Preliminary Results from the Fisheries Queensland 2020 Fishery independent Otter Trawl Survey

Abstract

Summary
The fishery independent Otter trawl survey was completed in October 2020. One objective of the survey is to determine abundance and recruitment of Scallops. Three vessels sampled 326 sites between Yeppoon and Double Island Point over 29 nights. The survey was spread out over 18 different survey areas including the scallop replenishment areas (SRAs). Scallops were less abundant in 17 out of 18 survey areas compared to the 2019 survey. For many of the survey areas, the 2020 scallop abundance was the lowest in the recent time series (2017-2020).