Catch data

Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Annual Status Report 2008

  1. Total catch of target, byproduct and bycatch species (including retained and discarded catch)
  2. Total catch of target species taken in other fisheries
  3. Observer data
  4. Spatial issues/trends
  5. Effort data

5.1. Total catch of target, byproduct and bycatch species (including retained and discarded catch)

Table 2: Longline retained and non-retained catch by species in the logbooks for 2006/07

Species Number Kept Number not Kept¹ Retained (kg)
Target
Albacore Tuna 170,147 5,092 2,654,698
Yellowfin tuna 57,908 2,935 1,637,717
Broad Billed Swordfish 20,266 397 1,059,169
Bigeye Tuna 19,356 1,358 538,776
Striped Marlin 4,141 104 366,954
Byproduct
Rudderfish 14,804 125 127,814
Dolphinfish 10,445 81 101,301
Black Oilfish 9,417 230 77,086
Skipjack Tuna 7,302 270 43,692
Northern Bluefin Tuna 21 2 3,914
Shortbilled Spearfish 1,309 101 22,605
Indo-Pacific Sailfish 79 21 2,659
Ray’s Bream 3,384 12 8,019
Wahoo# 3,236 49 45,755
Moonfish 3,105 57 100,818
Oilfish 465 28 6,598
Shortfin Mako* 1,019 173 35,697
Southern Bluefin Tuna** 106 5 7,696
Bronze Whaler* 359 567 14,134
Blue Shark* 238 2,004 10,840
Oceanic Whitetip Shark* 158 214 5,030
Blacktip sharks* 119 32 2972
Hammerhead Shark* 107 31 3,405
Tiger Shark* 102 119 3,850
Silky Shark* 75 49 2,387
Australian Bonito# 63 0 305
Dusky Shark* 33 84 1350
Porbeagle* 17 6 570
Thresher Shark* 10 106 690
Barracouta# 9 250 104
Narrow barred spanish mackerel# 7 0 68
Mackerel# 3 720 23
Black Kingfish# 7 0 116
Longfin Mako* 1 0 80
Bycatch
Rainbow Runner 8 0 24
Mixed reef fish 85 0 300
Crocodile Shark* 2 188 10
Smallhead Hairtail 2 0 12
Cardinal Fish 1 0 15
Great Trevally 1 0 20
Shark other* 3 1 75
Mixed fish 3 21 125
Lancet fish 16 53,681 186
Ocean Sunfish 4 180 300
Oarfish 1 2 10
Yellowtail Kingfish# 1 0 8
Bar Rockcod# 0 1 5
Black Marlin$ 0 608 0
Blue Eye Trevalla# 0 1 8
Blue Marlin$ 0 557 0
Bream Silver/Tarwhine 0 1 0
Dealfish 0 4 10
Gemfish$ 0 8 0
Manta Ray 0 16 0
Porcupine Fish 0 4 0
Skates and rays 0 125 0
Soles 0 2 0
Southern Frostfish 0 6 0
Stingray 0 49 0
Sunfish 0 2 0
Toadfishes 0 7 0
Total 327,945 70,686 6,889,108

¹ Fish are not kept for a number of reasons including, management (no-take species), undersized fish (market requirements), shark damage, or simply no market.
* Chondrichthyans are subject to a 20 carcass per trip limit
** Managed under the Southern Bluefin Tuna Management Plan 1995 and is subject to quota
# Subject to trip limits under OCS agreements
$ No take species

See also:
For more information on catches see Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Data Summary 2005-06 (1.3MB)
For more information on interactions with protected species see Section: 7.1 Frequency and nature of interactions

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5.2. Total catch of target species taken in other fisheries

Commonwealth fisheries that operate in the same region as the ETBF include the SBT fishery, Small Pelagics Fishery (SPF), South East Non-Trawl Fishery, South East Trawl (SET) Fishery, Southern Shark Fishery and the Coral Sea Fishery (See Table 3 for catches). The WTBF operates in waters adjacent to the ETBF but genetic studies have found differences between target species stocks in the Pacific compared to the Indian, although current level of knowledge still remains unclear. Due to the small number of operators (less than five) in the WTBF, privacy laws restrict the publishing of any catches. Many state finfish fisheries operate adjacent to the waters of the ETBF such as the NSW Ocean Trap and Line Fishery (OTLF), however direct interactions are limited given that most pelagic species caught in the ETBF do not venture into near shore waters and only a few species of inshore fish are susceptible to capture on pelagic longlines. There are many other fisheries that overlap with the operational area of the ETBF, however those mentioned are principally related to the fishery because species caught are common or species targeted in one fishery are caught for bait in another.

More information on the management of state fisheries can be found at the individual states websites:

Queensland – www.dpi.qld.gov.au
NSW – www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au
Victoria – www.dpi.vic.gov.au/fisheries
Tasmania – www.dpiw.tas.gov.au

For information on overlapping recreational catch and effort from the 2001 National Recreational Fishing Survey see the DAFF website.

Table 3: Catch of ETBF target species in other Commonwealth fisheries 1 January 2006- 1 April 2008

Gillnet Hook and Trap Fishery
Species Estimated kgs kept Estimated kgs discarded
Bigeye Tuna 0 25
Broadbill Swordfish 1440 0
Yellowfin Tuna 15 0
Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery
Species Estimated kgs kept Estimated kgs discarded
Albacore Tuna 2 0
South East Trawl Fishery
Species Estimated kgs kept Estimated kgs discarded
Broadbill Swordfish 154 0

Internationally, the WCPFC monitors catches in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). The provisional tuna catch for 2006 was estimated at 2,189,985 t, the second highest annual catch recorded and only slightly less than the record in 2005 (2,204,335 t). The catch for 2006 represented 78% of the total Pacific Ocean catch of 2,800,740 t and 51% of the global tuna catch (the provisional estimate for 2006 is just over 4.3 million t). The 2006, WCPO yellowfin catch for 2006 (426,726 t – 19%) was about 5% lower than in 2005, but still around the average catch level for the period since 2000 (Figure 3). The WCPO bigeye catch for 2006 (125,874 t – 6%) was also lower than in 2005, but slightly higher than the average catch level for the period since 2000. Recent WCPO albacore catches (98,626 t [4%] in 2005 and 99,861 t in 2006 [5%]) have been the lowest for nearly 10 years, mainly due to low catches in the North Pacific.

Figure 3: Catch (t) of albacore, bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna in the WCPO in 2006 (Source: WCPFC, 2006[4])

Figure 3: Catch (t) of albacore, bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna in the WCPO in 2006 (Source: WCPFC, 2006)

(4) WCPFC (2006) Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Scientific Committee, Third Regular Session Honolulu, HI, USA 13–24 August 2007 Summary Report, 267pp.

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5.3. Observer data

Observer data for 2006-07 is not yet available. See the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Data Summary 2005-06 (1.3MB) (PDF, 1.3mb) pages 30-33.

For information on the observer program and collection of data refer to Section 4.3: Observer program.

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5.4. Spatial issues/trends

Since the beginning of the Commonwealth fisheries buyback of fishing licenses, effort and number of active vessels in the ETBF has steadily decreased (see Section 5.5: Effort data). Spatial effort in the ETBF during 2006 saw a noticeable reduction in dedicated targeting of broadbill swordfish along offshore seamounts due to the introduction of a competitive TAC of 1,400 tonnes (see Section 1.2: Management arrangements). Conversely there was a considerable expansion of fishing effort to offshore waters off the mid Queensland coast (Figure 4), which reflected the fact that many fishers switched from swordfish to albacore. In 2007 with the introduction of management arrangements to reduce the impact on albacore north of 25 degrees latitude, a reduction in effort can be noticeably observed post March 2007 (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Number of hooks set in the longline sector of the ETBF in 2006-07 by area.
Figure 4: Number of hooks set in the longline sector of the ETBF in 2006-07 by area.

See also:
For more spatial data detail see the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Data Summary 2005-06 (1.3MB)

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5.5. Effort data

Table 4: Total longline hooks and shots deployed by year for all ETBF vessels.

Year Hooks (millions) Shots Hooks per shot Active vessels
1986/87 0.29 760 377 62
1987/88 1.07 1,618 664 68
1988/89 1.09 2,099 520 94
1989/90 0.79 2,300 345 98
1990/91 1.56 2,864 543 101
1991/92 1.76 3,252 541 109
1992/93 1.86 2,975 625 91
1993/94 2.38 3,664 650 79
1994/95 3.37 4,509 747 98
1995/96 3.98 5,552 717 112
1996/97 5.33 7,645 698 123
1997/98 7.53 9,270 812 150
1998/99 9.91 10,762 921 156
1999/00 9.86 11,070 891 147
2000/01 10.09 11,529 875 136
2001/02 11.8 12,874 916 143
2002/03 12.69 13,535 938 140
2003/04 11.11 11,766 945 131
2004/05 9.37 9,869 950 113
2005/06 9.33 8,976 1,039 92
2006/07 8.9 7,315 1,217 71

See also:
For more catch and effort detail see the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery Data Summary 2005-06 (1.3MB)

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