Annual status report Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) trawl fishery 2007

[Extract] The Queensland Finfish (Stout Whiting) Trawl Fishery (FTF) is a demersal otter trawl fishery. The FTF is permitted to target stout whiting (Sillago robusta) and red spot whiting (Sillago flindersi) and retain other permitted by-product species off southern Queensland, from Sandy Cape south to Caloundra (see Figure 1). Stout whiting also constitute a proportion of the bycatch from the Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery (ECOTF) and a proportion of retained catch in the New South Wales Ocean Prawn Trawl Fishery (NSW OPTF). There are a range of legislative and voluntary management arrangements in place for the fishery, with high levels of licence holder involvement in the management and monitoring processes. This report covers the fishing period from April to December 2006.