Monitoring Queensland's boat-based recreational fishing: Baseline report for Fisheries Queensland's recreational boat ramp survey program

This report presents baseline information for the first 12 months of Fisheries Queensland’s boat ramp surveys of recreational fishers. The sampling started in November 2015 to coincide with the introduction of the net-free zones in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton. From August 2016, the sampling expanded into a statewide monitoring program to collect information about recreational fishing activities across Queensland. More than 45 boat ramps within 12 regions are now monitored 5 times a month on weekends and weekdays to provide a representative sample of boat-based recreational fishing activities at each ramp. Interviewers collect information about the fishing trip by asking the recreational fishers which suburb they live in, where and how they fished, and how long they fished for. They collect information on more than 30 species. Interviewers identify, measure and count the fish kept. They also record the number and species reported as released. The number of mud crabs, blue swimmer crabs, tropical rock lobsters and sharks retained is also recorded. The power of the monitoring program will be in the trends observed over subsequent years, and will help provide information on whether the number and size of fish caught change as a result of the net-free zones or other management interventions. Detecting these changes can require several years of data, particularly given seasonal and other influences (such as rainfall, cyclones and droughts). This monitoring program provides indices of fishing activity so that changes through time can be detected. The program is not able to provide estimates of total recreational fishing harvest, effort or value, either regionally or statewide. It complements the statewide and national recreational fishing telephone–diary surveys, which will continue to provide an estimate of the total number of recreational fishers in Queensland, together with statewide recreational fishing estimates. Social surveys have also been undertaken to assess people’s level of satisfaction and expectation with the introduction of net-free zones—these results are presented separately. This baseline report highlights some interesting regional differences, as outlined overleaf. Parts of the Cairns, Fraser, Hinchinbrook, Mackay, Rockhampton and Townsville regions have data for the full 12 months. Other regions and boat ramps were introduced after August 2016, and therefore less data are available for those regions.