Fisheries monitoring
Research focus
The Fisheries Monitoring Program is responsible for the ongoing collection of commercial fishery-dependant information used to support sustainable management of the state’s wild fisheries resources. Data includes information on the sizes and ages of the landed catch, and integration of commercial fishing logbook catch and effort information into stock assessment.
Current projects
NSW Commercial Fisheries Port Monitoring Program 2019-2022
This program generates unbiased, representative estimates of the sizes, and in some cases ages, of the catch landed by the NSW commercial fishing fleet and to accurately identify the species composition in landings. This project is co-funded with the commercial trust. Project Lead: John Stewart
Identifying biological stocks of Silver Trevally, Ocean Jackets for assessment and management.
The Status of Australian Fish Stocks initiative and Fisheries Resource Development Corporation (FRDC) have identified several species which are fished by multiple jurisdictions for which insufficient stock structure information exists to be assessed as biological stocks. The working definition of a biological stock is “genetically or functionally discrete population that is largely distinct from other populations of the same species and can be regarded as a separate homogeneous group for management or assessment purposes”. This collaborative project between all relevant jurisdictions aims to fill these information gaps using state-of-the-art scientific methods to indicate appropriate scales of assessment and management. This proposal is in response to the FRDC call for research into ‘Resolving stock uncertainty for priority species’ and will address Silver Trevally and Ocean Jackets nationally. Project Lead: John Stewart
Key publications
Stewart, J., Craig, J., Hegarty, A-M., Young, C., Gould, A. and Clain, C. M. 2023. The NSW Commercial Fisheries Port Monitoring Program. Data summary report for 2021/22. NSW Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries: 102 pp
Stewart, J., Craig, J., Hegarty, A-M., Young, C., Gould, A. and Clain, C. M. 2022. The NSW Commercial Fisheries Port Monitoring Program. Data summary report for 2020/21. NSW Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries: 98 pp.
Stewart, J., Craig, J., Hegarty, A-M., Young, C., Gould, A. and Clain, C. M. 2021. The NSW Commercial Fisheries Port Monitoring Program. Data summary report for 2019/20. NSW Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries: 124 pp
Stewart, J., Craig, J., Hegarty, A-M., Young, C., Gould, A. and Clain, C. M. 2020. The NSW Commercial Fisheries Port Monitoring Program. Data summary report for 2018/19. NSW Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries: 141 pp.
Stewart, J., Craig, J. Hegarty, A-M., Young, C. and Gould, A. 2020. The NSW Commercial Fisheries Port Monitoring Program. Data summary report for 2017/18. NSW Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries: 113 pp.
Stewart, J., Craig, J.R., Clain, C., Hegarty, A.M., Meadows, N.M., Gould, A. and Young, C., 2022. Using their heads-A novel, collaborative approach between industry and scientists to monitor a commercial mullet fishery as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Fisheries Research, 250, p.106272. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783622000492
Hegarty, A-M, Stewart, J. and Gladstone, W. 2021. Reproductive strategies of a temperate Australian sciaenid (teraglin, Atractoscion atelodus). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 37: 735-747. https://doi.org/10.1111/jai.14246
DiBattista, J.D., West, K.M., Hay, A.C., Hughes, J.M., Fowler, A.M., and McGrouther, M.A. 2021. Community-based citizen science projects can support the distributional monitoring of fishes Aquat Conserv doi:10.1002/aqc.3726
Johnson, D.D. & Barnes, T.C. 2022. Observer program data summary - NSW Ocean Trap & Line Fishery - line fishing western zone
Johnson, D.D. & Barnes, T.C. 2023. Observer-based survey of the prawn trawl sectors (inshore & offshore prawn) of the New South Wales ocean trawl fishery. Retained and discarded catch characteristics.
