*

Of eight Greenlip Abalone stocks defined by management area, three are undefined (SA Southern Zone, VIC Central Zone, VIC Western Zone), three are depleting (TAS Greenlip Abalone Fishery, SA Central Zone and SA Western Zone), one is depleted (WA Area 3 Fishery), and one is recovering (WA Area 2 Fishery).

Greenlip Abalone is distributed across southern mainland Australia and northern Tasmania. The biological stock structure of Greenlip Abalone has recently been examined [Mayfield et al. 2014, Miller et al. 2014]. Genetic evidence has confirmed that Greenlip Abalone comprise numerous independent biological stocks, but at a spatially broader scale than the biological stock structure evident for Blacklip Abalone [Miller et al. 2009, Mayfield et al. 2014, Miller et al. 2014]. There are many biological stocks across Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. Given the large number of biological stocks, it is not practical to assess each separately, and they are neither fished nor managed at that separate biological stock level.

Here, assessment of stock status is presented at the management unit level—South Australia Central Zone Fishery, South Australia Southern Zone Fishery and South Australia Western Zone Fishery (South Australia); Tasmania Greenlip Abalone Fishery (Tasmania); Victoria Central Zone Fishery, Victoria Western Zone Fishery (Victoria), Western Australia Area 2 Fishery, Western Australia Area 3 Fishery (Western Australia).

Tasmania Greenlip Abalone Fishery

The Tasmanian abalone fishery has been quota-managed with an annual total allowable commercial catch (TACC) since 1985. Commencing in 2000, separate TACCs for Greenlip Abalone and Blacklip Abalone were implemented, with separate catch limits applied to 4 regions within the Greenlip Abalone zone. Size limits vary with a legal minimum length (LML) of 132 mm, 145 mm or 150 mm depending on growth rates, size at maturity and maximum size of populations in different regions. An annual fishery assessment is conducted using fishery-dependent catch per unit effort (CPUE) data, and until 2014 the TACC was determined by a weight-of-evidence approach using trends in CPUE and industry perceptions on the state of the resource. In the 2012 and 2014 Status of Australian Fish Stocks editions, this fishery was classified as undefined due to the complexities of reporting and apportioning of effort to Greenlip Abalone, and hence understanding CPUE in this mixed species fishery. The fishery-dependent data time series has since been reviewed and revised and a formal process for assigning effort in mixed-species fishing events established [Mundy and McAllister 2020], enabling the development of separate CPUE indices for Greenlip and Blacklip Abalone.

In 2014–15, an empirical harvest strategy was developed [Mundy and McAllister 2020] and tested by Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) [Haddon et al. 2014, Buxton et al. 2015, Haddon and Mundy 2016]. This harvest strategy was applied in the 2017 annual fishery assessment [Mundy and McAllister 2018]. The harvest strategy assesses fishery performance against target reference points for 3 performance measures (PM) derived from standardised CPUE (SCPUE) data: 1) current CPUE relative to an agreed target (55^th percentile of the annual standardised mean CPUE within the reference period); 2) the 4-year gradient of CPUE (target gradient is zero); and 3) the % change in SCPUE in the past year (target change is zero). The reference period for the 2017 assessment spans fishery data between 1992 and 2017. A scoring function is applied to the 3 PMs, resulting in a score between zero and 10, where 5 is the target score and zero and 10 are the zone-wide lowest and highest values for that PM within the reference period. Weightings are applied to the three PMs 0.65:0.25:0.1 to provide a combined final score used in the Control Rule. The HS is applied individually to each statistical reporting block, and a zone score is obtained from the mean block score weighted by block catch.

The zone target CPUE PM score is used as a proxy for biomass and the zone gradient CPUE PM score is used as a proxy for fishing mortality, F. A target CPUE score of one is the limit reference point (LRP) defining the boundary between recruitment overfished and depleting for all Tasmanian management units. This LRP is typically 5% above the lowest SCPUE observed within the zone during the reference period. A negative zone gradient score gives evidence that fishing mortality is increasing and the magnitude of the gradient provides some information on the magnitude of F. The gradient 4PM score ranges from negative 5 to positive 5, where the target reference point is zero and defines the boundary between sustainable and depleting classifications, but also between the classifications of recovering and depleted. The combination of a negative CPUE gradient and near record low CPUE score represents a cautious proxy for the true depleted reference point. No reporting blocks have become depleted under this harvest strategy within the reference period (1992–2018 ), providing confidence that maintaining stocks above the LRP will prevent stock depletion, as predicted by MSE testing of the HS [Haddon and Mundy 2016].

The TACC for the Tasmania Greenlip Abalone Fishery has been stable at around 140 t since 2000, with only minor variation in the proportion of the TACC harvested annually from each of the four regions (King Island, North West, North East and Furneaux). The Greenlip TACC was reduced in 2018, 2019 and 2020, but increased in 2022 with a total catch set at 91.0 t in 2022. Catch-weighted mean standardised CPUE (SCPUE_cw) declined slowly from 2010 to 2018, and then increased from 2019 to 2022 [McAllister and Mundy 2023]. The zone-wide catch-weighted block mean SCPUEcw increased from 50.6 kg per hour in 2019 to 61.5  kg per hour in 2022.  The zone-wide proxy for abundance has increased from 3.6 in 2017, to 6.4 in 2022 and remains above the LRP.  The zone-wide proxy for F in 2022 was 2.9, and above the TRP. The above evidence indicates that biomass is unlikely to be depleted and that recruitment is unlikely to be impaired. The above evidence indicates that the current level of fishing mortality is unlikely to cause the stock to become recruitment impaired.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Tasmania Greenlip Abalone Fishery management unit is classified as a sustainable stock.

Greenlip Abalone biology [Burnell et al. 2016, Haddon and Mundy 2016, Hart et al. 2017]

Distribution of reported commercial catch of Greenlip Abalone

Victoria – Indigenous (Management Methods) A person who identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is exempt from the need to obtain a Victorian recreational fishing licence, provided they comply with all other rules that apply to recreational fishers, including rules on equipment, catch limits, size limits and restricted areas. Traditional (non-commercial) fishing activities that are carried out by members of a traditional owner group entity under an agreement pursuant to Victoria’s Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 are also exempt from the need to hold a recreational fishing licence, subject to any conditions outlined in the agreement. Native title holders are also exempt from the need to obtain a recreational fishing licence under the provisions of the Commonwealth’s Native Title Act 1993.

Commonwealth – Indigenous (Management Methods) Subject to the defence that applies under Section 211 of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), and the exemption from a requirement to hold a recreational fishing licence, the non-commercial take by Indigenous fishers is covered by the same arrangements as that for recreational fishing.

Western Australia - Recreational (Catch Volume) [Smallwood et al. 2023]

Commercial catch of Greenlip Abalone - note confidential catch not shown.

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