Puerulus settlement has been monitored throughout the western rock lobster Panulirus cygnus fishery for nearly 40 years. These data, in combination with indices of effort and water temperature, were used to produce recruitment‐catch relationships for each 1° transect of latitude in the coastal part of this fishery from Kalbarri to Cape Leeuwin, as well as at the offshore Abrolhos Islands (total of eight transects). The fine sp...

Previous studies have shown that the strength of the Leeuwin Current is correlated with the level of the puerulus (post‐larval stage) settlement in the western rock lobster ( Panulirus cygnus ). The level of puerulus settlement has also been shown to be a reliable predictor of catch in the rock lobster fishery in Western Australia, 3 and 4 yr later. This study examines the impact of the south‐flowing Leeuwin Current on the spa...

A depletion technique was applied to the western rock lobster fishery in Western Australia for the non‐migrating part of the season, March to June. The catch for the migrating part of the fishery was used to estimate the annual exploitation for the whole season. To take into account environmental effects (water temperature and swell) on catchability that affect the assumptions of the depletion technique, estimates of the chang...

The western rock lobster fishery is one of the most valuable single‐species fisheries in Australia, valued at AU$300 million per year. The impact of environmental factors such as lunar cycle and swell on the daily catch rate of the western rock lobster ( Panulirus cynus ) is of particular interest in the stock assessment and management of the fishery. The variation in daily catch rates was examined for two periods (migrating p...