*

Ocean Jackets are found along the southern half of Australia, with sustainable stocks in NSW, SA and Commonwealth waters. Stocks in VIC are undefined, with limited information available. Stocks are negligible in TAS.

Ocean Jackets are distributed along the southern half of Australia from Cape Moreton in Queensland around to North West Cape in Western Australia, including northern Tasmania [Kailola et al 1993]. Throughout their distribution, Ocean Jackets are found in many habitats. As juveniles they are found in estuaries and sheltered bays amongst seagrass beds of Zostera sp. and Posidonia sp. [Grove-Jones and Burnell 1991, Jones and West 2005]. Sub-adults and adults are found in different habitats such as rocky reefs, sandy–mud benthos, or sponge–coralline algae gardens in waters from 2–250 m [Grove-Jones and Burnell 1991, Hutchins 1999], where they are known to aggregate seasonally in large schools.

Little is known about the biological structure of the Ocean Jacket stock. Here, assessment of stock status is presented at the management unit level—Commonwealth Trawl Sector, Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector (Commonwealth); and at the jurisdictional level—New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

Tasmania

Although not differentiated from other leatherjacket species in either commercial or recreational landings, the stock status for the Ocean Jacket in Tasmania is assumed to be negligible. Whilst likely under-reported or misidentified, catches are likely to be low given that the Tasmanian stock does not appear to have been subjected to targeted fishing.

Commercial catches of all leatherjacket species combined have averaged 2.1 t for the last decade, with peaks of around 15 t recorded in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the most recent 2021–22 landings being 0.1 t [Sharples et al. 2023]. Recreational harvest is likely to be similar, albeit with lower estimated peak catches of less than 10 t in the early 2000s [Sharples et al. 2023]. Given that adult Ocean Jackets primarily inhabit continental shelf and slope waters and that the bulk of the Tasmanian leatherjacket catch is harvested using fish traps from waters deeper than 50 m [Moore et al. 2018], the species is considered to constitute only a minor proportion of commercial and recreational landings of leatherjacket in Tasmania. Fishing is unlikely to be having a negative impact on the stock.

Ocean Jacket biology [Kailola et al. 1993; Miller et al. 2010; Miller and Stewart 2012]

Commonwealth – Commercial (Management Methods/Catch). 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].

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 fishinglicence under the provisions of the Commonwealth’s Native Title Act 1993.

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