Giant Australian Cuttlefish management

Giant Australian cuttlefish are one of the largest cuttlefish species in the world.

Males can measure up to 50 centimetres long and weigh about 10 kilograms. They are expert colour changers and masters of camouflage. They can change shape and texture to look like their surrounding environment.

Each winter tens of thousands of giant Australian cuttlefish (Sepia apama) gather to spawn on at Point Lowly in South Australia's northern Spencer Gulf.

Point Lowly is the only known site where giant Australian cuttlefish form large breeding groups.

It is not completely understood why giant cuttlefish gather in northern Spencer Gulf. It is likely that they are attracted to the shallow rocky areas along the coast as it provides the best habitat to lay their eggs.

Video transcript

[Voiceover]

We’ve come to Port Lowly, just north of whaler and these divers are suiting up to snorkel in the waters just off the coast.

Leading the team is SARDI scientists Dr. Mike Steer who comes here regularly to study the giant Australian cuttlefish.

[Dr. Mike Steer SARDI]

The giant cuttlefish are an incredible spectacle. They're a cephalopod which means that their arms are on their head. They're in the family with octopus, squid and Nautilus.

They’re a spectacular species that aggregate here at beautiful Point Lowly in their tens of thousands during the winter.

This is the only place in Northern Spencer Gulf where we've got adequate rocks for these animals to lay their eggs.

Everywhere else there's sand and mangroves, which is no good for cephalopod reproduction.

Well this is considered to be one of the most amazing natural events in the world.

We have international visitors, from or, from everywhere. Documentary filmmakers, scientists naturalists, because you know you just have to step out in the water here, to a couple of meters.

You put your head under and you literally see hundreds and thousands of these animals warning in front of your very eyes.

The cuttlefish have an amazing biology, you get these big bull males that are able to change the colour and texture of their skin, that are competing for these small females.

And then you get these smaller males, so they've got to be more ingenious and how they mate with the females.

They make their body look like a female, and they come in undetected while the big bull whales are fighting it out and they mate with the female and disappear.

So there's incredible strategy that is occurring underneath the water there.

So what we do at SARDI is we want to get an understanding of how big the population is.

And we like to do that over multiple years, because we want to get an indication of how that population tracks through time.

So over time you get to see a cyclic population boom and bust and it's really important, because we want to conserve this population.

We want to ensure that it remains here and they're sustainable for everybody to see.

[Voiceover]

I have to have a wetsuit on and in I go.

Just look at these creatures hundreds of them are just off the shoreline you can actually see some of them mating.

You have to come to Whyalla to see this, it's the only place of the world you can see this giant cuttlefish breeding aggregation.

[Dr. Mike Steer SARDI]

At SARDI our roles and responsibilities to provide the fundamental biological information that can be used for fisheries management and the sustainable protection of the of this of our resources, our natural resources.

So it's good to see that the work that we are doing is actually meaning something.

Fishing closures

Permanent closure

There is a permanent cephalopod (squid, cuttlefish, octopus) fishing closure in the False Bay/Point Lowly spawning area. You are prohibited from targeting and taking cephalopods within the area at all times.

There is also a permanent cuttlefish fishing closure in the waters of the Upper Spencer Gulf. You are prohibited from targeting and taking cuttlefish within the area at all times.

These closures are in place to protect the only known dense aggregation of giant cuttlefish in the world.

Both closure areas remain open to recreational and commercial fishers targeting other fish species.

Fishing limits

Fishing limits apply to the take of cuttlefish and cephalopods in other waters.

Research reports to investigate population decline

Several research projects have been undertaken in response to community concerns about the population decline.

These were done under the guidance of the Government of South Australia cross-agency Cuttlefish Working Group.

The cause of the decline remains difficult to pinpoint. However, environmental temperature appears to have an influence on the size of the population.

Reports on these projects are available below.

Population estimate advice notices

Cuttlefish Working Group

The Cuttlefish Working Group was formed in 2012 to investigate and address the issues associated with the population and to provide advice to the Government regarding the ongoing protection and sustainability of this iconic species.

The working group has representatives from:

  • Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA)
  • Conservation Council of South Australia
  • Department for Environment and Water (DEW)
  • Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT)
  • Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
  • Marine Fishers Association (MFA)
  • Recfish SA
  • South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)
  • South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC)
  • Spencer Gulf and West Coast Prawn Fishermen’s Association
  • University of Adelaide
  • Whyalla City Council
Page last reviewed: 24 Oct 2023

 


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