Marlin fisheries management in Australia

Abstract

Australia has a relatively long history with respect to management of fishery interactions with marlins. Sectoral conflict has been, and remains, the main driver of management action. Whilst constrained by verified catch and effort data from both recreational and commercial sectors, a range of management actions including limited entry, non-retention, non-targeting, closed areas and gear restrictions are reviewed. The review of management performance shows that the effectiveness of management actions varies considerably. Some measures such as voluntary non-retention policies have had little impact, whereas others such as closed areas have had a marked impact on fishery interactions and sectoral conflict. Relatively small areaclosures reduced the interactions of Japanese longliners with black marlin by 85%. On a per unit-of-effort basis marlinsare currently afforded greater protection than ever from overfishing; however, effort from all sectors continues to increase and sectoral conflict with respect to marlins is expected to continue to result in calls for further management action.