FISHERY-INDEPENDENT SURVEYS AND STOCK ASSESSMENT OF PANULIRUS-ORNATUSIN TORRES STRAIT

The Torres Strait lobster fishery differs culturally and ecologically from other Australian lobster fisheries. Ornate rock lobsters (Panulir us ornatus) have been fished by the inhabitants of Torres Strait for c enturies, and commercial fishing began in the late 1960s. The fishery is a major source of income for Torres Strait Islanders, and the aim o f management is to balance the needs of traditional and commercial use rs under a treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea. In 1989, the absolute abundance of lobsters in the main fishing grounds was estima ted by a visual census and a simple assessment was made. Since then, a nnual fishery-independent surveys of the relative stock abundance, and catch sampling, have contributed to the development of a simple cohor t dynamics model of the fishery; for a range of fishing mortalities, i t estimates the potential yield and percentage escapement and has prov ided annual assessments of the status of the stock and potential yield one year in advance-information valuable for managers considering dev elopment options and negotiating catch-sharing agreements and access r ights. Future research will develop the model by incorporating informa tion from ongoing surveys, catch recording, and logbook data from the Australian and Papua New Guinean fisheries.