The VMP for the trawl vessel currently operating in the SPF is available from the AFMA website at: . Status of target stocks Resource concerns There has been no change to the stock status since the previous WTO status report and no resource concerns related to SPF target species. The ABARES Fishery Status lists all stocks of SPF species as overfished’, and all stocks Report 2013-14 ‘not except for Redbait west, as subject to overfishing’. Redbait (west) is assessed as ‘not because of limited information available to assess its status. ‘uncertain’ Results of recent stock assessments The annual assessment for 2014 (Ward et al. 2015b) concludes that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that any SPF species are being unsustainably harvested. Refer to Table 3 for survey information. Interactions with protected species Protected species interaction reports are produced quarterly and are available from the AFMA website at: . There were no reported interactions with TEP species in the SPF for 2014, or for the first quarter (1 January 31 March) in 2015. – For the second quarter 2015 (1 April 30 June) there were: – nine reported interactions with common dolphins (Delphinis delphis) 12 reported interactions with Australian fur (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) two reported interactions with shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta) one interaction with a mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). Management action taken to reduce impacts Interactions with protected species in the SPF in 2015 led to increased restrictions on fishing operations via the VMP. Subsequent dolphin interactions led to the Small which introduced bans on night time Pelagic Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 1 2015 fishing and triggered closures for any dolphin mortalities. Under the , zone 6 off southern New South Wales and Victoria was closed to trawling methods for a period of six months from 17 June 2015. This is a result of a common dolphin mortality recorded in zone 6 on 17 June 2015. The closure will be in force until midnight on 16 December 2015. AFMA has also sought advice from other sources on addressing protected species interactions. The outcomes of a SPF Technical Marine Mammal Mitigation Workshop convened by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation on 25-26 June 2015 will be considered for future management actions. The report of the technical workshop is available on the .
The VMP for the trawl vessel currently operating in the SPF is available from the AFMA website at: . Status of target stocks Resource concerns There has been no change to the stock status since the previous WTO status report and no resource concerns related to SPF target species. The ABARES Fishery Status Report 2013-14 lists all stocks of SPF species as ‘not overfished’, and all stocks except for Redbait west, as ‘not subject to overfishing’. Redbait (west) is assessed as ‘uncertain’ because of limited information available to assess its status. Results of recent stock assessments The annual assessment for 2014 (Ward et al. 2015b) concludes that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that any SPF species are being unsustainably harvested. Refer to Table 3 for survey information. Interactions with protected species Protected species interaction reports are produced quarterly and are available from the AFMA website at: . There were no reported interactions with TEP species in the SPF for 2014, or for the first quarter (1 January – 31 March) in 2015. For the second quarter 2015 (1 April – 30 June) there were: nine reported interactions with common dolphins (Delphinis delphis) 12 reported interactions with Australian fur (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) two reported interactions with shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta) one interaction with a mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). Management action taken to reduce impacts Interactions with protected species in the SPF in 2015 led to increased restrictions on fishing operations via the VMP. Subsequent dolphin interactions led to the Small Pelagic Fishery (Closures) Direction No. 1 2015 which introduced bans on night time fishing and triggered closures for any dolphin mortalities. Under the , zone 6 off southern New South Wales and Victoria was closed to trawling methods for a period of six months from 17 June 2015. This is a result of a common dolphin mortality recorded in zone 6 on 17 June 2015. The closure will be in force until midnight on 16 December 2015. AFMA has also sought advice from other sources on addressing protected species interactions. The outcomes of a SPF Technical Marine Mammal Mitigation Workshop convened by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation on 25-26 June 2015 will be considered for future management actions. The report of the technical workshop is available on the .
small-pelagics-assessment-2015.docx