Starting in October of this year, new fishery management plans for Spanish mackerel will be implemented, the Queensland Government announced.
In a statement, the State Government said the new arrangements aim to restore depleted stocks and safeguard lucrative fishing jobs for future generations.
The modifications will result in two three-week closed seasons beginning in October 2022 in the waters off the state’s north and two three-week closed seasons starting in February 2023 in Queensland’s south.
Beginning on July 2023, commercial fishermen will have a reduced annual Total Allowable Catch, while recreational Spanish mackerel fishing will be allowed for the remaining 46 weeks of the year with a bag limit of one per person or two per boat.
Minister for Agricultural Development and Fishers and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the new arrangements would provide certainty to commercial, charter, and recreational fisheries, striking a balance between stock rebuilding and better-controlled access for fishers.
“Based on extensive feedback and expert scientific advice, we will use a combination of measures to ensure more fish are left in the water each and every year,” Minister Furner stated.
Essential management modifications include: reducing the total permitted commercial catch to 165 tonnes for the 2023 fishing season; the recreational in-possession limit will be reduced to one fish per person or two fish per boat with two or more recreational fishers on board; removing the extended charter trip restriction; the creation of a new mobile application to allow recreational anglers to report their Spanish mackerel voluntarily catches along the east coast and shark predation; and launching a new education and awareness campaign that encourages recreational fishermen to use best practices in handling and releasing their catch.
According to the Queensland Government, a new East Coast Spanish Mackerel Fishery Harvest Strategy will support future decision-making for this significant fishery in accordance with the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017-27.
During the second round of consultation, the State Government reported receiving over 780 submissions, and nearly 70 per cent of respondents favoured Option 1 over Option 2, which called for up to 12-week-long fishery closures.
Minister Furner thanked the over 780 people who submitted comments on the second and final discussion paper, including working group participants, trade associations, recreational fishers, and other stakeholders who offered insightful feedback.
“We support a sustainable Queensland fishing sector, which is why we have spent much of the past year consulting with commercial, recreational, and charter fishers. Spanish mackerel are key part of a healthy marine ecosystem, and a large part of the fishery operates in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area,” Minister Furner said.
According to the Minister, doing nothing was not an option following the decrease of Spanish mackerel stocks to 17 per cent.
“These carefully-considered new management actions are not a ‘set and forget’ approach— Spanish Mackerel stocks will continue to be monitored annually through a combination of measures including catch rates and stock assessments using the most up-to-date data,” he added.
The Minister stated that a new three-year Spanish mackerel research project will also be funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and will be overseen by scientists from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
“The project will focus on the impact of shark depredation and environmental influences on the fishery, exploring the application of emerging genetic approaches for estimating stock abundance using the close-kin-mark-recapture method, estimating post-release survival and enhancing catch rate standardisation,” he said.
