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South East Trawl Fishery Seal Bycatch Guidelines
The booklet, South East Trawl Fishery: Seal Bycatch–Guidelines for Reporting and Data Collection, was produced for SETFIA by Dr Carolyn Stewardson (Bureau of Rural Sciences) and Dr Ian Knuckey (Fishwell Consulting), and funded by Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and the Natural Heritage Trust.
It was launched at a SETFIA seal workshop in Canberra on 20 June 2005 and is part of a larger industry-based education and monitoring program that will encourage more accurate and regular reporting of seal–fisheries interactions in the SETF.
Currently, there is little information on seal–fishery interactions in the wet boat sector of the SETF, managed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, so it is difficult to assess the nature and extent of the issue, or to develop effective mitigation measures.
All seals occurring in Australian waters are protected and fishers are required by law to report if they capture, kill or injure a seal. Fishers need to be alerted to the different types of seals in Australian waters (10 species), and be able to identify those species most likely to be encountered on the South Eastern Trawl fishing grounds (Australian fur seals and to a lesser extent New Zealand fur seals). The information contained in the booklet on the different types of seals and their behaviours will help fishers to report interactions more accurately and with confidence. The booklet explains, step-by-step, how to report an interaction with a seal.
By increasing fisher’s knowledge about seals and their conservation status, attitudes to seals are expected to change and fishers are more likely to report interactions and mortalities in their logbooks.
For more information on the conservation status of Australian seals and sea-lions visit the Seals and sea-lions page on the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website.
Please note the South East Trawl Fishery changed names to the Commonwealth Trawl Sector when the Shark Fishery Management Plan 2003 came into effect on January 2005.