South East Fishery (SEF) Ecosystem Study 1993-1996: Focussed habitat sampling - Fish Trap (Starfire 1996)

Focussed habitat sampling of eight macrohabitats (defined by bottom type, soft hard or rough) in three mesohabitats (key study areas presenting a variety of shelf habitats describd by fishers) using fish traps from a commercial vessel (incidental catches were also taken with modified crab traps). Six of the macrohabitats were located in Disaster Bay off southern NSW, the other two were in Victorian waters off Pt Hicks. Traps were deployed and retrieved at dawn and dusk giving near equal day/night saoking times. 18 deployments yielded 1520 fish (~900 kg) and 258.5 kg hermit crabs. For full details see Williams and Bax (2001).