What is the catch? 2005-08

The catch of recreational fishers in Central Queensland

What is the catch? 2005-08

The catch of recreational fishers in Central Queensland

John Platten

Capricorn Bunker Consulting 2/17 Bernard Street Rockhampton Qld 4701

Bill Sawynok

Infofish Services PO Box 9793 Frenchville Qld 4701

Wendi Parsons

14 Campbell Street Rockhampton Qld 4700

Published August 2008

Cover photographs: (Top) Wendi Parsons interviewing a fisher as part of the CapReef boat ramp surveys (Bottom) Catch of mixed fish from offshore during the 2007 Boyne Tannum Hookup.

Information in this publication is provided as general advice only. For application to specific circumstances, professional advice should be sought.

Infofish Services has taken all steps to ensure the information contained in this publication is accurate at the time of publication. Readers should ensure that they make the appropriate enquiries to determine whether new information is available on a particular subject matter.

Report No: STCR-2007-14 © Infofish Services All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission from Infofish Services.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 4

About CapReef.......................................................................................................... 5

Fish Species .............................................................................................................. 6

Summary ................................................................................................................... 8

1. Introduction.................................................................................................... 10

2. Aims ................................................................................................................. 10

3. Methods ........................................................................................................... 11

4. Fishing trips .................................................................................................... 12

5. What Species of Fish were Caught? ............................................................ 12

4. How Many Fish are Caught? ......................................................................... 18

6. References ...................................................................................................... 24

List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1: Location types used to categorise CapReef trips ........................................................... 11 Figure 2: Schematic of location types used to categorise CapReef trips......................................... 11 Figure 3: Comparison of the % of the offshore catch kept between 2007/08 and 2006/07 .............. 16 Figure 4: Seasonality of the estuarine catch .............................................................................. 17 Figure 5: The proportion of offshore trips whose total kept fish per person was equal to the indicated

number of fish per person ................................................................................................ 19 Figure 6: The proportion of trips whose total kept fish per person was equal to the indicated number

of fish per person............................................................................................................ 19 Figure 7: Catch rates for each season of the CapReef period ....................................................... 21 Figure 8: Catch rates for the three winter seasons of the CapReef period ...................................... 21 Figure 9: Catch rates for the three autumn seasons of the CapReef period.................................... 21 Figure 10: Comparison of the percentage of fish kept for three species in 2006/07, 2007/08 and

autumn 2008.................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 11: Catch rates for estuarine species over the CapReef period ........................................... 22 Figure 12: Comparison of catch rates of spearfishers and trailer boat fishers................................. 23 Table 1: Names used in this report for key fish species................................................................. 7 Table 2: Summary of fishing trips by season from winter 2005 to autumn 2008 ............................ 12 Table 3: Top 20 species of the offshore catch in 2006/07 and 2007/08......................................... 14 Table 4: Top five species at each of the offshore location areas ................................................... 15 Table 5: Comparison of the % of the catch kept between 2007/08 and 2006/07............................ 15 Table 6: Top 20 species of the estuary catch in 2007/08............................................................. 16 Table 7: Proportion of estuarine species kept by fishers .............................................................. 17 Table 8: Number of trips catching the indicated fish per person for offshore demersal species

(highlighted cells are the bag limits for the species) ............................................................ 20 Table 9: Number of trips catching the indicated fish per person for offshore pelagic species

(highlighted cells are the bag limits for the species) ............................................................ 20 Table 10: Number of trips catching the indicated fish per person for estuary species (highlighted cells

are the bag limits for the species) ..................................................................................... 20 Table 11: Species taken by spearfishers during 2007/08............................................................. 23

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Acknowledgements

The contribution of the following are acknowledged in relation to this project.

Thanks go to the Fitzroy Basin Association and the Natural Heritage Trust for providing funding to CapReef. Funding was also provided to CapReef in 2007/08 by the Recreational Fishing Community Grants Program of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Additional funding was also provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).

A number of people have assisted with CapReef boat ramp surveys to collect details of the catch of recreational fishers. Special thanks go to Wendi Parsons who has spent of lot of her time over the past two years at boat ramps. Also assisting with surveys were Adele Wust, Lorrena Paul, Greg Seierup, Sally Wood, Wendy Wogandt, Peter Stoneley, Jo Klassen, Errol Thomson, Ben Platten and Warren Ferrington.

Thanks also go to the recreational fishers of Central Queensland that have provided details of their fishing trips at boat ramp surveys or by reporting their catch direct to CapReef. That support has enabled CapReef to provide a series of reports, including this one, on the offshore catch in Central Queensland.

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About CapReef

CapReef is a community based monitoring program that was established following a series of changes to management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR).

The purpose of CapReef is to improve community involvement and knowledge in management of the Capricorn part of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem by monitoring and analysis of local effects of management changes on the GBR ecosystem. In recent years significant changes were made to management arrangements of the GBR. Major changes resulted from:

Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Management Plan 1999 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park 2004 Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish) Management Plan 2003/04

As part of the consultation processes for the zoning changes in 2004 enforcement and monitoring emerged as significant community concerns. In response Capricorn Sunfish, GBRMPA Local Marine Advisory Committee and other interested groups developed the concept of a community based monitoring approach. This led to the birth of CapReef. A number of projects were established under CapReef to collect data on the effects of the management changes, particularly on fish and fishers. Thus CapReef is a repository for data being collected in the Capricorn part of the GBR and is a major contributor to a number of research projects. Projects to date have focused on:

Coordinating CapReef and providing feedback to the community Measuring changes in catch and effort, relative abundance and size

structure of key fish species Determining changes in fisher participation and fishing patterns resulting

from the new Management Plans Obtaining information on the movement of key fish species from extended

marine national park and conservation zones in the new Management Plans

CapReef has also provided support for Coral Trout monitoring around the Keppel Islands by James Cook University, collection and identification of larval reef fish by the Central Queensland University and water quality sampling at Rosslyn Bay by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

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An important part of CapReef is to provide feedback to the community a series of technical reports have been produced. This report is another in that series.

Fish Species

Fish names cause considerable confusion as there are many names that can be applied to the same fish species, even in the same region. The Australian Fish Names Committee has developed a list of standard names (Yearsley et al 2006). A copy of the Australian Fish Names List is available from www.fishnames.com.au. CapReef uses the Standard Name for fish species in all reports.

Standard Name Local Names Scientific Name

Barcheek Coral Trout Common Coral Trout

Coral Trout, Island Coral Trout, Inshore Coral Trout Coral Trout

Plectropomous maculatus Plectropomous leopardus

The identification of these two species is often confused by those inexperienced with the species and are collectively referred to as Coral Trout

Goldspotted Rockcod Blackspotted Rockcod

Cod, Estuary Cod, Goldspot Cod Cod, Estuary Cod, Blackspot Cod

Epinephelus coioides Epinephelus malabaricus

These two species are collectively referred to as Estuary Cod however their identification should not be confused

Longfin Rockcod Matty Cod, Wirenetting Cod Epinephelus quoyanus

Saddletail Snapper Crimson Snapper

Largemouth Nannygai, Red Jew Smallmouth Nannygai, Red Jew

Lutjanus malabaricus Lutjanus erythropterus

These two tropical Snapper species are collectively referred to as Red Snapper as there is often confusion in their correct identification

Red Emperor Red Emperor Lutjanus sebae

Stripey Snapper Stripey Lutjanus carponatus

Moses Snapper Moses Perch, Fingermark Lutjanus russelli

Hussar Brownstripe Snapper

Hussar, Inshore Hussar Hussar

Lutjanus adetii Lutjanus vitta

These two species are collectively referred to as Hussar even though there is little confusion with their identity

Venus Tuskfish Parrotfish Choerodon venustu

Blackspot Tuskfish Parrotfish, Bluetooth Choerodon schoenleinii

These species are collectively referred to as Parrotfish and there may be some confusion in their correct identification

School Mackerel School Mackerel, Doggie Mackerel

Scomberomorus queenslandicus

Spotted Mackerel Spotty Mackerel Scomberomorus munroi

These two Mackerel species are often confused and it is likely that some incorrect identification has occurred

Spanish Mackerel Spanish Mackerel, Narrowbarred Mackerel

Scomberomorus commerson

Cobia Cobia, Black Kingfish Rachycentron canadus

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Redthroat Emperor Redthroat, Sweetlip, Lipper Lethrinus miniatus

Grass Emperor Grassy, Grass Sweetlip, Redthroat

Lethrinus fletus

Barred Javelin Grunter, Barred Grunter Pomadasys kaakan

Standard Name Local Names Scientific Name

Collar Seabream Iodine Bream, Baldy Bream Gymnocranius audleyi

Painted Sweetlips Blackall, Moke, Morwong Diagramma pictum

Scribbled Rabbitfish Happy Moment, Spinefoot Siganus spinus

Starry Triggerfish Triggerfish Abalistes stellaris

Wolf Herring Ribbonfish Chinocentrus dorab

Remora Remora, Suckerfish Remora remora

Blueface Whiptail Whiptail Pentapodus paradiseus

Bream Bream, Yellowfin Bream, Pikey Bream

Acanthopagrus australis Acanthopagrus berda

Trevally Trevally Number of species

Fusilier Fusilier Caesio spp

Grinner Grinner. Lizardfish Saurida spp

Shark Shark Number of species

Table 1: Names used in this report for key fish species

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Summary

This report is an update of the CapReef 2007 report “What is the catch? – The catch of recreational fishers offshore from Central Queensland”.

It examines the catch records of recreational fishers from winter 2007 to autumn 2008 and compares catches with the 2 previous years. Catch details have been obtained from boat ramp surveys and trip sheets provided to CapReef by fishers. For offshore locations catch statistics are available for 12 three month seasons, from winter 2005 to autumn 2008 and for estuaries information is available for four seasons, winter 2007 to autumn 2008.

Over the 12 seasons details are available for 6,670 offshore fishing trips and over the last 4 seasons there have been 1,280 estuary trips for a total of 7,950 trips. Trends in the offshore catch show a substantial reduction in the catch of Mackerel species. School Mackerel dropped from the third most common species to the sixth and dropped from around 7% to 5% of the catch. While Spanish Mackerel dropped from around 2% of the catch to less than 1% as did Spotted Mackerel. Red Emperor also comprised a smaller proportion of the catch (less than 5% compared to almost 9% previously). Venus Tuskfish decreased from around 7% to 4% of the catch. In contrast Stripey Snapper increased in catch frequency from around 5% to over 9% of the catch. Hussar also increased substantially from 5% to 8% of the catch. Red Snapper (Crimson Snapper and Saddletail Snapper) also proportionally increased in frequency from 5% to 8% of the catch. There is also evidence that some species that were once seldom retained, were increasingly likely to be kept. For example the proportion of Trevally kept increased from 33% in 2005/06 to 40% in 2006/07 to 61% in 2007/08, similarly the proportion of Venus Tuskfish kept increased from 42% to 53% to 73%. The proportion of Grass Emperor kept increased from 57% to 67% to 76%. This may indicate that these species are becoming increasingly valued by fishers and so are more likely to be targeted and retained, or perhaps that a greater proportion of fish above legal size are available. Most offshore trips in 2007/08 kept less than 3 fish per person and 70% of trips kept less than 6 fish per person. Only 15 trips caught and kept 20 fish or more per person (the current total reef fish bag limit) and a number of the fish included were exempt from the reef fish category (eg Grass Emperor and Spanish Mackerel). Only 19 trips achieved a bag limit for one of the offshore demersal species and 3 trips caught bag limits for pelagic species (Mackerel). In total this represents less than 0.2% of the total number of trips. Overall total offshore catch rates have fallen over the 3 years of the surveys, however a sharp rise in catch rate was evident in autumn 2008. The catch rates in this season were the highest recorded over the 3 years. Catch rates

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were lowest in winter and spring of 2007. The trend in the kept catch rate shows a slight increase. This is largely due to the high catch rates in autumn 2008 (the highest recorded over the 3 years). Details of estuary trips have only been collected over the past year. Unlike the offshore catch that has only one species consistently greater than 10% of the catch, the estuarine catch was dominated by 5 species representing almost 60% of the catch. Of particular interest is that one of these is not a fish at all (Mud Crab). The four fish species dominating the catch are Pikey Bream, Barred Javelin, Yellowfin Bream and Goldspotted Rockcod. The catch is seasonal with Mud Crab and Barramundi captured more frequently in warmer months, Yellowfin Bream, Blue Threadfin and Sand Whiting were caught more commonly in winter. Sand Whiting, Mud Crabs and Flathead were the species most likely to be retained by fishers. Almost 50% of Whiting were kept. This suggests that the species is highly valued and that by far the majority of legal sized fish are kept. The proportion of Mud Crabs at over 30% is also high, particularly since all female Crabs as well as those below legal size cannot be retained. It is likely that most male Crabs above legal size are retained if caught. For estuary trips the catch rates for the four seasons shows that total median adjusted catch rates increased by a factor of 2 between spring 2007 and summer 2007/08. Kept catch rates increased even more from 0.1 fish per trip to almost 4 fish per trip.

The 2007 report described the catch of spearfishers. This showed that the catch was dominated by Coral Trout and their catch rate was greater than that of other trailer boat fishers. Of the 2,833 offshore trips in 2007/08 30 (1.1%) were spearfishing trips catching 138 fish. This confirms that spearfishing is a very small proportion of the fishing effort in the CapReef area.

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What is the catch? 2005-08 The catch of recreational fishers in Central Queensland

1. Introduction

This report is an update of the CapReef 2007 report “What is the catch? - The catch of recreational fishers offshore from Central Queensland” (Platten, Sawynok and Parsons 2007). It examines the catch records of recreational fishers from winter 2007 to autumn 2008 and compares catches with the 2 previous years. Catch details have been obtained from boat ramp surveys and trip sheets provided to CapReef by fishers. For offshore locations catch statistics are available for 12 three month seasons, from winter 2005 to autumn 2008 and for estuaries information is available for four seasons, winter 2007 to autumn 2008. The period described by this report corresponded to a major flood of the Fitzroy River during January and February 2008 following a prolonged drought period and provides a unique opportunity to examine how this may have altered catches and catch rates. This aspect builds on the findings of the CapReef reports “Use of 12 Mile Creek by Barramundi: Effects of Local Climate 1984-2007” (Sawynok and Platten 2008) and “Do river flows affect coastal and offshore catch rates?” (Platten and Sawynok 2008). This means that an additional aim was to examine the influence of the flood on catch rates and catch composition.

2. Aims

The aims of this report are to examine: The composition of the catch by:

Examining species caught in different locations; Determining trends in which species are kept or released; Examining variations in the species caught over time; and Examining the influence of the 2008 flood on the catch

composition. The catch rates of fishers by:

Determining catch rates of fishers; Examining the effect of location on catch rates; Examining the effect of season on catch rates; and Examining the influence of the 2008 flood on catch rates.

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3. Methods

The methods of collecting and analysis were described in the 2007 report and remain essentially similar; however the methods have been expanded to examine estuarine locations as well as those offshore. This means that a number of new boat ramps were surveyed. Data has been obtained from most estuaries however boat ramp surveys were focused on:

Coorooman Creek; and Calliope River

The catch was thus examined across five location groupings (figures 1 and 2) from Stanage Bay in the north to Turkey Beach:

Estuaries; Inshore; Continental islands; Wide grounds; and Offshore Reefs

Figure 1: Location types used to categorise CapReef trips

Figure 2: Schematic of location types used to categorise CapReef trips

Inshore

Estuary

Offshore Reef

Continental Islands

Wide Grounds

4. Fishing trips

Fishing trips where catch and effort data were obtained have been categorised as estuary or offshore and by fishing season. Table 2 provides a summary of trips that have been obtained from winter 2005 to autumn 2008. Over the 12 seasons there have been 6,670 offshore trips recorded and over 4 seasons there have been 1,280 estuary trips for a total of 7,950 trips.

Season Inshore Islands Wide

Grounds Offshore

Reef Combined Estuary Winter 2005 40 189 8 140 377 Spring 2005 92 144 24 27 287 Summer 2005-06 36 202 7 11 256 Autumn 2006 107 330 16 10 463 Winter 2006 148 325 31 43 547 Spring 2006 167 398 22 25 612 Summer 2006-07 68 366 22 26 482 Autumn 2007 212 534 25 42 813 Winter 2007 500 528 26 90 1144 274 Spring 2007 284 234 34 34 586 460 Summer 2007-08 183 238 31 24 476 318 Autumn 2008 176 397 25 29 627 228 Total 2013 3885 271 501 6670 1280

Table 2: Summary of fishing trips by season from winter 2005 to autumn 2008

5. What Species of Fish were Caught?

5.1 What species of fish were caught offshore?

Longfin Rockcod remained the most commonly caught species in the catch. In fact the species increased from around 18% to 19% of the catch. There were several changes to the list of the top 20 species of fish caught between 2006/07 and 2007/08 (table 3). One major change was to the Mackerel species. There has been a substantial reduction in the proportion of the catch comprised of each of the Mackerels. School Mackerel dropped from the third most common species to the sixth and dropped from around 7% to 5% of the catch. While Spanish Mackerel dropped from around 2% of the catch to less than 1% as did Spotted Mackerel. Red Emperor also comprised a smaller proportion of the catch (less than 5% compared to almost 9% previously). Venus Tuskfish decreased from around 7% to 4% of the catch. In contrast Stripey Snapper increased in catch frequency from around 5% to over 9% of the catch. Hussar also increased substantially from 5% to 8% of the catch. Red Snapper (Crimson Snapper and Saddletail Snapper) also proportionally increased in frequency from 5% to 8% of the catch.

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The top 5 species taken across the areas were essentially similar to those reported in the previous report (table 4). The main differences relate to the reduction in the catch of School Mackerel and Red Emperor, particularly around the continental islands and the increase in the catch of Stripey Snapper, Red Snapper and Hussar. The percentage of the catch of each of the top 20 species retained by fishers is given in table 3 along with a comparison with the percentages in 2006/07. Figure 3 shows a comparison for species where differences were more than 5% of the percentage kept. This shows that all but one of these species were retained more in 2007/08 than in 2006/07.

5.2 What species of fish were caught in estuaries? Unlike the offshore catch that has only one species consistently greater than 10% of the catch, the estuarine catch was dominated by 5 species representing almost 60% of the catch. Of particular interest is that one of these is not a fish at all (Mud Crab). The four fish species dominating the catch are Pikey Bream, Barred Javelin, Yellowfin Bream and Goldspotted Rockcod (table 6). The catch is seasonal with Mud Crab and Barramundi captured more frequently in warmer months, Yellowfin Bream, Blue Threadfin and Sand Whiting were caught more commonly in winter (figure 4). The highest proportion of fish kept was for Blue Threadfin and Sand Whiting, while very few Goldspotted Rockcod or Barramundi were retained (table 7).

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2006-2007 2007-2008

Species Number % of catch Species Number

% of catch

LONGFIN ROCKCOD 9540 17.7

LONGFIN ROCKCOD 7121 19.9

RED EMPEROR 4681 8.6

STRIPEY SNAPPER 3370 9.4

SCHOOL MACKEREL 3756 7.0

RED SNAPPER 2934 8.2

VENUS TUSKFISH 3543 6.6 HUSSAR 2834 7.9 GRASS EMPEROR 3062 5.7

GRASS EMPEROR 2365 6.6

REDTHROAT EMPEROR 3012 5.6

SCHOOL MACKEREL 1886 5.3

RED SNAPPER 2780 5.2

RED EMPEROR 1734 4.9

STRIPEY SNAPPER 2742 5.1 CORAL TROUT 1508 4.2

HUSSAR 2548 4.7 REDTHROAT EMPEROR 1496 4.2

CORAL TROUT 2332 4.3

VENUS TUSKFISH 1434 4.0

GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD 1477 2.7

GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD 1005 2.8

SPANISH MACKEREL 1154 2.1

COLLAR SEABREAM 632 1.8

SHARK 1153 2.1 BLACKSPOT TUSKFISH 549 1.5

SPOTTED MACKEREL 1102 2.0

BARRED JAVELIN 433 1.2

COLLAR SEABREAM 1076 2.0 WHIPTAIL 422 1.2 PAINTED SWEETLIPS 720 1.4

PAINTED SWEETLIPS 388 1.1

BARRED JAVELIN 588 1.1 SHARK 326 0.9 TRIGGERFISH 568 1.1

TREVALLY 306 0.9

TREVALLY 480 0.9

TRIGGERFISH 263 0.7

WOLF HERRING 441 0.8 COBIA 262 0.7

Table 3: Top 20 species of the offshore catch in 2006/07 and 2007/08

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Inshore

% of catch 2007

% of catch 2008

Continental Islands

% of catch 2007

% of catch 2008

SCHOOL MACKEREL

27.0 17.9

LONGFIN ROCKCOD 29.5 29.3

LONGFIN ROCKCOD

7.5 14.3

STRIPEY SNAPPER 6.8 11.9

GRASS EMPEROR

2.8 9.1

RED SNAPPER 4.6 9.4

STRIPEY SNAPPER

2.1 6.6 HUSSAR 4.6 6.8

GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD

4.1 5.3

GRASS EMPEROR 6.1 6.5

Wide Grounds

% of catch 2007

% of catch 2008 Offshore Reef

% of catch 2007

% of catch 2008

HUSSAR

11.2 20.3

REDTHROAT EMPEROR

20.1 23.3

RED SNAPPER

10.4 12.7

HUSSAR

8.7 11.3

RED EMPEROR

25.3 11.0

VENUS TUSKFISH

12.5 10.5

STRIPEY SNAPPER

2 7.0

CORAL TROUT

8.1 9.0

GRASS EMPEROR

4.43 6.8

RED EMPEROR

14.3 8.0

Table 4: Top five species at each of the offshore location areas

Species % kept 2006/07

% kept 2007/08

% kept Autumn 2008

LONGFIN ROCKCOD 1.0 0.6 0.3 STRIPEY SNAPPER 49.4 45.8 61.4 RED SNAPPER 55.8 59.0 64.4 HUSSAR 47.5 47.1 57.1 GRASS EMPEROR 67.4 75.9 75.1 SCHOOL MACKEREL 67.5 78.5 98.5 RED EMPEROR 10.9 14.9 18.3 BARCHEEK CORAL TROUT 83.6 80.0 81.6 REDTHROAT EMPEROR 57.1 62.2 83.2 VENUS TUSKFISH 52.6 72.9 73.9 GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD 37.4 37.9 44.7 COLLAR SEABREAM 25.6 23.7 83.9 BLACKSPOT TUSKFISH 75.9 72.7 75.5 BARRED JAVELIN 68.2 84.8 86.9 WHIPTAIL 22.5 19.2 33.1 PAINTED SWEETLIPS 41.9 40.7 21.6 SHARK 2.8 0.9 2.0 TREVALLY 40.2 61.1 69.0 TRIGGERFISH 2.6 3.8 1.4 COBIA 72.6 94.3 100.0 SPANISH MACKEREL 83.4 90.7 78.8 SPOTTED MACKEREL 78.5 77.5

Table 5: Comparison of the % of the catch kept between 2007/08 and 2006/07

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COMPARISON OF FISH KEPT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

GRASS E

MPE

RO

R

SCH

OO

LM

ACKEREL

RED

EM

PERO

R

VEN

US T

USKFI

SH

BARRED

JAVELI

N

WH

IPTA

IL

TREVALL

Y

CO

BIA

% o

f ca

tch k

ept

%kept 2006/07%kept 2007/08

Figure 3: Comparison of the % of the offshore catch kept between 2007/08 and 2006/07

Species Total % of total

PIKEY BREAM 2309 15.9 BARRED JAVELIN 2020 13.9 YELLOWFIN BREAM 1534 10.6 GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD 1484 10.2 MUD CRAB 1140 7.8 BARRAMUNDI 726 5.0 SAND WHITING 659 4.5 DUSKY FLATHEAD 483 3.3 BLUE THREADFIN 406 2.8 LONGFIN ROCKCOD 388 2.7 GOLDEN SNAPPER 367 2.5 MANGROVE JACK 342 2.4 GRASS EMPEROR 333 2.3 SADDLETAIL SNAPPER 234 1.6 STRIPEY SNAPPER 215 1.5 CRIMSON SNAPPER 182 1.3 MOSES SNAPPER 134 0.9 BLACK JEWFISH 117 0.8 STEELBACK 82 0.7 QUEENFISH 81 0.6

Table 6: Top 20 species of the estuary catch in 2007/08

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CATCH OF ESTUARY SPECIES BY SEASON

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

PIKEY

BREAM

YELL

OW

FIN

BREAM

BARRED

JAVELI

N

GO

LDSPO

TTED

RO

CKCO

D

MU

D C

RAB

SAN

DW

HIT

ING

BLU

ETH

READ

FIN

BARRAM

UN

DI

% o

f ca

tch

winterspringsummerautumn

Figure 4: Seasonality of the estuarine catch

Species

Total kept % kept

PIKEY BREAM 568 24.6 BARRED JAVELIN 596 29.5 YELLOWFIN BREAM 425 27.7 GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD 125 8.4 MUD CRAB 352 30.9 BARRAMUNDI 88 12.1 SAND WHITING 320 48.6 DUSKY FLATHEAD 149 30.8 BLUE THREADFIN 298 73.4

Table 7: Proportion of estuarine species kept by fishers

5.3 Discussion

Offshore The results show some interesting trends in the catch species. Several species (eg School Mackerel, Red Emperor and Venus Tuskfish) decreased as a proportion of the total catch but were also more likely to be retained. The reasons for this are unknown. It may be that because catches of the species decreased, they were more likely to keep fish caught than to release them. It could also be that fewer fish were available but that they were larger and more likely to be highly valued. Certainly it is likely that many Red Emperor are taken below legal size and the decreased numbers of fish associated with increased proportion of fish kept could be explained by less fish but of a greater size being present. There is also evidence that some species that were once seldom retained, were increasingly likely to be kept. For example the proportion of Trevally kept increased from 33% in 2005/06 to 40% in 2006/07 to 61% in 2007/08, similarly the proportion of Venus Tuskfish kept increased from 42% to 53% to

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73%. The proportion of Grass Emperor kept increased from 57% to 67% to 76%. This may indicate that these species are becoming increasingly valued by fishers and so are more likely to be targeted and retained, or perhaps that a greater proportion of fish above legal size are available.

Estuarine Catch The results are comparable with the recreational fishing surveys of Platten (1996) and Walker and Platten (1997) of the Calliope River and the Boyne and Calliope River. These surveys also found that the estuarine catch is dominated by Bream species, Barred Javelin and Goldspotted Rockcod. The major difference is in the proportion of Barramundi taken. The 1996 and 1997 surveys only encountered one Barramundi in the trip catches, a much greater proportion were observed in the CapReef surveys. There are several reasons for this. The numbers of Barramundi caught are almost certainly much higher in the Fitzroy estuary than in the Calliope or Boyne rivers. Another reason is that the earlier surveys only examined the kept catch. The kept catch in the CapReef surveys represented only 12% of the total catch. This in combination with the much more extensive dataset of CapReef helps explain why few Barramundi were recorded in the earlier surveys. Sand Whiting, Mud Crabs and Flathead were the species most likely to be retained by fishers. Almost 50% of Whiting were kept. This suggests that the species is highly valued and that by far the majority of legal sized fish are kept. The proportion of Mud Crabs at over 30% is also high, particularly since all female Crabs as well as those below legal size cannot be retained. It is likely that most male Crabs above legal size are retained if caught. The very low proportion of Goldspotted Rockcod retained (8%) probably reflects that most fish in estuaries are immature, small fish. A higher proportion (around 38%) is retained offshore. Anecdotal information suggests that most of these retained offshore Rockcod are 40-80cm. Very large and small fish are usually released.

4. How Many Fish are Caught?

This section looks at two measures of catch rate:

The number of trips catching various numbers of fish per person; and The adjusted catch rate per trip calculated by multiplying the fish

caught per hour by the average length of each trip (in hours). The first measure is designed to determine how many trips achieve trip or species bag limits, while the second gives an indication of the number of fish caught on a typical trip.

4.1 Measures of fish per person caught Offshore

Most trips in 2007/08 kept less than 3 fish per person and 70% of trips kept less than 6 fish per person (figure 5). Only 15 trips caught and kept 20 fish or more per person (the current total reef fish bag limit) and a number of the fish included were exempt from the reef fish category (eg Grass Emperor and Spanish Mackerel). Tables 8 and 9 suggest that 19 trips achieved a bag limit for one of the offshore demersal species and 3 trips caught bag limits for pelagic species

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(Mackerel). In total this represents less than 0.2% of the total number of trips.

OFFSHORE

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26no of fish/person

% o

f tr

ips

Figure 5: The proportion of offshore trips whose total kept fish per person was equal to the indicated number of fish per person

4.2 Measures of fish per person caught in Estuaries

The majority of estuary trips kept 2 or less fish per person and 70% of trips kept less than 5 fish per person (figure 6). Most estuarine species are not subject to bag limits, however of the 3 species (Barramundi, Dusky Flathead and Mud Crab) where bag limits apply, 2 trips caught the bag limit for Mud Crab and Barramundi, one trip caught the bag limit of Dusky Flathead (table 10).

ESTUARY

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 18 20 22 23 24No of fish/person

% o

f tr

ips

Figure 6: The proportion of trips whose total kept fish per person was equal to the indicated number of fish per person

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No of fish per person 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

>= bag

limit Coral Trout 141 34 11 4 2 1 2 1 3 Goldspotted Rockcod 64 5 5 1

Hussar 83 46 31 7 7 5 5 1 1 1 Painted Sweetlips 25 1 2 Red Emperor 30 4 1 1 Red Snapper 64 32 7 5 5 1 3 1 Redthroat Emperor 32 24 15 8 8 3 2 5 1 6 Stripey Snapper 206 77 29 4 4 3 1 8 Venus Tuskfish 110 34 16 6 6 1 1

Table 8: Number of trips catching the indicated fish per person for offshore demersal species (highlighted cells are the bag limits for the species)

No of fish per person 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

>= bag limit

Cobia 36 Grey Mackerel 17 4 5 1 School Mackerel 127 63 32 12 12 3 1 1 1 5 1 1 2 Spanish Mackerel 34 7 2 2 Spotted mackerel 21 11 3 2 1 1 Trevally 60 17 4 3

Table 9: Number of trips catching the indicated fish per person for offshore pelagic species (highlighted cells are the bag limits for the species)

No of fish per person 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 15 18 20 40

>= bag limit

Barramundi 11 16 14 1 1 1 2 Barred Javelin 94 46 24 8 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 Bream 103 42 27 11 2 16 1 2 1 1 2 Dusky Flathead 24 8 1 1 Threadfin salmon 26 20 6 4 5 3 Whiting 25 11 9 5 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 Mud Crab 28 21 6 7 3 3 1 1 1 2

Table 10: Number of trips catching the indicated fish per person for estuary species (highlighted

cells are the bag limits for the species)

4.3 Catch rate (fish/adjusted trip) Offshore

Trends in the adjusted median catch rates by season across the CapReef period are given in figure 7. Overall total catch rates have fallen over the 3 years of the surveys, however a sharp rise in catch rate was evident in autumn 2008. The catch rates in this season were the highest recorded over the 3 years. Catch rates were lowest in winter and spring of 2007. The trend in the kept catch rate shows a slight increase (figure 7). This is largely due to

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the high catch rates in autumn 2008 (the highest recorded over the 3 years). These trends are further illustrated in figures 8 and 9.

Median adjusted catch rates by season

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Win

ter

2005

Spr

ing

2005

Sum

mer

2005

/06

Aut

umn

2006

Win

ter

2006

Spr

ing

2006

Sum

mer

2006

/07

Aut

umn

2007

Win

ter

2007

Spr

ing

2007

Sum

mer

2007

/08

Aut

umn

2008

adj

fish

/tri

p

Total CatchKept catchLinear (Total Catch)Linear (Kept catch)

Figure 7: Catch rates for each season of the CapReef period

WINTER CATCH RATES

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

winter 2005 Winter 2006 Winter 2007

adj fis

h/t

rip

Total CatchKept catch

Figure 8: Catch rates for the three winter seasons of the CapReef period

Adj median catch rates Autumn

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Autumn 2006 Autumn 2007 Autumn 2008

adj

fish/

trip

Total CatchKept Catch

Figure 9: Catch rates for the three autumn seasons of the CapReef period

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SPECIES KEPT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

STRIPEY SNAPPER RED SNAPPER HUSSAR

PERCEN

TAG

E

%kept 2006/07%kept 2007/08% kept autumn 2008

Figure 10: Comparison of the percentage of fish kept for three species in 2006/07, 2007/08 and autumn 2008

4.4 Catch rate (fish/adjusted trip) Estuary

Estuary information is available over the 12 months from winter 2007 to autumn 2008. The catch rates for the four seasons shows that total median adjusted catch rates increased by a factor of 2 between spring 2007 and summer 2007/08. Kept catch rates increased even more from 0.1 fish per trip to almost 4 fish per trip (figure 11).

Adj catch rate estuaries 2007/2008

0

5

10

15

20

25

Winter 2007 Spring 2007 Summer 07/08 Autumn 2008

adj ca

tch r

ate

(fis

h/t

rip)

Total catchKept catch

Figure 11: Catch rates for estuarine species over the CapReef period

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4.5 Spearfishing Catch The CapReef report “What is the catch? - The catch of recreational fishers offshore from Central Queensland” described the catch of spearfishers. This showed that the catch was dominated by Coral Trout and their catch rate was greater than that of other trailer boat fishers. Of the 2,833 offshore trips in 2007/08 30 (1.1%) were spearfishing trips catching 138 fish. The catch species are shown in Table 11.

Species Total CORAL TROUT 63 GOLDSPOTTED ROCKCOD 23 VENUS TUSKFISH 9 CRAYFISH 8 STRIPEY SNAPPER 7 BARRAMUNDI 6 BLACKSPOT TUSKFISH 6 GRASS EMPEROR 3 GOLDEN SNAPPER 2 HUSSAR 2 BARRACUDA 1 MOSES PERCH 1 PAINTED SWEETLIP 1 PIKEY BREAM 1 QUEENFISH 1 ROCK FLATHEAD 1 SPANGLED EMPEROR 1 SQUID 1 TREVALLY 1

Grand Total 138

Table 11: Species taken by spearfishers during 2007/08

The catch rates of spearfishers remained higher than the kept catch rate of trailer boats (figure 13).

COMPARISON OF CATCH RATES

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Spearfishing Trailer boats

Adj. C

atch

Rat

e

Figure 12: Comparison of catch rates of spearfishers and trailer boat fishers

page 23

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6. References

Platten J, Sawynok B and Parsons W (2007): What is the Catch? The catch of recreational fishers offshore from Central Queensland: CapReef Report STCR-2007-14: At www.info-fish.net

Platten J and Sawynok W (2008): Do river flows affect coastal and offshore catch rates? A numerical model of fisheries response to flow regime change in the estuaries and Great Barrier Reef waters of Central Queensland: CapReef report STCR-2008-17: At www.info-fish.net

Sawynok B and Platten J (2008): Use of 12 Mile Creek by Barramundi: Effects of Local Climate 1984-2007: CapReef report STCR-2008-18: At www.info-fish.net

Yearsley GK, Last PR and Hoese DF (2006): Standard Names of Australian Fishes: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper 009: Species list at www.fishnames.com.au

Platten 1996

Walker and Platten 1997