Publication Date
10-1989
Series Number
Fisheries Report No 82
Publisher
Fisheries Department of Fisheries, Western Australia
City
Perth
ISBN
0 7309 1656 1
ISSN
0726-0733
Abstract
Traps have been a controversial method of catching pink snapper Chrysophrys auratus (Sparidae) around Shark Bay, Western Australia, since 1959. The history of the issue and the relevant regulations are reviewed; and results of investigations into specific concerns about trap fishing are reported. Concerns of ghost-fishing by lost traps have been largely allayed by underwater TV film of snapper escaping from a standard snapper trap.
A major concern was that traps might physically damage the benthic fauna, e.g. corals. A TV survey showed that while fragile hard corals are abundant in shallower water nearby, the deeper snapper grounds themselves are inhabited by flexible organisms, sponges, soft corals and gorgonian sea fans. This fauna is at least as abundant on he.vily-trapped grounds as on non-trapped line fishing grounds. Traps were observed with underwater TV to move quite gently both when dropped and retrieved.
Traps were found not to select smaller snapper than lines; rather the offshore grounds, to which traps are confined by legislation, support smaller snapper than inshore line fishing grounds in the winter schooling season. On a catch per boat-day basis, trap boats were on average two to three times as efficient as line boats. This is a real concern in a fully exploited fishery and is being addressed by management.
While in past years the quality of Shark Bay snapper was very variable, this was related more to handling techniques, than method of capture. Handling techniques improved dramatically in the early 1980s, resulting in a better quality of snapper from both trap and line boats.
Number of Pages
35
Keywords
Shark Bay, Western Australia, Snapper, Fish trapping, Fishery
Disciplines
Aquaculture and Fisheries | Marine Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Survival Analysis | Sustainability
Recommended Citation
Moran, M J,
and
Jenke, J.
(1989), Fisheries report No 82 - Effects of fish trapping on the Shark Bay snapper fishery. Fisheries Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, Perth. Report Fisheries Report No 82.
https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/fr_rr/276
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