licence holders. To date, over 68 000 records are stored in a secure database. Initially, commercial catches declined rapidly (1500 t in 1968 to 500 t in 1973). Once limited entry was introduced, catches increased steadily until 1984 (1100 t). Since 1984 catches have been stable at just below 1000 t.yr-1. Annual mean fishing effort ranges widely between fishing areas and recently fishing effort has largely been restricted to a few fishing areas in each zone and there is a clear need to assess the status of abalone stocks in the unfished areas. Overall CPUE has increased through the life of the fishery, likely reflecting changes in fishing power rather than trends in stock abundance. A comprehensive suite of fishery-independent research since 1968 has (1) focussed on the fisheries biology of greenlip abalone and (2) included regular diving surveys to monitor changes in abalone population structure and abundance. While the biology of greenlip abalone is reasonably well known, the fisheries biology of blacklip abalone requires urgent attention. Abalone research in South Australia is currently focussed on improving stock assessment techniques for greenlip abalone, research on the biology of blacklip abalone, standardising commercial effort and addressing sustainability issues in the Western Zone.
