Seasonal closure and minimum legal size for barramundi in the Gulf ...

arramundi fishing and/or all commercial netting for at least a period in late
September until the start of the seasonal closure. Of course the previous comments
regarding compliance difficulties would still need to be addressed.
Other possible mitigating measures for changing the Gulf seasonal closure and
amending the minimum legal length of barramundi to 58 cm are as follows:
1. Decrease the maximum legal size of barramundi from 120 cm to protect a greater
proportion of female barramundi and thus increase egg production. This would,
however, be inconsistent with the aim of amending the minimum legal size to
achieve uniform size limits throughout the state.
2. Amend commercial barramundi fishing net mesh sizes to select for a more
restricted size range of fish (e.g. maximum 215 mm and minimum 165 mm) in
order to increase spawning biomass. While these changes would not affect
recreational fishing, over 90% of Gulf barramundi are taken commercially. Unlike
introducing a lower maximum size, this approach would mean that any larger fish
taken unintentionally could be retained. It is also worth noting that the current
commercial fishing net minimum mesh size does not select for barramundi less
than 60 cm (see Figure 12).
3. Introduce another mechanism to constrain the catch of barramundi below
historical levels (e.g. total catch or effort controls in the commercial fishery and/or
a reduced bag limit in the recreational). This would not, however, be consistent
with the aim of simplicity and uniformity of bag limits between the east coast and
the Gulf.
These mitigating measures will of course have a greater number of positive and
negative aspects than have been addressed here. It is important to remember that
these measures are not being presented here as proposals, but simply as examples
of the type of mitigating measures that could be considered should a decision be
made to amend the seasonal closure and/or the minimum legal size of barramundi.
The requirement for such mitigation and which (if any) of these measures might be
employed would need to be more fully explored as part of the fishery review.
Technical report prepared for the Gulf finfish review. Not government policy. 10