Through scientific investigations, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) has confirmed there is a sizeable population of Australian sardine in Tasmanian and Bass Strait waters.
Food production from small schooling fish has been shown to have minimal low impact on the environment compared to most land-based food; requiring little energy, water use, pesticides and carbon emissions. Australian Sardine are highly nutritious, being one of the richest seafood sources of essential omega-3 oils on the planet, and are becoming increasingly popular on tables around Australia.
In response to these findings, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania has produced a set of Development Guidelines for a New Tasmanian Sardine Fishery. The guidelines are based on four principles designed to ensure Tasmania and the environment would have long-term benefit from a new fishery, and include strategies surrounding ecosystem sustainability, governance, economic return, and benefits to Tasmanians.
This presents an exciting and rare opportunity for Tasmanians to develop a sustainable, profitable, nutritious and local commercial sardine fishery together that would:
- Be responsibly managed from its onset, based on rigorous ongoing science including baseline data of the predominantly unfished population to regularly monitor against and control harvest
- Bring these local and versatile delicacies to all Tasmanians through seafood markets, sellers and restaurants, encouraging the use of this sustainable and renewable source of protein
- Use methods of fishing that are low-impact. Purse seine netting is highly selective, trawl-free, has minimal bycatch and no contact with the seafloor
- Provide regional employment opportunities and economic benefits to Tasmanians through the catching, processing and selling of sardines, under a cost recovery model
- Be a great source of bait for recreational fishers and a local, renewable protein source for a range of products.
The creation of rules and regulations for a sardine fishery will follow the normal processes, including statutory public consultation. Consultation is expected to occur in 2025, where you will be able to have your say on the development of a proposed sardine fishery. Stay updated by subscribing to
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FAQs
What does the research say?
A comprehensive survey of Australian sardine conducted by the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies estimates the spawning biomass of the South-eastern sardine stock to be more than 200,000 tonnes.
The survey covered a total area of almost 150,000 km2 around Tasmania, Victora and New South Wales during December 2023 and January 2024. The highest densities of spawning biomass were present in the Bass Strait and off the coast of western Victoria.
These results demonstrate the biomass of Australian Sardine around Tasmania is large enough to sustainably support a commercial Tasmanian sardine fishery. The research provides a basis to guide future management decisions, and makes recommendations for future research and monitoring should a fishery be developed.
Read the full research report on the FRDC website.
Sardines have been studied extensively in Australia and around the world. We are in the fortunate position of having more information to support a potential sardine fishery than is normally available when developing a new fishery.
For instance, the South Australian Sardine Fishery has been operating sustainably for over thirty years. This provides a lot of scientific and fisheries management information for us to learn from and build on.
The amount of research available also helps us understand potential ecosystem effects. For instance, in South Eastern Australia, research shows that marine predators feed opportunistically on a wide range of species and are not dependent on sardines as a food source.
See the further research links below to learn more.
How will sardines be commercially caught?
Fishing for sardines in Tasmania will use a fishing method known as a purse seine net. Sardines are a schooling species that when located, the purse seine net is deployed around the school of fish before being brought in to the boat.
Around Australia (and globally), a range of fishing gear is used to commercially target small pelagic fish such as sardines, for example midwater trawling. However, consistent with existing Tasmanian legislation, there will be no trawling for sardines in Tasmania. Purse seine netting is highly selective, has low by-catch risk, and as nets do not typically touch the seafloor it has minimal impact on benthic habitats. This is how a Tasmanian sardine fishery will responsibly take sardines with negligible ecosystem impacts.
As outlined in the guidelines, limitations on the size of vessels permitted to operate and what appropriate fishing gear can be used will be legislated.
Where are the sardines located?
The Australian sardine is found in temperate waters across the southern half of Australia. Schools shoal and spawn near the water surface in spring and summer and move into deeper water in other seasons.
Four stocks of Australian sardines exist in Australian waters, each of which is commercially fished to some extent by State or Commonwealth fisheries. The south-eastern stock is found in continental shelf waters between Tasmania and Victoria (Bass Strait), and southern New South Wales. These stocks are effectively separated from the southern and south-eastern stocks by oceanographic features, such as the Bonney Upwelling.
The south-eastern stock is currently fished by one purse-seine vessel that operates out of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, and another that fishes off the south coast of New South Wales. The annual catch over the last decade has not exceeded 2,500 tonnes. The recent research highlights an opportunity for a Tasmanian fishery to sustainably utilise the resource.
The Tasmanian government has jurisdiction of Australian sardine in Commonwealth waters (i.e. outside three nautical miles) adjacent to Tasmania through the Offshore Constitutional Settlement.
Figure 1: Map showing the four stocks of Australian Sardine (Sardinops sagax). Modified from Ward et al. (2023a) using information from Izzo et al. (2017), Sexton et al. (2019) and Grammer et al. (2023).
What impacts would a commercial sardine fishery have on the environment?
Independent IMAS research indicates a Tasmanian sardine fishery with appropriate and conservative management controls would have minimal impact on the environment. This is due to:
The highly selective fishing methods of purse-seining with minimal bycatch, the ability to release non-target species prior to removing from the water, and no contact with the sea floor.
The low dietary dependence on Australian sardine by our marine predators such as penguins and other seabirds, seals, dolphins, whales and other larger fish like tuna.
The resilience characteristics of sardines in recovering from past extreme mass-mortality events, whilst also supporting a growing commercial fishery.
How would a sardine fishery be sustainable?
Sustainable fisheries management is not just about ensuring that Tasmanian fish stocks are healthy and accessible, it’s also about Tasmanian-based fishers and their communities benefiting from having access to these renewable resources.
Sustainability considerations in developing the fishery could include:
Importantly, a potential Tasmanian sardine fishery will be trawl-free.
Would a sardine fishery affect my game fishing?
The research tells us that a commercial sardine fishery with appropriate catch limits informed by science is unlikely to affect the availability of tuna or other game fish.
Scientists have spent a lot of time researching the ecological role of sardines and other small pelagic fishes on the marine ecosystems of south-eastern Australia.
Studies have shown that predatory species in southern and south-eastern Australia are not highly dependent on one or more species of small and medium sized pelagic fishes. That is, they eat a variety of prey and can switch based on what’s available, which is different to how small pelagic species like sardines function in other marine ecosystems worldwide. This means that harvesting sardine at sustainable levels has minor impacts on other parts of the ecosystem.
The South Australian Sardine Fishery operates alongside vibrant commercial and recreational tuna fisheries, with no evidence of localised depletion of sardine or predator species because of commercial sardine fishing to appropriate catch levels, which are informed by regular stock assessments.
In establishing the Tasmanian sardine fishery, the Tasmanian government will also consider establishing spatial closures to minimise overlap with key recreational fishing areas and protect sensitive marine habitats.
Further information on the role of sardine in southern and south-eastern marine ecosystems can be found in the following reports:
Review and update of harvest strategy settings for the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery - Single species and ecosystem considerations – January 2015
Trophodynamics of the eastern Great Australian Bight ecosystem: Ecological change associated with the growth of Australia's largest fishery – April 2013
The trophodynamics of small pelagic fishes in the southern Australian ecosystem and the implications for ecosystem modelling of southern temperate fisheries – March 2011
How are other similar fisheries managed?
Recommended harvest levels, ecosystem modelling and management strategy evaluations completed for other Australian sardine fisheries can be used to inform sustainable catch limits in developing this fishery.
Research shows that commercial harvest levels of up to 33% of the spawning biomass can be ecologically sustainable for Australian sardine and have only minor impacts on the marine ecosystem. However, other Australian fisheries have set smaller, conservative harvest levels which provide further information on the level of fishing pressure the stock can withstand.
Based on knowledge of the ecosystems off south-eastern Australia developed over the last 25 years, Ward et al. (2024) recommended a commercial harvest level of up to 15% could initially be applied for a potential Tasmanian sardine fishery.
Harvest levels of small pelagic fish are only increased as a greater understanding of the stock and its response to fishing pressure is known.
Relevant research for further reading
There is a significant body of research on Australian Sardine in well-established fisheries and the ecosystems they exist in, that has helped inform the latest research by IMAS. These reports include:
Review of Australia’s small pelagic fisheries; insights to inform the development of a potential new Tasmanian Sardine Fishery – July 2022
Spawning biomass of the eastern component of the south-eastern stock of Sardine (Sardinops sagax) in 2019 – February 2022
Review and update of harvest strategy settings for the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery - Single species and ecosystem considerations – January 2015
Trophodynamics of the eastern Great Australian Bight ecosystem: Ecological change associated with the growth of Australia's largest fishery – April 2013
The trophodynamics of small pelagic fishes in the southern Australian ecosystem and the implications for ecosystem modelling of southern temperate fisheries – March 2011
Stock assessment of Australian Sardine (Sardinops sagax) off South Australia 2023. Report to PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture - January 2024
How can I have my say on a proposed sardine fishery?
You will have the opportunity to have your say on a potential commercial Tasmanian sardine fishery. The creation of the rules, and any changes that follow, will include statutory public consultation, and will be informed by current, independent science. Opportunities to have your say on the development of the fishery will occur in 2025.
Stay updated by subscribing to our Fishing News emails and follow us on social media.
For enquiries contact: sardine.enquiries@nre.tas.gov.au.