Blue Warehou
pinungana (Fish)
In palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines, with thanks to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
Seriolella brama (Blue Warehou)
2020/21 Blue Warehou Status (Released Dec 22)
| Stock Status | DEPLETED | ||
| Summary | Blue Warehou is a predominantly Commonwealth-managed species that has been classified as “Overfished” in the ABARES Fishery Status Reports 2021 (Patterson et al. 2021). It was reported as Depleted in the 2020 Status of Australian Fish Stocks Report. This species is sporadically abundant in Tasmanian waters. Despite a reduction in Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the Commonwealth fishery to 118 t and the initiation of a stock rebuilding strategy in 2008, there is no evidence of stock recovery. | ||
| Importance | Key | ||
| Stock | Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery and Commonwealth Fisheries | ||
| Indicator(s) | Catch, effort and CPUE trends | ||
Background
Blue Warehou is a highly mobile schooling species, occurring seasonally with inter-annual variability in Tasmanian inshore waters, mostly likely in association with suitable oceanographic conditions and the availability of prey species (mostly salps). A small recreational gillnet fishery for Blue Warehou represents < 10% of the total annual harvest of this species in Tasmanian waters. The Blue Warehou stock has been classified as Depleted (Overfished) since 2008, despite a stock rebuilding initiative (the Blue Warehou Stock Rebuilding Strategy) that has been in place since then (AFMA 2014). The stock rebuilding strategy established Blue Warehou as an incidentally caught species, and the Commonwealth Total Allowable Catch has decreased a number of times.
The full 2020/21 Scalefish Assessment, released Dec 2022, 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