*

Roe’s Abalone are distributed from Shark Bay in WA south around to western Vic. They are classified as sustainable stock in WA and undefined stock in SA.

SAWZF

South Australia Western Zone Fishery (SA)

Roe’s Abalone are distributed from Shark Bay in Western Australia south around to western Victoria. Recent genetic evidence indicates the existence of one Roe’s Abalone meta-population across the species distribution (sampled from Kalbarri in Western Australia to Spencer Gulf in South Australia) but with three differentiated adaptive population clusters [Sandoval-Castillo et al. 2015]. The southern adaptive population cluster extends across a substantial geographic range (Albany in Western Australia to Spencer Gulf in South Australia) traversing jurisdictional boundaries. The stock is currently managed as several separate units. Assessment of stock status is therefore presented here at the management unit level—Western Australia Area 2 Fishery, Western Australia Area 5 Fishery, Western Australia Area 6 Fishery, Western Australia Area 7 Fishery and South Australia Western Zone Fishery.

South Australia Western Zone Fishery

Prior to commercial catches, an experimental fishery for Roe’s Abalone caught 45.4 t (whole weight) from November 2000 to December 2002 [Preece et al. 2004]. Results from the experimental fishery suggested that Roe’s Abalone are widely, but patchily distributed across the Western Zone of South Australia with limited areas of high abundance [Preece et al. 2004]. In 2014, a maximum commercial catch limit of 11 t (whole weight) with a minimum legal length of 75 mm shell length (L₅₀ estimated at 50–59 mm shell length [Preece et al. 2004]) was implemented under a Ministerial exemption. Best estimates of catch were between 61 per cent and 75 per cent of the total catch limit, with the species being targeted on very few days and by a small percentage of licence holders. There is no published assessment available for the South Australia Western Zone Fishery (SAWZF), and the data available are inadequate to estimate biomass or exploitation rates. There is little knowledge on recruitment or harvestable biomass, and there are no defined target or limit reference levels. This prevents assessment of current stock size or fishing pressure. Consequently, there is insufficient information available to confidently classify the status of this stock.

Based on the evidence provided above, the South Australia Western Zone Fishery management unit is classified as an undefined stock.

Roe’s Abalone biology [Hancock 2004, Keesing 1984]

SAWZF

South Australia Western Zone Fishery (SA)

1. Department of Fisheries (DoF), Western Australia 2017. Abalone resource of Western Australia harvest strategy 2016–2021. Fisheries Management Paper No. 283. Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, Perth. 36pp.
2. Hancock, B 2004, The biology and fishery of Roe’s abalone Haliotis roei Gray in south-western Australia, with emphasis on the Perth fishery. PhD thesis, University of Western Australia. 184pp.
3. Hart, AM, Strain, LWS and Brown, J 2018, Regulation dynamics of exploited and protected populations of Haliotis roei, and their response to a marine heatwave. ICES Journal of Marine Science, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsy064.
4. Keesing, J 1984, Reproductive biology of the abalone Haliotis roei Gray, 1827, in south-western Australia. Honours Thesis. Murdoch University, Western Australia. 99 pp
5. Preece P, Mayfield S and Saunders T 2004. Biology of and feasibility fishing for Roe’s abalone (Haliotis roei). Final report to the Abalone Industry Association of South Australia. SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication No. RD04/2002:64.
6. Sandoval-Castillo, J, Robinson, N, Strain, L, Hart, A and Beheregaray, LB 2015, Use of next generation DNA technologies for revealing the genetic impact of fisheries restocking and ranching. Australian Seafood CRC Report, No. 2012/714. Flinders University, Adelaide, 47pp.