The issue that this report will discuss is the over fishing of coral trout, namely the Cephalopholis miniatus, within the northern Queensland region. For graphics of this species please refer to Appendix A. These species of fish are being trapped commercially and recreationally using line and trap fishing techniques. Fishing of this species is conducted both legally and illegally on the Australian North-Eastern shores. This report will take a focus on the status of commercial fishing and its influence on the stock numbers of this particular species.
The commercial fishing technique is as follows:.
• A "mother boat", a boat about 60-70 ft in length anchors out at sea.
• Smaller boats, called "dories" then move further inland, as they can maneuver with ease.
• The Dories then suck in seawater from below, also sucking in live fish.
• The fish are then stored live in holding tanks upon the "Dories" and transported to the mother boat for storage, while the dories go back out to sea to collect more live fish.
• The mother boat then moves back to a port. Brisbane, Gladstone, Townsville and Cairns are the most common. Once there the live fish are distributed, either to keep within Australia, or most likely to be exported overseas to countries such as Hong Kong.
(Farrah, Person, 2003).
The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) (2003), state that there are 3000-4000 fish being trapped per mother boat per week, approximately 3 tonnes per week and there are 273 mother boats working off northern Queensland with licenses. This figure does not include those boats fishing illegally.
Where does it occur?.
Appendix B illustrates that Australia has the third largest fishing zone in the world. Although the fishing area is so extensive, Australia's commercial catch is ranked only 55th in the world, just over 200 000 tonnes. Most of the 200 000 tonnes, however, are exported to countries where a higher price will be paid due to the trout's rarity in those countries (Underwood, 1995).
