What’s the catch with calamari?

Calamari are a favourite of Tassie’s rec fishers. They are also rated as depleted or depleting around Tasmania. More needs to be done to protect the remaining spawning aggregations and recover calamari to a sustainable level.

NRE Tasmania has proposed changes to spawning season closures and commercial management:

Proposal 1. Expand the eastern spawning closure to cover all south east waters.

Proposal 2. Close north coast waters, from Cape Grim to Cape Naturaliste, from 1 September to 31 October.

Proposal 3. Control the take of calamari by commercial fishers to a period from 6:00am to 11:59am on each calendar day during the open season on the north coast.

TARFish supports all three proposals.

We have also recommended that:

1. The south east be designated as a recreational only area for southern calamari

2. Options (like habitat restoration) to improve the calamari fishery in the south east are investigated

3. Contingency management control(s) to further restrict commercial effort are applied if the current proposals are shown to be ineffective after year 1 (2024)

4. Commercial effort must be effectively managed to secure the recovery of this fishery before any contemplation of changes to recreational settings.

5. Advice is provided on when development of a harvest strategy is likely to be commenced and implemented.

You can read the entire TARFish response to the proposed calamari changes by clicking the button below.