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Published
February 18th, 2009
Lobster harvest limit imposed
The first step has been to place a harvest limit and individual quotas on each operator.
This year will also see the Government and industry collaborating on establishing processes for monitoring lobster stocks so future harvest levels can be determined depending on changes in stock productivity.
That is roughly the quantity taken in recent years, in a fishery that sources its catch from Princess Charlotte Bay, north to the tip of the Cape and out to the eastern edge of the Great Barrier Reef.
A fishing zone of roughly 60,000 sq kilometres which after allowing for the GBRMPA and other fishing exclusion zones leaves 35,000 sq/km in which to harvest the painted crayfish, an area a third the size of
There are currently 28 licensed operators who have between three and six divers operating from each boat during a season that lasts from February 1 to September 30.
Dr Kerrigan said they were working towards developing a model for the fishery that moves towards a more flexible management regime.
As part of the new arrangements, the Fisheries Regulation 2008 was amended to implement a total allowable catch for the Tropical Lobster Fishery.
The changes also introduced new fees relating to commercial fishing boat licenses and gave DPI&F the power to issue individual quotas to licensees.
There is a reporting system that will apply to commercial license holders once quotas are in place and also establish an annual quantity of lobster that can be taken under Indigenous Fishing Permits.
Dr Kerrigan told the North Queensland Register there was no concern regarding the sustainability of the fishery; the idea was to establish a management system that would give operators property rights over their licenses.
As painted crayfish can't be caught in a trap, each crayfish has to be caught by hand and the divers are only able to dive to about 20 metres, while the crayfish live down to 140 metres. Also as the crayfish average 1.3kg, the current 195 tonne limit amounts to 150,000 crayfish or an average of five lobsters from each 100 hectares of the fishery.
One of the largest exporters of Queensland east coast tropical lobster is the MG Kailis Group, whose Cairns based lobster operations manager, Brett Arlidge, said the industry had been happy to cooperate with the State Government as the industry expected the investigation to show there was room for an increase in the size of individual quotas within the fishery.