Executive Summary

The 2001/2002 rock lobster fishery assessment provides information on the status of the fishery and new developments in research at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI). This assessment of the rock lobster resource is the seventh in the series and the fifth to be produced by the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute and uses input from the Rock Lobster Fishery Assessment Working Group (RLAWG). The assessment found that no trigger points were breached during the period under review. Catch rates remain substantially higher than the 1990 reference years although small declines over the last 12 months were noted in areas 6 (west) and 8 (south-west). Substantial improvements in catch rates were recorded from the East Coast. This trend was also reflected in estimates of the biomass of legal-sized lobsters and the proportion of lobsters caught. Declines in catch rates over the last 12 months in two areas on the west coast were partly a result of changing fishing patterns. In Area 6, there was an increase in effort in shallower waters (<50m) where catch rates were typically lower. Inter-annual changes in catch rates in Area 8 appear to be strongly influenced by catches of recently moulte