ScallopRAG and ScallopMAC met on 7 and 8 June, respectively, to consider the outcomes of the 2023 pre-season biomass survey for the Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery (BSCZSF) and provide advice to the AFMA Commission on the total allowable catches (TACs), closures and season dates for the BSCZSF 2023 fishing season. The information provided below does not represent the view of the AFMA Commission, who are yet to consider this advice or come to a resolution on the settings for the 2023 fishing season.
Recommendations
ScallopRAG made the following recommendations, which were supported by ScallopMAC and will be presented to the AFMA Commission:
- The commercial scallop TAC be set at 4,000 tonnes (less research catch allowance).
- The doughboy scallop TAC be set at 100 tonnes.
- The following areas be closed:
- Apollo Bay The Hill North (estimated biomass ≥ 85 mm 1,861 tonnes)
- Flinders Island (estimated biomass ≥ 85mm 3,224 tonnes)
- Flinders Island South (North of Babel) (estimated biomass ≥ 85mm 107 tonnes), and
- Three Hummocks Deep (estimated biomass ≥ 85mm 18,873 tonnes).
- The fishing season to open on 8 July 2023, or soon thereafter, and close 31 December 2023.
- Consistent with arrangements in 2022, ScallopRAG supported research catch allowance (RCA) being caught pre-season and in-season, in years where the fishery would be open to commercial fishing, and the TAC above 1500 tonnes.
The final meeting minutes and recommendations from ScallopRAG 42 and ScallopMAC 38 will be available on the AFMA website as soon as possible. A summary of information collected for each of the beds surveyed during the 2023 BSCZSF annual biomass survey is provided in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of information collected for each of the beds surveyed during the 2023 BSCZSF annual biomass survey. AB = Apollo Bay, KI = King Island and FI = Flinders Island. Source: Fishwell Consulting.
Area | Bed | Estimated biomass (t) | % weight ≥ 85 mm | Estimated biomass ≥ 85 mm (t) | Density (ind/m2 ≥ 85 mm) | Mean length (mm) | Meat / kg mean |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apollo Bay | AB The Hill North | 2,436 | 76.4 | 1,861 | 0.22 | 91 | 145 |
Flinders Island | FI | 4,229 | 76.2 | 3,224 | 0.31 | 89 | 121 |
 | FI North – The Sisters | 880 | 88.6 | 780 | 0.57 | 93 | 95 |
 | FI South – North of Babel | 122 | 87.4 | 107 | 0.02 | 98 | 73 |
 | FI The Sisters East | 345 | 91.2 | 315 | 0.27 | 94 | 81 |
 | FI The Wreck A | 249 | 95.9 | 239 | 0.06 | 101 | 61 |
 | FI The Wreck B | 284 | 92.0 | 262 | 0.06 | 101 | 61 |
King Island | KI-10 | 1,464 | 80.6 | 1,180 | 0.61 | 90 | 128 |
 | KI-9 | 3,293 | 70.7 | 2,330 | 0.71 | 87 | 107 |
 | KI-BDSE | 1,714 | 55.5 | 950 | 0.14 | 84 | 143 |
 | KI- Three Hummocks East | 62,075 | 43.9 | 27,274 | 2.86 | 82 | 145 |
 | KI Three Hummocks West | 14,479 | 72.7 | 10,522 | 2.40 | 87 | 135 |
Total | Â | 91,570 | Â | 49,044 | Â | Â |
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