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Southern Shark Fishery

Main features

S T A T U S

School shark overfished; gummy shark notoverfished, current catch probablysustainable; sawshark and elephant fishuncertain

R E L I A B I L I T Y O F T H E A S S E S S M E N T

High for school shark; medium for gummyshark

C U R R E N T C A T C H ( 2 0 0 3 )

Total shark catch 2164 t carcass weight,value A$15m

C A T C H V S Q U O T A ( 2 0 0 3 )

( G I L L N E T A N D H O O K F I S H E R S )

Species Actual TAC (t) Catch (t)

Gummy shark 1606.9 1578.1

School shark 249.3 198.5

Sawshark 265.0 197.3

Elephant fish 60.2 44.5

L O N G - T E R M P O T E N T I A L Y I E L D

School 950 t; gummy 1800 t per annum

M A I N M A N A G E M E N T O B J E C T I V E

With 80% probability, to achieve a maturebiomass of school shark larger in 2011 thanin 1996 (see Status of stocks section); noformal reference point has been adopted forgummy shark

M A N A G E M E N T M E T H O D S

Individual transferable quotas for the fourmain species; legal minimum lengths, gearrestrictions

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Highlights

• The former Southern Shark Fishery (SSF) nowmakes up the Gillnet Sector and Shark Hook Sectorwithin the larger Southern and Eastern Scalefish andShark Fishery (SESSF).

• Individual transferable quotas (ITQs) were introducedfor school and gummy shark in the SSF from 2001and for sawshark and elephant fish from 2002.Quotas also apply to these species in other sectorsof the SESSF. In addition, trigger points have beenintroduced for other species taken by the fishery.

• Offshore Constitutional Settlement arrangements forschool and gummy shark have been finalised. Onbehalf of the Australian Government, the AustralianFisheries Management Authority now managesschool and gummy shark in the coastal waters ofSouth Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. Thesearrangements do not include the internal waters ofeach State.

• School shark are overfished. Quotas for this speciesare in accordance with a harvest strategy intendedto rebuild the adult biomass by 2011, but recent

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Southern Shark Fishery

Gillnet sector (2003)

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assessment suggests that it may not be rebuilt bythen. Catches of school shark well below the quotain recent years are cause for concern and may beevidence of a further decline in the resource.However, the extent to which the low catches areattributable to further decline rather than tomanagement initiatives and industry directing effortaway from targeting school shark cannot beresolved at this stage. School shark are noweffectively a byproduct of the fishery for gummyshark.

• Current gummy shark catches are probablysustainable. Recruitment of gummy shark to thefishery in Bass Strait appears to have been stableover the last 20 years.

• Although quotas are the primary management toolfor the fishery, some input controls have beenretained. All permit holders operating outside theStates’ 3-n.mile boundaries are now entitled to useup to 4200 m of net; hook restrictions for targetspecies subject to quota were removed in January2002; fishing effort will be reviewed twice-yearly toenable management adjustments to be made ifrequired.

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Background

History of the fishery

The Southern Shark Fishery (SSF) is managedby the Australian Fisheries ManagementAuthority (AFMA) on behalf of the AustralianGovernment. Offshore ConstitutionalSettlement arrangements with the Stategovernments of Victoria, Tasmania and SouthAustralia were finalised in 2001, transferringthe management of school and gummy shark inthe coastal waters of these States to AFMA(these coastal waters extend to 3 n.mileoffshore, but exclude the internal waters inbays and inlets of each State).

The fishery has operated for more than 70years. Initially, fishers targeted school shark(Galeorhinus galeus) with longlines. Mono-filament gillnets were introduced in the 1960s,and by the early 1970s gillnetting was the mainfishing method. In 1972 the discovery of highmercury levels in shark led to a ban on the saleof large school shark in Victoria. This ban andthe adoption of gillnets saw gummy shark(Mustelus antarcticus) become the principalspecies in the catch. Southern sawshark(Pristiophorus nudipinnis), common sawshark(P. cirratus), elephant fish (Callorhinchus milii)and several other shark species also becamemore important.

Over the years 1970–2000, school andgummy shark provided 87% of the catch fromthe fishery; the remaining 13% was sawshark(7%), elephant fish (2%) and other species.From 1979 until the late 1980s, catches ofschool and gummy shark were about the sameweight. Since that time, however, school-sharkcatches have become a decreasing proportionof the total catch. The total catch peaked at4228 t (carcass weight) in 1987. Total SSFcatch was 2823 t in 1999, 2395 t in 2000 and2333 t in 2001.

The catch of school shark exceeded 2500 tin 1970 and 2000 t in 1986, but has declined to419 t in 1999 and 253 t in 2000. The highestgummy shark catch of 2300 t was taken in1993; catches have since varied between about1500 t and 1800 t. The SSF gummy shark catchwas 1839 t in 1989, 1651 t in 2000 and 1698 tin 2001.

A management plan introduced in April1988 created a limited-entry gillnet fishery,which reduced nominal gillnet-fishing capacityand led to a restructuring of the fishing fleet. InApril 1991 the number of nets in the fisherywas further reduced by a third. Controls on thelongline fishery, which took 25% of the catchin 1992, were introduced in 1994 through hookpermits, which were allocated according toprescribed entry criteria.

The landing of large school shark wasbanned in Victoria from 1972 to 1985 becauseof their high mercury content. The ban wasreplaced in 1985 with a list of eight approvedmarket species of shark (including schoolshark). In September 1995 the marketing banswere lifted. Since then, more species of sharkhave been landed. For a few years, severalvessels targeted dogfish species on thecontinental slope for their livers. These dogfishare present in the bycatch in the South EastFishery, as are school and gummy shark.Whiskery shark (Furgaleus macki) and bronzewhaler (Carcharhinus brachyurus) areimportant to the Western Australian sharkfishery and are taken in small quantities offSouth Australia. Recreational fishers take smallcatches of school and gummy shark.

A maximum mesh size of 16.5 cm wasintroduced in 1997 to reduce the catch of largeshark, particularly adult school shark, and todiscourage targeting of school shark in general.Gummy shark has been the main species inBass Strait catches since the early 1970s. Thetransition from targeting school shark totargeting gummy shark came later in SouthAustralia than in Bass Strait.

Nominal fishing effort for shark peaked inthe late 1980s. It was reduced somewhat in theearly 1990s by amalgamation of entitlementsand reductions in net length.

Following the introduction of individualtransferable quotas (ITQs) for school andgummy shark in 2001, input controls for thefishery were amended to remove previous hookrestrictions and to allow all permit holders touse up to 4200 m of gillnet. These changeshave the potential to increase effort, but themonitoring of gillnet effort for 2001 and 2002

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has not shown an increase to date. The reportedlevels of nominal fishing effort in 2000 and2001 were the lowest for the fishery in almost20 years, and less then half the 1987 peaklevel.

School shark catches declined through thelatter half of the 1980s and continued todecline throughout the 1990s due to decreasingpopulation biomass. Quotas now restrictcatches. Catches of gummy shark haveincreased gradually from an average of about1200 t in the 1970s to 1800 t in the 1990s, witha peak catch of 2300 t in 1993.

Recorded catches of other species increasedfrom an average of 235 t in the 1970s to 572 tin the 1990s and totalled 463 t in 2001.Sawshark catches peaked in 1995 with 359 t; in2001 the catch was 176 t and in 2000, 200 t.Elephant fish catches were reported in 2001 as47 t and in 2000 as 54 t. Reported elephant fishcatches peaked at 118 t in 1985, but have beenaround 55–70 t since then.

Biology

Sharks typically give birth to small numbers ofwell-developed young, unlike bony fish andinvertebrates, which produce large numbers ofeggs, of which relatively few survive. Becauseof the close relationship between the number ofyoung produced and the number of adults,sharks are unlikely to have very large annualvariations in recruitment levels. Sharks alsotend to be more susceptible to overfishing thanscalefish and invertebrates because they arecommonly long-lived and often mature at alater age. Gummy shark live for around 16years, females mature at about five years and,depending on size, may carry from 1 to 38young at a time. School shark can live for morethan 50 years, the females mature at about8–10 years and bear between 15 and 43 young.

School shark move extensively throughoutthe waters of southern Australia, probablyforming a single genetic stock within thefishery and Western Australian waters. Thesame species is found on the continentalshelves around New Zealand, off westernEurope, the east coast of South America, thewest coast of North America and southernAfrica. A total of 26 school sharks tagged in

New Zealand have been recaptured off southernAustralia, and 10 tagged off southern Australiain New Zealand. However, statisticallysignificant genetic differences have been foundbetween school shark from Australia and NewZealand. In 1997 and 1998, archival tags wereattached to 46 school sharks in SouthAustralian and Tasmanian waters to studymovement and behaviour. These tags can storea large quantity of data, recording time, lightintensity, depth and temperature every fewminutes. The information can be used to tracethe movements of the shark until recapture. The15 tags recovered have revealed importantinformation about behaviour, including regulardaily movements (remaining at depths of over500 m during the day and moving to depths ofless than 100 m at night).

Gummy shark are endemic to the temperatewaters of the continental shelf and slope offsouthern Australia. Gummy shark mix less thanschool shark between regions across thefishery, and no well-defined movement patternshave been detected.

The fishery takes two species of sawshark:the common sawshark and southern sawshark.Both species occur in Bass Strait and aroundTasmania, but the full extent of theirdistribution is not known. Common sawsharkhave been found from southern NSW aroundthe southern Australian coastline tosouthwestern Western Australia. They grow toat least 134 cm and males mature at around97 cm. Southern sawshark have been foundfrom eastern Victoria to the western GreatAustralian Bight. They grow to at least 99 cmand males are mature by 90 cm. Both speciesproduce live young from eggs that matureinternally. Common sawshark is more commonin the catches from Bass Strait, whereassouthern sawshark predominate in the GreatAustralian Bight.

Elephant fish are distributed on thecontinental shelf in depths to 200 m, insouthern waters from Sydney in New SouthWales to Esperance in southern WesternAustralia. Elephant fish grow to about 120 cmand males mature at about 65 cm. They layeggs that take up to 8 months to hatch.

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The 2003 fishery

AFMA sets ‘global’ total allowable catches(TACs) for gummy shark, school shark,sawshark and elephant fish that apply across allsectors of the Southern and Eastern Scalefishand Shark Fishery (SESSF). The global schoolshark TAC for 2003 was set at 309.6 t, in linewith the agreed harvest strategy. The SSF wasallocated 264 t; of this, 198 t was declared ascaught for the year. The global TAC for 2004was set at 292.2 t.

An updated assessment of gummy shark in2000 found that recruitment has been fairlystable over the last 30 years. Furthermore, itsuggested that catches were unlikely to bemuch larger than the historical average, even ifTACs were larger. No formal performancereference point has been adopted for gummyshark. The 2003 global TAC for gummy sharkwas 1800 t. Actual quotas vary from the quotaset for the fishery due to quota transfers andcarryover/carryunder. The actual 2003 TAC forgummy shark for the SSF was 1607 t, of which1578 t was caught. The global TAC for 2004was again set at 1800 t.

Catches of sawshark and elephant fish havebeen relatively stable for several years. Quotasfor them were first set in 2002. The 2003global quota for sawshark was 434.4 t (265 tavailable for the SSF, with 197 t caught). The2003 global quota for elephant fish was 99.6 t

(60 t for the SSF, with 45 t caught). The 2004global quotas are 434.4 t for sawshark and130 t for elephant fish.

Current monitoring and research

Catches have been recorded in logbooksvirtually since the fishery began in the mid-1920s, but data on fishing effort were notcollected systematically until the 1960s. Thesedata have been collected by the fisheriesagencies of Victoria, Tasmania and SouthAustralia. They are partially validated, and aremaintained in a central database by PrimaryIndustries Research, Victoria (PIRVIC). From1 July 1997, a single Australian Governmentlogbook was used in the SSF, with datamaintained in a central database by AFMA.Since 1970, details of species, sex-frequencyand length-frequency composition have beenobtained from the SSF, and length-at-age datahave been collected intermittently. Thismonitoring, now formally established as thePIRVIC Southern Shark Monitoring Project,supplies essential data for the assessments ofgummy and school shark.

The highest research priority for the fisheryis currently the research of the Shark FisheryAssessment Group (SharkFAG) to provideupdated population dynamics models andassessment advice. This advice includesinformation on which recommendations forITQ controls can be based. The group hasrecently updated school shark assessments,developed a new gummy shark assessment, andinitiated research on the status of sawshark andelephant fish. Bycatch action plans andstrategic assessments have been developed forthe fishery.

Tagging and genetic studies are increasingour understanding of the spatial structure of theshark populations off southern Australia.Between 1990 and 1999, 7047 gummy sharkand 2686 school shark were tagged andreleased. By the end of 1999, 24% of thegummy shark and 20% of the school shark hadbeen recaptured and reported. By recording themovements of sharks, tagging data enhance thepopulation-assessment model.

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There is a strong probability that the changeto output controls will affect the reliability ofan index of abundance calculated from catchrates recorded in fishing logbooks. This willincrease uncertainty in future assessments. TheSharkFAG examined alternatives to relying onlogbook catch-and-effort data, and concludedthat an industry-based gillnetting survey withfixed-station sampling would help overcomethis problem. Pilot surveys off South Australiaand Bass Strait in late 1998 indicated thatabundance indices with similar precision tothose from marine research surveys could beobtained. A large amount of information inaddition to catch rates can be collected fromfixed-station surveys. For example, the 1998pilot surveys collected information on rates ofdamage and discard of commercial species;bycatch, length and sex-composition data;vertebrae for ageing; and supplementaryenvironmental and biological data. AFMAinitiated fixed-station surveys of the fishery in2002. However, the cost of these surveys hasbeen higher than expected, so the number of

surveys has had to be reduced, which is likelyto increase the uncertainty. To reduce costswhile continuing an industry-based programinto the future, alternative approaches tocollecting data are being examined.

Status of stocks

Previous assessments

Concerns over declines in catch-per-unit-of-effort for this fishery were expressed as earlyas 1959. In the mid-1980s the fishery wasassessed as overfished and the managersagreed that fishing effort should be reduced tothe 1982 level, when total catch was around2800 t. Failure to cap effort in subsequent yearsled to further depletion of the school sharkstocks. Assessments made in 1991 and 1993indicated that substantial reductions in catchwere needed for both school and gummy shark.

The status of gummy shark, especially inBass Strait, has been of less concern than thatof school shark. A 1994 assessment concludedthat the biomass of gummy shark in Bass Strait

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was between 40% and 55% of the levelexisting before fishing began, and that recentcatches have been sustainable. Recruitment ofjuveniles to the fishery in Bass Strait appears tohave been relatively stable for the last 20 years,despite large changes in fishing effort over thesame period. The status of gummy shark inSouth Australia has been less clear, and wasreviewed for the current assessment, but currentcatches are considered to be sustainable.

Assessment of the status of school shark hasbeen the highest research priority in recentyears. An assessment in 1991 indicated that thesustainable yield was 550 t and that the totalbiomass had been reduced to 10–25% of theinitial level. Previous assessments had difficultywith representing the differences betweenregions across the fishery. Detailed examinationof catch-and-effort data to account for spatialvariation across the fishery has been animportant part of recent research efforts.

SharkFAG completed an assessment ofschool shark in April 1996, using a spatiallyaggregated population model that accounted forthe peculiarities of school shark biology andgillnet selectivity, but did not account for sharkmovement. It was based on catch data up toand including 1994. An international review ofthe April assessment supported its generalconclusions, but suggested improvements thatwere incorporated in a November 1996revision. The biomass of mature school sharkwas estimated to be between 15% and 46% ofthe unfished level, the range reflectinguncertainty about biological parameter valuesand the data used in their estimation.

Subsequent to the April 1996 assessment,the Southern Shark Management AdvisoryCommittee recommended, and the AFMABoard adopted, a management objective forschool shark—namely, that, with an 80%probability, the mature biomass would begreater in 2011 than in 1996. The November1996 assessment indicated that substantialreductions in catch were needed to meet thismanagement objective.

Since 1996, SharkFAG has developed apopulation-dynamics model that explicitlyconsiders the spatial structure of the fishery.

This approach is now used to provide advice onschool shark status. Unlike the 1996assessments, the model incorporates taggingdata to account for shark movement patterns.Available catch and catch-rate data up to theend of 1997 for all sectors that take schoolshark have been included in the assessment.The analysis of the catch-and-effort data hasbeen revised to better account for differencesamong regions in fishing practices. The latestassessment allows for multiple stocks andmovement patterns to better reflect the taggingdata. It considers hypotheses related to stockstructure, the validity of different data sourcesand the values adopted for the parameters ofthe model. These hypotheses include, for thefirst time, some that examine the implicationsof movement of sharks between New Zealandand Australia.

2003 update

School shark

The school shark assessment was furtherrevised in 1999 to include movement dynamicsand account for different trends in regionsacross the fishery. The model allows formovement of school sharks from New Zealandto Australia and also allows for two stocks ofschool shark in southeastern Australia ratherthan one. This 1999 assessment includes catch-and-effort data to the end of 1997. The modelestimated that the mature biomass of schoolshark in 1997 was between 12% and 18% ofthe 1927 level. This is a narrower range than

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suggested by the 1996 assessment, partly as aresult of further declines in the population, butlargely as a result of changes to the method ofstandardising catch-and-effort data in the morerecent assessment. In order to satisfy themanagement objective that the mature biomassat the start of 2011 exceeds that at the start of1996 with 80% probability, a schedule of TACswas devised, to be phased in over several years,with a constant value of 327 t from 2002.

An updated assessment in 2001 was morepessimistic and indicated that rebuilding thestock to the 1996 level by 2011 would not beachievable with the planned quota levels. TheTAC schedule was subsequently revised.Global school shark TAC is 309.6 t for 2003and 292.2 t for 2004. School shark are clearlyseriously overfished. However, there is muchuncertainty over the interpretation of logbookcatch-and-effort data since 1999—it is likelythat these data do not fully account for changedtargeting. Present data are insufficient todetermine if there is overfishing and whetherthe stocks are rebuilding or not.

Gummy shark

An updated assessment of gummy shark statuswas completed in 2000. Based on currentunderstanding of stock structure, thisassessment treated gummy shark in Bass Strait,South Australia and Tasmania as separatepopulations, though it did not suggest theyshould be managed separately at this stage. The

assessment found that gummy sharkrecruitment has been fairly stable over the last30 years. Base-case results were thatproduction of gummy shark pups in Bass Straitin 1999 was 74% of the virgin level. In SouthAustralia, pup production was estimated to be76% of the virgin level. The stock status offTasmania is less certain because of a lack ofdata, but indications are that it is comparablewith that in Bass Strait and South Australia.SharkFAG advised that the nature of gummyshark population dynamics implied that catcheswere unlikely to be much larger than thehistorical average, even if TACs were larger.No formal performance reference point hasbeen adopted for gummy shark, althoughstabilising pup production above 40% of initiallevels has been suggested as a possibility. Adraft 2004 assessment suggests levels of pupproduction are lower than in the 2000assessment; however, they remain above 40%of initial levels.

Sawshark and elephant fish

Initial assessments were developed for thesespecies in 2003. Catch information for the twospecies of sawshark caught is not reported byindividual species, thus complicating anyassessment. Preliminary results of theseassessments are that stocks are below 40% ofthe 1950 levels, but estimates are imprecise dueto inadequate data. Stock status is rated asuncertain.

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Reliability of the assessment

The accuracy of reported catch-and-effort datafor the fishery has been an ongoing issue.Catches of school shark were under-reportedduring the mid-1970s because of the mercuryban, and the fishing industry may later haveover-reported catches in the belief thatindividual catch histories could influenceallocations if TACs were introduced. Theinfluence of changes in gear and fishingtechnology on effective effort is not known.The level of detail in reporting catch-and-efforthas varied from State to State. Collation of thedata requires the use of a correction factor forregions where the fins are removed from thecarcasses, and for missing data on fishing effortand species composition of the catch. Also,data on school and gummy shark taken byrecreational anglers or as bycatch by otherfisheries are either poor or not available.

For both species, one of the greatestuncertainties in the assessments is the spatialstructure of the populations. The gummy sharkassessment models stocks in Bass Strait, SouthAustralia and Tasmania separately; however,there is almost certainly a finer-scalepopulation structure that cannot be examinedbecause of the lack of fine-scale data. Theupdated school shark assessment, nowaccounting as far as possible for spatialstructure, has resolved many of the deficienciesof previous assessments. Several deficiencies

remain, however, including potential problemsin the use of catch-rate data and uncertaintyarising from the complexity of modellingschool shark movements.

The assessment models are used to developprojections of whether various catch optionscould meet the management objective. Theprojections are much less certain than are theestimates of current biomass or currentdepletion.

Future assessment needs

SharkFAG has focused on school shark, but hasrecently updated the gummy shark assessment.Available biological information on sawsharkand elephant fish has been collated and therehas been additional sampling at sea oncommercial vessels. This work is essential fordetermining the TACs for these species. Severaladditional projects have been identified as highpriorities for research, some as a consequenceof the introduction of ITQs. Following on fromthe pilot fixed-station surveys, AFMAimplemented a program of fixed-stationsurveys in 2002. The cost of these surveys hasresulted in fewer surveys being conducted thanplanned. The initial design of the survey wasbased on a minimum number of stations toprovide reliable information. The subsequentreduction in the coverage of the surveys willincrease the uncertainty of the results.Alternative ways to increase sampling withindustry cooperation are being examined.

Collection of additional length-frequency,length-at-age and tag data would reduceuncertainty in assessments of sawshark andelephant fish.

After ITQs for the fishery were introduced,AFMA also revised the input controls.Monitoring of effort levels in the fishery andassessing the impact of this effort will continueto be an important research area.

Additional research is needed on byproductand bycatch species taken by the fishery. Fixed-station surveys have made a usefulcontribution, but additional observer coverageis likely to be needed.

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Environmental issues

Catches are dominated by gummy and schoolshark. However, southern sawshark, commonsawshark, elephant fish and other shark speciesconstitute about 12% of the total catch. Mostshark and scalefish species are marketed, andmost discards—notably draughtboard shark(Cephaloscyllium laticeps) and Port Jacksonshark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni)—arereleased live. Demersal gillnets also take smallnumbers of protected species, including sealsand the great white shark (Carcharodoncarcharias). Quotas were allocated forsawshark and elephant fish in 2002. Triggerlimits have been implemented for non-quotashark species with the intention that, if thecatch reaches the trigger level, there will be adetailed assessment of catch and other availabledata. AFMA is undertaking an ecological riskassessment for its fisheries, including the SSF.This was due to be completed in 2004.

Research surveys of school shark nurseryareas—in eastern Tasmania and centralVictoria—in the early 1990s indicated a muchlower abundance of pups than when the sameareas were studied in the 1950s. Urbanisationof these areas and subsequent pollution andenvironmental degradation are likely to haveaffected pup abundance, although the relativeimportance of the effects of fishing is notknown.

Victoria has maintained a closure to targetedschool and gummy shark fishing in its coastalwaters (to 3 n. miles offshore) for more than 10 years and Tasmania maintains closures inknown nursery areas. AFMA held a workshopin May 2003 to identify additional areas thatwould afford protection to school shark ifclosed, and will seek to introduce closuresfollowing consultation with interest groups.

Environment Australia received anomination in 1997 to list school shark as avulnerable species. It decided not to list it, butrequired that the species be regularly monitoredand that AFMA report annually on the status ofthe stock.

AFMA has developed a bycatch action planand has submitted a strategic assessment of theSESSF and other fisheries it manages, as

required by environmental legislation. In March2003, the Minister accredited the SESSF underthe Environment Protection and BiodiversityConservation Act 1999, subject to a number ofrecommendations to improve ecologicalsustainability.

Further reading

Deriso, R. (1996) A Review of the 1996Assessment of School Shark in the SouthernShark Fishery. Scripps Institution ofOceanography, La Jolla, California, UnitedStates. (Available from Australian FisheriesManagement Authority).

Prince, J., Brown, L. and Walker, T. (1999)Pilot Fishery-independent Fixed-stationSurvey for Southern Shark Stocks. Finalreport, AFMA Research Fund project.

Punt, A.E. (2000) Issues Related to ConductingPopulation Projections for Gummy Sharkand Harvest Strategy Reasons.SharkFAG/00/D4.

Unloading shark from a gillnetter

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Punt, A.E. (2000) Some Further Aspects of the1999 Assessment of School Shark.SharkFAG/00/D16.

Punt, A.E., Pribac, F., Walker, T.I., Taylor, B.L.and Prince, J.D. (1999) Stock Assessment ofSchool Shark Galeorhinus galeus Based on aSpatially-explicit Population DynamicsModel. SharkFAG/99/D15. 37 pp.

Punt, A.E. and Walker, T.I. (1998) Stockassessment and risk analysis for the schoolshark Galeorhinus galeus off southernAustralia. Marine and Freshwater Research49: 719–31.

SharkFAG (Southern Shark Fishery AssessmentGroup) (1996) School Shark AssessmentApril 1996. Report to the Southern SharkFishery Management Committee.

SharkFAG (Southern Shark Fishery AssessmentGroup) (1999) School Shark StockAssessment. Report to the Southern SharkManagement Advisory Committee.

SharkFAG (Southern Shark Fishery AssessmentGroup) (2000) Gummy Shark StockAssessment. Report to the Southern SharkManagement Advisory Committee.

Walker, T.I. (1998) Stock Assessment Report.Gummy Shark 1997. Australian FisheriesManagement Authority, Canberra, 34 pp.(Compiled for the Southern Shark FisheryAssessment Group.)

Walker, T.I. (1999) Galeorhinus galeusfisheries of the world. In: Case Studies ofManagement of Elasmobranch Fisheries.FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 378/2:728–73.

Walker, T.I. and Punt, A.E. (1998) StockAssessment Report. School Shark 1997.Australian Fisheries Management Authority,Canberra, 45 pp. (Compiled for the SouthernShark Fishery Assessment Group.)

Walker, T.I., Taylor, B.L. and Brown, L.P.(2000) Southern Shark Tag DatabaseProject. Project No. 96/162. December1999. Marine and Freshwater ResourcesInstitute, Queenscliff, Victoria.

Walker, T.I., Taylor, B.L. and Hudson, R.J.(2002) Southern Shark Catch and Effort1970–2001: Report to Australian FisheriesManagement Authority, July 2002. Marineand Freshwater Resources Institute,Queenscliff, Victoria, 47 pp.

Ward, R.D. and Gardner, M.G. (1997) StockStructure and Species Identification ofSchool and Gummy Sharks in AustralasianWaters. Projects FRRF 93 and FRDC 93/64.CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Hobart.

Management performance

There was major change to the management ofthe fishery at the beginning of 2001 with theintroduction of ITQs. From the perspective ofthe sustainability of the resource, an importantcomponent was the establishment of a singlejurisdiction and the inclusion of all fishingsectors. This was achieved when OffshoreConstitutional Settlement arrangements forschool and gummy shark were finalised in2001. On behalf of the Australian Government,AFMA now manages school and gummy sharkin the coastal waters of South Australia,Tasmania and Victoria. These arrangements donot include the internal waters of each State.

Quota management will have an impact onthe interpretation of catch-rate data collectedfrom the fishery. As an index of abundance,these data have been essential to school sharkassessments. The quota system may disruptthis use, which will require alternativeapproaches to be taken.

Under an ITQ system, it is essential that notonly the catch of quota species is monitored,but also any discarding and high-grading, andcatches of byproduct and bycatch species.AFMA has developed monitoring andsurveillance policies to this end, but it is tooearly to judge their success. Quotas wereintroduced from 2002 for sawshark andelephant fish, and while this will lead to thecatch being more closely monitored, theavailable information on which to base quotasis relatively poor. Similarly, trigger levels ofcatch have been introduced for other sharkspecies. For many of these species there isalmost no information on which to base thetriggers, so many will be based on previouscatch levels that have been poorly recorded.These triggers are intended to initiate anassessment process. Close monitoring of thetriggers and catch levels will be required.

Following the introduction of quotas for

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school and gummy shark, AFMA reviewed theinput controls for the fishery and implementedchanges from 1 January 2002. The majorchanges were that all permit holders can nowuse up to 4200 m of gillnet, and hookrestrictions have been removed. These changeshave the potential to increase effort in thefishery. Unless there is adequate monitoringand surveillance, they could lead to dumping ofquota species, especially school shark becauseof its low quota, and increased bycatch. AFMAhas agreed that every six months the gillneteffort deployed in the fishery will be monitoredand that management measures will be reviewedif necessary. Monitoring to date does not suggestany major effort change in the fishery, althoughthis has not yet been examined by region.

While gummy shark are currently fishedsustainably, the 2000 quota of 2159 t has onlybeen exceeded in one year over the history ofthe fishery. This quota level had the potential toresult in a high level of bycatch of schoolshark. AFMA subsequently reduced the 2002global quota for gummy shark to 1700 t, apositive move towards rebuilding the schoolshark stock. The global quota for gummy sharkfor 2003 and 2004 was set at 1800 t.

Quota arrangements originally allowed forthe carryover of quota from one year to thenext; thus if a permit holder was unable tocatch their quota in a year, up to 20% of thequota could be carried over and added to thequota for the following year. This arrangementhad the potential to increase the bycatch ofschool shark at a time when its capture shouldhave been kept to a minimum. AFMAprevented carryover of school shark from 2001to 2002, and there is no carryover of eitherschool or gummy shark from 2002 to 2003.

School shark are overfished, and quotas areintended to rebuild the mature biomass toabove the 1996 level by 2011 (with an 80%probability). The global total allowable catchfor school shark in 2002 was 327 t. The actualallocation to the SSF was 269 t, with only 197 tdeclared as caught for the year. The global TACfor 2003 was 309.6 t, with 249 t allocated tothe SSF and 199 t reported caught. Recentassessments continue to be pessimistic andsuggest that current management objectives

may not be met. However, SharkFAG hasconcluded that it is too early to revise the TACbecause of uncertainty over the interpretationof logbook catch-and-effort since theintroduction of quotas. Cost-effective meansfor exploring the remaining uncertainties in theassessment need to be developed. Assessmentsusing catch-and-effort data are likely tocontinue to be pessimistic in coming years.The low catch of school shark compared withquota is cause for concern, as it may beevidence of a further decline in the resource.However, the extent to which the low catchesare due to further decline rather than tomanagement initiatives and industry no longertargeting school shark cannot be resolved atthis stage.

The AFMA Board has recently decided toallow scalefish hook operators in the SESSF touse automatic longlines, which enablesoperators to set many more hooks than withstandard longline equipment. The effect maybe to increase effort across the fishery. Othersectors of the SESSF are concerned that thiswill impact negatively on some quota species.Many shark operators, for example, have takenreductions in total allowable catches for schooland gummy shark to ensure the sustainabilityof their industry. AFMA has restrictedautomatic longlining to depths greater than 100fathoms (153 m) to reduce interaction withsharks, however, a high level of concernremains that automatic longlines may affectshark stocks, particularly school shark whichcan be caught at depths to 500 m. Many of themeasures taken to prevent further decline ofschool shark have focused on protecting theadult breeding stock. School shark arevulnerable to hook fishing and it is possiblethat high catches of school shark could betaken by automatic longline, despite therestrictions in place. It may lead to dumpingand could have an adverse effect on attempts torebuild school shark stocks. The introductionof automatic longlines into the SESSF shouldprogress slowly until its impacts are moreclearly understood and should be accompaniedby very close monitoring to evaluate theseimpacts across the fishery.