Rowling K, Hegarty A and Ives M (eds.) (2010) Status of fisheries resources in NSW 2008/09, NSW Industry & Investment, Cronulla, 392 pp

Summary

The Status of Fisheries Resources in NSW 2008/09 is a general overview of the state of marine and estuarine fish populations that are harvested by commercial and recreational fishing in NSW. In particular, the document contains a summary of the state of knowledge of 108 important species or species groups caught by commercial and recreational fishers in NSW marine and estuarine waters.

Download individual species reports

Individual species reports listed alphabetically.

Individual species reports by fish type (e.g. sharks and rays) or by fishery (e.g. Ocean Trawl).

How this report is organised

The introductory pages of the report contain an executive summary of the status of all species and species groups, followed by a table summarising the exploitation status for each species and a short statement about the assessment of that species. 

After these introductory pages there is a series of stand-alone reports for each individual species and species groups. These reports typically include an illustration of the fish or shellfish, background information about the biology of the species, more detailed comments about harvesting issues in NSW, a graph of the commercial catches and catch by commercial fishery, a statement about the recreational catch, a graph of the catch rates (i.e. catch corrected for the amount of fishing effort), available length frequency information, individual growth patterns and a bibliography. 

A short document - How to read the species reports (PDF 700 KB) - explaining these elements is available at the beginning of the full report or can be downloaded separately above.

Public reporting requirements

This document meets the public reporting requirements associated with resource assessment of key species as indicated in the Fishery Management Strategies and Share Management Plans of the Estuary General, Estuary Prawn Trawl, Ocean Hauling, Ocean Trawl and Ocean Trap and Line Fisheries. I&I NSW will update the status reports on a regular basis (approximately every two years).

Accessing the report

There are two possible ways to access the information in this report. You have the option of:

• downloading the full report above (9.8MB) or
• downloading the individual species reports (each between 200-800 KB in PDF) by following the link below (see Download individual species reports).

If you choose to download the individual species reports, you can select the species by type (e.g. sharks) or by commercial fishery (i.e. Ocean Trawl).

Individual species reports

Each of these shorter (2-4 page) reports typically include:

• the standard and scientific names for the species (or each species in the group)
• an illustration of the fish or shellfish 
• background information about the biology of the species 
• more detailed comments about harvesting issues in NSW 
• a graph of the commercial catches and catch by commercial fishery 
• a statement about the recreational catch 
• a graph of the catch rates (i.e. catch corrected for the amount of fishing effort) 
• information about the distribution of lengths of harvested fish (if available) 
• growth patterns of individual fish (if available) 
• a bibliography, and 
• additional taxonomic links on the species harvested.

Helpful hints

A short document How to Read the Species Reports explaining these elements can be downloaded above.