Publication Date
12-2024
Series Number
No. 344
Publisher
State of Western Australia (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development)
City
Perth
ISBN
978-1-921845-51-2(Print), 978-1-921845-62-8 (Online)
ISSN
1035-4549 (Print), 2202-5758 (Online)
Abstract
The Western Rock Lobster (WRL) (Panulirus cygnus) is the most commonly caught Rock Lobster (RL) species in Western Australia. Catches from the commercial and recreational sectors are required to determine and monitor Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC), Total Allowable Recreational Catch (TARC) and the proportion of Allowable Harvest Level (AHL) achieved. The TARC is set at 5% of the AHL and evaluated in the harvest strategy based on a 5-year average.
Data for the recreational sector are obtained using phone-recall surveys to provide annual estimates of participation, fishing effort and retained catch (by numbers) from recreational fishers who hold a RL licence. Average weight, obtained from boat ramp surveys, are used to convert estimates of retained catch by licensed fishers from numbers to recreational harvest (by weight). Tour Operator Returns (Charter Logbooks) provide a census of annual participation, effort and retained catch (by numbers) from charter fishing (where fishers are not required to hold a RL licence). Random length samples of WRL from tour operators are used to convert the retained catch from numbers to weight.
This report provides estimates of RL recreational fishing participation, effort and catch for 2023/24 (1 May 2023 – 30 April 2024). Participation in the RL recreational fishery (all species) by licensed fishers (RL licence holders aged five years and older) in 2023/24 was 61% or 31,156 fishers (95% CI 29,922 – 32,390). Participation was steady (i.e., the 95% CI overlapped between survey years) compared with phone-recall surveys conducted between 2018/19 and 2022/23.
The total fishing effort for RL recreational fishing (all species) by licensed fishers in 2023/24 was 502,836 days fished (95% CI 465,362 – 540,309), of which 77% or 386,098 days (349,488 – 422,708) was by potting and 23% or 116,738 days (100,031 – 133,445) by diving. This was steady compared with phone-recall surveys conducted between 2018/19 and 2022/23. The majority of fishing effort in 2023/24 occurred in the Metro-West Coast region (66%).
The recreational harvest of WRL by licensed fishers in 2023/24, based on an overall (i.e., combined across potting and diving) average weight of 623.9 g, was 469 t (95% CI 424 – 514), of which 76% or 358 t (317 – 400) was by potting and 24% or 111 t (89 – 133) by diving. This was steady compared with phone-recall surveys conducted between 2018/19 and 2022/23.
Recreational harvest of WRL from tour operators in 2023/24 was 20 t (based on an overall average weight of 525.4 g) and has increased annually from 9 t in 2018/19 to 17 t in 2021/22 and 2022/23. The majority of the recreational harvest in 2023/24 from tour operators was by potting (95%).
The 5-year average recreational harvest (for licensed and tour operators combined) was 504 t in 2023/24, which represents 4.7% of the AHL.
Number of Pages
32
Keywords
Western Rock Lobster, Panulirus cygnus, participation catch and effort, recreational fishing
Disciplines
Aquaculture and Fisheries | Environmental Monitoring
Recommended Citation
Smallwood, C.B., Ryan, K.L. and Tate, A.C. 2024. Recreational fishing for Western Rock Lobster: estimates of participation, effort and catch in 2023/24. Fisheries Research Report No. 344. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia. 27 pp.
