Bio-economic modelling of a fishery under individual transferable quota management: A case study of the fishery for blacklip abalone Haliotis rubra in the Western Zone of Victoria (Australia)

Abstract

The present management of the abalone fishery in the Western Zone of Victoria (Australia) includes a total allowable catch (TAC) of 280 t (live weight) divided equally amongst 14 divers, whose entitlements to engage in the fishery are able to be traded. Five of the divers have gained their entitlements through purchase, while the others are from the original group whose entitlements were obtained without cost. Management also includes a legal minimum length of 120 mm maximum shell length. This analysis examines the likely long-term effect from changing the TAC, number of divers and minimum size on the stock, fishery rents and the sharing of rents. The outputs include estimates of yield, catch rates, mean individual weights, exploited density, population fecundity, and fishery rents. The latter are sub-divided in order to examine the sharing between the divers, State and Federal governments, and the entities financing the purchase of licence entitlements. The validity of the outputs is examined by comparing estimates with independent observations of the stock and the fishery.