ABSTRACT
The Torres Strait tropical rock lobster Panulirus ornatus fishery, provides employment for greater than 400 indigenous fishers as well as a small non-indigenous sector. The fishery is transitioning from input controls to a quota managed system, necessitating the development of an effective harvest strategy and TAC setting process. This is to take into account changes in the methods used, as well as the survey frequency and timing, to achieve defined biological, economic and socio-cultural objectives of the lobster fishery.
This presentation provides a brief summary of the testing and development of a new empirical Harvest Control Rule (HCR), a description of the current TAC setting process and some alternative options for future implementation. We highlight the performance of alternative candidate empirical HCRs using stakeholder input and demonstrate the advantages for the future TAC setting process. For each HCR, there are a large number of performance statistics output, based on the reference points developed for the fishery, for consideration by stakeholders. A smaller set of the key outcomes of the HCR testing are presented here.