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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Ecological effects of trawling fisheries on the eastern Australian continental shelf: a modelling study

Marie Savina A E , Robyn E Forrest B C , Elizabeth A Fulton D and Scott A Condie D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Queensland Biosciences Precinct 306 Carmody road, Saint Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.

B Fisheries Centre, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2202 Main Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.

C Present address: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, 3190 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N7, Canada.

D CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: Marie.Savina-Rolland@csiro.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 64(11) 1068-1086 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF12361
Submitted: 27 December 2012  Accepted: 10 May 2013   Published: 7 August 2013

Abstract

The New South Wales Offshore Trawl Fishery began to expand in 1976, following a large exploratory trawl survey carried out on the fishing grounds of the upper continental slope. This survey was repeated 20 years later with the same vessel and using similar protocols. Comparison of the survey results suggested that the overall fish biomass in the survey area had substantially decreased after 20 years. We have implemented an ecosystem model using the Atlantis framework to (1) emulate the evolution of the shelf ecosystems from 1976 to 1996 and (2) explore the effects of alternative fishing pressures on those ecosystems. We have been able to emulate the observed decline of most of the commercial groups of fish species in the Offshore Trawl Fishery, including sharks, and our results confirmed that fishing pressure was the most important cause of these observed changes. Fourteen fishing scenarios highlight the competing nature of some of the ecosystem-based sustainable fishing objectives.

Additional keywords: Atlantis, ecosystem-based fisheries management, ecosystem modelling, functional biodiversity, New South Wales, Offshore Trawl Fishery.


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