Southern Calamari
Sepioteuthis australis (Southern Calamari, Southern Reef Squid)
2022/23 Southern Calamari - Southern and Eastern Region (Released August 2024)
| Stock Status | DEPLETED | ||
| Summary | The calamari fishery in the Southern and Eastern Region peaked at over 80 tonnes in 2004/05. Since then, the overall trend has been a decline to less than 20 tonnes in the current assessment. Small peaks in catch between 2016/17 to 2018/19 were associated with considerably higher effort and lower CPUEs, indicative of a declining stock. This is of particular concern for calamari as they are targeted at dense spawning aggregations. Calamari are easy to catch during aggregation, which can limit the ability of catch and CPUE to accurately reflect biomass trends (known as hyperstability). For declines to be detected in this data, the declines are likely to be substantial. Seasonal closures at key spawning grounds on the east, along with the introduction of a limited number of species-specific licenses in the south-east, combined with lower catches and catch rates have resulted in fishing effort spreading to the north of the state. Data-poor stock assessment results indicate that fishing mortality has been unsustainable and remains high today. The results also suggest that stocks on the south-east and east coast have presumably been depleted below critical levels. With no clear sign of recovery, the Southern and Eastern Region is therefore classified as depleted. | ||
| Importance | Key | ||
| Stock | Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery | ||
| Indicator(s) | Catch and CPUE trends | ||
| Managing Jurisdiction | State (Tasmania) | ||
2022/23 Southern Calamari Status - Northern Region (Released August 24)
| Stock Status | DEPLETING | ||
| Summary | Continued increases in effort and catch in the Northern region are associated with a shift in fishery activity away from the south and east. Even though CPUE is likely to be hyperstable, time series in the north indicate potential declines of the population over the last 5 years compared to the peak period from 2012/13-16/17. Despite steeper increases in catch and effort in the last 5 years, CPUE has only shown a minor increase. Given the history of depletion along the Southern and Eastern region, the expanded fishing pressure on Southern Calamari in the Northern region is likely to be too high to be sustainable. As in the south and east, and despite extended closures during part of the spawning season, the reliance on targeting spawning aggregations poses a high risk of recruitment impairment (see above on hyperstability). Current trends in largely unregulated total catch and effort have peaked at values similar or higher than those at peak levels in the Southern and Eastern regions, indicating that maximum sustainable levels of fishing pressure have likely been exceeded. Datapoor stock assessments support this assumption by indicating presumably unsustainable catch levels. Thus, the more recently targeted stocks of Southern Calamari on the north coast are likely to be depleting. | ||
| Importance | Key | ||
| Stock | Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery | ||
| Indicator(s) | Catch and CPUE trends | ||
| Managing Jurisdiction | State (Tasmania) | ||
Background
Southern Calamari is endemic to Australia and northern New Zealand and inhabits shallow, inshore waters. Females deposit eggs in collective egg masses over several months (September to February), attaching capsules to the substrate (often seagrass) (Pecl 2004). Temporal fishery closures are in place to protect regional stocks during part of the spawning season, but fishers generally target spawning aggregations of Southern Calamari outside of these regional 1-month closure periods.
The Scalefish Assessment can be found at the link:
Learn more about what each stock status classification means on our Stock Status Classifications Information Page:
Social and Economic Indicators