Tiger Flathead
pinungana (Fish)
In palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines, with thanks to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.
Platycephalus richardsoni (Tiger Flathead)
2021/22 Tiger Flathead Status (Released March 24)
| Stock Status | SUSTAINABLE | ||
| Summary | Tiger Flathead is a predominantly Commonwealth-managed species that has been classified as “Not overfished nor subject to overfishing” by ABARES in the Fishery Status Reports 2021 (Patterson et al. 2021). It has been classified as Sustainable in the 2020 Status of Australian Fish Stocks Report (Piddocke et al. 2021). In Tasmania, Tiger Flathead are caught predominantly by the commercial sector. Catches fluctuate substantially on an annual basis, but they typically represent a small proportion of Commonwealth trawl landings. | ||
| Importance | Key | ||
| Stock | Tasmanian Scalefish Fishery and Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (Commonwealth) | ||
| Indicator(s) | Catch, effort and CPUE trends | ||
| Managing Jurisdiction | Commonwealth | ||
Background
Tiger Flathead is associated with exposed sand and silt at depths of 10 – 400 m in southeast Australian waters of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania (Edgar 2008). Southern Sand Flathead and Tiger Flathead are the most commonly targeted flathead species in Tasmania, with Tiger Flathead most dominant in commercial catches. Commercially, Tiger Flathead is taken mainly by Danish seine, with some recreational handline catches. Commercial Danish seine fishing operations in Tasmania target either Tiger Flathead or Eastern School Whiting (primarily Tiger Flathead) and each target species represents the main by-product species when the other is targeted, leading to opposing trends in catch and effort for the two species. Tiger Flathead constitute a minor component of the recreational harvest of flathead (5 -10%, Lyle et al. 2014, 2019).
The full 2021/22 Scalefish Assessment, released March 2024, 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