ScallopRAG and ScallopMAC met on 6 and 7 June, respectively, to consider the outcomes of the 2024 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 2024 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 2024 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 recommended to be closed:
- Apollo Bay The Hill North, (estimated biomass ≥85 mm 1,742 tonnes, 0.33 ind/m2)
- Flinders Island, (estimated biomass ≥85 mm 995 tonnes, 0.28 ind/m2)
- Flinders Island South (North of Babel), (estimated biomass ≥85 mm 283 tonnes, 0.1 ind/m2)
- Three Hummocks south (deep), (estimated biomass ≥85 mm 9,587 tonnes, 2.00 ind/m2)
- The fishing season is recommended to open on 6 July 2024, or soon thereafter, and close 31 December 2024.
- Consistent with arrangements in 2023, 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 44 and ScallopMAC 39 will be available on the AFMA website as soon as possible. A summary of information collected for each of the beds surveyed during the 2024 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 | 3,304 | 52.7 | 1742 | 0.33 | 89 | 97 |
| Flinders Island | FI-FI1 | 1125 | 88.4 | 995 | 0.28 | 92 | 74 |
| FI North – The Sisters | 269 | 87.2 | 234 | 0.18 | 92 | 78 | |
| FI South – North of Babel | 517 | 54.6 | 283 | 0.10 | 76 | 51 | |
| FI – North of babel NE | 20 | 62.1 | 13 | 0.005 | 89 | 61 | |
| King Island | KI-10 | 20 | 62.1 | 13 | 0.005 | 89 | 61 |
| KI-9 | 1352 | 48.7 | 658 | 0.24 | 83 | 151 | |
| KI-Three Hummock South | 9435 | 75 | 7075 | 1.55 | 90 | 83 | |
| KI-Three Hummocks South East | 7837 | 85.9 | 6732 | 3.23 | 90 | 86 | |
| KI-6 | 20 | 58.9 | 12 | 0.01 | 89 | 111 | |
| KI Lavinia East | 7932 | 97.2 | 7707 | 1.46 | 95 | 115 | |
| KI Lavinia North | 17760 | 97.4 | 17290 | 3.44 | 95 | 80 | |
| Total | 51627 | 44185 |