Question Without Notice No. 1094 asked in the Legislative Council on 24 September 2015 by Hon Lynn Maclaren
Parliament: 39 Session: 1
FISHERIES — JUVENILE FISH PROGRAM — FINE MESH BEACH SEINE NETS
1094. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Minister for Fisheries:
I refer to the Department of Fisheries program of using fine mesh beach seine nets to sample juvenile fish at various WA coastal locations.
(1) Since which year has this program been running?
(2) Will the minister list all locations where sampling regularly occurs?
(3) What is the purpose of this program?
(4) Which site or sites has yielded the greatest diversity of juvenile fish species in recent years?
(5) In relation to (4), what are the species that have been caught at this site?
Hon KEN BASTON replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) The Department of Fisheries started using fine mesh beach seines to survey small fish in 1993 and an annual monitoring program using this method commenced in 1995. The choice of sites being sampled has varied over the years. Not all sites have been sampled since 1993 or 1995.
(2) Since 1993, there have been 52 sites sampled. Some of these sites have only been sampled once or twice. Currently, the department regularly samples at six sites. These sites are: Pinnaroo Point in Perth, near Hillarys; Mangles Bay, Perth; Warnbro Sound in Perth, near Point Kennedy; Koombana Bay and Leschenault Inlet in Bunbury; and Poison Creek in Cape Arid National Park, east of Esperance.
(3) The program provides data for stock assessments and for other fishery management purposes. Specifically, it monitors the strength of annual juvenile recruitment and provides biological data for numerous fish species. Also, since the program has now been running for about 25 years, the data is providing insights into long-term trends in fish communities. For example, the data is helping the department to understand how gradual ocean warming around the south west of Western Australia is affecting local fish stocks and fisheries.
(4) In the past 10 years, fish diversity—when defined as the number of species or families recorded—has been similar at Mangles Bay with 74 species, Koombana Bay with 74 and Warnbro Sound with 73.
(5) Refer to the table.
I seek leave to table the tabular response and have it incorporated into Hansard.
Leave granted. [See paper 3461.]
The following material was incorporated —
The following material was incorporated —
TABLE 1. Number of individuals of each fish species or family recorded at each site.
| Species or family | Koombana Bay | Mangles Bay | Warnbro Sound |
| Acanthaluteres vittiger | 1 | 3 |
| Acanthopagrus butcheri | 1 |
| Aldrichetta forsteri | 3463 | 1128 | 733 |
| Ammotretis elongatus | 279 | 34 | 21 |
| Anoplocapros amygdaloides | 4 |
| Apogon rueppellii | 27 | 1608 | 244 |
| Aptychotrema vincentiana | 3 | 14 |
| Aracana aurita | 10 | 6 |
| Arenigobius bifrenatus | 38 |
| Arripis georgianus | 659 | 31 | 91 |
| Arripis truttaceus | 254 | 86 | 13 |
| Ashtoret lunaris | 3 | 2 |
| Atherinidae | 1061 | 1630 | 815 |
| Atherinomorus ogilbyi | 1507 | 1556 | 1236 |
| Atherinosoma elongata | 96 | 123 | 1 |
| Blenniidae | 1 |
| Bothidae | 4 |
| Brachaluteres jacksonianus | 1 | 4 |
| Callionymus goodladi | 5 | 32 |
| Chaetodermis penicilligerus | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Cheilodactylus rubrolabiatus | 1 |
| Cnidoglanis macrocephalus | 36 | 24 | 37 |
| Contusus brevicaudatus | 450 | 62 | 32 |
| Craterocephalus mugiloides | 277 | 169 |
| Cristiceps aurantiacus | 2 | 3 |
| Cristiceps australis | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| Dactylopus dactylopus | 11 | 10 |
| Dasyatididae | 3 |
| Diodon nicthemerus | 1 |
| Elops hawaiensis | 3 |
| Engraulis australis | 7 | 12 |
| Enoplosus armatus | 78 | 12 | 1 |
| Favonigobius lateralis | 36 | 2798 |
| Fistularia commersonii | 1 |
| Gerres subfasciatus | 338 | 907 | 551 |
| Gobiidae | 4 | 703 |
| Gonorynchus greyi | 2 |
| Gymnapistes marmoratus | 19 | 233 | 20 |
| Haletta semifasciata | 60 | 73 | 53 |
| Hyperlophus vittatus | 1694 | 293 | 452 |
| Hyporhamphus melanochir | 178 | 79 | 108 |
| Iso rhothophilus | 1 |
| Leptatherina presbyteroides | 524 | 839 | 82 |
| Leptatherina wallacei | 10 | 45 |
| Leptoichthys fistularius | 1 |
| Lesueurina platycephala | 440 | 601 | 293 |
| Leviprora laevigatus | 1 |
| Leviprora inops | 1 | 1 |
| Microcanthus strigatus | 1 | 14 |
| Monacanthidae | 31 | 133 | 67 |
| Monacanthus chinensis | 9 |
| Mugil cephalus | 102 | 1425 | 38 |
| Mullidae | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| Neoodax balteatus | 1 | 6 |
| Odacidae | 51 | 17 | 24 |
| Pagrus auratus | 1 |
| Paraplagusia unicolor | 11 | 2 |
| Parupeneus chryserpleuron | 1 |
| Pelates octolineatus | 25 | 1026 | 121 |
| Pelates sexlineatus | 43 | 941 | 181 |
| Pelsartia humeralis | 1 | 21 | 35 |
| Pentapodus vitta | 59 | 100 |
| Platycephalidae | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Platycephalus endrachtensis | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Platycephalus speculator | 30 | 37 |
| Polyspina piosae | 1 |
| Pomatomus saltatrix | 212 | 1 | 6 |
| Pseudocaranx dentex | 214 | 15 | 38 |
| Pseudocaranx wrighti | 1 | 6 |
| Pseudorhombus jenynsii | 11 | 165 | 20 |
| Rhabdosargus sarba | 320 | 967 | 167 |
| Scobinichthys granulatus | 10 | 15 | 7 |
| Scomber australasicus | 2 |
| Scorpis georgianus | 2 |
| Siganus fuscescens | 62 |
| Sillaginidae | 35 | 175 | 366 |
| Sillaginodes punctata | 234 | 1248 | 18 |
| Sillago bassensis | 2973 | 223 | 919 |
| Sillago burrus | 98 | 5184 | 16 |
| Sillago ingenuua | 1 |
| Sillago schomburgkii | 429 | 1529 | 609 |
| Sillago sp. | 61 | 70 | 282 |
| Sillago vittata | 210 | 485 | 771 |
| Siphamia cephalotes | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Siphonognathus radiatus | 2 |
| Sphyraena novaehollandiae | 4 |
| Sphyraena obtusata | 4 |
| Spratelloides robustus | 185 | 66 | 3302 |
| Squatina australis | 43 |
| Stigmatopora argus | 8 | 1 | 4 |
| Strongylura leiura | 5 |
| Syngnathidae | 15 | 30 | 6 |
| Teraponidae | 20 |
| Tetraodontidae | 1 |
| Tetrosomus reipublicae | 1 |
| Torquigener pleurogramma | 434 | 2263 | 1025 |
| Trachurus novaezelandiae | 9 | 1 |
| Trygonorhina fasciata | 4 | 1 |
| Unknown Species | 2 | 6 |
| Upeneichthys vlamingii | 1 | 2 |
| Upeneus asymmetricus | 2 |
| Upeneus tragula | 3 | 7 |
| Urolophidae | 3 | 1 |
| Total no. of fish | 17267 | 29348 | 13062 |