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I & I N S W W i l d F i s h e r i e s r e s e a r c h P r o g r a m
Bugs
(Ibacus
spp.)exPloi tation status Fully FishedFor secies o bs are marketed in NSW; bt two secies dominate commercial landins and
both these secies are considered to be lly shed. The recreational catch is insinicant.
Bk
Trawlers of NSW catch or o the eiht knownsecies oIbacus, collectively marketed as
Balmain bs. The most commonly caht NSW
secies are the tre eastern Balmain b (Ibacus
peronii) and the smooth b (I. chacei) which
both row in size to 8-9 cm caraace lenth (CL)
and weih between 300 and 400 . The eastern
Balmain b occrs mainly on inshore ronds
(
7/27/2019 Belmain Bugs
2/4p 62 | B u g S
mostly as a by-rodct o rawn trawlin; abot
80% o this catch consists o smooth bs.
Balmain bs are also taken as an incidental
catch by other trawl sheries of sothern NSW
and in other states, and small qantities o
bs are caht incidentally in sanner crab
tras. There is no recreational shery or bsin NSW. It shold be noted that an annal
catch o arond 400 t o Moreton Bay bs or
Bay lobsters (Thenus s.) are also landed by
Qeensland trawlers.
Research into NSW bs revealed distinct
diferences in lie histories between the eastern
Balmain and smooth bs. Eastern Balmain bs
may live or more than 15 years whereas smooth
bs have a maximm lie san o abot 7 years.
Taed smooth bs showed a northward
movement attern that was not evident or
taed eastern Balmain bs. Stdies o theirrerodctive bioloy showed that matrin
smooth bs moved northwards to sawn in
waters of Qeensland, whereas eastern Balmain
bs sawned throhot their rane alon
the NSW coast. It aears that smooth b
larvae (hyllosomata) diserse soth on the East
Astralian Crrent and settle as jveniles on the
NSW continental shel.
Size at matrity or eastern Balmain and smooth
bs is arond 5 cm CL. In 1999, a minimm
leal size o 10 cm (caraace width) was
introdced or eastern Balmain and smooth bsbased on their averae size o emale matrity.
Little is known o the bioloy o the other
secies althoh the eak e-bearin eriod
or all NSW bs is winter.
The two lare secies o bs (I. chaceiand
I. peronii) are not diferentiated in catch retrns
bt samlin will be sed to assess the catch
comosition. Collectively, bs are considered
to be lly shed in NSW waters althoh
no detailed stock assessments have been
comleted. In Qeensland, the act that bs
are relatively lon-lived crstaceans, with low
ecndity and relatively low olation densities
has led to concern that they may be vlnerable
to overexloitation.
W i l d F i s h e r i e s r e s e a r c h P r o g r a m
a n
Bs are taken incidentally by rawn and sh
trawlin in ocean waters of NSW.
The two main secies, smooth b, Ibacus
chacei, and eastern Balmain b, I. peronii, are
inshore secies ond mainly in deths lessthan 100m, whereas I. bruceiand I. alticrenatus
are ond on the oter shel and er sloe
(150-400 m).
Smooth and Balmain bs have overlain
distribtions; however smooth bs are a
more northern secies and are abndant in
Qeensland waters.
Landins o these secies contine to be
monitored with lenth-based samlin.
There is a minimm leal lenth o 10 cm
caraace width and a recreational ba limit o20 bs.
c
Recreational Catch o Bugs
The annal recreational harvest o bs in NSW
is likely to be less than one tonne.
Commercial landings (including available historicalrecords) o bugs or NSW rom 1969/70 to 2008/09 or all
fshing methods. Records rom the mid to late 1980s are
incomplete.
Historical Landings o Bugs
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
68/69 73/74 78/79 83/84 88/89 93/94 98/99 03/04 08/09
Financial Year
Landings
(t)
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s t at u s o F F i s h e r i e s r e s o u r c e s i n n s W , 2 0 0 8 / 0 9
The length distribution o eastern Balmain bugs in NSW
commercial landings has remained relatively stable since
the 1990s, and is mainly comprised o bugs between 5
and 9 cm carapace length (CL). The introduction in June1999 o a minimum legal length o 10 cm carapace width
(approximately 5 cm CL) has apparently had little impact
o the size composition o landings o eastern Balmain
bugs.
2 4 6 8 10
0
2
4
6
8
Age (years)
CL(cm)
femalemale
Growth curves o eastern Balmain bug using parameters
rom Stewart and Kennelly (2000). Lengths are presentedas carapace length (CL).
Length Frequency oEastern Balmain Bugs
Growth curves o smooth bug using parameters rom
Stewart and Kennelly (2000). Lengths are presented as
carapace length (CL).
2 4 6 8 10
0
2
4
6
Age (years)
CL(cm)
femalemale
Growth Curves oSmooth BugsGrowth Curves oEastern Balmain Bugs
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
1992/931994/95
n = 1798
Proportion
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
2000/012006/07
n = 5150
Proportion
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
2007/082008/09
n = 1277
Proportion
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CL (cm)
The length distribution o smooth bugs in NSW
commercial catches included a high proportion o bugs
less than 5 cm CL prior to the introduction in 1999 othe minimum legal length o 10 cm carapace width
(approximately 5 cm CL). In recent years the length
distribution o smooth bugs landed by NSW commercial
fshers has mainly comprised bugs between 5 and 7 cmCL.
Length Frequency oSmooth Bugs
0.00
0.05
0.1
0
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
2000/012006/07
n = 19 831
Proportion
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
2007/082008/09
n = 9889
Proportion
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CL (cm)
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F rg
Brown, D.E. and L.B. Holthis (1998). The Astralian
secies o the ens Ibacus (Crstacea: Decaoda:
Scyllaridae), with the descrition o a newsecies and addition o new records.Zoologische
Mededelingen (Leiden)72: 113-141.
Haddy, J.A., A.J. Cortney and D.p. Roy (2005).
Asects o the rerodctive bioloy and rowth o
Balmain bs (Ibacus s.) (Scyllaridae).Journal oCrustacean Biology25: 263-273.
W i l d F i s h e r i e s r e s e a r c h P r o g r a m
Catch rates o bugs harvested using Ocean Prawn
Trawling or NSW. Two indicators are provided: (1)median catch rate (lower solid line); and (2) 90th
percentile o the catch rate (upper dashed line). Note that
catch rates are not a robust indicator o abundance in
many cases. Caution should be applied when interpretingthese results.
Comercial landings o bugs by NSW commercial fsheries
rom 1997/98. Fisheries which contribute less than 2.5%o the landings are excluded or clarity and privacy.
Landings by Commercial Fishery o Bugs
Ocean prawn Trawl (primary Secies)
Fish Trawl (primary Secies)
Catch Per Unit Efort Inormation o Bugs Harvested
by Ocean Prawn Trawling in NSW
State o New Soth Wales throh Indstry and Investment NSW 2010. Yo may coy,distribte and otherwise reely deal with this blication or any rose, rovided that yo
attribte Indstry and Investment NSW as the owner.
Disclaimer: The inormation contained in this blication is based on knowlede and nderstandin
at the time o writin (Aril 2010). However, becase o advances in knowlede, sers are
reminded o the need to ensre that inormation on which they rely is to date and to check
crrency o the inormation with the aroriate ofcer o Indstry and Investment NSW or the
sers indeendent adviser.
97/98 99/00 01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08
Financial Year
Landings(t)
0
20
40
60
80
0.0
0.2
0.
4
0.6
0.8
1.0
93/94 98/99 03/04 08/09
Financial Year
RelativeCatchRate
Haddy, J.A., J. Stewart and K.J. graham (2007). Fishery
and bioloy o commercially exloited Astralian
an lobsters (Ibacus s.). The Bioloy and Fisherieso the Slier Lobster. K. L. Lavalli and E. Sanier.
Boca Raton, Florida, CRC press. 17: 359-375.
Jones, D.S. and g.J. Moran (1994). A Field gide to
Crstaceans o Astralian Waters. Sydney, Reedpblications.
Qeensland Fisheries. (2010). Stock stats o
Qeenslands sheries resorces 2009-10.
Qeensland, Deartment o Emloyment, Economic
Develoment and Innovation: 65 .
Stewart, J. (1999). Asects o the bioloy o Balmainand smooth bs Ibacus s. (Decaoda :
Scyllaridae) of eastern Astralia, university o
Sydney. PhD Thesis.
Stewart, J. (2003). Lon-term recatres o taed
Scyllarid lobsters (Ibacus peronii) rom the east coast
o Astralia, Fisheries Research63: 261-264.Stewart, J. and S.J. Kennelly (1997). Fecndity and
e-size o the Balmain B Ibacus peronii(Leach,
1815) (Decaoda, Scyllaridae) of the east coast o
Astralia. Crustaceana70: 191-197.
Stewart, J. and S.J. Kennelly (1998). Contrastinmovements o two exloited Scyllarid lobsters o
the ens Ibacus of the east coast o Astralia.
Fisheries Research36 (2-3): 127-132.
Stewart, J. and S.J. Kennelly (2000). growth o the
scyllarid lobsters Ibacus peroniiand I. chacei. MarineBiology136 (5): 921-930.
Stewart, J., S.J. Kennelly and O. Hoeh-ldber(1995). An otimal stratey or samlin oocytes
in emale balmain bs Ibacus peroniiLeach
(Decaoda, Scyllaridae). Invertebrate Reproduction &
Development28 (1): 7-11.
Stewart, J., S.J. Kennelly and O. Hoeh-gldber
(1997). Size at sexal matrity and the rerodctive
bioloy o two secies o scyllarid lobster rom New
Soth Wales and Victoria, Astralia. Crustaceana70:
344-367.
please visit the CSIRO website,
htt://www.marine.csiro.a/caab/ and search orthe secies code (CAAB) 28 821019, 28 821004, 28
821001 and 28 821010, common name or scienticname to nd rther inormation.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termhttp://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2003/278_long_termTop Related