Testing collector designs for commercial harvesting of western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) puerulus

Abstract

We have (i) tested modified western rock lobster sandwich collectors at different depths and distances offshore (ii) tested different collector designs (iii) examined the effect of collector size, and (iv) tested the effect of frequency of servicing the collectors. The only catches recorded in the onshore-offshore trials were on gear set at the inshore site (depths <5 m). Published data from the 1970s on the effect on catches of collector arrays and locations were reexamined with a general linear model. The analysis revealed marginally significant corner and layer effects, carry-over effects, and square-of-time effects. Five collector designs were therefore set in the shallows, two of which had replicates of three different sizes, and were checked over four lunar months during peak settlement. Sandwich collectors had significantly better catch rates than others (P <0.001), and settlement rates were highly correlated with collector dimensions (r = 0.72). Daily servicing for seven days around the time of new moon yielded catches 170% higher than those from a single monthly servicing (P <0.001). Results indicate that tests for collectors must take into account corner, carry-over, neighbour, and layer effects and that to do so they must be set out in an array and repositioned after each sampling.