GLOSSARY

Joint Standing Committee on Treaties

TWO INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON TUNA 3rd Report
CONTENTS

GLOSSARY

Aggregation may refer to the schooling which involves behavioural grouping of animals
Aquaculture the cultivation of plants and animals in water
Allowable quota or quota A share in a total allowable quota (TAC) usually divided in a manner amongst those with a right to participate in the fishery
Archival tag an implanted fish tag that detects and records several environmental variables (e.g. water temperature) over time
Australian Fishing Zone Australia has proclaimed a 200 nautical mile wide zone around its coast within which it controls domestic and foreign access to fish resources
Benthic associate with the bottom of the water body
Billfish a collective term for a number of members of the families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae which have an upper jaw elongated onto a bill, e.g. swordfish, marlin, sailfish, spearfish
Biological or biodiversity the variety of life on earth at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels
Biomass an aggregate weight, at a particular time, of fish (or other organisms) in a stock or in a fishery
Boatday a measure of fishing effort
Branch-line upper section of a long-line snood that is connected to the mainline
By-catch or incidental catch those species taken in a fishery targeted on other species, or a different size range of the same species; bycatch may be commercially valuable or discarded
Catch the quantity of fish landed
Catch per unit Effort the number or weight of fish caught by a unit of fishing effort, and is used as a measure of fish abundance
Coastwatch program to monitor foreign vessels' activities in Australian coastal waters by aerial surveillance. Administered by the Australian Customs Service
Commercial value the landed value of the catch to fishers
Commonwealth fishing boat licence a licence required by a person taking fish in Commonwealth waters for commercial purposes
Continental Shelf seabed from the shore to the edge of the continental slope
Depletion reducing the abundance of adult members of a fish stock through fishing
Developing fishery a fishery in which experimental or feasibility fishing is being undertaken to determine whether the resource can support a commercially viable fishery
Discards bycatch and damaged catches that have little or no commercial value and are released alive or thrown away
Domestic fishery a fishery within the AFZ operated by Australian fishers
Ecosystem systems of plants, animals and micro organisms together with the non-living components of their environment. No ecosystem is a closed system and the precise meaning of the term varies according to the context
Effort the amount of fishing directed at particular species
Environment the conditions under which an organism lives, thus including all living or non- living factors and the activities of humans
Environmental carrying capacity the amount of fish (or other marine organisms) which an environment can support
Exclusive Economic Zone 200 nautical mile zone from the coast
Exploitation rate the fraction of total fish deaths caused by fishing usually expressed as an annual value
Fecundity the numbers of eggs (or offspring) produced by a female; for fish species the number of eggs (or offspring) produced usually increases as the size of the individual increases
Fish stock an interbreeding group of individuals of a single species
Fishery a loosely defined term describing a range of activities or characteristics associated with the exploitation of a fish resource, a fishery can be defined by the fishing method used, the types of fish taken and the area where fishing occurs
Fishing capacity the amount of fishing effort that a fishing boat, or a fleet of fishing boats could exert if not constrained by restrictive management measures
Fishing effort the amount of fishing activity undertaken. It is measured by the total time spent fishing combined with quantity of gear used, for example the number of hooks, number of times the net is shot per day, etc
Fishing mortality mathematical expression for the death rate of fish due to fishing
Fish stock synonymous with `unit stock' or population. An interbreeding group of individuals of a single species
Fully exploited an appraisal of the status of a stock which suggests that current catches are sustainable and close to optimum levels
Game fishing recreational angling conducted under the auspices of clubs or associations affiliated with Game Fishing Association of Australia
Gear restriction a type of input control used as a management tool whereby the amount and/or type of fishing gear used by fishers in a particular fishery is restricted by law
accurately determine a vessel's position and course
Index of Abundance a relative measure of the abundance of a stock e.g. a time series of catch per unit effort data
Individual Transferable Quotas a share in a total allowable catch (TAC); the share being tradeable
Input controls management controls on type and/or amount of fishing as a means of limiting catches
Joint Venture collaborative fishing operation usually involving two companies from different countries
Knot one knot is equivalent to 1.852 km per hour
Latent capacity fishing capacity that is not currently deployed in a fishery
Limited entry controls on the number and size of boats allowed to operate in a fishery
Logbook an official record of catch and effort data made by fishers. In many fisheries, logbooks are compulsory as a condition of license
Long-line a fishing gear in which short lines carrying hooks are attached to a longer main line at regular intervals and are suspended horizontally at a predetermined depth with the help of surface floats the main lines can be 150 km and have several thousand hooks
Maximum sustainable yield the greatest yield or catch that can be removed from a resource each year without impairing the ability of the resource to produce at that level and renew itself
Migration systematic movement of individuals of a stock from one place to another
Mortality rate of deaths from various causes
Mother ship in some fisheries catching vessels are serviced on the fishing grounds by a mother ship to which they land their catches and which may process those catches before storing them for transport or transhipping
Natural mortality deaths of fish from all causes except fishing
Nautical mile a maritime measure of distance, originally equal to one minute of latitude at the equator (1 nm is equivalent to 1.852 km)
Observer data fisheries information collected on board fishing vessels by independent observers
Oceanic to do with the open ocean waters beyond the edge of the continental shelf
Offshore Constitutional Settlement a series of legislative and administrative agreements designed to rationalise jurisdictional arrangements for a number of complex offshore constitutional issues, particularly legislative responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the various States (including the Northern Territory) in respect of petroleum, mining for minerals, fisheries, historical shipwrecks, marine parks, crimes at sea, and the regulation of shipping and navigation
Offshore waters tend to be more oceanic waters but may relate to the outer continental shelf waters
Output control constraints on the level of catch, for example, a total allowable catch quota
Overexploited current fishing levels may not be sustainable or yield in the longer term may be higher if reduced in the short term
Overfishing any level of fishing greater than a defined optimum. Growth overfishing occurs when the losses due to natural and fishing mortality exceed the gains due to recruitment and growth during the same period. Recruitment overfishing occurs when the spawning stock has been reduced to a level at which recruitment is significantly reduced
Parameter characteristic feature or measure of some aspect of a stock usually expressed as a numerical value
Parental biomass the weight of the adult population of a species
Pelagic inhabiting the sea surface or midwater rather than the sea floor
Productivity when applied to fish stocks the term productivity gives an indication of the birth, growth and death rates of a stock
Purse sein a fishing method capable of harvesting large quantities of schooling pelagic fish by surrounding the school with a net. A line which passes through rings on the bottom of the net can be tightened to close the net so that the fish are unable to escape
Quota amount of catch allocated - can refer to a fishery as a whole or to the amount allocated to an individual or company
Recreational fishing fishing activity pursued primarily for leisure; the catch normally being kept or personal consumption
Recruitment the entry of new fish into that part of a stock which is subject to capture by the gear used in the fishery
Risk Analysis analysis that evaluates the possible outcomes of various harvesting strategies or management options
Sashimi refers to a Japanese method of presenting and eating raw seafood
Seasonal closure the closure of a fishing ground for a defined period of time, used as a tool in the management of a fishery frequently to protect stock during a spawning season
Spatial and temporal closures area and seasonal closures of a fishery
Spawning stock biomass the total weight of all mature fish in a population
Species group of animals or plants having common characteristics and able to breed together to produce fertile offspring so that they maintain their separateness from other groups
Statutory Fishing Rights rights to participate in a limited entry fishery
Stock stocks are relatively homogeneous and self-contained populations whose losses by emigration and gains by immigration are negligible in relation to the rates of growth and mortality
Straddling stock normally used to describe a stock which is distributed across one or more jurisdictional boundaries
Sustainable development this statement adopts the definition given by the Brundlandt Commission (Our Common Future, 1987) that development is sustainable if it meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Sustainable yield catch that can be removed over an indefinite period without causing the stock to be depleted
Tagging marking or attaching a tag to an individual so that it or they can be identified on recapture; used for the study of fish growth, movement, migration and stock structure and size
Target the particular species sought by the fisher
Total allowable catch the catch allowed to be taken from a managed fishery in accordance with a management plan. The TAC may be allocated in specific quantities or proportions referred to as quotas
Value-adding activities activities to increase the value of the product in the catching (handling and treatment), processing (filleting, smoking, freezing, canning, made-up dishes) and marketing sectors (quality associated with premium brands, portion packs, and when appropriate live product)
Yield catch weight