© Baker, J.L. (2009) Marine Species of Conservation Concern in South Australia Full citation Baker, J.L. (2009) Marine Species of Conservation Concern in South Australia: Volume 1 - Bony and Cartilaginous Fishes. Report for the South Australian Working Group for Marine Species of Conservation Concern. J. Baker (consultant); Science and Conservation Division, and Coast and Marine Conservation branches of S.A. Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH); Marine and Coastal Community Network of S.A. (MCCN), and Threatened Species Network (TSN). Web version published by Reef Watch, South Australia.

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Barred Grubfish / Allport’s Grubfish/ Barred Weever

Family Name:	Pinguipedidae
Scientific Name:	Parapercis allporti (Günther, 1876)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Least Concern (N.B. - for S.A. only)
Rationale:  Although the Barred Grubfish has a broad depth range in continental shelf waters, it is included here because (i) the central coast of South Australia is at the edge of the geographic range; (ii) the species is benthic, site-associated, and has territorial habits that would increase the vulnerability of this species to site-specific impacts; (iii) members of the Grubfish family are protogynous hermaphrodites and maintain harems, and in fishes with this kind of reproductive mode, fishing mortality is considered to be a significant threat to population structure and sustainability; (iv) the species is taken in seemingly large numbers as bycatch, particularly in the South East Trawl Fishery; (v) recent assessments have indicated that this species may be at medium to high risk of population impacts from bycatch in trawl fisheries; and (vi) there is no information on the relative abundance of Barred Grubfish in S.A. waters, or of its population dynamics across the range. Despite these facts, the species is classified here as Least Concern for South Australian waters, because mortality of Barred Grubfish by the main threatening process (trawling) occurs in deeper, Commonwealth-managed waters, and in other States, rather than in South Australian waters.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Southern Australia

The Barred Grubfish ranges from southern Queensland through to Kangaroo I. in S.A., including Tasmania (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994; Australian Museum, 2005j; CSIRO, 2007).
Most records are from New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania (Australian Museum records, Museum of Victoria records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).

South Australia

Examples of locations in S.A. where the species occurs include deeper continental shelf waters of the Great Australian Bight, southern Eyre Peninsula, and off Kangaroo Island (CSIRO Marine Research data, cited in CSIRO, 2007 and Australian Museum, 2005j; Australian Museum data, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).

Habitat

The Barred Grubfish is demersal in continental shelf waters, on sand and rubble (Australian Museum, 2005j). 
The species has a broad depth range, generally between 45m and 220m (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994; Australian Museum, 2005j), with most records from the range 100m – 220m (CSIRO et al., 2001). There are records from waters as deep as 365m (CSIRO et al., 2001) and also from waters shallower than 45m (e.g. Derwent Estuary – Green and Coughanowr, 2003).

Notes on Biology and Behaviour

Growth

The Barred Grubfish grows to about 33cm (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994; Australian Museum, 2005j).
One of the maximum weights recorded is 0.075kg (New South Wales Fishing Clubs Association, 2004).

Reproduction

Members of the Pinguipedidae are protogynous hermaphrodites (i.e. change sex from females to males later in life), and are also territorial and haremic (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).
Grubfishes are pelagic spawners (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).

Fisheries Information

Commercial

The species is not targeted, but is frequently taken by trawlers on the deeper parts of the continental shelf (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994).
Barred Grubfish has been recorded in the bycatch of fisheries such as the Commonwealth-managed SESSF – Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fisheries, which includes the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF) (AFMA, 2002a). In the otter trawl sub-fishery of the South East Trawl Fishery, an Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) in which bycatch was recorded between 1990 and 2001, reported that in 405 trawl shots, about 1 tonne of P. allporti was discarded (Wayte et al., 2004), which is an average of about 2.5kg per trawl shot. In the Danish seine sub-fishery of the SETF, the ISMP reported that in 172 shots, about 358 kg of P. allporti was discarded (Wayte et al., 2004), which is an average of about 2kg per shot. If the average Barred Grubfish is about 40g in weight (N.B. 70g is one of the maximum weights recorded to date), the bycatch in each of these fisheries would be approximately 50 – 60 fish per shot.
Bycatch sampling in the GABTF during 2000 and 2001 (Brown and Knuckey, 2002) showed that during that period, Barred Grubfish were observed in 18 of the 209 trawl shots, none were retained, and the average quantity discarded was 0.9kg per trawl shot (Brown and Knuckey, 2002).
The species is part of the discarded bycatch in the Ocean Prawn Trawl and Ocean Fish Trawl fisheries in New South Wales. In the Ocean Fish Trawl (shelf sector) and the Prawn Trawl (deepwater sector), fishery independent surveys showed that the frequency of occurrence of P. allporti across all trawls was approximately 59% and 16% respectively in these two sectors, 5% in the shelf sector of the Ocean Prawn Trawl fishery, and 2% in the Wreck Bay and Tathra inshore grounds of the Ocean Fish Trawl shelf sector (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
P. allporti is sold in the aquarium market, and collected in Tasmania for that purpose. The permitted total annual catch limit is 300 individuals, with a fishing block limit (6 x 6 nautical miles) of 50 individuals (DPIWE Tasmania, 2005b; Australian Government DEH, 2005b). The species is also sold by an aquarium supply company in New South Wales.

Recreational

Although the species is not targeted, some recreational fishing clubs and associations keep records of the maximum sizes caught (e.g. New South Wales Fishing Clubs Association, 2004; Australian Anglers Association, 2005).

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species

The Barred Grubfish is benthic, site-associated, and has territorial habits that would increase the vulnerability of this species to site-specific impacts.
Members of the Grubfish family are protogynous hermaphrodites and maintain harems (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007). In other fish groups with this kind of reproductive mode, fishing mortality is considered to be a significant threat to population structure and sustainability (e.g. see sections on Labridae, and Western Blue Groper).

Threatening Processes

Generally, mortality due to bycatch in trawling is a threatening process (see below); however the extent to which trawling threatens populations in South Australia is not known.
Parapercis allporti was listed as one of the bycatch species in the N.S.W. Ocean Trawl Fishery that has a “high” fishery impact profile (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004). Studies of the Barred Grubfish in New South Wales showed that the species suffers barotrauma when hauled in trawls, and although the species is considered to be of moderate resilience (due to its broad depth range) P. allporti was classified overall as a “high risk” species in terms of population impacts from trawl fishing (see N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004). In contrast, a draft ecological risk assessment report for the South East Trawl Fishery (in which this species is a significant part of the discarded bycatch, in terms of numbers), listed Parapercis allporti as being a “low risk” species, although the calculated “overall risk value” was close to the upper limit for that category, hence the species almost qualified as “medium risk” in that assessment (Wayte et al. 2004).

Research and Management Requirements

More information is required on the population sizes, biology and population dynamics, and the impact of trawling on populations of this species.
Measures are required to reduce the bycatch of this species in trawls across southern Australia, including those operating in other State waters, and in Commonwealth-managed waters.

Other Information

P. allporti has been recorded in a number of marine sanctuaries in Victoria, such as Beware Reef (Bird and Watson, 1993, cited in Plummer et al., 2003).