RECREATIONAL SEA FISHERIES NEWS

Flathead Fishery Update

Flathead are often considered the backbone of the Tasmanian recreational fishery and account for 70% of all recreational fish caught each year. Most of the 100,000 or so people who go fishing in Tasmania started out catching flathead. The most recent General Fishing Survey showed that recreational fishers in Tasmania keep over 700,000 flathead every year, most of which are sand flathead.

Recreational fishers take around 98% of the total statewide harvest of sand flathead. The remaining 2% is taken by commercial fishers. This is split between the commercial ‘hook and line’ fishery and the Danish seine fishery, which operates within 1-3 nautical miles offshore. The Danish seine fishery mainly targets sand flathead and tiger flathead. The commercial tiger flathead catch is around 72 % of the total state catch for this species.

The state of the fishery

Concerns about the health of the Tasmanian sand flathead fishery have increased in recent years. Research by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) indicates low numbers of legal sized flathead, with strong evidence of growth overfishing – this occurs when fish are caught before they have reached their growth potential. Research also indicates that current levels of fishing pressure are likely to cause recruitment overfishing – this occurs when the level of fishing reduces the number of fish that grow to legal size.

Recreational fishers have expressed concerns about declining sand flathead catches over the past couple of decades. A better understanding of this decline emerged in 2012 through a flathead monitoring program undertaken by IMAS. Since then, the fishery has been classified as ‘Depleting’, which led to changes to recreational size and bag limits in 2015. While there were early signs of improvement, the fishery remains depleting and requires a further reduction in total catch.

What are we doing about this?

Last year, as part of the Recreational Sea Fishing Strategy, the Tasmanian Government committed $250,000 for the Flathead for the Future program. Under the program, a recovery plan will be developed to restore the health of the sand flathead fishery. Feeding the recovery plan are a range of initiatives including:

Snapshot from IMAS Scalefish Assessment 2019/20

Sand flathead (above): Stock status = Depleting Tiger flathead (below): Stock status = Sustainable

• Continued regional monitoring of sand flathead length, sex and age around Tasmania. This will help us understand regional differences in fishery health and how regional populations are connected.

• Research of recreational flathead fishers to help develop more acceptable management settings and increase the effectiveness of responsible fishing initiatives.

• A harvest strategy to manage flathead stocks more reflexively.

• New ways to engage with and provide information to recreational fishers.

Based on our increasing concerns for the sand flathead fishery, we will draft a recovery plan that sets out actions to return the fishery to sustainable levels. This will include reviewing catch limits and increasing outreach activities about responsible flathead fishing. Any subsequent rule proposals would undergo public consultation by March 2023 and potential changes could take effect in November 2023.

What can fishers do to help flathead stocks?

Other than complying with bag and size limits, there are many ways recreational fishers can fish more responsibly and limit their impact on flathead stocks. These include:

• Only taking what you need for a feed – limit your catch, don’t catch your limit.

• Not using flathead for bait, whether they are undersized or legal sized.

• Using a de-hooker or wet hands when releasing fish.

• Targeting other species to relieve some of the fishing pressure on sand flathead.

• Fishing away from popular areas where fishing pressure is greatest.

If you would like to chat with us about flathead or any other Tasmanian fisheries, please come and see us at Agfest in August. We will have a range of products including de-hookers and rulers to help you fish more sustainably.

Need more information?

• Download the Tasmanian Sea Fishing Guide app

• Go to fishing.tas.gov.au or facebook.com/ FisheriesTasmania

• Phone: 1300 720 647 or 03 6165 3233

• Email: fishing.enquiries@nre.tas.gov.au