For thousands of years, fishing has been essential to human life and culture. Today, it remains a popular pastime with significant social and economic benefits, as nearly 25% of Tasmanians fish yearly. Australians love seafood, consuming 350 million kilograms of seafood in 2021–22, which is equivalent to 13.9kg per person.
At IMAS, we are dedicated to ensuring the long-term sustainability and productivity of our natural aquatic resources. Led by Dr John Keane, Our Wild Fisheries Program closely studies scalefish, cephalopod and recreational fisheries, dive fisheries, crustacean fisheries and bivalve fisheries through research on fish biology, population dynamics and resilience to environmental change.
Our work enhances the sustainability and value of recreational, traditional and commercial fisheries in Tasmania and beyond.
At IMAS, we’ve got a number of projects that involve tagging various marine species. You can be involved too. Jump across to our Caught a tagged fish page to find out how…
Our teams
The IMAS Dive Fisheries team undertakes research on Abalone, Sea Urchins, and Periwinkles, and conducts the fisheries assessments for these species. A special focus over the last decade has been on developing innovative software and equipment to aid fine scale, accurate and efficient data collection to enhance the assessments. This includes NextGen GPS loggers for abalone and urchin fishers and electronic abalone measuring boards with integrated weight recording and remote data transfer. A Fisheries independent survey method has been developed to assess abalone stocks involving a timed-swim approach. The team, in a unique industry-science collaboration, undertakes over 500 of the timed-swim dives every year.
The teams’ researchers are also exploring ways to mitigate the impact of the invasive Longspined Sea Urchins (Centrostephanus rodgersii) on Tasmania’s East Coast reefs. These urchins overgraze on kelp and seaweeds, creating barren areas that affect rock lobster and abalone habitats. IMAS research supports various measures to address the urchin problem, restore reefs, and prevent healthy ones from becoming barren. This includes leading fishery-independent surveys to monitor urchin stocks and barren coverage along the east coast. Research guides the incentivised commercial urchin harvest program which spatially directs the 4-500 tonne annual harvest to critical regions along the Tasmanian coast.
Trials are also underway in collaboration with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture to use urchin shell and gut waste as commercial agricultural fertilizer. Additionally, commercial divers, in partnership with IMAS, have been conducting a systematic all-size class urchin removal program in areas important for abalone production, subsidised by NRE’s Abalone Industry Reinvestment Fund.
The IMAS Crustacean Fisheries team focuses on improving data collection and resource management for Southern Rock Lobster and Giant Crab. They develop innovative tools like electronic callipers for measuring lobsters. In 2022, IMAS released two papers on rock lobster monitoring and regulation in Tasmania. One study assessed alternative catch monitoring systems for the heavily fished East Coast, while the other considered alternate size limit zones to improve lobster egg production and fishery performance. These papers influenced recent management changes by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas).
The Research Pot Program, revamped for the 2021-22 season, saw around 90 commercial fishers join. This program allows fishers to carry extra pots in exchange for detailed catch data, aiding rock lobster stock assessments and fishery management. The data collected helps researchers understand spatial and temporal variations in lobster size.
New research has shown that marine seismic surveys impact the reflexes and moulting of young rock lobsters, confirming their sensitivity to aquatic noise. Lobsters exposed to seismic surveys had impaired righting reflexes, but those exposed at moderate distances showed recovery after moulting.
Fisheries scientists are also analysing images of giant crabs for shell colour patterns, size, and sex data to improve fishery management. Giant crabs are a high-value species, but collecting detailed data is challenging due to difficult sea conditions. This research aims to enhance the management of giant crab harvests in Tasmania, South Australia, and Victoria.
Over the past two years, IMAS has prioritized research on Banded Morwong, Sand Flathead, Southern Calamari, and Sardine. Sand Flathead, Tasmania’s most popular recreational species, has been classified as ‘depleted’ for the first time in the 2020/21 Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery Assessment. Despite size and bag limit changes in 2015, new analysis shows that the biomass and reproductive potential of Sand Flathead populations have declined below critical levels in most regions. Heavy fishing pressure, particularly in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Frederick Henry-Norfolk Bay, and Great Oyster Bay, prevents stock recovery. Low numbers of legally-sized and sexually mature fish in southeast and eastern Tasmania exacerbate the issue, as they are often caught before they can reproduce. Females, which grow larger than males, receive less protection from size limits, relying more on catch regulations like bag limits.
To address these concerns, IMAS is leading a research project to develop a new monitoring regime and stock assessment for Sand Flathead in Tasmania, funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Additionally, IMAS is investigating recreational fishers’ values regarding the Sand Flathead fishery, funded by the Tasmanian Government.
A new IMAS report outlines the potential for establishing a sardine fishery off Tasmania through appropriate management and research procedures, balancing ecological, economic, and social objectives. This follows a recent IMAS paper on the feasibility of a Tasmanian sardine fishery, highlighting the need for careful consideration of various factors to ensure sustainable development.
IMAS conducts the annual Tasmanian Commercial Scallop fishery assessment, with the latest assessment identifying stocks as recovering. This process involves collaborative research surveys with industry, defines fishable areas and sets commercial catch limits. Analysis of data collected by the fishery’s exploratory surveys informs fishery management for next year’s surveys and fishing season.
An exciting project commencing in 2021 has been investigating the use of video survey techniques to determine commercial scallop abundance in inshore and offshore waters, closed areas and juvenile beds. The development of a drop camera system has enabled access for surveys in protected areas and offshore areas, improving our understanding of the scallop population in areas we could not previously measure. Machine learning (ML) technologies are proving to be highly effective in accurately detecting and tracking both live and dead scallops in video footage across various environmental conditions. The ML models were found to be exceptionally precise in detecting laser points within video frames, enabling the automated calculation of counting and sizing scallop, an essential component for accurate population and biomass estimation. Additionally, their use enables rapid, accurate survey results, so fishery management can make more responsive decisions.
The research team have begun investigating the multifactorial stresses scallops are exposed to during the recent/ongoing marine heatwave in order to better understand scallop bed die offs. By understanding how changing environmental conditions affect scallops, we hope to be able to anticipate the impacts of adverse conditions and enable the fishery to fish beds that would otherwise die off. This study is co-funded by the Fisheries Research Develop Corporation.
IMAS conducts extensive research on recreational fisheries, including Australia-wide surveys like the National Recreational Fishing Survey for Southern Bluefin Tuna and Tasmanian-specific surveys for Rock Lobster and Abalone. Researchers are predicting that warming waters around Tasmania will continue to drive the southward expansion of species like Yellowtail Kingfish, King George Whiting, and Snapper, increasing their suitable habitats and influencing seasonal migration patterns.
A recent assessment of Tasmania’s recreational Rock Lobster and Abalone fisheries surveyed 360 licensed fishers to estimate catches, extrapolating this data to represent 30,000 licence holders. In 2021-22, nearly 79,400 lobsters (86.3 tonnes) were caught, a notable increase from the previous year and constituting about 51% of the total allowable recreational catch.
IMAS engages communities through programs like the Tassie Fish Frame Collection, where fishers contribute as citizen scientists, enhancing sample sizes crucial for fisheries management. The team also drives education and outreach through initiatives like the Tuna Champions program, which promotes sustainable fishing practices for Southern Bluefin Tuna and other species, supported by an $800,000 grant from the Australian Government.
IMAS also runs the Rock Lobster Tag Lottery, encouraging fishers to report tagged lobsters to aid research on growth, population, and movement. This initiative has generated over 1,100 tagged lobster reports in 2021 and 2022, providing valuable data to support sustainable fisheries management. The Range Extension Database & Mapping (Redmap) project has expanded to a national level, further enhancing IMAS’s role in marine research and conservation.