Lobster quota for 2022/23 landed in just 18 fishing days.
Report and photo from Chief Islander and Head of Fisheries James Glass
who is presently also Acting Administrator
Tristan's Total Allowable Catch (TAC) gets landed in just 18 days!
The lobster season for the local boats at Tristan runs from the 1st July to 30th April. This year the first fishing day was on the 29th July 2022, with the quota of 120,537.5 kgs being landed in just 18 days on the 11th November. The quota was exceeded by only 82.5 kgs.
The record for the highest catch in a single day is 4,244lbs (2097.4 kg) held by Cliff Swain and Brian Rogers with Steve Swain (than an apprentice) which was processed in the previous factory on 28th October during the 2006/2007 season.
This 2022/2023 season, fishermen Cliff Swain and Clifton Repetto landed the highest catch of 2911.4 lbs (1320.6kg) in a single day, although there have been higher catches between the 2006/07 season and the 2022/2023 season.
It should be noted that fishermen only carry 14 traps and 32 rings (Hoop nets), and these are taken with the boats in the morning and brought back in the evening, so only have 5-6 hours soak time.
The fishing Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) started to decline from 2006 and did so for several years, Fisheries made the decision to reduce the Quota more than the recommended 5%, much to the annoyance of the Mathematicians and Concession holders as we went outside of the agreed Harvest Control Rules. Fisheries then held the TAC at 120 tonnes until the CPUE increased above the agreed benchmark. This I believe is now showing the benefits.
The fishery will now have a seven-month rest and we expect bumper catches next season as well.