Effects of Western Rock Lobster Fishing on Deepwater Ecology

In 1999/2000 the Western Rock Lobster Managed Fishery became the world's first fishery to receive Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, and since then the management process has moved on to address the MSC's annual audit requirements. As part of this process an ecological risk assessment (ERA) and more recently an environmental management strategy (EMS) have been completed.

A gap in the knowledge of deep-water rock lobster ecology was identified as a priority area of research. This project will examine the effects of western rock lobster fishing on the ecosystem and improve the understanding of the interactions between the rock lobster fishery and the ecosystem in deep water.

The project will:

* identify gradients in the density/size distribution of western rock lobster to enable selection of representative areas;
* identify gradients in the density/size distribution of western rock lobster to enable selection of representative areas,
* assess the catchability of western rock lobster and its relationship with population abundance and size structure; and
* identify the relationship between the deep-water habitat and the density/size distribution of western rock lobster to enable a preliminary evaluation of the impact of lobster biomass removal in the deep-water.

Results will be disseminated as:

* a non-technical description of the project and its results for public discussion;
* scientific papers describing the project and its results;
* reports and presentation to industry and advisory groups; and
* a report for fisheries managers detailing the findings of the study.

Time: Due for completion December 2007