Catch, Effort and CPUE

Bastard Trumpeter catches have been declining since the mid-1990s. Catch has been <10 t since 2010/11, with 5.9 t landed in 2020/21 – a slight decrease from the previous year (see figure below). Bastard Trumpeter in recent years have been taken almost exclusively by gillnet from inshore waters off the east, south, and west coasts. Catches in 2020/21 were concentrated primarily around the southeast and southwest coasts. Bastard Trumpeter have been predominantly taken by recreational gillnet fishers in recent years, although the latest estimated catches in 2012/13 and 2017/18 were also historic lows (9.8 t and 3.4 t, respectively) (Lyle et al. 2014b; Lyle et al. 2019).

Commercial gillnet effort has followed a downward trend similar to catches since the mid 1990s, with a slight decrease from the previous year in 2020/21 (see figure below). CPUE remained relatively stable between 2006/07 and 2014/15; however, a declining trend is evident from 2014/15 to 2018/19, with a sharp increase in 2019/20 and a slight decline in 2020/21 (see figure below). The west coast in particular has seen a notable declining trend in CPUE over the last decade.

Bastard Trumpeter are taken primarily as by-product rather than as a target species. The majority of gillnet effort is now targeting Banded Morwong with 140 mm mesh sizes, selecting only the largest Bastard Trumpeter. Previously, a larger proportion of fishers used smaller mesh sizes (<114 mm) to target Bastard Trumpeter and Blue Warehou.