Oral Presentation Australian Society for Fish Biology Conference 2018

Changes in logbook reporting following the implementation of electronic monitoring technologies in Australian Commonwealth fisheries (#116)

Rocio Noriega 1 , Timothy Emery 1 , James Larcombe 1 , Ashley Williams 1
  1. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra, ACT, Australia

In Australia, electronic monitoring (EM) was implemented by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) in three of its managed fisheries: the Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery (ETBF), Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery (WTBF) and Gillnet Hook and Trap (GHAT) sector of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) from 1 July 2015. We examine logbook data from the first two years of EM operation, with the aim to measure the effect of the AFMA EM program on fisher logbook reporting. During this period, while there was no change in logbook reporting of retained target species catch, there was an increase in the reporting of discarded target species catch in all three fisheries, an increase in logbook reporting of non-target discard species in the ETBF and an increase in logbook reporting of protected species interactions in all three fisheries. Observed changes could be due to differences in gear selectivity, perceived legitimacy of EM among industry, and/or underlying management incentives. It is important that AFMA’s EM program is regularly reviewed to inform not only its own development but that of other nations or organisations considering EM as a potential replacement or supplement to other fishery-dependent data collection tools.