Coral Reef Fish and Pelagic Line Fisheries
Coral Reef Fish and Pelagic Line Fisheries
About 96 percent of the coral reef line fishery catch comes from the GBRMP. The fishery is second only to the trawl fishery in terms of both its economic value and its potential impact on Marine Park ecosystems. It is the most important fishery in the Marine Park in terms of the number of fishers (commercial and recreational, including charter) and includes species of great importance to tourism operations.
The main target species for all sectors of the fishery are coral trout, emperors, red-throat emperor, red emperor, other cods, wrasse and snappers. Pelagic species such as Spanish mackerel are also caught, mainly by trolling.
Since the mid-1990s there has been a progressive shift in the commercial sector toward supplying live reef fish to the Asian market. In 2001, half the commercial coral trout catch and a quarter of the total coral reef fish catch were exported live to China.
 |
| Coral trout (pictured frozen on a commercial vessel) are one of the main target species for the coral reef fishery. |
The QFS released a revised draft management plan for the reef line fishery in October 2002. In general, the GBRMPA supports this draft plan, which includes sensible measures to ensure that fishing for coral reef fish will be ecologically sustainable. The proposed measures also include significant reduction of commercial fishing effort, appropriate recreational bag limits and new fish size limits based on the latest scientific advice. The reduction in commercial fishing effort proposed in the plan will complement the current rezoning of the GBRMP through the Representative Areas Program and prevent displacement and concentration of effort in this fishery. The Marine Park “green zones” are recognised by the QFS as essential for the management of the fishery, in that they safeguard a proportion of fish stocks from fishing pressure.
The GBRMPA has raised with QFS the concern that the draft plan does not include any closures to protect reef fish at critical spawning times (these were included in an earlier draft plan). The GBRMPA continues to support closures for nine days around the new moon in October, November and December.
Phase 3 of research on the effects of line fishing in the Marine Park has continued monitoring of stock recovery rates of reefs closed to fishing that were previously monitored while open to fishing. This will continue until 2005. The project also involves analysis of fish biology, life cycles, fishery economics, and the development of sustainability indicators for target species, bycatch and the impact of commercial fishing on tropical marine ecosystems. The study will provide Marine Park and fisheries managers with an evaluation of current and potential management strategies to ensure ecological sustainability.