© 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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Red Gurnard / Flying Gurnard

Family Name:	Triglidae
Scientific Name:	Chelidonichthys kumu (Cuvier, 1829)
Recommended Status:	Data Deficient in S.A. State waters possibly Near Threatened in south-eastern Australia
Rationale:  Although it has a broad distribution across southern Australia, the cosmopolitan species Red Gurnard is included here because (i) it is a site-associated benthic species from various habitats in continental shelf waters, and may be vulnerable to site-specific impacts in some areas; (ii) juveniles are associated with estuarine waters, and may be vulnerable to impacts due to estuarine habitat degradation; (iii); it is caught in a number of fisheries across the range (including fish trawls, prawn trawls, fish and shark gillnets and long-lines, and other gear) with the trawl catch in some Commonwealth-managed fisheries apparently being large, and unregulated; (iv) risk assessments in trawl fisheries indicate that populations are considered to be at medium risk of impact from capture in fish trawls; (v) in S.A., there is inadequate information about the bycatch of this species; (vi) across southern Australia, commercial (particularly trawl) fishing regulations are inadequate, given the large catches in some commercial fisheries, and the lack of stock assessments; and (vii) there are inadequate data on: relative abundance over the range; biology (particularly longevity and reproduction, including data that are specific to C. kumu in southern Australia, since existing data are mainly from New Zealand); stock structure (particularly in  southern Australia); population dynamics, and ecology; and (viii) annual recruitment strength may fluctuate significantly, and may be strongly associated with environmental variables, and this requires investigation.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known in Australia
In New Zealand, Red Gurnard is categorised as a fished species of moderate conservation concern (category D), due to “the impact of trawling on benthic habitats; the inclusion of several stocks in one quota management area; the unknown sustainability of current catches; the lack of current stock assessments, and the lack of a management plan” (Weeber and Szabo, 2005).

Distribution

General

The Red Gurnard is found in sub-tropical and temperate waters of the Indo-West Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand and Chatham Is., Lord Howe I., parts of Africa, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hawaii (Heemstra, 1986; Paulin et al., 1989; Roberts, 1991; Shao et al., 1992; Francis, 1993; Armitage et al., 1994; Ni and Kwok, 1999; Richards, 1999; Huang, 2001, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).
In New Zealand, C. kumu has been recorded as one of the most common demersal fish species in inner continental shelf waters (Francis et al., 2002).  Red Gurnard are considered to be common right around New Zealand, except for the Fiordland coast (Anonymous, 2004).

Southern Australia

In Australia it has a broad distribution across the southern half of the continent, from southern Queensland, across the south coast (including Tasmania), to the central coast of Western Australia (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Australian Museum, 2006k; OZCAM database, 2007).

South Australia

The species has been recorded across South Australia, from the far west to the south east. Examples include the western, central and eastern GAB (the latter including shallow bays off western Eyre Peninsula); southern Eyre Peninsula (e.g. off Coffin Bay); central and western Spencer Gulf (e.g. off Franklin Harbour, amongst other locations); south-eastern Spencer Gulf (e.g. Hardwicke Bay, and the "toes" of Yorke Peninsula); south-western Spencer Gulf; metropolitan Gulf St Vincent (including the Largs Bay / Outer Harbour area, and waters off metropolitan beaches, such as Grange, West Beach, Glenelg, Brighton); Fleurieu Peninsula; Encounter Bay; upper south-east (e.g. waters off the Coorong coast, and also Robe area) (Carrick, 1997; South Australian Museum records, Museum of Victoria records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007; CSIRO data, cited in CSIRO, 2007; currie and Sorokin, 2010).

Habitat

Adult Red Gurnard are usually found on sand and shelly-sand bottoms in coastal waters (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Armitage et al., 1994; Kendrick and Francis, 2002), and also reefs. Juvenile (and less commonly adult) Red Gurnard are recorded in estuaries, and nearshore seagrass beds (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Australian Museum, 2006k). Examples of Red Gurnard in estuarine areas include the Swan River in W.A. (Loneragan et al., 1989; Neira et al., 1992), the Murray Mouth in S.A. (Higham et al., 2002); the Glenelg River near the S.A. / Victorian border (McCarraher, 1986); mid south coast of New South Wales (e.g. Pollard, 1994), and various parts of Tasmania (e.g. estuaries on Flinders I., and in the Furneaux group – Edgar et al., 1999, and also Bathurst Harbour Edgar, 1984, cited by RPDC, 2002). Red Gurnard has been described as a “marine straggler” in estuaries (Higham et al., 2002).
During a survey of fish habitats in south-western W.A., C. kumu was recorded on granite reefs deeper than 30m, characterised by a sparse cover of macroalgae or sponges (Harvey et al., 2004). In another survey in south-western W.A., juvenile C. kumu were recorded in a habitat described as being “moderately exposed to wave energy, with dense seagrass beds located more than 50m from the shoreline” (Valesini et al., 2004).
In the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand, trawl surveys over a 35 year period indicated that the species has a preference for sand habitat compared with other habitat types in the vicinity (Kendrick and Francis, 2002).
The species also has a broad depth range, from 1m down to around 200m. The species is mostly found in the deeper part of the depth range in southern Australia (Gomon, in Gomon et al., 1994), but more commonly in shallower water in New Zealand (Anonymous, 2004).

Notes on the Biology

Growth and Age

C. kumu grows to between 50cm (Australian Museum, 2006k) and 60cm (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986). Growth rate is fast during the first few years of life, and slows thereafter (Annala et al., 1994, cited by New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c).
One of the maximum weights recorded is 2.116kg (Hutchins and Swainston, 2001). Other large sizes include 2.041 (caught by spear, in W.A. – Australian Underwater Federation, 2003), and 1.6kg (a specimen taken at Apollo Bay in Victoria, in 1985 (AAA Victorian Division, 2003).
Studies in New Zealand have shown that the growth rate varies with location, and females grow faster and are usually larger than males (New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c).
Red Gurnard has been aged to at least 13 years (Paul, 1992), and possibly lives to about 15 or 16 years (Annala et al., 1994; New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c). It is considered uncommon for individuals to live for longer than 10 years (Anonymous, 2004).

Diet

The lower pectoral fin rays can assist with food sensing, and be used to probe the sea bottom for edible crustaceans (Anonymous, 2004). Studies in New Zealand have shown that Red Gurnard is a benthic feeder that mainly consumes crustaceans (amphipods, crabs, lobsters, shrimps and prawns, stomatopods) (Godfriaux, 1970; Coleman and Mobley, 1984). The species also consumes small fish (Godfriaux, 1970; Bulman et al., 2001) and gastropods (e.g. Bax et al., 2003). During a survey in Spencer Gulf, the gut contents of 2 specimens were examined, and found to contain 57% Pegsus lancifer fish; 21% prawns; 14% brachyurid crustaceans, and 7% unidentified fish (Currie and Sorokin, 2010).

Reproduction

Most work on reproduction has been undertaken in New Zealand. Red Gurnard reach sexual maturity at an age of 2–3 years (= fork length of about 23 cm), after which the growth rate slows (Annala et al., 1994, cited by New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c). In New Zealand, Red Gurnard spawn from spring (September) until autumn (May), with a peak in early summer (Clearwater and Pankhurst, 1994; New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c). In New Zealand, spawning appears to be widespread in inner and mid continental shelf waters (Anonymous, 2004). The species has a high reproductive output (unreferenced, in Weeber and Szabo, 2005).  Larvae have been recorded during most months of the year, and one study reported consistently higher numbers away from land (e.g. 3km) (Kingsford, 1988).
Red Gurnard are reported to have poor recruitment in warm La Nina years and good recruitment in cooler El Nino years (uncited reference, in Weeber and Szabo, 2005).

Other Information

Like other gurnards, this species can “walk” along the sea floor using the feelers in front of the enlarged pectoral fins (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986).
The sound-producing mechanism of Chelidonichthys kumu has been described, and various sounds have been recorded (e.g. Bayoumi, 1970).

Fisheries Information

Commercial – Southern Australia

C. kumu is a commercial species in south-eastern and southern Australia, marketed using the name Red Gurnard (Seafood Services Australia, 2003). It is considered to be an excellent food fish (Richards, 1999). When taken outside of 3 nautical miles (NM) from the coast, catches of Red Gurnard are managed by the Commonwealth, and when taken inside 3 NM, are managed by the States (AFMA, 2002a). Bureau of Rural Resources (1991) reported live weight catches of around 120 – 180 tonnes during the 1960s; 70 – 250 tonnes (average 160t) during the 1970s, and 50 – 160 tonnes during the 1980s. The majority of the annual catch during that period came from New South Wales and Victoria, with a small proportion (several tonnes) per annum from Tasmania (BRR, 1991).
Red Gurnard is part of the bycatch in the Commonwealth-managed Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fisheries (SESSF) (AFMA, 2002a). This includes the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF), in which it is a retained by-product in the otter trawl sub-fishery and the Danish seine sub-fishery, and reported in fishers’ daily logbooks (Wayte et al., 2004). In the past, a portion of the catch that was recorded as “Latchet” may have been Red Gurnard C. kumu (Klaer, 2001, 2004). According to fishers’ logbooks, 56 tonnes of Red Gurnard were taken in the SETF in 2000/2001 (AFMA, 2002a). In contrast to fishers’ logbooks, a scientific monitoring program the following year (2001/2002) recorded a much lower quantity (2.7t) of Red Gurnard in the bycatch of the SETF, and about 98% of that was retained (AFMA, 2002a).
Red Gurnard is a bycatch species in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery (GABTF) (Brown and Knuckey, 2002). In the GABTF in 2000/01, a total catch of about 2.75t was recorded in fishers’ daily logbooks. A scientific monitoring program during 2001/02 recorded 788kg of Red Gurnard, and about 95% was retained (AFMA, 2002a). Brown and Knuckey (2002) reported that the species was recorded in 75 of 209 shots, with an average of 4kg per shot retained, and 1.4kg discarded.  Lynch and Garvey (2003) reported variable numbers per annum over a 10 year period, with none recorded in some years (e.g. 1996) and up to 4t in other years (e.g. 1997). A total of 12t of Red Gurnard was reported in the GAB catch between 1995 and 2002 (Lynch and Garvey, 2003), and it is not known for this report whether that quantity was an underestimate (i.e. excluding unreported discards).
The species is also part of the bycatch in the South East Non Trawl Fishery (SENTF), in smaller quantities than in the SETF. According to fishers’ logbooks, a total of 733kg was recorded in the bycatch of the SENTF in 2000/2001 (AFMA, 2002a). The SENT is now referred to as the Scalefish Demersal Long-line and Scalefish Automatic Long-line sectors of the Gillnet, Hook and Trap Fishery (GHAT) (Webb et al., 2004). For Commonwealth licence holders with Scalefish Hook, Shark Hook, Gillnet Sectors and Coastal Waters permits, Red Gurnard may be caught in Commonwealth waters (outside 3 NM) but not in coastal waters (inside 3NM), with a concession that allows methods other than trawl, and there are no catch restrictions (AFMA, 2004e). During a bycatch monitoring program (ISMP) in 2002/03, Webb et al. (2004) reported that Red Gurnard was recorded in 50 long-line shots, and 842kg of the catch were retained, and 4.5kg discarded.
Red Gurnard is also a bycatch of both shark hooks and gillnets in the Southern Shark Fishery component of the GHAT (Webb et al., 2004). During a bycatch study in the Southern Shark Fishery in Bass Strait between 1973 and 1976, C. kumu was vulnerable to capture in 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch gills nets, particularly the latter, in which 114 (SE = 62) specimens were caught per 1000 km-hours (Walker et al., 2003). During another bycatch experiment in 1973-76, 18 (SE = 18) specimens per 1000 km-hours were caught using 6-inch gillnets; 70 (SE = 49) specimens were caught using 2/O shark hooks, and 13 (SE = 13) specimens per 1000 km-hours were caught using 5/O shark hooks (Walker et al., 2003). During 1998-2001, a related study (Walker et al., 2003) of the bycatch from South Australia, showed that an average of 33 (S.E. = 10) C. kumu are caught per 100,000 hook-hours (= 1000km hours), using 6-inch mesh nets. The total catch over the 1998-2001 sampling period was reported to be 18 animals, with 56% of the catch being retained. In contrast, fishers’ logbooks recorded 415kg of Red Gurnard as bycatch in the Southern Shark Fishery in 2000/2001 alone (AFMA, 2002a). According to Bromhead and Bolton (2005), bycatch of Red Gurnard in the GHAT is retained.
The species is also part of the bycatch in the Western Deepwater Trawl Fishery (WDWTF) in W.A. (AFMA, 2004f). In the WDTF, fishery logbook data recorded 3,301 individuals of C. kumu in the bycatch during 2001-02, and 695 during part of the 2002-03 season to March 2003, although lower numbers (and sometimes none) were recorded in other years of the 1990s (AFMA, 2004f).
Red Gurnard is one of approximately 20 main scalefish species taken in the New South Wales Ocean Trawl fishery (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004), and is described as a “key secondary species”. In the Ocean Trawl Fishery, landings of Chelidonichthys kumu (Red Gurnard), Pterygotrigla polyommata (Latchet) and Pterygotrigla andertoni (Painted Latchet) are combined. Total annual reported landings (not including discards) between 1984 and 2001 usually ranged between 20t and 30t, apart from a peak in 1992/93 of 40t (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004) or 77t (Scribner and Kathuria, 1996).
In New South Wales, the species is also a retained by-product, and sometimes a discarded bycatch, in the estuarine prawn and fish haul fisheries, including Port Jackson (New South Wales Fisheries, 2002), Botany Bay (Liggins et al., 1996), Lake Macquarie, and St George Basin (Gray and Kennelly, 2001) and Hawkesbury River (Gray et al., 1990), where it is also a bycatch of squid fishing (New South Wales Fisheries, 2002). In the St George Basin, during a bycatch survey from February 1998 to January 1999, at least 900 specimens of C. kumu were caught, and about half of those were retained (Gray and Kennelly, 2001).
C. kumu is also a bycatch species in the N.S.W. rock lobster fishery (N.S.W. Fisheries, 2004c).
Red Gurnard is a commercial species in Tasmania (Lyle and Jordan, 1999), and more than half the catch of gurnard species is taken by line fishers (McLeay et al., 2002). Between 1990 and 2000, the reported catch of C. kumu has been less than 1 tonne in most years, except in 1994/95, when 1.9 t were recorded (Lyle and Hodgson, 2001).
The Red Gurnard is also a minor component of the prawn trawl bycatch in South Australia. For example, in a bycatch sampling program during the mid-1990s in Spencer Gulf, 8 Red Gurnards were recorded in 32 trawl tows (Carrick, 1997).

Commercial – New Zealand

Red Gurnard has been fished commercially in New Zealand since the 1930s, when only a few tonnes were taken. Since the 1960s the catch has fluctuated between 2000 and 4000 tonnes per annum (Anonymous, 2004; New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c). Red Gurnard is a major (and valuable) bycatch of inshore bottom trawl fisheries in most areas of New Zealand (Anonymous, 2004; N.Z. Ministry of Fisheries web site, 2004), where it is a by-product of fishing for snapper, terakihi and trevally. The species is also vulnerable to capture in gillnets of several common mesh sizes, and studies in New Zealand have shown that when meshed, individuals are unlikely to escape, due to their head shape, spines and pectoral fins (Hickford et al., 1997).
Red Gurnard are exploited from age two onwards (Weeber and Szabo, 2005). Fish in the commercial fishery are mostly in the size range 30cm – 50cm (Anonymous, 2004). The species has been under the quota management system since the mid 1980s. Red Gurnard is considered to be a relatively ubiquitous species around New Zealand, and therefore is present in a high proportion of catches from the other inshore trawl fisheries in north-eastern New Zealand. Kendrick and Walker (2004) described the catch history of C. kumu from one of the major fishing areas, the eastern side of the North Island. Catches in 2000 - 01 were 86% of the TACC (Annala et al. 2002). In north-eastern New Zealand, the TACC for that area is consistently under-caught, and the total annual catch may be constrained by the available quota from the other species caught in association with Red Gurnard in that area, such as tarakihi, pink snapper and trevally (Kendrick and Walker, 2004). In north-eastern New Zealand, highest catch rates are achieved in the 20m - 60m depth range. There was a steady decline in both standardised and unstandardised catch rates of Red Gurnard between 1990/91 and 2000/01 (Kendrick and Walker, 2004).
The total allowable commercial catch (TACC quota) has been around 5,000 tonnes per annum in the ten years to 2004, plus or minus 100t per annum, depending on the year (New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c). The current TACCs were based on a period of highest ever catches, and these levels have not been reached in recent years (Annala et al., 2003, cited by Weeber and Szabo, 2005). For example, the TACC for 1990/91 was 4762 tonnes but the recorded national catch was only 2,866 tonnes. The total commercial catch in 2003-04 was 3,506t, yet the TACC was 5,046 (New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2005c).

Recreational

Gurnards in general are taken by some recreational fishers in southern Australia, including South Australia (see statistics from Henry and Lyle, 2003, cited above); however species-specific information from recreational surveys is not available. Despite the lack of species-specific statistics, Red Gurnard is known to be taken by recreational fishers across southern Australia (ANSA, 2004; Australian Museum, 2006k), including Tasmania, New South Wales (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004), Victoria (e.g. Australian Anglers Association, Victorian division, 2003), W.A. (e.g. Malseed and Sumner, 2001a; Smith, 2006), and South Australia. Small quantities are reported to be caught and kept by boat-based anglers fishing in estuaries in W.A., such as the Swan-Canning (Malseed and Sumner, 2001a). In New South Wales, the combined recreational catch of Red Gurnard C. kumu and latchet Pterygotrigla polyommata is estimated to be about 5 – 10 tonnes (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
The species is taken by spear-fishers in southern Australia, as indicated by a previous size record during the 1980s (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986), and in New Zealand (New Zealand Underwater Spearfishing Committee, 2006).
In New Zealand, about 100t of Red Gurnard per annum are taken by recreational fishers on the northern side of the North Island (New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, 2002), with lesser numbers in other areas.

Other

In New Zealand, C. kumu is a traditional Maori food (Barber, 2003; Anonymous, 2004).

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species, and Threatening Processes

Red Gurnard is a site-associated benthic species from various habitats in continental shelf waters, and may be vulnerable to site-specific impacts in some areas.
Juveniles are associated with estuarine waters, and may be vulnerable to impacts due to estuarine habitat degradation, which is the case for many estuaries across southern Australia.
Although the species is vulnerable to capture using a variety of fishing gear, trawl fishing is likely to be the major impact. Red Gurnard are highly vulnerable to capture using benthic trawls, and the catch in some fisheries is large, and unregulated.
In 2006, an ecological risk assessment for species in the GAB Trawl Fishery (Daley et al., 2006), ranked C. kumu as a “medium risk” species, in terms of population impacts from capture in that fishery. In a similar risk assessment of the South East Trawl and Danish Seine Fishery (Wayte et al., 2004), 4 “productivity attributes” and 6 “attributes of susceptibility” for C. kumu were used to categorise it as a “medium risk” species in terms of susceptibility to population impacts from trawling in that fishery.  It is noted that in a draft ecological assessment for the Gillnet, Hook and Trap fishery, Red Gurnard was ranked as a “low risk” species (see Webb et al., 2004).
The species forms a minor component of the trawl bycatch in Spencer Gulf in South Australia (Carrick, 1997), but the potential population impacts of capture in prawn trawls are not known.
It is noted that in New Zealand, Red Gurnard is categorised as a fished species of moderate conservation concern, due to “the impact of trawling on benthic habitats; the inclusion of several stocks in one quota management area; the unknown sustainability of current catches; the lack of current stock assessments, and the lack of a management plan” (Weeber and Szabo, 2005).
Environmentally-driven fluctuations in recruitment strength can increase the vulnerability of exploited species to population impacts. If the survival of larvae and young of Red Gurnard is strongly related to oceanographic and environmental conditions (see section above, on Reproduction), and annual recruitment strength is variable, then a set, invariable annual quota for commercial catches may be inappropriate, and threaten stock sustainability.

Research Recommendations

There is little information on the biology of this species in southern Australia, but during the early 2000s, work was undertaken in New Zealand to estimate age, growth, reproduction and other aspects of C. kumu, particularly in relation to the commercial fishery[2]. The extent to which parameters from New Zealand Red Gurnard apply to southern Australian stocks should be investigated. Also, more information is required on relative abundance over the range; stock structure in southern Australia; aspects of the biology (such as longevity, and reproduction - particularly annual recruitment strength, and its relation to environmental variables); population dynamics, and ecology.
There is inadequate information about the bycatch of this species in South Australian fisheries. For example, in S.A., the presence of this species in the prawn trawl fisheries in the West Coast (i.e. eastern Great Australian Bight), and in Gulf St Vincent (GSV) should be ascertained, because it occurs in the areas trawled by those fisheries. In S.A., a system should be developed for the ongoing collection and monitoring of bycatch data from the GSV Prawn Fishery and the West Coast Prawn Fishery (as currently occurs in the Spencer Gulf Prawn Trawl Fishery), sufficient to enable identification of long-term trends in bycatch (Australian Government DEH, 2004b).
More generally, bycatch of gurnard species in all coastal fisheries should be recorded at species level, over space and time. Ideally, long term monitoring of the quantities of gurnard species in the bycatch of trawl fisheries should be undertaken before and after the adoption of gear improvements to reduce bycatch, and in “control” (non-trawled) areas.

Management Recommendations

In south-eastern and southern Australia, commercial (particularly trawl fishing) fishing regulations are inadequate, particularly given the large catches in some commercial fisheries, and the lack of stock assessments. Methods are required to reduce the bycatch of this species in fish trawl and prawn trawl fisheries (and to a lesser extent, in seine nets, gill nets, long-lines, scallop dredges and other gear) over the continental shelf, in both State and Commonwealth waters.
Although measures have already been undertaken in S.A. prawn trawl fisheries to reduce the bycatch of benthic fish species (see Management Notes, in synopsis on L. papilio), further improvements (e.g. in net design) should be encouraged, to reduce the bycatch of site-associated benthic species such as Red Gurnard.
Recreational catch limits should be introduced for gurnard species.

Other Information

Red Gurnard is found in a number of marine parks and sanctuaries in southern Australia, such as Beware Reef in Victoria (Bird and Watson 1993, cited by Plummer et al., 2003). It has also been recorded in a number of marine protected area in New Zealand, such as the Poor Knights Islands (Denny et al., 2003), Te Angiangi (Department of Conservation, New Zealand, 2003), and the Long Island – Kokomohua Marine Reserve (Davidson, 2004).