South and West Coast Estuarine/Inshore Finfish Sustainability

A diverse range of freshwater, estuarine and coastal species have been exploited historically by the commercial and the recreational sectors. This project concerns the South Coast Bioregion and the West Coast Bioregion, which comprise a variety of fisheries.

Commercial fishing is mainly by gill and haul nets, and recreational fishing mainly by rod and line. Inshore species include tailor, Australian salmon, Australian herring, King George whiting, yellow-finned whiting, sea garfish and skipjack trevally. Estuarine species include black bream, cobbler, flathead, whiting, sea mullet and yellow eye mullet.

A lot of data is required for the management of these fisheries because they are multi-sector, multi gear and multi-species. The biology of species in each fishery varies with some regional stocks and others that are local to a small area. Also, the recruitment of many target species is highly variable.

There is considerable environmental pressure on these habitats, particularly estuarine, and so research needs to be collaborative with other government departments, universities and stakeholders to manage the combination of environmental and fishing factors.

Resource sharing is also an issue in these regions, where most of WA's population lives.

This project will:

* Carry out stock assessments for priority species in each fishery.
* Monitor catch and effort levels of each sector in each fishery.
* Provide advice to managers, stakeholders, media and the public about the status of estuarine and inshore finfish stocks.
* Provide advice to managers to assist the implementation of Integrated Fisheries Management and fisheries adjustment schemes.
* Identify gaps in biological data needed for stock assessments and facilitate research to close those gaps.

Time :ongoing

历史上，商业与休闲渔业部门曾对多种淡水、河口及近岸物种开展捕捞利用活动。本项目聚焦于包含多种渔业类型的南海岸生物地理区（South Coast Bioregion）与西海岸生物地理区（West Coast Bioregion）。

商业捕捞主要采用刺网（gill net）与曳网（haul net）作业，休闲捕捞则多以竿钓（rod and line）方式开展。近岸物种包括tailor、澳洲鲑鱼（Australian salmon）、澳洲鲱（Australian herring）、King George whiting、黄鳍whiting、海针鱼（sea garfish）与skipjack trevally。河口物种包括黑鲷（black bream）、cobbler、flathead、whiting、海鲻（sea mullet）与黄眼鲻（yellow eye mullet）。

由于此类渔业涵盖多部门、多作业渔具与多捕捞物种，因此开展管理工作需要大量基础数据。各渔业中物种的生物学特性存在差异：部分种群为区域性种群（stock），部分仅分布于狭小区域；同时多数目标物种的种群补充量波动幅度极大。

这些生境（尤其是河口生境）正面临显著的环境压力，因此相关研究需与其他政府部门、高校及利益相关方协同开展，以统筹管控环境与捕捞双重影响因素。

资源分配也是此类区域面临的核心问题之一——西澳大利亚州（Western Australia，缩写WA）的绝大多数人口均聚居于此。

本项目将达成以下目标：
- 对各渔业中的优先物种开展资源评估（stock assessment）；
- 监测各渔业中不同部门的捕捞产量与作业强度；
- 向管理人员、利益相关方、媒体及公众提供河口与近岸硬骨鱼类种群现状的相关咨询建议；
- 向管理人员提供咨询支持，协助推进综合渔业管理（Integrated Fisheries Management）与渔业调整计划的落地实施；
- 明确资源评估所需的生物学数据缺口，并推动相关研究填补此类缺口。

项目周期：持续进行中