Recovery of the eastern rock lobster Sagmariasus verreauxi off New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Catch per unit effort in the fishery for eastern rock lobsters peaked in 1971–72 and then declined until 1992–93. In response to this pattern, a management package consisting of individual catch quotas, restricted entry and a legal maximum length was imposed upon the fishery. The effectiveness of these management measures to rebuild the eastern rock lobster population has been monitored annually through data collected from surveys of puerulus larvae abundance, fishery independent surveys, a compulsory logbook, observer surveys and biological studies. The total allowable commercial catch (TACC) is set annually by the TAC Committee after considering submissions from the public and industry and an annual report for the lobster fishery. The annual report prepared by government consists of an appraisal of the performance of the fishery against the objectives of the share management plan and goals of the fishery management strategy for the rock lobster fishery and includes a formal stock assessment. The trigger points behind the objectives and goals relating to the status of the stock have not been activated in the 2010–11 year. Total biomass and exploitable biomass have increased, spawner biomass has increased to now be above 25% of the pre-exploited biomass and the relative abundance of recruits (puerulus larvae) to the population is increasing. The stock is considered to be rebuilding and the resource now supports a viable fishery with an increasing share price.

Keywords:

• Eastern rock lobster
• total allowable commercial catch
• stock assessment
• collaboration

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Introduction

Many fisheries for lobsters have experienced a course through their history where there is an initial development phase followed by a period of over-exploitation and then the collapse of the fishery (e.g. see reviews by Booth & Breen 1994; Polovina 1994; Groeneveld et al. 2006; Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006). In some cases what follows is a restructuring of the fishery with the objective to rebuild the stock.

Most lobster fisheries are managed by the input controls of limiting fishing effort, imposing a legal minimum length, and at least one of several management measures to protect breeding females. The latter can take the form of legal minimum and/or maximum lengths, a prohibition on the taking ovigerous females, ‘v-notching’ females (clawed lobsters only) so that these become protected, or a closed season (e.g. see reviews by Booth 2006; Groeneveld et al. 2006; Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006). In addition, the management of some spiny lobster stocks may directly or indirectly include marine-protected areas, e.g. Panulirus argus in Florida (Lipcius et al. 2001), Jasus edwardsii in New Zealand (Kelly et al. 2000), or Individual Transferrable Quotas (ITQs), e.g. J. edwardsii in Australia (Hamon et al. 2010) and New Zealand (Miller & Breen 2010).

In this article we review the course of the fishery for the spiny lobster Sagmariasus verreauxi (H. Milne Edwards, 1851) and examine the factors contributing to the successful rebuilding of the fishery from a depleted state in the mid 1980s. We separate the description of the course of the fishery into the periods before (1883 to 1992–93) and after (1993–94 to present) current management (ITQ) arrangements were introduced. We used reviews by Booth (2006), Groeneveld et al. (2006) and Phillips & Melville-Smith (2006) and the literature since then to comment upon whether there are any common ingredients to the strategies for managing lobster fisheries.

The eastern rock or packhorse lobster, Sagmariasus verreauxi, is reportedly the largest spiny lobster in the world (Phillips et al. 1980). It occurs in waters off the east coast of Australia from Tweed Heads (28°S) southwards, around the coast of Tasmania (42°S), and as far west as Port MacDonnell (38°S) in South Australia (Figure 1). The species contributes only around 2% to the Australian production of rock lobsters (ABARE 2011, average 2006–07 to 2008–09). However, within the state of New South Wales (NSW) where it is almost exclusively caught, it has a reputation as a ‘boutique seafood’, sometimes bringing prices of more than AUD 100 per kg at the point of first sale. The eastern rock lobster is also found off New Zealand, predominantly around the North Island (Kensler 1967a). Genetic studies have shown that the stocks off Australia and New Zealand are discrete populations (Brasher et al. 1992; Ovenden & Brasher 1994).

Figure 1.  The distribution of Sagmariasus verreauxi off the coast of New South Wales (main map) and Australia (insert).

The species is of special significance not only for its size, but also because it is the only living descendant of Jasus (Sagmariasus) flemingi that lived during the Miocene period in temperate waters in the southern hemisphere. Holthuis (1991) was the first to recognize the morphometric differences between S. verreauxi and other Jasus species and recommended that S. verreauxi belonged in its own subgenus (Sagmariasus) of Jasus. Booth & Webber (2001) reasoned in an article not peer-reviewed that Sagmariasus should be elevated to full genus status because of the many differences between lobsters of the Jasus genus and S. verreaux. This was supported by George (2005) in a peer-reviewed paper. All other species within the Jasus genus, commonly referred to as the lalandii group, evolved from a circumpolar ancestor that inhabited the subantarctic islands (Phillips et al. 1980).

Females of this species spawn off New Zealand (Booth 1984) and NSW from September to January (austral spring and summer) (inclusive; Lie 1969) and are highly fecund; with large females off New Zealand carrying around 1.9 million eggs (Kensler 1967b). In New Zealand waters the smallest size at which 50% of females first carried eggs ranged from 160 to 184 mm (antennal carapace length, ACL; i.e. the mid-line length between the anterior edge of the antennal platform and the posterior edge of the carapace), depending upon the location (Booth 1984), while off NSW this size was around 167 mm ACL (Montgomery 1992).

Kittaka (1994a, b) cultured this species from the egg through to the juvenile phase of the life cycle. He found that eastern rock lobsters had 17 phyllosome instars and that phyllosomes metamorphosed into a puerulus between 189 and 359 days after hatching. The period of the puerulus stage ranged from 18 to 29 days. Taking into account when this species spawns, Kittaka's results were consistent with the time of the year when phyllosomes were observed in the wild off New Zealand (Booth 1986) and NSW (MacWilliam & Phillips 1987).

The fishery before the implementation of total allowable catch (TAC) management (1800s to 1993)

General

Eastern rock lobsters were harvested by indigenous Australians long before European settlement. European harvesting of the species probably began soon after settlement in 1788. Early accounts to be found in the annual reports of NSW Fisheries suggest that in the early 1800s, fishing was only done in the vicinity of Port Jackson (Sydney; 33°S) and Newcastle (32°S), but that by the late 1880s it had spread along the whole coast of NSW (28°–37°S). Harvesting was initially done by hand-held nets and hand lines set on the bottom from shore or open boats.

As far as can be ascertained, trapping began around the turn of the twentieth century. Open boats were used up until at least the late 1930s and fishing was confined to grounds close to shore. During the 1940s motorized vessels entered the fishery and grounds further than 3 nautical miles from shore were exploited. It was not until between 1969–70 and 1973–74 that grounds on the outer continental shelf (around 200 m depth) were found along the coast of NSW. Currently, Sagmariasus verreauxi are harvested commercially from Lennox Head (28°S) to Mallacoota (37°S) (Figure 1). The fishery for juvenile lobsters operates in shallow (<10 m), inshore waters along the length of the NSW coast, principally from June to December (austral winter and spring). Adolescent lobsters are caught throughout the year in depths to 200 m, but seasonality is dependent upon location and depth. Mature lobsters are caught on the north coast of NSW in 10–120 m depths between August and December (peaking in spring). We adopt a financial year time unit to analyse the catch and landings data because this corresponds with the quota season and also allows juveniles recuiting to the fishery to be traced through the fishery.

Catch history before TAC management

Patterns in landings, fishing effort and catch per unit of effort described in Figures 2 and 3 are taken from Montgomery (1995) and Liggins et al. (2011). These are based upon data from the official records of commercial landings held by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI). Details about this database can be found in the above publications.

The course of landings of eastern rock lobsters in NSW can be traced in Figure 2. The period from 1872–73 to 1930–31 (365 t) represented the phase of development and growth in the fishery. The fall in landings during the 1930s and 1948–49 (360 t) to 1967–68 (162 t) were probably the result of fishing down that part of the stock living on known grounds. Large landings in 1948–49 (360 t) most likely reflected an accumulation of the stock over the years of the Second World War when fishing effort was reduced. The large annual landings in 1971–72 (254 t) and the few years thereafter were caused by the discovery of fishing grounds on the continental slope, but these catches were not sustained and annual landings fell to 1978–79 (153 t). There was a sharp increase in annual landings to a high in 1982–83 (426 t) that corresponded to increases in fishing effort (Figure 3), then landings fell until the introduction of total allowable catch management after 1992–93 (142 t).

Figure 2.  Estimated annual catch of Sagmariasus verreauxi from the waters of NSW (1884–85 to 2009–10) based on reported commercial catches and estimates of unreported commercial catches and recreational catches since 1969–70. The Figure is a sum of the individual components of reported commercial catch and, estimates of unreported commercial catch and recreational shown in figure 1 of Liggins et al. (2011).

Figure 3.  Patterns in: (a) annual landed catch by the commercial fishery (adjusted with estimates of unreported landings, see Liggins et al. 2011), (b) commercial fishing effort (trap-months) and (c) catch per unit effort (kg per trap-month) for Sagmariasus verreauxi off New South Wales. Data are a subset of the official records of the NSW DPI where catch could be directly associated to fishing effort.

Analyses of effort and cpue are based upon a subset of the landings and effort information that represents the pattern of what occurred in the fishery. Fishing effort was about 56,000 trap-months in 1970–71 to 1972–73, rose to around 138,000 trap-months between 1984–85 and 1991–92, and then fell to approximately 55,000 trap-months after the introduction of individual quotas. Catch rates peaked in 1971–72 (4 kg per trap-month) but then declined until around 1992–93 (1 kg per trap-month) when the fishery became restricted entry and vessel numbers fell from over 300 to 232.

Research before TAC management

Prior to TAC management which started after 1992–93, research on Sagmariasus verreauxi in NSW had been limited to a study by Lie (1969) as part of a graduate degree and then observer studies by NSW DPI in 1982–83 to collect information about the sizes of lobsters caught in the fishery (Montgomery 1998). These data together with those on catch, fishing effort and catch per unit effort (CPUE) in the NSW lobster fishery were presented at the Workshop on Rock Lobster Ecology and Management in 1986 (Montgomery 1989). These showed that there had been a long period of decline in the catch rates for S. verreauxi since 1971–72 (Figure 3) and that the majority of the catch was of lobsters smaller than the size at which the species first reached maturity in New Zealand (Montgomery 1995). This was the catalyst for funding support from the NSW DPI and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) to study this relatively low value fishery.

The first project (1986–89) investigated patterns in relative abundance and size of maturity of S. verreauxi. Results substantiated the data presented by Montgomery (1989) and led to the conclusions that:

i.	there had been a fall in the relative abundance of S. verreauxi off NSW (Montgomery 1995),
ii.	the legal minimum length imposed around 1902 was far shorter than the size at which S. verreauxi first breed (Montgomery 1992), and
iii.	a major proportion of annual landings were from areas where only immature lobsters were found (Montgomery 1995).

These results led to the implementation of a suite of management measures aimed at rebuilding the S. verreauxi stock, including the introduction of a legal maximum length of 200 mm ACL (Montgomery 1990) to protect the largest individuals in the remaining spawning stock (Table I).

Table I. Summary of the major management events affecting the rock lobster fishery in New South Wales. Note: Antennal carapace length (ACL) is the measurement along the midline between the anterior edge of the antennal platform and the posterior edge of the carapace.

Period	Event/Management action
1873	First recorded commercial landings of eastern rock lobster
1902	Legal minimum length for the eastern rock lobster was set at 10 inches measured along the body from the rostrum to the tip of the tail. The 10-inch body length equates approximately to the current legal minimum antennal carapace length of 104 mm
Mid 1950s	It became an offence to land females carrying eggs
Early 1970s	Lobster grounds were found on the continental slope along NSW (170–200 m depth)
1980s	The use of compressed air for the use of taking lobsters was banned
1982	The measurement of legal minimum length changed from total length to antennal carapace length (104 mm ACL)
1984	A freeze on the number of vessels permitted to fish in state waters was introduced
1992	The Rock Lobster Steering Committee submitted a Report to the Minister for Natural Resources in response to a request for a strategic plan of management. The steering committee consisted of representatives from industry, recreational fishing, Government
1993	The Lobster Fishery was declared a ‘restricted fishery’. Entry criteria were developed based on historical participation. 157 fishers satisfied the criteria
1994	A quota management system was implemented for the eastern rock lobster and management tags were issued for a fee of $2 per tag. From this point all eastern rock lobster landed for sale in NSW have been required to have a tag attached
	A new Regulation prevented the taking of rock lobster over 200 mm ACL
1995	The Regulation was amended to increase the maximum number of endorsements that could be allocated in the fishery to 200 and allow the consideration of verified catch history in the Lobster Fishery
	The Fisheries Management Act 1994 commenced providing for ‘share management fisheries’. The Lobster Fishery was included in Schedule 1 of the Act as a share management fishery. Endorsement holders were invited to apply for shares in the fishery
1996	Successful applicants were issued with shares on a provisional basis in proportion to their validated catch history (10,234 shares were issued). The Lobster Fishery ceased to be a restricted fishery and entered the limited access stage of share management
2000	Commencement of the Share Management Plan for the Lobster Fishery
2003	Preparation of the Fishery Management Strategy and EIS commenced for the Lobster Fishery
2004	Maximum legal length for lobsters was reduced from 200 mm to 180 mm ACL
2007	Publication of the Fishery Management Strategy for the Lobster Fishery

The second project (1992–93 to 1995–96) developed the optimum sampling design for monitoring changes in the size composition and relative abundance to provide the information to assess whether management measures put in place were being successful (Montgomery et al. 1996; Montgomery 1998; Montgomery & Craig 1997). Surveys of puerulus abundance have been done annually since 1995 and spawner surveys, based on a modified design in depths of 10–30 m, since 1998. A biomass-dynamic model was developed to assess retrospective and prospective changes in the biomass of S. verreauxi (Chen & Montgomery 1999).

Management before TAC

A chronology of the major events in the management of the fishery is outlined in Table I. The fishery prior to TAC management was regulated by a legal minimum length, a prohibition of the taking of females carrying eggs, method of fishing and the size of traps. Recreational fishers were limited to taking lobsters by hand or in a single trap and had a possession limit of 10 lobsters.

In 1992 the NSW Minister for Natural Resources acted upon the conclusions of research by establishing the Rock Lobster Steering Committee (RLSC) comprising of representatives of stakeholder groups and an independent chairperson to ‘develop a plan for the fishery based on sound and sustainable management consistent with the need to rebuild the fishery from its depleted state’.

The Committee recommended a suite of management options including that:

i.	the fishery for rock lobsters be limited to a set number of lobster endorsements,
ii.	controls on catch in the form of a TAC be introduced,
iii.	the number of lobsters caught be controlled by placing a unique tag on each lobster caught whether it be by a recreational or commercial fisher,
iv.	the method of capture be limited to trap or pot,
v.	a legal maximum length be implemented to protect the spawning stock, and
vi.	an advisory committee be established to implement this management plan and to review its operation and success.

A TAC Committee was established under the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994. This committee is made up of an independent chairperson, scientist, economist and fisheries manager, all appointed by the NSW Minister responsible for the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994. It meets annually and actually determines the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) rather than provides a recommendation to the Minister or Director of Fisheries.

The fishery after the implementation of TAC management (1993 to present)

Catch history after TAC management

Total landings in the fishery for eastern rock lobsters since 1992–93 have stabilized at around 159 t (Figure 2) as the main harvester, the commercial fishery, became restricted (in 1992–93) and has been subjected to an annual TACC since 1994–95 (Table II). The TACC was not reached in 1994–95 because extra quota was allocated in November 1994, too late in the fishing season for some fishers to catch enough lobsters to fill their extra quota (Table II). The TACC was increased until 2001–02, when reported commercial landings were 121 t or 90% of the TACC (Table II). However, the following year (2003–04) reported commercial landings (108 t) decreased to 80% of the TACC and a substantial reduction in TACC occurred in 2004–05. The reported commercial landings (98 t) that year were 96% of the TACC and against a background of increasing annual TACCs since 2004–05, these have increased, being between 95 and 99% of the TACC each year.

Table II. Total allowable commercial catch (TACC) in tonnes (t) of eastern rock lobsters, the actual catch reported by the commercial fishery (Rep. Com. Catch) and the percentage this was of the allocated TACC (% TACC Caught), for each year (Year).

Year	TACC (t)	Rep. com. catch (t)	% TACC caught
1994–95	91.6 then 106	79.6	(not informative)
1995–96	106	99.8	94
1996–97	106	102.6	97
1997–98	117	108.2	92
1998–99	125	110.1	88
1999–00	140	116.8	83
2000–01	150	102.4	68
2001–02	150	102.3	68
2002–03	135	121.3	90
2003–04	135	107.9	80
2004–05	102	98.1	96
2005–06	102	100.5	99
2006–07	112	109.4	98
2007–08	124	121.9	98
2008–09	128	121.8	95
2009–10	128	122.1	95
2010–11	131	(year incomplete)

Commercial fishing effort remained stable between 1994–95 and 1999–2000 at around 55,000 trap-months. It rose to 75,000 trap-months in 2000–01 and has fallen each year since to stabilize at around 36,000 trap-months over the past 3 years (Figure 3). Commercial CPUE has been higher in all years since the start of TAC management after 1992–93 (1.2 kg per trap-month). Levels remained stable at around 2.3 kg per trap-month between 1993–04 and 1999–00, fell in 2000–01, but since have increased each year to 2007–08 (4.3 kg/trap-month). Levels in CPUE during the last 3 years represent the greatest rates of catch calculated during the past 37 years (Figure 3). Also, it should be noted that the maximum legal length for lobsters was reduced from 200 mm ACL to 180 mm ACL in 2004–05, so that the CPUE rates generated since that time have been achieved from a reduced range of legal lengths.

Research after TAC management

The general objective of the research for the lobster fishery is to collect the scientific information needed to complete an annual assessment of the eastern rock lobster resource in NSW. Research has been targeted at: maintaining the annual survey of puerulus recruitment (now a 16-year time series); developing and implementing an annual survey of spawner abundance (now a 12-year time-series); studying lobster growth (Montgomery et al. 2009) and movements and doing annual stock assessments. A length-structured model of the lobster population and fishery has replaced the biomass-dynamic model (e.g. Liggins et al. 2011).

Each annual assessment provides a report on the performance of the population against objectives relating to the status of the stock (Table III). The following summarizes the latest assessment by Liggins et al. (2011). Information on recruitment to the population is collected from a system of seaweed-type collectors set at four locations along the coast of NSW (Montgomery & Craig 1997). There has been a trend of increasing abundance of pueruli across the 16 years of this survey at each of the four locations. Information about recruitment to the fishery is collected from details reported in the commercial fisher's compulsory logbook. Patterns in CPUE for both sublegal (80–103 mm ACL) and legal-length lobsters (104 mm ACL and longer) showed fluctuating but upward trends across years. Information on the relative abundance of females and males capable of spawning (spawning stock) is collected from fishery independent surveys. Results show that the relative abundance of spawners decreased between 1999–00 and 2003–04 and then increased during the following 7 years. The mean catch rate of lobsters during the 2010–11 season was the greatest observed during the 13-year history of the surveys (Liggins et al. 2011).

Table III. Current performance monitoring for the eastern rock lobster fishery – the sub-set of objectives, goals, performance indicators and trigger points documented in the Share Management Plan and Fishery Management Strategy that specifically concern the lobster stock and are addressed in the annual stock assessment (e.g. Liggins et al. 2011).

Objective	Goal	Performance indicator	Trigger point
SMP Objective 1	Increase the biomass of the eastern rock lobster stock	Levels of eastern rock lobster stock increase or remain stable (with 1998–99 levels being used as a benchmark), or are likely to do so, having regard to the total allowable catch	Annual catch per unit effort (CPUE) is below 1998–99 levels in 2 consecutive years
SMP Objective 5	Ensure appropriate research and monitoring in relation to the fishery	Sufficient data are available for the assessment of rock lobster stocks	Insufficient data are available for the purpose of setting the total allowable catch for rock lobster
FMS Goal 2	Maintain the stock of eastern rock lobster at a biologically sustainable level and manage by-product taken in the lobster fishery	1. Abundance/biomass of spawning stock relative to pre-exploitation level (model-based estimates) 2. Trend in abundance/biomass of spawning stock 3. Annual eastern rock lobster landings compared with TACC set for eastern rock lobsters	1. Biomass of spawning stock is depleted to less than 25% of pre-exploitation level 2. The index of abundance of spawning stock decreases in 2 consecutive years 3. Ratio of annual catch to TACC is below 85% in 2 consecutive years
FMS Goal 5	Promote a viable commercial fishery, consistent with ecological sustainability	Abundance/biomass of the exploitable component (i.e. within the range of minimum and maximum legal lengths) of the stock of eastern rock lobsters (indicated by raw CPUE and model-based estimates of abundance)	1. CPUE is less than the mean of annual CPUEs during the reference period of 1994–95 to 2003–04 2. Estimated exploitable biomass is less than the mean of annual estimates of exploitable biomass during the reference period 1994–95 to 2003–04

A length-structured model facilitates the assessment of the current stock status relative to virgin stock for total, exploitable and spawning biomasses, and an assessment of the progress of the stock rebuilding process (e.g. Liggins et al. 2011). A risk analysis module allows investigation of the level of catch that might be taken without significantly reducing the stock size or allowing spawning biomass to fall below a target level. The model is calibrated using a CPUE time series (1969–70 to present) and information about size structures derived from observer studies done regularly in the fishery. Model parameters concerning growth, length–weight relationships and size at maturity are based on previous studies (e.g. Montgomery 1992; Montgomery et al. 2009). Other parameters, for which values are assumed, include those concerning natural mortality, a stock-recruitment relationship, discard mortality and the magnitudes of recreational and unreported commercial catches. Assumed reasonable values for these parameters are used in a base-case scenario and the sensitivity of model estimates to alternative assumptions about these parameters are examined using alternative model scenarios.

Median estimates of total biomass, biomass 104–180 mm ACL (the exploitable size range) and spawning biomass over the history of the fishery, are shown in Figure 4. Median total biomass is above the trigger point of the mean biomass between 1994–95 and 2003–04, and median exploitable biomass (104–180 mm ACL) is above the reference level of 1998–99 while median spawner biomass has increased over the past 7 years and is now estimated to be greater than 25% of the pre-exploitation level.

Figure 4.  Model-base median estimates of three components of biomass used as performance indicators in assessing the status of the eastern rock lobster stock. Medians are based on 1000 simulated data sets. The fine dotted line marks the trigger point level of 25% of virgin spawning biomass. Data are from Liggins et al. (2011).

Management after TAC

Management of the fishery, including the process of setting the TACC, is performed within the framework of a formal Share Management Plan (Anonymous 2000) and now the more detailed Fishery Management Strategy (Anonymous 2007) developed under the NSW Fisheries Act 1994. These documents specify goals, objectives, performance indicators and triggers for review that concern: sustainability of the lobster stock; conservation of biological diversity in the marine environment; management of by-catch species; conservation of threatened species, populations and ecological communities; resource sharing and minimization of negative social impacts; viability of the commercial fishery; facilitating effective and efficient compliance, research and management; and improving knowledge of the lobster resource and fishery. The goals, objectives, performance indicators and triggers for review that relate to the sustainability of the lobster stock and that are specifically addressed in the annual stock assessment are summarized in Table III.

An annual report for the lobster fishery is completed after each financial year, examining the performance of the fishery against the objectives of the Share Management Plan and goals of the Fishery Management Strategy and including the formal stock assessment. The TACC for eastern rock lobster is set by the TAC Committee prior to the beginning of each financial year, having regard for the annual report and submissions from the public and industry.

Only one trigger relating to the status of the stock has been breached since the introduction of the Lobster Share Management Plan in 2000, and that was the trigger relating to increasing biomass of eastern rock lobster. In five consecutive assessments, 2002–2006, the CPUE for two consecutive years prior to each assessment (i.e. over the year range 1999–2000 to 2004–05; Figure 3c) had been below the level of the reference year (1998–99).

Fishery recovery

In 1985, when studies on the eastern rock lobster began, the fishery for this species consisted of 292 vessels landing an average 108 t (1985–86) and worth around AUD 1.94 million (equivalent to AUD 4.65 million in 2010–11) at the point of first sale. The unreported catch was estimated to be around 55% of the reported catch (Montgomery 1998) and vessels used in the fishery were not specialized for lobster fishing. Today there are approximately 106 vessels (106 shareholders), mostly specialized, landing 122 t worth around AUD 7 million and unreported catch is estimated to be a maximum of 17% of the reported catch. An indicator used to ascertain the economic well-being of the fishery is mean share price which has increased since 1996–97 (Liggins et al. 2011).

Discussion

The history of landings in the Sagmariasus verreauxi fishery prior to the introduction of a TACC in 1994 is typical of many lobster fisheries. There is a period of development during which catch and effort rise, followed by one of stable effort but declining catch and catch rates. Clearly the management measures of a legal minimum length below size at first maturity, prohibition of taking ovigerous females and later the freeze on fishing licences, all introduced prior to 1993 were ineffective in maintaining a sustainable S. verreauxi stock. Similar experiences have been had in many lobster fisheries – for example, the fishery for Panulirus argus in Cuba and Brazil (Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006) and the Jasus edwardsii in New Zealand (Miller & Breen 2010) and Australia (Hamon et al. 2009) – where a legal minimum length and protection of mature females did not stop a decline in stock biomass. However, the S. verreauxi population has clearly benefited from the additional conservation measures first put in place between 1993 and 1995 and subsequently reinforced with the objectives, performance indicators and trigger points of the Share Management Plan (Anonymous 2000) and Fishery Management Strategy (Anonymous 2007).

Legal minimum lengths have been set in lobster fisheries at around the size at which 50% of females are first mature so that most animals have a chance to spawn at least once before being susceptible to capture (e.g. Booth 2006; Cobb & Castro 2006; Groeneveld et al. 2006; Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006). In contrast, the legal minimum length for S. verreauxi was introduced in 1902 for marketing reasons at a length which was considered to be a ‘plate-sized’ lobster. This size (104 mm ACL) is around 4 years younger than the length at which the species first becomes mature (167 mm ACL; Montgomery 1992; Montgomery et al. 2009). As a safe guard against over-exploiting the spawning stock, a legal maximum length (currently 180 mm ACL) was introduced in 1994. In our review of the literature we could only find one other spiny lobster fishery regulated with a legal maximum length, that being the western Australian fishery for Panulirus cygnus (Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006). Legal maximum lengths are regulated for several hommarus fisheries (Cobb & Castro 2006). Some lobster fisheries are managed with other (or as well as in the case of P. cygnus) management measures to protect spawning stock including seasonal closures; for example, the Australian fisheries for P. cygnus (Brown & Phillips 1994) and J. edwardsii (Linnane et al. 2010), the Bahama fishery for P. argus (Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006), the fishery for Homarus americanus in Nova Scotia (Miller & Breen 2010) and protection of ovigerous females (Jasus edwardsii: Miller & Breen 2010; Punt et al. 2012; P. cygnus: Phillips & Melville-Smith 2006; H. americanus: Cobb & Castro 2006) and those for most Palinurus species (Groeneveld et al. 2006).

It has become apparent to fisheries scientists and managers associated with some lobster fisheries that it is extremely difficult to adjust effort for advances in technology that make effort more efficient. For this reason several fisheries agencies for spiny lobsters have turned to managing by catch quota, for example, the J. lalandii off South Africa (Pollock 1994), J. edwardsii off New Zealand and Australia (Hamon et al. 2009; Linnane et al. 2010; Miller & Breen 2010) and P. cygnus off Australia (de Lestang et al. 2011). In the case of S. verreauxi a freeze on the number of fishing licences operating in NSW was imposed in 1984 and then, in 1993, the number of licences operating in the fishery was frozen and a TACC was first implemented in 1994. Catch quota has commonly been implemented through ITQ (e.g. Beddington et al. 2007; Chu 2009). These give fishers a sense of property ownership which is an incentive for them to participate in the management of their fishery and so contribute towards making management regulations effective.

Some quota systems, however, only apply to the commercial fishery, as in the case of S. verreauxi in NSW and the fisheries for J. edwardsii in New Zealand (Yandle 2006) and Australia (Hamon et al. 2009). Such systems run the risk of diminishing the commercial fisher's property right by not regulating the amount of catch that can be taken by recreational and custom or indigenous fisheries. Consequently these latter groups can take a proportion of the catch left by the commercial fishery (e.g. Miller & Breen 2010, talks by New Zealand fishers at conference) and so increase their take from the resource.

An interesting aspect of the TAC/quota system for the S. verreauxi fishery in NSW is the independence of the TAC Committee that determines the TACC. In many other TAC-controlled fisheries, TACs are set by the responsible Minister or departmental Director based on some combination of advice from scientists, managers, industry and/or a TAC committee that provides a recommendation rather than determination. Although definitive evidence about the comparative integrity of such different approaches is lacking, we believe that the independence of the TAC Committee in the NSW system minimizes the possibility of external influences such as those from politicians and self-interested groups or individuals undermining the integrity of TAC determination. It also minimizes the perception that bias or compromise may influence the process.

Most success in rebuilding the stocks has been had when the management agency (usually a government body) works collaboratively with the fishing industry to achieve this common objective (e.g. Caddy & Agnew 2004; Beddington et al. 2007). Until the 1990s management of fisheries took a ‘top-down’ approach, now more attention is being placed upon adopting a bottom-up approach whereby industry are included in forums at the earliest stages of discussions about options for managing a seafood resource (Yandle 2006; Miller & Breen 2010; Eddy et al. 2010). This is commonly labelled as co-management (Jentoff 1989).

A stark contrast in the S. verreauxi fishery between the years prior to the 1990s and thereafter was the responsibility accepted by fishers for the sustainable harvest of the S. verreauxi resource. Representatives of the fishing industry were members of the first steering committee to develop a management strategy for the fishery and have actively participated in the development of that strategy ever since. They had a major input into the Fisheries Share Management Plan (2000) and Fishery Management Strategy for the Lobster Fishery (2007). Fishers have an established forum for the discussion of management, research and compliance issues through the Lobster Management Advisory Committee (LOBMAC). This committee comprises five shareholders from the commercial fishery, a representative from each of the recreational, indigenous and conservation sectors, a departmental representative and an independent chair.

It is extremely important in the management strategy (whatever its form) for a fishery that there be goals and realistic management measures to achieve those goals and, that this is agreed to by all stakeholder groups (Fogarty & Gendron 2004; Pilling & Payne 2008; Miller & Breen 2010). One goal common to management strategies is the conservation or build up of stock biomass. The Share Management Plan (2000) and Fishery Management Strategy (2007) for the S. verreauxi fishery of NSW have the respective goals to (i) increase the biomass of the stock and (ii) maintain the stock at a biologically sustainable level. The performance indicators and trigger points relating to these goals are detailed in Table III. Trigger points relating to the status of the population have not been activated in the latest stock assessment (Liggins et al. 2011). For the fourth consecutive year, the performance indicator for spawner biomass has been satisfied. Total biomass, exploitable biomass and spawner biomass have all increased and, the abundance of recruits (pueruli) to the population is also increasing.

It is preferable that the assessment process, including for instance how the TACC is set, is as transparent as is possible. In the case of the S. verreauxi fishery the TAC Committee provides an annual peer-review of the science, management and compliance being done on S. verreauxi and considers individual fisher's interpretations about the status of the resource and fishery. The scientific report details how the fishery has performed against indicators for each goal and whether any trigger points have been activated. Fishers have increasingly accepted the precautionary approach of the TAC Committee in setting the TACC and place considered submissions to the TAC Committee each year.

An additional ingredient that was important in the recovery of the S. verreauxi stock was interaction amongst scientists. This interaction is extremely beneficial in establishing research priorities and methodologies that maximize the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of the research. It is particularly important in low-value fisheries such as that for S. verreauxi where funds for research are sparse. Benefits for research accrue from the experiences in other studies, not duplicating research and, when appropriate, using the results of other studies. Research on S. verreauxi in NSW owes its existence to recommendations of the Workshop On Rock Lobster Ecology and Management in 1986. During the 1990s in particular, research benefited from informal discussions with scientists from other organizations, members of the Southern Rock Lobster Research Group (comprised of scientists researching the rock lobster Jasus edwardsii) and from papers presented by and discussions with scientists attending the meeting series known as the International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management (ICWL), particularly the 4th ICWL. This provided knowledge about the larval biology of the species, direction about which stages of the species’ life cycle to monitor and the design of sampling gear. The support for results about S. verreauxi presented at ICWLs provided the status and urgency to initiate management in this low-value fishery. The exchange of ideas provided the direction and inspiration to proceed to the next step.

Some 15 years after completing the second research project and the implementation of management measures, the fishery for S. verreauxi is sustainable, supporting full-time lobster fishers and lobster abundance is increasing. The recipe for recovery of the S. verreauxi contains ingredients common to many lobster fisheries and an ITQ system found in some. It is an ITQ based co-management strategy that contains complementary input controls as insurance for biomass conservation. The fishery for S. verreauxi is an example, particularly in the case of low-value fisheries, of the benefits that arise from long-term funding support, interaction among scientists, co-management and the positive response of stakeholders and management to research recommendations.

Editorial responsibility: Franz Uiblein

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the strong support of firstly Dr D. Pollard and Dr R. Kearney, Directors of the then NSW Fisheries Research Institute (now the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre). Dr Pollard supported attendance at the Workshop on Rock Lobster Ecology and Management and the first application to FRDC. Dr Kearney influenced management change for the fishery and supported the second application to FRDC. Without this support the fishery for S. verreauxi in NSW probably would not be in the viable position it is today. We also acknowledge the dedicated work of the many fisheries technicians who have worked on this research project over the past 25 years. Finally, we complement the lobster fishers in NSW for embracing change.

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark