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Pink Ling is a sustainable species fished around the south-eastern coastline of Australia.

Clear and persistent differences are seen between the eastern and western areas for Pink Ling in catch-rate trends, size and age [Bessell-Browne et al. 2020]. For example, Pink Ling caught in the east are on average smaller and younger than those caught in the west [Thomson et al. 2001]; other differences are seen in catchability [Kailola et al. 1993] and catch-rate trends [Whitten and Punt 2014]. This indicates that there are either two separate stocks or that exchange between eastern and western components of the stock is low and they should be managed as separate stocks. Although no significant differences in genetic structure were identified at five locations around south-eastern Australia (New South Wales, eastern and western Victoria, eastern and western Tasmania) [Ward et al. 2001], the persistent differences in other biological characteristics and catch-rate trends have resulted in Pink Ling being assessed as separate stocks east and west of longitude 147°E since 2013.

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

Eastern

Pink Ling is primarily caught by the Commonwealth managed Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) with small catches from State jurisdictions. Stock status classification reported here is based on stock assessments conducted for the SESSF, which include reported State catches. In the Commonwealth, combined eastern and western catches of Pink Ling increased steadily from the start of the fishery in about 1977, to reach a peak of 2,412 tonnes (t) in 1997. Despite TACs continuing to increase from 1997 to 2001, catches declined steadily to about 1,800 t in 2004. From 2004–05 to 2013–14, Pink Ling catches declined and were limited by the TAC. Since 2013–14, total catch has been stable at around 800–1,000 t. 

Eastern Pink Ling in Commonwealth fisheries is managed as a Tier 1 stock under the SESSF Harvest Strategy Framework [AFMA 2021a]. While the 2018 Tier 1 stock assessment [Cordue 2018] informed the management of the stock for the 2021–22 fishing season, a new assessment was undertaken in 2021 [Cordue 2022].

The 2018 Tier 1 stock assessment [Cordue 2018] estimated that the spawning stock biomass at the start of 2018 was 30% of the unfished level. This led to a recommended biological catch (RBC) of 260 t and a long-term yield of 570 t. The South East Resource Assessment Group (SERAG) recommended setting a notional eastern TAC based on stochastic projections from a range of constant-catch scenarios rather than the RBC for the 2021–22 fishing season. Projections of the stock response to various constant-catch scenarios indicated that catches up to 550 t posed little (< 5%) risk to the stock falling below the limit reference point (LRP) of 20% of the unfished spawning stock biomass by 2028 [Cordue 2018]. The stock is expected to rebuild to the target reference point (TRP) of 48% of the unfished spawning stock biomass with at least a 50% probability in a reasonable timeframe (before 2050) for catches up to 500 t per year [Cordue 2018].

The 2021 Tier 1 stock assessment [Cordue 2022] estimated spawning stock biomass in 2021 to be 34% of the unfished level. SERAG noted that estimates of spawning stock biomass were highly dependent on values of natural mortality, with biomass ranging from 22% to 36% of the unfished level under high and low values of natural mortality [AFMA 2021b]. These estimates led to a recommended biological catch for the Eastern stock of 410 t (95% confidence interval 130–630 t) for the 2022–23 fishing season [Cordue 2022]. Projections of stock response to various constant-catch scenarios indicated that for catches up to 500 t, the probability that the stock was below the limit reference point of 20% of unfished spawning stock biomass by 2024 or 2031 was ≤ 1% [Cordue 2022].

The Eastern biological stock is therefore unlikely to be depleted and recruitment is unlikely to be impaired.

Commonwealth catch for Eastern Pink Ling in the SESSF was 375.9 t in the 2021–22 fishing season based on the percentage split east/west from logbook records [Emery et al. 2022]. Discards and state catches have been estimated to be 20.2 t and 54.4 t, respectively, based on the weighted average of the previous four calendar years (2017 to 2020) [Althaus et al. 2021]. Although catch (450.5 t) of Eastern Pink Ling was above the RBC, this is below the level that constant catch scenarios indicated posed little risk to the stock [Cordue, 2018; Cordue 2022]. This level of fishing mortality is unlikely to cause Eastern Pink Ling to become recruitment impaired.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Eastern biological stock is classified as a sustainable stock.

Pink Ling biology [Morison et al. 1999; Smith and Wayte 2004]

Commonwealth – Commercial (Management Methods/Catch). Trip limits apply to the Eastern stock. Data provided for the Commonwealth align with the Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery for the 2021–22 financial year.

Commonwealth – Recreational. The Australian government does not manage recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters. Recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters is managed by the state or territory immediately adjacent to those waters, under its management regulations.  

Commonwealth – Indigenous. The Australian government does not manage non-commercial Indigenous fishing in Commonwealth waters, with the exception of Torres Strait. In general, non-commercial Indigenous fishing in Commonwealth waters is managed by the state or territory immediately adjacent to those waters.

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

New South Wales – Recreational (Catch). Murphy et al. [2022].

1. AFMA 2021a, Harvest strategy framework for the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery: amended (2021), Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.
2. AFMA 2021b, Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery South East Resource Assessment Group (SERAG) meeting 3, minutes, 29 November – 1 December 2021, Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.
3. Althaus, F, Thomson, R and Sutton, C 2021, Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery catches and discards for TAC purposes using data until 2020, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart.
4. Bessell-Browne, P, Day, J, Sporcic, M and Appleyard, S 2020, SESSF species stock structure review: blue warehou, jackass morwong and pink ling, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart.
5. Chick, RC 2018, Stock status summary and supplementary information – Ocean Trap and Line Fishery (Line Fishing – Eastern Zone) – Pink Ling (Genypterus blacodes), NSW Department of Primary Industries, Port Stephens Fisheries Institute: 32 pp.
6. Cordue, P 2018, Pink Ling stock assessment for 2018, Final Report, Innovative Solutions Ltd (ISL) client report for Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), Canberra.
7. Cordue, P 2022, Pink ling stock assessment for 2021: final report, Innovative Solutions Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand.
8. Emery, T, Wright, D, Davis, K, Keller, K, Woodhams, J and Curtotti, R 2022, Commonwealth Trawl and Scalefish Hook sectors, in Patterson, H, Bromhead, D, Galeano, D, Larcombe, J, Timmiss, T, Woodhams, J and Curtotti, R (eds), Fishery status reports 2022, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
9. Hughes, JM, Johnson, DD, Murphy, JJ and Ochwada-Doyle, FA 2021, The NSW Recreational Fisheries Monitoring Program – Charter Fishery Monitoring 2017/18, FNSW DPI - Fisheries Final Report Series No. 159.
10. Hughes, JM, Murphy, JJ, Ochwada-Doyle, FA, and Taylor, MD, 2023, NSW Charter Fishery Monitoring 2019/20, NSW DPI - Fisheries Final Report Series No. 162.
11. Kailola, PJ, Williams, MJ, Stewart, PC, Reichelt, RE, McNee, A and Grieve, C 1993, Australian Fisheries Resources. Australian Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra.
12. Morison, AK, Green, CP and Smith, DC 1999, Estimates of mortality of Ling based on historical length and otolith collections from the eastern sector of the SEF, ARF Project 95/95-10.
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, NSW DPI - Fisheries Final Report Series No. 158.
14. Murphy, JJ, Ochwada-Doyle, FA, West, LD, Stark, KE, Hughes, JM and Taylor, MD 2022, Survey of recreational fishing in NSW, 2019/20, NSW DPI - Fisheries Final Report Series No. 161.
15. Smith, ADM and Wayte, SW (eds) 2004, The South East Fishery 2003, Fishery assessment report compiled by the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery Assessment Group, Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.
16. Smoothey, AF 2023, NSW Stock Status Summary 2022/23 – Pink Ling (Genypterus blacodes), NSW, Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries, 15 pp.
17. Thomson, R, Furlani, D and He, X 2001, Pink ling (Genypetrus blacodes), in Thomson, R and He, X (eds), Modelling the population dynamics of high priority SEF species, final report to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, FRDC report 1995/115 51–82, CSIRO Marine Research.
18. Ward, RD, Appleyard, SA, Daley, RK and Reilly, A 2001, Population structure of Pink Ling (Genypterus blacodes) from south-eastern Australian waters, inferred from allozyme and microsatellite analyses, Marine and Freshwater Research, 52: 965–973.
19. West, LD, Stark, KE, Murphy, JJ, Lyle, JM and Ochwada-Doyle, FA 2015, Survey of Recreational Fishing in New South Wales and the ACT, 2013/14, NSW DPI – Fisheries Final Report Series No. 149.
20. Whitten, AR and Punt, AE 2014, Pink ling (Genypterus blacodes) stock assessment based on data up to 2012, in Tuck, G (ed), Stock assessment for the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery 2013, part 1, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart and Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra, pp. 116–42.