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| Target species |
Red emperor, Lutjanus sebae.
Red emperor are part of the family of tropical snappers and sea perches, and are not truly part of the emperor family. They can grow to more than one metre long and weigh more than 22kg. They reach sexual maturity at about three and a half years, and at maturity they are around 50cm long. The adults live on coral reefs and sand flats.
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Reef fish guide to red emperor; Fishnote on red emperor
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| Status & trend |
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Commercial catch of red emperor. Data extracted from http://chrisweb.dpi.qld.gov.au 30 June 2004, with permission of Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. |
Red emperor in Queensland are mostly caught within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. From 2004, under the Coral Reef Fin Fish Management Plan, catch of regulated coral reef fin fish including red emperor (excluding coral trout and red throat emperor) is capped at 1,011 tonnes. Historical data on red emperor catch may be underestimated, because it may also have been reported in log-books as ‘emperors’ or as ‘mixed reef fish’.
There has been no formal assessment of the commercial or recreational red emperor fisheries. Recreational trends for catch of red throat emperor are unknown.
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| Commercial effort in GBRWHA in 2003 |
Tonnes: 149.7
Boats: 372
Primary boat days: 7,535
Data extracted from http://chrisweb.dpi.qld.gov.au 30 June 2004, with permission of Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
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| Commercial Gross Value of Production (GVP) in GBRWHA in 2003 |
$1.3 m
Data extracted from http://chrisweb.dpi.qld.gov.au 30 June 2004, with permission of Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
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| Recreational catch (Queensland) |
No available records for recreational catch.
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| Location of fishing |
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Commercial fishing density. Data extracted from http://chrisweb.dpi.qld.gov.au 30 June 2004, with permission of Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
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The effort is spread along the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, with greatest concentration on reefs between Cairns and Townsville, and between Rockhampton and Bundaberg.
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| Harvest methods |
Commercial fishers use a simple rig of a strong hand line with one hook per line. Recreational fishers use either rods or hand lines. There is also a small amount of recreational spearfishing.
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| Management |
The fishery is regulated under Queensland’s Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery) Management Plan 2003.
Size (recreational and commercial): A minimum size of 55cm applies to red emperor.
Take and possession limit: Recreational fishers (and commercial fishers who do not operate under an ‘RQ’ commercial licence from the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries) are limited to five red emperor, and a total of 20 coral reef fin fish.
Commercial catch: The total allowable commercial catch of coral reef fin fish that are not coral trout or red throat emperor is capped at 1,011 tonnes from 2004. Fishers who operate under a commercial ‘RQ’ licence from the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries are issued a quota for these species according to section 56 of the Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish) Management Plan 2003.
Area: Red emperor can be taken from tidal waters except in no-take zones as specified by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and waters closed to fishing by DPI&F.
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| Monitoring & research |
The Effects of Line Fishing Experiment conducted by CRC Reef researchers is monitoring fish stocks on a small number of reefs in the Great Barrier Reef to assess the changes to fish stocks under varying amounts of fishing pressure. Information from this experiment is being used in a computer model which simulates the effects of different fisheries management strategies on areas in the Great Barrier Reef, and is used as a tool for decision-makers.
CRC Reef and DPI&F are also working together on the National Strategy for the Survival Of Released Line Caught Fish.
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| More reading |
Williams LE. (ed). 2002. Queensland's Fisheries Resources. Current condition and Recent Trends 1988-2000. Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Brisbane.
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