Publication Date
8-2011
Series Number
Fisheries Research Report No. 221
Publisher
Western Australian Department of Fisheries
ISBN
978-1-921845-23-9
ISSN
1035 - 4549
Abstract
A large number of documents exist in peer reviewed and ‘grey’ scientific literature that describe ‘how to’ establish a generic observer program for bycatch. Rather than repeat the many reviews of establishing observer programs, this component of WAMSI project 4.4.1 undertook a pilot trial to test the efficacy of using Electronic Monitoring (EM) in place of on-board human observers to record and identify the catch composition of a commercial demersal gillnet vessel. Approximately 80% of all catch (including target, by-product and bycatch species), including interactions with threatened, endangered and protected species (TEPS) could be identified to the same taxon as reported by commercial fishers in logsheets. With additional tuning and regular maintenance of the EM equipment (particularly the camera), it is likely that the identification of all catch to the appropriate taxonomic level could approach 100%. The outcomes of the initial small-scale pilot trial of EM provide a basis for future evaluation of EM systems in West Australian fisheries.
Number of Pages
20
Keywords
Commercial fishing; Demersal fisheries; Gillnetters; Bycatch; Catch composition; Monitoring; Monitoring systems; Cameras; Western Australia
Disciplines
Aquaculture and Fisheries
Recommended Citation
Evans, R. and Molony, B. 2011. Pilot evaluation of the efficacy of electronic monitoring on a demersal gillnet vessel as an alternative to human observers. Fisheries Research Report No. 221. Department of Fisheries, Western Australia. 20pp.
