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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on June 26, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2008 65(7):1122-1130; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn105
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© 2008 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Integrating commercial and research surveys to estimate the harvestable biomass, and establish a quota, for an "unexploited" abalone population

Stephen Mayfield, Richard McGarvey, Ian J. Carlson and Cameron Dixon

South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), PO Box 120, Henley Beach, South Australia 5022, Australia

Correspondence to S. Mayfield: tel: +61 8 8207 5427; fax: +61 8 8207 5406; e-mail: mayfield.stephen{at}saugov.sa.gov.au.

Mayfield, S., McGarvey, R., Carlson, I. J., and Dixon, C. 2008. Integrating commercial and research surveys to estimate the harvestable biomass, and establish a quota, for an "unexploited" abalone population. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1122–1130.

A key challenge facing many fisheries managers is the absence of information on the level of harvestable biomass. We describe an integrated, two-stage survey approach that was used to measure the spatial distribution and harvestable biomass of a largely unexploited metapopulation of greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata) over a large area of northwestern Spencer Gulf, South Australia. In stage 1, commercial fishers conducted systematic surveys to identify subareas with abalone at harvestable densities. Cpue measures from these surveys were used to map and stratify a bounded survey subregion, within which leaded-line, research-diver surveys measured absolute density and harvestable biomass (stage 2). Decision tables, showing minimum biomass at various probabilities vs. harvest fraction, were developed to provide a risk-assessment framework for quota setting. Within two years, our approach allowed, first, the mapping of the broad-scale, spatial distribution and abundance of greenlip abalone in an area of 1143 km2, second, the estimation of harvestable biomass in a smaller (16.9 km2) area, and finally, the allocation by State fishery managers of an additional quota inside a newly defined management subzone. The collaborative approach we describe for providing estimates of absolute biomass over large spatial scales affords multiple advantages for the assessment and management of invertebrate dive fisheries.

Keywords: abalone, commercial survey, harvestable biomass, quota setting

Received 23 November 2007; accepted 5 May 2008; advance access publication 26 June 2008.


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