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An inshore and estuarine species, Tailor has biologically independent stocks on the east and west coasts of Australia. Both stocks are sustainable. The western stock is found only in WA. The eastern stock is found in QLD, NSW and VIC.

Tailor has a wide-ranging distribution with several separate stocks found in temperate and sub-tropical waters around the world. Genetic evidence indicates that there are two biological stocks of Tailor in Australia, one along the east coast and a second along the west coast [Nurthen et al. 1992]. The Eastern Australian biological stock is distributed from Bundaberg in southern Queensland along the entire New South Wales coast and into eastern Bass Strait in Victoria [Miskiewicz et al. 1996; Brodie et al. 2018]. The Western Australian biological stock is distributed along the western coastline of Australia from Exmouth to Esperance [Lenanton et al. 1996; Smith et al. 2013]. Within each stock, multiple spawning groups may exist that spawn at different times and locations [Miskiewicz et al. 1996; Young et al. 1999; Ward et al. 2003; Schilling et al. 2020]. However, characteristics such as the dispersal of pelagic eggs and larvae with prevailing currents, the movement of juveniles into sheltered nearshore or estuarine habitats in northern and southern areas of the species range, and the seasonal migration behaviour of adults, suggest that a genetically homogenous population occurs on each coast [Bade 1977; Juanes et al. 1996; Lenanton et al. 1996; Miskiewicz et al. 1996; Young et al. 1999; Ward et al. 2003; Brodie et al. 2018].

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

Eastern Australia

The status presented here for the Eastern Australia biological stock has been established using evidence from the three jurisdictions which access this stock—Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

The Eastern Australian biological stock of Tailor has been harvested by commercial fisheries in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria since the early-mid 1900s [Bade 1977; Leigh et al. 2017]. By the 1970s, recreational fisheries in Queensland and New South Wales predominantly harvested the stock, a trend that continues to the present day. Tailor is also a culturally significant species for Indigenous groups along the eastern seaboard, however harvest levels are unknown [Schnierer 2011].

The harvest of Tailor from Queensland and New South Wales peaked in the mid-late 1990s and was followed by a decline that has been attributed in part to changes in market demand, participation rates and management measures [Leigh et al. 2017]. The 2020 stock assessment which included data from 2019 for New South Wales and Queensland Fisheries corroborated the findings of the 2017 assessment and indicated that the spawning biomass fluctuates through time [Lovett et al 2020]. This is attributed to favourable environmental factors intermittently allowing large numbers of young Tailor to thrive, leading to high recruitment of spawning fish into the fishery [Leigh et al. 2017]. In 2019 the spawning biomass was approximately 51% of unfished levels [Lovett et al 2020].

In the 2021–22 period, the annual harvest (57 tonnes (t)) and nominal catch rate (8kg/100m) for the Queensland commercial net fishery for tailor (a component of the East Coast Inshore Fishery) were both above the 10-year average (53 t, 6 kg/100m respectively). Annual fishery-dependent monitoring of the Queensland harvest shows relatively consistent length structures and a range of ages, including older fish (4–7 year olds), are consistently present in the harvest [Lovett et al. 2020; QDAF Unpublished data]. The length composition in New South Wales commercial landings have remained consistent, typically ranging between 300–450 mm fork length [Stewart et al. 2015; Schilling 2019; Schilling et al., 2023]. These are positive indicators of a stable population with continuing recruitment.

The status of Tailor stocks in Victoria in 2022 can no longer be evaluated using nominal catch per unit effort (CPUE) for commercial mesh-net fisheries in the Gippsland Lakes (GL) as that fishery was closed from the beginning of April 2020 following a buy-out of all commercial licences, implemented to improve recreational fishing access by hook and line methods had been closed [Bell et al. 2023]. Tailor continues to be infrequently captured by fishers in Corner Inlet (CI) and by purse-seine fishers offshore, however there were insufficient data available from these fisheries to inform temporal abundance trends. A small recreational fishery persists in GL, but with insufficient data for assessment. Recreational fishers catch Tailor incidentally from Port Phillip Bay [Fishing Victoria Forum 2017], Lake Tyers [Day 2017], and Ninety-mile Beach [Wiki Fishing Spots 2020]. State-wide commercial Tailor harvests have been variable from less than 20 t to nearly 100 t representing changes in targeting, retention rates and availability of this highly mobile species [Bell et al. 2023]. Landings in the last ten years have also been variable but well within the bounds of historical peaks observed during the 1980s to 2000s [Bell et al. 2023]. There is no evidence that recruitment to the stock has ever been impaired and the available evidence suggests the fishery has been sustainable and will remain so under current and future conditions [Bell et al. 2023]. The catch rates for this species were often highly variable between successive years but showed no evidence of a sustained decline. As the majority of catch is taken in NSW and Queensland, catch from Victoria is unlikely to influence the biomass of the biological stock. The above evidence indicates that the biomass of this stock is unlikely to be depleted and that recruitment is unlikely to be impaired.

Estimates of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for the combined Queensland and New South Wales harvest from the 2020 stock assessment varied from 469 t to 857 t depending on the predicted recruitment levels [Lovett et al. 2020]. The assessment identified the combined harvest in 2019 (204 t) was about half of the predicted MSY using the more conservative low recruitment scenario, and signalled the estimate of fishing pressure was safely below the limit reference point (F₂₀) and F_MSY [Lovett et al. 2020]. Total harvest in the 2021–22 period remained below the conservative predicted MSY (see catch table).

The recreational and commercial fisheries in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have been subject to numerous management measures that have reduced fishing pressure, as indicated in the trends shown in harvest and effort for both recreational and commercial fisheries [Stewart et al. 2015; Webley et al. 2015; West et al. 2015; Lovett et al. 2020; Teixeira et al. 2021; Murphy et al. 2022,]. Fishing pressure is considered adequately controlled in commercial fisheries. In New South Wales this is through restrictive daily trip limits of 100 kg per day (ocean haul nets) or 50 kg per day (other netting methods). In Queensland, gill net, seine net and haul net methods used by commercial fishers in nearshore and estuarine waters are deployed in a targeted manner and result in minimal bycatch relative to the harvest of the target species [Halliday et al. 2001]. Mesh-size regulations help ensure that target species caught by these methods are within an appropriate size range. Fishers using tunnel nets in Moreton Bay in Queensland operate under the Industry Code of Best Practice to minimise their impacts [MBSIA 2012]. The recreational harvest is constrained through size and bag limits as well as seasonal closures. The rates of survival for released line-caught Tailor are considered high [Ayvazian et al. 2002; Broadhurst et al. 2012]. In this context it is relevant to note that the 2019–20 Queensland recreational fishing survey reported that 69% of caught tailor were released [Teixeira et al. 2021], an increase from 35% reported as released in the 2013–14 survey [Webley et al. 2015]. Similarly in NSW 71% of Tailor were reported to have been released during 2019–20 [Murphy et al. 2022]. 

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 Eastern Australia biological stock is classified as a sustainable stock.

Tailor biology [Bade 1977; Juanes et al. 1996; Young et al. 1999; Smith et al. 2013; Schilling et al. 2019, 2023,]

Distribution of reported commercial catch of Tailor

Western Australia – Recreational (Catch). Current shore-based recreational catch and effort in Western Australia is unknown. Recreational catch estimated in 2020/21, for boat-based fishing only [Ryan et al. 2022]

Queensland – Recreational Fishing (Catch). Data based at the whole of Queensland level and derived from statewide recreational fishing surveys [Teixeira et al. 2021]. Where possible, estimates have been converted to weight (tonnes) using best known conversion multipliers. Conversion factors may display regional or temporal variability. In the absence of an adequate conversion factor, data presented as number of fish.

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

Queensland – Commercial (Management Methods). Harvest strategies are available at: https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/sustainable/harvest-strategy 

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

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.

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

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

Commercial catch of Tailor - note confidential catch not shown

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