Victorian Rock Lobster Fishery
Commonwealth Export Approval Progress Report
June 2014
Published by the Victorian Government, Department of Environment and Primary Industries,
July 2014
© The State of Victoria, Department of Environment and Primary Industries Melbourne 2014
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Progress Relating to 2009 Recommendations
for five years. Once a draft is completed, which is
expected to be at least 12 months away, DEPI will
provide DoE with a copy of for consideration.
Introduction
Under the Environmental Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), all
export fisheries must be assessed against the
Guidelines for the Ecologically Sustainable
Management of Fisheries (the Guidelines) to
ensure that fisheries are managed in an
ecologically sustainable manner.
Recommendation 3: DEPI to produce and
present reports to DoE annually as per Appendix
B to the Guidelines.
DEPI produces its Fisheries Status Report biannually. The most recent status report is due
for publication in July 2014.
The Victorian Rock Lobster Fishery was initially
granted export approval under the EPBC Act in
2003 and was reassessed in 2009. The fishery is
due for reassessment by 30 September 2014.
Recommendation 4: By December 2010 DEPI to
implement the management arrangements
under the new management plan for the Rock
Lobster Fishery. DEPI should ensure that the
intent of the new plan remains appropriately
precautionary.
The Department of Environment and Primary
Industries (DEPI) notes that the
recommendations and conditions set by the
Commonwealth Government do not bind the
State or its agencies.
The new management plan was declared by the
(then) Minister for Agriculture in November 2009.
The plan built on the initiatives and directions
contained in the 2003 management plan and
maintained its primary objective to rebuild the
rock lobster biomass to 40 per cent of the
estimated biomass in 1951 (considered to be
virgin biomass) by 2020/21.
Recommendation 1: Operation of the fishery
will be carried out in accordance with the
Victorian Rock Lobster Fishery Management
Plan 2003 and Fisheries Regulations 1998 in
force under the Victorian Fisheries Act 1995.
The Victorian Rock Lobster Fishery continues to
be managed in accordance with Victoria’s
legislative and regulatory requirements outlined
in the Fisheries Act 1995 and the Fisheries
Regulations 2009. The Victorian Rock Lobster
Fishery Management Plan was revised and
updated in 2009 and has the primary objective of
rebuilding the rock lobster stock in Victorian
waters.
The management plan goals are:


Recommendation 2: DEPI will advise the
Department of the Environment (DoE)of any
intended change to the fishery’s management
arrangements that could affect the assessment
against the criteria on which EPBC Act decisions
are based.

DEPI presented the Victorian Rock Lobster
Management Plan 2009 to the DoE in November
2009. Prior to finalisation of the management
plan, DoE reviewed the draft management plan
and advised that the management objectives,
strategies and triggers were appropriately
precautionary and aligned with the Guidelines.
DEPI is in the initial stages of a review of the
current management plan, as it has been in place
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Objective 1: Ensure the sustainability of the
rock lobster resource:
o
Strategy 1: Rebuild the stock biomass
o
Strategy 2: Maintain the ecological
integrity of the fishery ecosystem
Objective 2: Ensure resource access and
utilisation:
o
Strategy 3: Facilitate an economically
efficient commercial fishery
o
Strategy 4: Maintain recreational and
Aboriginal use
Objective 3: Ensure cost-effective and
participatory management:
o
Strategy 5: Promote stakeholder
participation in decision-making
o
Strategy 6: Deliver and monitor costeffective management arrangements
o
Strategy 7: Achieve compliance with
legislation
The Rock Lobster Fishery is quota managed. The
annual total allowable commercial catch for the
fishery is determined on the basis of stock
assessment modelling, which considers fisherydependent and independent information
including log book returns, in-port sampling, onboard observations, fixed-site surveying and
puerulus abundance.
Lobster Fishery. This issue was explored in
“Spatial modelling and assessment of the
Victorian Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii)
fishery” (Hobday and Punt 2006).
Changes in rock lobster markets can be a driver of
localised depletion. Market preference for dark
red coloured lobsters, for example, has led to
fishing effort in the Western Zone shifting from
deeper to shallow areas where red lobsters are
found.
Recommendation 5: DEPI to:
a)
b)
develop improved estimates of harvest
from the recreational sector; and
The stock assessment model used in Victoria
utilises data standardised on region, depth,
month and year and produces three regional (i.e.
subzone) assessments to analyse catch and
fishing activity. The Rock Lobster and Giant Crab
Resource Assessment Group routinely evaluates
the catch and effort trends within these regions
and has recently undertaken an assessment of
fishing activity within certain depth ranges.
in consultation with stakeholders, factor
this information into stock assessments to
determine appropriately precautionary
ecologically sustainable harvest levels.
The 2003 management plan estimated
recreational catches of five and ten per cent of
the total allowable commercial catch for the
Western Zone and the Eastern Zone, respectively.
These recreational catches were maintained in
the management plan declared in 2009.
The combination of the annual total allowable
commercial catch and the biomass target
specified in the management plan ensure that
the biomass in the fishery is increasing and that
management strategies are appropriately
focussed on the stock.
In 2013, DEPI conducted an online survey of
Victorian recreational fishing licence holders as a
preliminary study of recreational catch and effort
of rock lobsters, abalone and scallops. 98,213
emails were sent, with 5,232 responses received.
Results indicated that a higher proportion of
activity and catch of rock lobsters comes from the
Eastern Zone, which is consistent with the
relationship used in the management plan.
Recommendation 7: DEPI to develop measures
to assess ecosystem impacts of the fishery,
including consideration of the results of the
report on Rock Lobster Habitats (once finalised).
Ongoing monitoring of the Rock Lobster Fishery
includes a program whereby independent onboard observers record the catch and discards of
bycatch and by-product and interactions with
protected species.
The survey is recognised as a pilot study aimed at
determining the effectiveness of online broadcast
questionnaires. It was not intended to be used as
a method of estimating a recreational total
allowable catch. The survey response rate was
low so further work will employ different
methodologies to gather information
Rock lobster fishers are required to report
interactions with protected species as part of
their daily catch and effort logbook reporting.
There have been no reported interactions with
threatened, endangered or protected species in
the last five years.
DEPI is currently seeking funding to undertake a
comprehensive survey of five key recreational
species; rock lobster, abalone, King George
whiting, snapper and black bream. Successful
funding of this project will enable DEPI to
accurately estimate recreational rock lobster
harvest.
Recommendation 6: DEPI to identify areas at
risk of localised depletion and implement
appropriate management measures to address
the identified risk.
There is significant variation in the biology and
fishery performance within each zone of the Rock
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