Nineteenth century narratives reveal historic catch rates for Australian snapper (Pagrus auratus)

Abstract

Snapper (Pagrus auratus) is widely distributed throughout subtropical and temperate southern oceans and forms a significant recreational and commercial fishery in Queensland, Australia. Using data from government reports, media sources, popular publications and a government fisheries survey carried out in 1910, we compiled information on individual snapper fishing trips that took place prior to the commencement of fisherywide organized data collection, from 1871 to 1939. In addition to extracting all available quantitative data, we translated qualitative information into bounded estimates and used multiple imputation to handle missing values, forming 287 records for which catch rate (snapper fisher−1 h−1) could be derived. Uncertainty was handled through a parametric maximum likelihood framework (a transformed trivariate Gaussian), which facilitated statistical comparisons between data sources. No statistically significant differences in catch rates were found among media sources and the government fisheries survey. Catch rates remained stable throughout the time series, averaging 3.75 snapper fisher−1 h−1 (95% confidence interval, 3.42–4.09) as the fishery expanded into new grounds. In comparison, a contemporary (1993–2002) south‐east Queensland charter fishery produced an average catch rate of 0.4 snapper fisher−1 h−1 (95% confidence interval, 0.31–0.58). These data illustrate the productivity of a fishery during its earliest years of development and represent the earliest catch rate data globally for this species. By adopting a formalized approach to address issues common to many historical records – missing data, a lack of quantitative information and reporting bias – our analysis demonstrates the potential for historical narratives to contribute to contemporary fisheries management.

Reproductive biology of black seabream Acanthopagrus schlegelii, threadfin porgy Evynnis cardinalis and red pargo Pagrus major in the northern South China Sea with consideration of fishery status and management needs

“…The major threat to sparids is overfishing, including targeting of spawning aggregations, excessive fishing effort and a lack of appropriate or effective fishery management. Examples include Pagellus erythrinus (L. 1758) in the Mediterranean Sea (Cardinale et al ., ), Chrysophrys auratus (Forster 1801) in Australia (Thurstan et al ., ), several sparids in South Africa including Chrysoblephus gibbiceps (Valenciennes 1830), Petrus rupestris (Valenciennes 1830) and Polysteganus undulosus (Regan 1908) (Griffiths, ), and Evynnis cardinalis (Lacépède 1802) in Vietnam, Taiwan and China (Iwatsuki & Carpenter, ). Other threats exist for Acanthopagrus chinshira Kume & Yoshino 2008 (Kume & Yoshino, ) and Acanthopagrus sivicolus Akazaki 1962 (Iwatsuki & Carpenter, ).…”

Historical data: Hidden in the past

“…In her snapper study, Thurstan found that catch rates derived from newspaper articles and from survey data gathered by an Australian government vessel were fairly consistent. However, catch rates from a 1905 fisherman's book were higher 1 , suggesting that the author might have described only his best trips. Similarly, Clavero's team backed up its finding 6 from the Spanishcourt letters with evidence from fields such as archaeology, linguistics, genetics and ecology.…”

“…"The amount of detail was astounding, " Thurstan says. One account 1 she found read: "... down went about twenty-four lines; in two minutes the cry rose 'schnapper'; in three minutes more, at least a dozen splendid fish were flapping on the deck … For four hours and a quarter the sport was sustained with undiminished ardor and success … When our respective plunder was totalled up we were found to have lessened that particular tribe of schnapper by about 735 individuals. "…”

“…By combining numbers gleaned from the articles with information from early-twentieth-century government fishery surveys and from a fisherman's book, Thurstan's team estimated that the average number of snapper caught per person per hour was about nine times higher in the late 1800s and early 1900s than it was by the end of the twentieth century 1 . She is working with fisheries modellers to incorporate the data into snapperstock assessments and to refine estimates of sustainable fishing levels.…”

Multidisciplinary perspectives on the history of human interactions with life in the ocean

“…As the available historical data often do not fit well to standard statistical or modelling procedures, especially those used in routine analytical fish stock assessments, methodologies applied to data-limited situations need to be considered, often with customized analysis solutions designed for each case (e.g. Rosenberg et al, 2005;Lotze and McClenachan, 2013;Thurstan et al, 2014;Fortibuoni et al, 2016). There is also a gap in present knowledge regarding the timing of marine fish declines, especially in Europe, as a factor in driving human migration to North America in particular.…”