14 - Australia Indo-Pacific

Study on Coral Reef Fish Spawning Closures
Help Formulate Adaptive Management in Australia

A review of annual coral reef fish fishery spawning closures in Queensland, Australia was conducted by the Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre of James Cook University in 2008, four years after implementation,to determine the effectiveness of the closures. Designed to protect reef fish from fishing during spawning throughoutthe entire Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the spawning closurescovered the three new moon periods from October to December, for 9 days each from 2004 to 2008, inclusive. The closures were planned around the reproductive timingo f coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, the dominant reef fish species in the GBR commercial catch, but with consideration for other exploited reef fish species.

Available information on the spawning activity of the main target species and how this relates to the three 9-day closures regime as well as economic and social impacts of current and alternative spawning closures on commercial, recreational and charter fishers were examined. While there were few biological or monitoring data, the findings suggested that the closures provide some protection at the time of spawning of most of the important species in the fishery, including groupers and to some extent snappers and emperors. However,there was a significant difference in the effectiveness of each of the closures as judged by their timing. A closure in October has the highest potential to protect spawning fish. Meanwhile, December saw only an effect similar to the unprotected January and June calculated under the closure effectiveness index - taken into account the number of species that spawn in the given closure month plus the proportion each of those species makesup of the catch in a given month and in the fishery overall.

The possible economic and social consequences associated with the three 9-day closures were estimated by calculating lost revenue in 2007 according to the available coral trout quota and average beach price forthe year. Commercial line fishers experienced a 13% loss of potential coral trout revenue for the three 9-day closures at the time of the survey. Costs of alternative closures were also calculated: for instance there was a loss of 8% coral trout revenue for two 9-day closures in November and December, and an estimated 0.5% loss for two 5-day closures in October and November from the coral trout fishery (a reduction in cost of 97%). Applying similar calculations to the charter fishery based on revenue per ‘lost’ fishing day suggested a loss of 13% of their potential revenue. Fisher interviews conducted in 2008 indicated the closures imposed social and economic hardships on commercial line fishers and charter fishers. These two fishery sectors regarded closures negatively, while aquarium fishers and seafood processors thought the contrary, while acknowledging a negative financial effect on their business. Most fishers considered that the costs of closures outweighed any potential benefits to the reef fishes affected, seeing this measure as unnecessary because there are other management tools already in place that help towards managing the species concerned, (e.g.marine park zoning, size limits, commercial quotas, recreational bag limits).

The scientists involved in the study suggested that, based on the results of the review, two 5-day closures in October and November each year would provide sufficient protection for spawning reef fish and at the same time minimize socio-economic impacts, although the relevant biological data on stock condition prior to and during the closures, were not available for a robust decision. An important consideration, however, was to provide at least some protection to fish during their spawning period. The information from this report was provided to Fisheries Queensland who conducted a risk assessment to test the merits of the former and alternative spawning closure regimes. They considered the report and other information in formulating recommendations about spawning closures for the five year period 2009-2013. Taking into account stakeholder input, the Queensland Government introduced two annual 5-day closures around the new moons of October and November, as of 2009.

Summarized by Joy TL Lam
SCRFA
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For more information, please go to[http://www.jcu.edu.au/ees/idc/groups/public/documents/newsletter/jcuprd_055976.pdf]