Fishery observer surveys
Overview
This project has been renamed from Estuary General Fishery observer survey to Fishery observer surveys. This is to better reflect the next stage of implementation.
Why is this project important?
This program will help to inform key knowledge gaps around threats to protected and threatened species from NSW commercial fisheries.
What’s involved:
Scientific observers collect and analyse data gathered during commercial fishing operations. Current commercial fisheries involved include:
13 NSW OTL commercial fishers are testing new technology in day-to-day operations to assist a study investigating how to reduce whale entanglements in fishing gear.
DPIRD researchers are examining the impact of commercial fishing on all marine animals including threatened and protected species.
These projects will:
- address key knowledge gaps on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine wildlife
- give stakeholders greater scientific evidence to inform measures to support sustainable fishing
- test implementation of new technology.
What have we achieved so far?
Our work progressed on several fronts to strengthen monitoring in the Ocean Trawl and Ocean Trap and Line Fisheries. A pilot field study testing the use of eDNA metabarcoding for scientific observing is complete. The study compared traditional on‑board observing with metaprobe eDNA sampling across a subset of trawls to assess how effectively eDNA can detect species present in commercial catches.
Our trained scientific observers monitored more than 100 fishing trips, collecting detailed information on catch composition and wildlife interactions. This work continues to build a strong evidence base to support sustainable fisheries management.
A scientific manuscript, Avoiding bycatch: combining catch predictions and spatial prioritisation to evaluate the spatial separation of bycatch and target catch in a commercial prawn trawl, has been accepted for publication in Marine and Freshwater Research, contributing valuable insights to the broader fisheries science community.
More information
- NSW Commercial crab fishers leading by example to reduce catches of undersize crab and non-target fish
- East Coast Whale Entanglement Mitigation Program Workshop final report
- NSW Estuary General Fishery Assessment 2017
- Summary of previous OTL observer program (PDF, 4007 KB)
- Assessment of the NSW Ocean Trap and Line Fishery
Locations
| Estuaries sampled include: | Ocean ports sampled include: |
|---|---|
| Tweed River | Brunswick Heads |
| Richmond River | Ballina |
| Clarence River | Evans Head |
| Macleay River | Coffs Harbour |
| Wallis Lake | South West Rocks |
| Port Stephens | Forster |
Local government areas - Port Stephens Council
Lead agency
- Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Partners
- NSW Commercial fishers
- NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (NSW DCCEEW)
- Professional Fishermen’s Association
- Oceanwatch Australia
