FFC Factsheet: Orange Roughy Fishery in the Great Australian Bight

update: Orange Roughy is now listed as 'conservation dependant' under the EPBC act - Thankyou to all FFC members who supported the threatened species nomination by sending emails to the minister.. Read details here

FFC Factsheet: Orange Roughy Fishery in the Great Australian Bight

12/04/2006
Updated May 2006

Graphic: Orange Roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus)

Background info:

 

Australia's comparatively young orange roughy fishery attracted recent community, industry and scientific interest because of questions about its sustainability, in particular for fish stocks which straddle Australian and international waters.

The Orange Roughy fishery has been boom and bust. The 'hotspots' initially discovered yielded such high volumes of fish that they overwhelmed handling capacity and much of the first catches were dumped. Within just a couple of years the fish were gone and a series of hotspots were no longer producing commercial catches.
The ecology of deep-sea fish is different and scientists believe that each fished out hotspot may never recover.

As with many other deep-sea fish, Orange Roughy are long lived. Studies show that they may commonly live more than 100 years (data from both otolith zone counts and radio-isotope ratios). The long life-time implies that they are late to mature (23-40 years of age), that they grow slowly (with an average size at maturity of 24 cm off South Africa and 42 cm in the NE Atlantic). They also have a low fecundity (reproductive rate) and may spawn irregularly. Even considering deep-sea fish species have these life history tendancies, researchers believe that Orange Roughy are the extreme low end of the productivity and high end of the longevity scales.
Orange Roughy populations may also be endemic, localised or resident, associated with specific topographic features and not tending to migrate over large distances.
All of these characteristics make the Orange Roughy highly vulnerable to exploitation. Field experience gained over the fishery’s 25 year history suggests that it is very difficult, if not impossible for local populations to recover from over-fishing.
It is not only the Orange Roughy themselves that are being destroyed. The fishery has very high by-catch levels. Mortality is nearly 100% for the deep water species dragged up and the understanding of the ecosystem effects of this and other deepsea fishing practices are largely unknown.
The mechanical effects of the fishery effort are also devastating to the deep-sea environment. Not only are the fragile, slow-to-recover, sea-floor communities of the trawl path destroyed, but the disturbance to the sea-floor sediments may spread the destructive effects over large areas.

Graphic: Deep sea trawl nets used to target Orange Roughy

Data on catches for Orange Roughy in Great Australian Bight (GAB) and other Aust waters:

http://www.marine.csiro.au/dag/mngt_asst/index.htm

In GAB catch peaked in 1989 at 3784 Tonnes (presumably only 1 year after fishing for this species commenced) and declined rapidly – an indication of overfishing and unsustainablity.
Last year’s reported catch was 375 tonnes
There does not seem to be any TAC (Total Allowable Catch) on this fishery in contrast to all other Australian Orange Roughy fisheries.

The Orange Roughy Assessment Group (ORAG) was established by AFMA in 1997. ORAG's primary roles are to assess the stocks in relation to AFMA's management objectives, describe the management implications and identify the research and monitoring necessary to improve the assessment

ORAG STATED MANAGEMENT GOAL

Where there is at least a 50 per cent probability that a stock is below 30 per cent of the 1988 spawning biomass, then catches will be restricted to achieve a return to 30 per cent of that original level by 2004.
this is a very modest goal at best – Is there any science to suggest that a mere 30% of 1988 spawning biomass is enough to maintain the survival let alone the sustainable fishing of this species?

The stock structure of orange roughy in the GABTF is uncertain. The occurrence of spawning aggregations of orange roughy within the GAB supports the hypothesis of a separate GAB stock (Tilzey, 2000).

Questions:

Is there any practical management at all of this fishery in the GAB?

Is ORAG/AFMA doing anything practical to protect orange roughy in the GAB?

Is there and TAC for the GAB fishery and if not why not?

Sources/further information:

http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=faq&id=OrangeRoughy&stylesheet=sectorInformationSheet
http://www.aboutseafood.com/faqs/orange_r.pdf
http://www.marine.csiro.au/dag/mngt_asst/index.htm#FAGS
http://portlincoln.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=415285&category=General+News&m=8&y=2005
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1642337.htm

Update May 2006

Exerpt from Humane Society International Media release 19/05/06:

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Senator Ian Campbell, has now received advice from his Department and from his Threatened Species Scientific Committee, confirming the species meets the criteria for listing as endangered and recommending its protection.
Statutory deadlines usually require a public nomination to be decided on within 15 months, but this controversial nomination has taken nearly 3 years, with the decision postponed a record four  times.
It will be the first ever commercially fished species to be listed under Australia’s national environment laws and will bring an end to the fishery. HSI expects the industry responsible for the species demise to strongly resist its protection. In the past the government has found excuses not to protect other commercially valuable fish that meet the criteria such as the endangered southern bluefin tuna.
The nomination was open for 3 months public consultation last year and now the Minister is allowing another four weeks of public discussion before announcing his final decision.

The nomination under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is being considered by the Minister presently.

The minister has called for comment on the following two documents

DEH advice to the minister –

http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/nominations/pubs/orange-roughy-deh.pdf

Threatened species Scientific Committee Report - http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/nominations/pubs/orange-roughy-tssc.pdf

The scientific panel report recommends that Orange Roughy be listed as a Threatened species as it meets Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Criterion 1 - (Regulation 7.01) in that the species has ‘undergone or is suspected to have undergone or is likely to undergo in the immediate future a severe reduction in numbers.’

Listing under the act will require the:
·  development of Recovery Plans for listed species and ecological communities;
·  recognition of Key Threatening Processes; and where appropriate
·  reducing these processes through Threat Abatement Plans.

All of which should lead to increased protection for Orangy Roughy and bycatch species in Australian waters including the Great Australian Bight.

While the status other fish targeted, or bycatch, of fisheries in the Bight such as the Red Bightfish remain unknown - now is the time to support this nomination under the EPBC Act.

What you can do:

Write to:
 senator.ian.campbell@aph.gov.au
cc. epbc.nominations@deh.gov.au
Minister for the Environment and Heritage

In your email:

Register your support for the nomination of Hoplostethus atlanticus (Orange Roughy) as endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Call on the Minister to accept the advice of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee and approve the nomination.

Use the Background in this Factsheet and associated resources to make clear the importance of protecting this fish from further exploitation.

Update re threatened species nomination 10/11/06 - more information

Orange roughy added to threatened species list

The Orange Roughy fish species will be added to the threatened species list under Australian environment law, the Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, announced today. “Orange Roughy is the first commercially harvested fish to be listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,” Senator Campbell said. Orange Roughy will be listed as conservation dependent, and will be managed subject to a conservation programme to be implemented by AFMA. “Scientific advice to me indicated that Orange Roughy is under considerable pressure and protection under environment law is needed if the species is to have any chance of long-term survival,” Senator Campbell said. The conservation programme will protect Orange Roughy from over-fishing, in part by prohibiting targeted fishing in fishing zones. Catch limits at the Cascade Plateau will be set at levels that will conserve the species – AFMA has already announced a reduction in the zone’s 2007 total allowable Orange Roughy catch. “My decision to add the Orange Roughy to the threatened species list follows careful consideration of the scientific information, as well as extensive consultation with experts and the public,” Senator Campbell said. Orange Roughy are found in south-eastern and south-western Australia, the Great Australian Bight and around Tasmania, and have been one of the primary species caught in Australia’s south-east fisheries since the late 1980s. It can live to well over 100 years, and reach maturity at between 20 and 30 years of age. Unlike many fish species, its reproduction rate is low. “My decision reflects the Government’s commitment to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of our natural resources,” Senator Campbell said. AFMA is in the process of writing to concession-holders outlining details of the conservation programme. The 2007 catch limits for Orange Roughy announced by AFMA in October are consistent with the programme. In the interim, further information about the listing of the Orange Roughy under the EPBC Act are available online at: www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html

Reprinted from the AFMA update Volume 3, Issue 21, 10 November 2006