*

Yellowtail Scad have an Australian distribution from southern QLD to northern WA. The eastern stock of Yellowtail Scad is found in QLD, NSW and COMM waters and is classified as sustainable. Catches in the western stock are limited and the stock is undefined.

CSFNMF

Cockburn Sound (Fish Net) Managed Fishery (WA)

SBBSMNMF

Shark Bay Beach Seine and Mesh Net Managed Fishery (WA)

SCEMF

South Coast Estuarine Managed Fishery (WA)

SCPSMF

South Coast Purse-Seine Managed Fishery (WA)

WCPSMF

West Coast Purse-Seine Managed Fishery (Condition) (WA)

WL (SC)

Open Access in the South Coast (WA)

Yellowtail Scad have an Australian distribution from southern Queensland to northern Western Australia [Stewart and Ferrell 2001], and also occur off New Zealand [Horn 1993]. The biological stock structure of Yellowtail Scad remains unknown; but in New South Wales there is evidence of spatial differences in growth rates which might be indicative of subpopulations [Stewart and Ferrell 2001]. Similar population variability has been observed for Yellowtail Scad in New Zealand [Horn 1993].

Here, assessment of stock status is presented at the biological stock level—Eastern Australia; and jurisdictional—Western Australia

Western Australia

The biology and demography of Yellowtail Scad in Western Australia have not been studied. The most recent WA commercial catch was 14.5 t, while the recreational catch is considered negligible. The low catches from both west and south coast jurisdictional stocks, taken mainly by the commercial purse-seine sector that target other species, were primarily due to factors unrelated to stock abundance, such as economic return. For example, the largest annual south coast catch on record, 104 t in 1999, was due to a mass mortality of the primary target species, Australian Sardine. Catch and catch rates do not adequately indicate stock status. There is insufficient information available to classify the status of the Western Australia biological stock, and so it is considered an undefined stock.

Yellowtail Scad biology [Broadhurst et al. 2018, Stewart and Ferrell 2001]

CSFNMF

Cockburn Sound (Fish Net) Managed Fishery (WA)

SBBSMNMF

Shark Bay Beach Seine and Mesh Net Managed Fishery (WA)

SCEMF

South Coast Estuarine Managed Fishery (WA)

SCPSMF

South Coast Purse-Seine Managed Fishery (WA)

WCPSMF

West Coast Purse-Seine Managed Fishery (Condition) (WA)

WL (SC)

Open Access in the South Coast (WA)

Western Australia – Recreational (Management Methods) A ‘recreational-fishing-from-boat license’ is required when using a powered boat to fish, or transport catch or fishing gear to or from a land-based fishing location. Shore based catches are largely unknown

Queensland – Indigenous (Management Methods) Under the Fisheries Act 1994 (Qld), Indigenous fishers in Queensland are entitled to use prescribed traditional and Non-commercial fishing apparatus in waters open to fishing. Size and possession limits, and seasonal closures do not apply to Indigenous fishers. Further exemptions to fishery regulations may be applied for through permits.

New South Wales – Indigenous (Management Methods) (a) The Aboriginal Cultural Fishing Interim Access Arrangement allows an Indigenous fisher in New South Wales to take in excess of a recreational bag limit in certain circumstances—for example, if they are doing so to provide fish to other community members who cannot harvest themselves; (b) The Aboriginal cultural fishing authority is the authority that Indigenous persons can apply to take catches outside the recreational limits under the Fisheries Management Act 1994 (NSW), Section 37 (1d)(3)(9), Aboriginal cultural fishing authority; and (c) In cases where the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) applies fishing activity can be undertaken by the person holding native title in line with S.211 of that Act, which provides for fishing activities for the purpose of satisfying their personal, domestic or non-commercial communal needs. In managing the resource where native title has been formally recognised, the native title holders are engaged with to ensure their native title rights are respected and inform management of the State's fisheries resources.

1. Broadhurst, MK, Kienzle, M and Stewart, J 2018, Natural mortality of Trachurus novaezelandiae and their size selection by purse seines off south-eastern Australia. Fisheries Management and Ecology 25: 332–338
2. Henry, GW and Lyle, JM 2003, The national recreational and indigenous fishing survey. Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Canberra, Australia. ISSN 1440–3544.
3. Horn, PL 1993, Growth, age structure, and productivity of jack mackerels (Trachurus spp.) in New Zealand waters. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 27: 145–155.
4. Kennelly, S.J., Liggins, G.W. and Broadhurst, M.K. 1998. Retained and discarded by-catch from ocean prawn trawling in New South Wales, Australia. Fisheries Research, 36: 217–236.
5. Lowry, M, Steffe, A and Williams, D 2006, Relationships between bait collection, bait types and catch: A comparison of the NSW trailer-boat and gamefish-tournament fisheries. Fisheries Research, 78: 266–275.
6. Neira, FJ, 2009, Provisional spawning biomass estimates of yellowtail scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae) off south-eastern Australia. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Report, 32 pp
7. Neira, FJ, Perry, RA, Burridge, CP, Lyle, JM and Keane, JP 2015, Molecular discrimination of shelf-spawned eggs of two co-occurring Trachurus spp. (Carangidae) in southeastern Australia: a key step to future egg-based biomass estimates. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 72: 614–624.
8. Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries 2018, Queensland Stock Status Assessment Workshop Proceedings 2018. Species Summaries. 19-20 June 2018, Brisbane.
9. Stewart, J and Ferrell, DJ 2001, Age, growth and commercial landings of yellowtail scad (Trachurus novaezelandiae) and blue mackerel (Scomber australasicus) off the coast of New South Wales, Australia. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 35: 541–551.
10. Stewart, J, Ferrell and Andrew, NL 1999, Validation of the formation and appearance of annual marks in the otoliths of yellowtail (Trachurus novaezelandiae) and blue mackerel (Scomber australasicus) in New South Wales. Marine and Freshwater Research, 50: 389–395.
11. Webley, J, McInnes, K, Teixeira, D, Lawson, A and Quinn, R 2015, Statewide Recreational Fishing Survey 2013-14, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
12. West, LD, Stark, KE, Murphy, JJ, Lyle, JM and Doyle, FA 2015, Survey of recreational fishing in New South Wales and the ACT, 2013/14. Fisheries Final Report Series No. 149. ISSN 2204-8669.