*

Southern Shortfin Eel (2023)

Anguilla australis

  • Victorian Fisheries Authority (Victorian Fisheries Authority)
  • Andrew Bartleet (Inland Fisheries Service, Tasmania)
  • Karina Hall (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries)
  • Thomas Hart (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland)
  • Gabrielle Henderson (Inland Fisheries Service, Tasmania)
  • Klaas Hartmann (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania)

Date Published: June 2023

You are currently viewing a report filtered by jurisdiction. View the full report.

Toggle content

Summary

Southern Shortfin Eel occurs in coastal streams of eastern Australia, from southern QLD to the Murray River (SA). A distinct sub-species is also found in New Zealand and islands of the western Pacific. There is currently no cross-jurisdictional stock assessment for Southern Shortfin Eel in Australia, so this assessment is presented at the jurisdictional level. Southern Shortfin Eel is classified as undefined in QLD and NSW, and sustainable in VIC and TAS.

Photo: Museums Victoria

Toggle content

Stock Status Overview

Stock status determination
Jurisdiction Stock Stock status Indicators
Queensland Queensland Undefined

Catch, Effort

Toggle content

Stock Structure

Southern Shortfin Eel is widespread in coastal streams of south-eastern Australia, from the Pine River in southern Queensland to the Murray River in South Australia, including Tasmania. The species also occurs in New Zealand and western Pacific Islands [Beaumer 1996; Allen et al. 2002]. Genetic studies indicate that Shortfin Eel represents two geographically separate subspecies; Anguilla australis australis in Australia and Anguilla australis schmidtii in New Zealand and western Pacific islands [Shen and Tzeng 2007; Arai 2016]. As there is currently no cross-jurisdictional stock assessment undertaken for the shared stock, assessment of stock status is presented here at the jurisdictional level—New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria.

Toggle content

Stock Status

Queensland

The Southern Shortfin (A. australis), Pacific Shortfin (A obscura) and the Longfin Eel (A. reinhardtii) all occur in Queensland rivers flowing east off the Great Dividing Range. South-east Queensland is considered the northern extent of the distribution of Southern Shortfin Eel, the Pacific Shortfin is restricted to North Queensland and Longfin Eels are common throughout eastern drainages of Queensland. Eels are taken in both commercial and limited recreational fisheries though data are not available on a species level. The target species in the commercial Queensland Eel Fishery is predominantly the Longfin Eel. The Southern Shortfin Eel is also targeted though to a negligible extent. Overall, there is insufficient information to confidently classify the status of this stock..

On the basis of the information provided above, Southern Shortfin Eel in Queensland is classified as an undefined stock.

Toggle content

Biology

[Beumer 1996; Allen et al. 2002; McKinnon et al. 2002; Crook et al. 2014].

Biology
Species Longevity / Maximum Size Maturity (50 per cent)
Southern Shortfin Eel

Females: 18–35 years, 1,100 mm. Males: 14–24 years, 600 mm.

Size at migration.  Females:10–35 years, 480–1,020 mm. Males: 6–24 years, 340–600 mm

Toggle content

Distributions

.
Toggle content

Tables

Fishing methods
Queensland
Commercial
Traps and Pots
Recreational
Hook and Line
Indigenous
Various
Management methods
Method Queensland
Commercial
Gear restrictions
Limited entry
Seasonal or spatial closures
Size limits
Vessel restrictions
Recreational
Bag/possession limits
Gear restrictions
Seasonal or spatial closures
Size limits
Catch
Queensland
Indigenous Unknown
Recreational Unknown

New South Wales – Commercial (Catch). Data are provided in financial years.

New South Wales – Recreational (Catch). Estimates from Murphy et al. [2020,2022], based on a survey of Recreational Fishing Licence households. Note, estimates for eels are highly uncertain, with a relative standard error of greater than 30% and based on survey data from fewer than 20 households.

New South Wales – Indigenous (Management Methods). https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/aboriginal-fishing).

Queensland – Indigenous (Management Methods). for more information see https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/traditional-fishing

Queensland – Commercial (Catch). Queensland commercial and charter data have been sourced from the commercial fisheries logbook program. Further information available through the Queensland Fisheries Summary Report https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/monitoring-research/data/queensland-fisheries-summary-report 

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.
Tasmania - Recreational (Management Methods). In Tasmania, an angling licence is required to take eels. There is a 12 fish daily bag limit for eels with a minimum size of 300 mm and a possession limit of 24 eels at any one time [IFS 2018].
Tasmania - Indigenous (Management Methods). In Tasmania, Indigenous persons engaged in traditional fishing activities in marine waters are exempt from holding recreational fishing licences but must comply with all other fisheries rules as if they were licensed. For details, see the policy document 'Recognition of Aboriginal Fishing Activities” (https://fishing.tas.gov.au/Documents/Policy%20for%20Aboriginal%20tags%20and%20alloting%20an%20UIC.pdf).

Toggle content

Catch Chart

.
Toggle content

References

  1. Allen, GR, Midgley, SH and Allen, M 2002, Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth. 394 pp.
  2. Arai, T 2016, Taxonomy and distribution. In: Biology and Ecology of Anguillid Eels (Arai, T. ed.), pp. 1-20. CRC Press, London.
  3. Australian Survey Research 2012, Improving Inland Recreational Fishing Survey Report. DPI: Fisheries Victoria. Australian Survey Research Group Pty Ltd, Ormond, Victoria. 89 pp.
  4. Australian Survey Research Group Pty Ltd, September 2018, Victorian Fisheries Authority Recreational Fishing Survey 2018
  5. Bell, JD, Ingram, BA, Gorfine, HK and Conron SD 2023, Review of key Victorian fish stocks — 2022, Victorian Fisheries Authority Science Report Series No. 38, First Edition, June 2023. VFA: Queenscliff. 85pp
  6. Beumer, JP 1996, Family Anguillidae freshwater eels. In: Freshwater Fishes of South-Eastern Australia (McDowall, R.M. ed.), pp. 39-43. Reed Pty Ltd., Chatswood.
  7. Crook, DA, Macdonald, JI, Morrongiello, JR, Belcher, CA, Lovett, D, Walker, A and Nicol, SJ 2014, Environmental cues and extended estuarine residence in seaward migrating eels (Anguilla australis). Freshwater biology 59 (8): 1710-1720.
  8. Hall, KC 2020, NSW Stock status summary 2018/19 - Southern Shortfin Eel (Anguilla australis). NSW Department of Primary Industries, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia
  9. Hall, KC 2023, NSW Stock status summary 2022/23 - Southern Shortfin Eel (Anguilla australis). NSW Department of Primary Industries, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia
  10. Head, L 1989, Prehistoric Aboriginal impacts on Australian vegetation: an assessment of the evidence. Australian Geographer 20(1): 37-46.
  11. Inland Fisheries Service 2018, Tasmanian Inland Recreational Fishery Management Plan 2018–28
  12. McKinnon, L, Gasior, R, Collins, A, Pease, B and Ruwald, F 2002, Assessment of eastern Australian Anguilla australis and A. reinardtii glass eel stocks. In: Assessment of eastern Australian Glass Eel Stocks and Associated Eel Aquaculture. Final Report FRDC Project No. 97/312 (and No. 99/333) (Gooley, G.J. and Ingram, B.A. eds.), pp. 13-82. Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute, Alexandra, Australia.
  13. Murphy, JJ, Ochwada-Doyle, FA, West, LD, Stark, KE and Hughes, JM 2020, The NSW Recreational Fisheries Monitoring Program - survey of recreational fishing, 2017/18. Fisheries Final Report Series No. 158. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Nelson Bay, NSW, Australia
  14. Murphy, JJ, Ochwada-Doyle, FA, West, LD, Stark, KE, Hughes, JM and Taylor, MD 2020, Survey of recreational fishing in NSW, 2019/20 – Key Results. Fisheries Final Report Series No. 161. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Nelson Bay, NSW, Australia
  15. Purser, J, Cooper, P, Diggle, J and Ibbott, T 2014, Tasmanian Eel Industry Development and Management Plan, FRDC Project No 2012/208
  16. Richards, T 2011, A late nineteenth-century map of an Australian Aboriginal fishery at Lake Condah. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2:64-87.
  17. Schnierer, S and Egan, H 2016, Composition of the Aboriginal harvest of fisheries resources in coastal New South Wales, Australia. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 26:693-709.
  18. Shen, KN and Tzeng, WN 2007, Genetic differentiation among populations of the shortfinned eel Anguilla australis from East Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Fish Biology 70 (Suppl B): 177-190.
  19. Victorian Fisheries Authority 2017, Review of key Victorian fish stocks — 2017 Victorian Fisheries Authority Science Report Series No. 1.

Downloadable reports

Click the links below to view reports from other years for this fish.