Effects of Line Fishing on the Great Barrier Reef (B4.2)

Task leader: Dr Annabel Jones, James Cook University.

Task associate: NA.

Key components of the research include:

The Effects of Line Fishing (ELF) Experiment (stage 3) monitoring recovery of exploited stocks following the baseline surveys and manipulations of fishing and closure strategies implemented in the CRC Reef ELF Project (2.4). Specific components of this stage include:

• Line fishing catch surveys of line-caught species.
• Underwater visual counts of target and non-target species and selected measures of potential secondary ecological effects of fishing.
• Analyses of age, growth & reproduction of key target and by-product species.
• Development of behaviour - response models of the dynamics of reef-line fishing fleets (Charter & Commercial).

Maintenance of the research logbook and historical records' program (commercial and charter sectors) and market price tracking to provide detailed historical and contemporary fleet and marketing information for improved management strategy evaluations.

Analyses of compulsory Fishery Logbook data (from Queensland Fisheries Management Authority - AFMA) to provide complete spatially explicit, fleet-wide information on total catch, effort and temporal patterns in these variables.

Refinement of Management Strategy Evaluation Models with periodic updates with data on the recovery of heavily exploited species and in response to changing management and industry needs as required.