*

Vongoles are found in southern coastal waters. They occur in the intertidal zone of shallow bays and estuaries. SA has three management zones, with one zone sustainable, one undefined and one depleted. The stock in TAS is depleted. The WA stock is negligible.

Vongole (Katelysia spp.) is a species complex that inhabits southern coastal waters from Augusta in Western Australia to Port Jackson in New South Wales. They are found on sand banks in shallow bays and estuaries from the intertidal zone to a depth of five metres [Cantin 2010]. Stock structure is unknown. However, given the short larval life span, about 16 days for K. rhytiphora hatchery animals [Gluis and Li 2014], it is likely that Vongole populations in individual bays would be self-seeding and constitute functionally separate stocks.

Due to the potential for there to be a large number of stocks, assessment of stock status is presented at the management unit level—Western Australian Vongole Fishery; Ansons Bay Vongole Fishery (Tasmania); Coffin Bay Cockle Fishing Zone, Port River Cockle Fishing Zone, and West Coast Cockle Fishing Zone (South Australia).

Ansons Bay Vongole Fishery

The harvest strategy for Vongole in Tasmania in the Shellfish Fishery Policy Document [DPIW 2007] uses biomass and size-composition as performance indicators but does not define a limit reference point below which the stock would be classified as recruitment impaired. Biomass surveys of the Ansons Bay Vongole fishery are conducted every 2–3 years with total allowable commercial catches (TACCs) determined to be up to 10% of the biomass estimate (at the 95% confidence interval).

Exploitation rates have been below the maximum of 10% and minimum legal limits (32 mm shell length (SL)) are set at a size that enables the majority of Vongole to reproduce at least once prior to being available for harvest. Despite these measures, large stock declines occurred in 2014 and 2015 resulting in a fishery closure from 1 September 2015 onwards. As a result of the long term closure the licence holders have handed in their entitlements and the fishery has effectively ceased. The most recent 2021 estimate of biomass available to the Ansons Bay Vongole Fishery was 13.22 tonnes (t) (95% CI of 10.52–15.92 t), a level that is 6.5% of the peak biomass recorded in 2001. The decline of the stock from 2015 onwards is likely attributable to a combination of mortality of Vongole as a result of extreme rainfall and flood events in the north-east of Tasmania in 2014, followed by ongoing recruitment failure since that time [Keane 2021].

The above evidence indicates that the biomass of this stock is likely to be depleted and that recruitment is likely to be impaired. The above evidence indicates that current fishing mortality is constrained by management to a level that should allow the stock to recover from its recruitment impaired state; however measurable improvements are yet to be detected.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Ansons Bay Vongole Fishery (Tasmania) management unit is classified as a depleted stock.

Vongole biology [Riley et al. 2005; Gorman et al. 2010; Dent et al. 2012] *Note that differences in maturity (50 per cent) occur among species and locations

Active Vessels. Vongole can be collected from beaches and bay on foot therefore, ‘vessels’ are not always used. Hence, numbers of licences and fishers are presented here instead of vessel numbers. Licences refer to the number of licence holders with an endorsement to take Vongole for sale.   

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