Survey and Monitoring

There are a range of different survey and monitoring tools to collect data that is used to inform fisheries management. 

Fisheries data is split into fishery dependent data and fishery-independent data.  Fishery dependent data is collected directly from a fishery and includes logbooks, fishery observers and port sampling.  Fishery-independent data is collected outside of normal commercial fishing operations and includes trawl surveys, dive surveys and experiments.  

We have designed and implemented surveys in the following fisheries:

– Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery

– Victorian (Ocean) Scallop Fishery

– Commonwealth Trawl and Great Australian Bight Trawl sectors of the SESSF

– Queensland’s Sea Cucumber Fishery

– Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria Developmental Fin Fish Trawl Fishery

– Northern Territory’s Finfish Trawl Fishery, Demersal Fishery and Timor Reef Fishery

Results from these surveys are used to estimate biomass and provide biological data to inform management decisions.

To address specific management needs we also undertake surveys to assess the:

– effectiveness of fishing equipment to reduce bycatch

– economic viability of changes to fishing gears

– interactions with Threatened, Endangered and Protected species

– resource sharing issues with other sectors 

Fishwell Consulting has been involved with every aspect of fisheries observer programs including design, implementation and reporting. These programs monitor commercial fishing operations to record retained and discarded catch data, biological data and interactions with threatened, endangered and protected species. This also includes port sampling which collects biological information of the catch as it is being unloaded.  These data sets are used in stock assessments and to address management concerns. 

Fishing logbooks are also a form of monitoring that is undertaken by fishers. Logbooks are mandatory in most fisheries and include information about what fish have been caught, how much and where the fishing occurred. Fishwell Consulting is the Australian distributor of Olrac electronic logbooks, which have been certified for use by regulatory authorities in many other countries.

Survey and Monitoring Projects