The East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery (ECOTF) extends throughout Queensland’s East Coast, but most of it (~70%) occurs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. This commercial fishery is comprised of several sectors, which target particular species or species groups in specific geographical locations. The tiger and endeavour prawn fishery is the largest sector of the ECOTF in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It is conducted mainly between Cape York and Cape Conway (south of Airlie Beach) in the lagoonal areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The northern king prawn fishery occurs mainly in waters north of Shoalwater Bay and operates in near-reef areas and inter-reefal gutters. Banana prawns are caught in shallow inshore areas adjacent to major estuaries.

Apart from prawns, the fishery also targets saucer scallops (in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) and bugs (for example: Moreton Bay Bugs). Some 60 additional species of molluscs, crustaceans and finfish are retained as limited by-product. Aside from some domestic consumption, much of the product is exported to overseas markets.

The fishery, managed by Fisheries Queensland (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation), came under formal management arrangements in 1999 through the introduction of a Trawl Plan. This plan was subsequently reviewed and more stringent management arrangements were introduced in January 2001. Effort was capped through the allocation of effort quota in the form of tradeable effort units, based on an operator’s fishing history in the ECOTF. There were also major closures (some 96 000 km²) of previously untrawled grounds. A $20 million structural adjustment program was offered to buy-out 99 licences, in what was considered an overcapitalised fishery.

The number of vessels fishing the ECOTF has declined significantly from its peak in the early 1980s, when some 1400 operators were licensed to fish. As a result of structural adjustment in the fishery, there are now only 450 operators in the ECOTF. Of these, about 400 operate in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, landing around 6000 tonnes of product annually with an estimated value of about $80 million.

Trawling is permitted only in the General Use (Light Blue) Zone of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Fisheries Queensland applies restrictions on gear, areas and times of access and size and possession limits on the take of certain species. All trawl vessels operating in the fishery are monitored via a satellite-based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), which allows management agencies to locate a boat’s position at any time. A major issue with demersal (seafloor) trawling is the large amount of unwanted by-catch and the physical impact on the seabed. All ECOTF vessels must carry Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) and By-catch Reduction Devices (BRDs) in the trawl nets to minimise the by-catch and benthic impact of trawling.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), Fisheries Queensland and the Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) are working in partnership on a project to bring together and review the available ecological information on the fishery. Further information can be found at: Ecological risk assessment of the Trawl Fishery in the Great Barrier Reef
 

Related information

• Fisheries Queensland 
• Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts - Environmental Assessment of the Queensland ECOTF 
• CRC Reef - Queensland’s East Coast Trawl Fishery 
• CRC Reef – Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project 
• QLD Parliamentary Counsel – Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Management Plan 1999