Integrating commercial and research surveys to estimate the harvestable biomass, and establish a quota, for an unexploited abalone population

A key challenge facing many fisheries managers is the absence of information on the level of harvestable biomass. We describe an integrated, two-stage survey approach that was used to measure the spatial distribution and harvestable biomass of a largely unexploited metapopulation of greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata) over a large area of northwestern Spencer Gulf, South Australia. In stage 1, commercial fishers conducted systematic surveys to identify subareas with abalone at harvestable densities. Cpue measures from these surveys were used to map and stratify a bounded survey subregion, within which leaded-line, research-diver surveys measured absolute density and harvestable biomass (stage 2). Decision tables, showing minimum biomass at various probabilities vs. harvest fraction, were developed to provide a risk-assessment framework for quota setting. Within two years, our approach allowed, first, the mapping of the broad-scale, spatial distribution and abundance of greenlip abalone in an area of 1143 km(2), second, the estimation of harvestable biomass in a smaller (16.9 km(2)) area, and finally, the allocation by State fishery managers of an additional quota inside a newly defined management subzone. The collaborative approach we describe for providing estimates of absolute biomass over large spatial scales affords multiple advantages for the assessment and management of invertebrate dive fisheries.