Queensland Stout Whiting Fishery 1991 TO 2002

The stout whiting (Sillago robusta) fishery in southern Queensland is restricted to offshore waters between Caloundra and Sandy Cape in depths ranging between 20 and 50 fathoms. The fishery consists of five licensed trawlers (T4 endorsement). The fishery is managed by means of a ‘industry agreed’ yearly Total Allowable Catch (TAC), which is reviewed annually and divided equally among the vessels. The TAC quota was set at 1000 tonnes for the managed area in 2002. The stout whiting resource was assessed using a newly developed age-structured model, along side with the previous virtual population and surplus production models. The new model was tuned simultaneously to standardised monthly-catch-rates and yearly patterns in the stout whiting catch age-structure. The limit reference point B/K (the ratio of exploitable biomass in 2002 to the exploitable component of the virgin carrying capacity) was estimated to be at about 0.19 (B/K less than 0.2 is generally accepted as high risk of over exploitation). The results from all three models should be viewed cautiously as their uncertainty is high. Given the high uncertainty, any increase in TAC above 1000 t has high risk. In the last four years total catch has varied between 1178 t and 498 t. This year’s assessment has shown no increase in recruitment and biomass after the catch levels of 881 t in 2000 and 855 t in 2002. The management strategy evaluation suggests this years TAC should range between 700t and 900t depending on the target management objectives of risk and yield from the fishery (Table 3.6). This Table 3.6 should be used to guide the decision on TAC setting and to understand how best to compromise the issues of risk (over fishing) and optimising yield (maximising catch and value in the fishery). Summary of the assessment is given in Table 1.1

Fisheries long term monitoring program : summary of tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) survey results: 1999-2004

Tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix) is a schooling species with a world-wide distribution in subtropical waters that inhabits the coastal waters of southern Australia (Williams 2002). Its distribution in Australian waters ranges from the northern tip of Fraser Island in Queensland to Onslow in Western Australia (Kailola et al. 1993). Queensland commercial and recreational fishers target these schools on ocean beaches between Fraser Island and the New South Wales border, during their annual spawning migration between late winter and spring (Leigh and O’Neill 2004). The estimated harvest of tailor for the commercial sector is 155 t (2004–05), and between 450 and 540 t (2002) by recreational fishers. The Queensland tailor fishery is managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries under the Fisheries Regulation 1995. The current management arrangements include spatial and seasonal closures, minimum legal size limit, limited commercial entry, annual commercial quota and recreational possession limit. The Long Term Monitoring Program (LTMP) monitors the tailor stock by investigating the length, weight, sex and age of the commercially and recreationally caught tailor from the ocean beach sector. This report presents a summary of the data collected from 1999 to 2004. Since 1999, the LTMP has collected 14 486 tailor with over half of those fish collected from zones not included in the seasonal closures. The modal length frequency of tailor was between 300 and 370 mm for all years, sexes and regions. There was a significant relationship between length and weight of tailor, yet no difference between sex or region. The majority of tailor collected were aged as one and two year olds, with very few tailor collected of age three or older. The growth of tailor was similar for both sexes and all regions. The majority of the length and age frequency data are representative of the recreational ocean beach fishery on Fraser Island, which is only part of the fishery. It is therefore suggested to extend the monitoring of the commercial catch samples and the recreational catch samples to other regions of the sampling area. There were also limited samples collected of tailor larger than 500 mm and at the age of three years or older. Any extension of the program should also focus on acquiring samples of larger fish to help complete the tailor growth curve

Property rights and the littoral zone in Queensland

[Abstract]: In Australia, changes in social attitude to conservation and the environment over the past sixty years has demanded changes to property rights, restrictions and responsibilities. In Queensland, as in most jurisdictions in Australia, there has been an increase in controls and a gradual and progressive unbundling of traditionally held property rights as a response by governments to this social change. This project investigated the property rights, restrictions and responsibilities of land owners in Queensland with property which adjoins the littoral zone. This gave an insight into the number and type of property rights, restrictions and responsibilities which are unique to property with a littoral boundary. The study also examined how these property rights, restrictions and responsibilities were spatially defined and how they were recorded for land administration. Field surveys were carried out at three sites to examine the spatial extent of rights, restrictions and responsibilities in a real world environment. Results showed that while private property rights, restrictions and responsibilities were recorded under the current titling system, most publicly created rights, restrictions and responsibilities were not. The study also revealed problems with how rights, restrictions and responsibilities are defined spatially in legislation which lead to ambiguity in defining these rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the real world. Finally it was found that where information was available in relation to the spatial extent of rights, restrictions and responsibilities it was often inaccurate