Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery

Size at maturity in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery in Australia increases from north to south and female lobsters carry either one or two batches of eggs per season depending on their carapace length. There has been a steady decrease in the size at first maturity of western rock...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Smith, Roy, De Lestang, S., Thomson, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: The Royal Society of New Zealand 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11916
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author Smith, Roy
De Lestang, S.
Thomson, A.
author_facet Smith, Roy
De Lestang, S.
Thomson, A.
author_sort Smith, Roy
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Size at maturity in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery in Australia increases from north to south and female lobsters carry either one or two batches of eggs per season depending on their carapace length. There has been a steady decrease in the size at first maturity of western rock lobster over the last 30 years, and there are now significantly more small females, many below the legal minimum size, contributing to the brood stock than any time since the fishery has been researched. Biological data were used to show the current contribution to egg production in different management regions of the fishery and historical length-frequency data were used to show how egg production has changed in those regions overtime. Reasons for the change in size at maturity in this fishery are unclear, but the outcome has been that egg production is now more evenly distributed across management zones. Egg production was high at Abrolhos Islands in the 1990s owing to strong year classes of breeding animals entering the fishery over those years. In the period since 2000, egg production has fallen sharply at the islands, but has increased in the coastal population compared with the 1980s and 1990s.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-119162017-09-13T14:55:43Z Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery Smith, Roy De Lestang, S. Thomson, A. Size at maturity efficiency increase Western Australia Size at maturity in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery in Australia increases from north to south and female lobsters carry either one or two batches of eggs per season depending on their carapace length. There has been a steady decrease in the size at first maturity of western rock lobster over the last 30 years, and there are now significantly more small females, many below the legal minimum size, contributing to the brood stock than any time since the fishery has been researched. Biological data were used to show the current contribution to egg production in different management regions of the fishery and historical length-frequency data were used to show how egg production has changed in those regions overtime. Reasons for the change in size at maturity in this fishery are unclear, but the outcome has been that egg production is now more evenly distributed across management zones. Egg production was high at Abrolhos Islands in the 1990s owing to strong year classes of breeding animals entering the fishery over those years. In the period since 2000, egg production has fallen sharply at the islands, but has increased in the coastal population compared with the 1980s and 1990s. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11916 10.1080/00288330909509989 The Royal Society of New Zealand unknown
spellingShingle Size at maturity
efficiency increase
Western Australia
Smith, Roy
De Lestang, S.
Thomson, A.
Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery
title Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery
title_full Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery
title_fullStr Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery
title_full_unstemmed Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery
title_short Spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) fishery
title_sort spatial and temporal changes in egg production in the western rock lobster (panulirus cygnus) fishery
topic Size at maturity
efficiency increase
Western Australia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11916