I & I NSW
Wild Fisheries research Program
Tiger Flathead
(Platycephalus richardsoni)
Exploitation Status
Fully Fished
Predominantly a Commonwealth fishery, although significant landings are made by NSW trawlers
north of Sydney. Exploitation status was adopted from the Commonwealth where a quantitative stock
assessment has been developed.
Scientific name
Standard name
comment
Platycephalus richardsoni
tiger flathead
 
Platycephalus richardsoni
Image © Bernard Yau
Background
Tiger flathead (Platycephalus richardsoni),
occur in ocean waters from northern NSW
to Tasmania, at depths of 40 to 300 m.
They can easily be confused with a similar
species, the ‘toothy’ or ‘gold-spot’ flathead
(P. aurimaculatus), which is common in the
southern part of the range, especially in eastern
Bass Strait. Trawling for fish off NSW originally
concentrated on targeting tiger flathead, and
the species remains significant in recent trawl
landings despite being overfished in the 1950s
and 1960s.
In NSW, tiger flathead are not taken in
significant quantities by any other commercial
fisheries, however over 20 t are estimated to
be taken annually by recreational and charter
boat fishers. Tiger flathead is included in
the ‘flathead’ Total Allowable Catch for the
Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish
and Shark Fishery, which in 2008 was set at
about 2850 t.
The biology and population dynamics of tiger
flathead have been studied in detail since
the species was first fished over 80 years ago.
Growth rates and general biology have been
well documented, and there is a reasonable
level of monitoring information available
for Commonwealth catches. Information is
also available from monitoring of the size
composition of catches taken under NSW
jurisdiction in the early 1990s and for some
recent years.
Tiger flathead is a moderately long lived species
reaching a maximum age of about 15 years.
Females grow larger (60 cm fork length, FL)
than males (50 cm FL). Tiger flathead mature at
3 to 5 years of age (approximately 30 to
35 cm FL) and they have an extended spawning
period from spring to autumn. Mature females
may produce up to 2.5 million eggs. Little is
known about the early life history of tiger
flathead.
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Additional Notes
Landings by Commercial Fishery of Tiger Flathead
• NSW landings declined from 200 t in 2006/07
to about 120 t in 2007/08 in association with
a large decline in reported fishing effort,
however catch rates remained relatively
high and landings returned to about 200 t in
2008/09.
200
0
97/98
99/00
01/02
03/04
05/06
07/08
Financial Year
Reported landings of tiger flathead by NSW commercial
fisheries from 1997/98. Fisheries which contribute less
than 2.5% of the landings are excluded for clarity and
privacy.
1.0
Catch Per Unit Effort Information of Tiger Flathead
Harvested by Fish Trawling in NSW
0.6
88/89
93/94
98/99
03/04
08/09
Financial Year
Catch rates of tiger flathead harvested using fish trawling
for NSW. Two indicators are provided: (1) median catch
rate (lower solid line); and (2) 90th percentile of the catch
rate (upper dashed line). Note that catch rates are not a
robust indicator of abundance in many cases. Caution
should be applied when interpreting these results.
2000
Historical Landings of Tiger Flathead
female
male
50
1500
Growth CurvesTiger
of Tiger
FlatheadFlathead
(Platycephalus richardsoni)
68/69
78/79
88/89
98/99
08/09
Financial Year
Commercial landings (including available historical
records) of tiger flathead for NSW from 1946/47 to
2008/09 for all fishing methods. Note that the decline in
reported catch during the 1990s was due to changes in
catch recording requirements for fishers with both NSW
and Commonweallth licences.
30
20
58/59
10
48/49
0
0
TL (cm)
500
40
1000
Landings (t)
0.4
The annual recreational harvest of tiger flathead
in NSW is likely to lie between 20 and 60 t. This
estimate is based upon the results of the offsite
National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing
Survey (Henry and Lyle, 2003) and onsite
surveys undertaken by I & I NSW.
0.2
Recreational Catch of Tiger Flathead
0.0
Catch
Relative Catch Rate
0.8
• There is a minimum legal length of 33 cm
total length for tiger flathead and a combined
recreational bag limit of 20 for all flathead
(including only 10 dusky flathead).
50
• Commonwealth has a robust assessment that
indicates the species is not overfished and is
not subject to overfishing (current catch is
close to the long term sustainable yield).
• Some recent biological information on
growth and mortality rates is available from
studies conducted in the Sydney/Newcastle
area.
150
Landings (t)
250
300
Fish Trawl (Primary Species)
100
• Size composition monitoring of NSW
commercial landings was recommenced in
2008.
Ocean Prawn Trawl
0
5
10
15
Age (years)
Growth curve of tiger flathead using parameters from
Cui et al. (2005). Lengths are presented as total length
(TL).
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20
s tat u s o f f i s h e r i e s r e s o u r c e s i n n s w, 2 0 0 8 / 0 9
Fur ther Reading
Andrew, N.L., K.J. Graham, K.E. Hodgson and G.N.
Gordon (1997). Changes after twenty years
in relative abundance and size composition
of commercial fishes caught during fishery
independent surveys on SEF trawl grounds, FRDC
Project 96/139. NSW Fisheries Final Report Series.
Cronulla, Sydney, NSW Fisheries: 212 pp.
0.05
0.10
1989/90−1997/98
n = 3026
Cui, G., I. Knuckey and N. Klaer (2005). Tiger flathead
stock assessment using data up to 2004. Report to
SESSF RAG Workshop.
0.00
Proportion
0.15
Length Frequency of Tiger Flathead
30
40
50
60
1999/00−2001/02
n = 6990
0.10
0.05
30
40
0.15
20
50
60
Klaer, N.L. (2004). Abundance indices for main
commercial fish species caught by trawl from the
south-eastern Australian continental shelf from
1918 to 1957. Marine and Freshwater Research 55 (6):
561-571.
Klaer, N. (2009). Tiger flathead (Neoplatycephalus
richardsoni) stock assessment based on data up
to 2008. Hobart, CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric
Research: 28 pp.
0.10
2008/09
n = 1272
0.05
Rowling, K.R. (1994). Tiger flathead, Neoplatycephalus
richardsoni. In, The South East Fishery - a scientific
review with particular reference to quota
management, R. D. J. Tilzey (Eds). Canberra, Bureau
of Resource Sciences.
0.00
Proportion
Henry, G.W. and J.M. Lyle (2003). The National
Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey. Final
Report to the Fisheries Research & Development
Corporation and the Fisheries Action Program
Project FRDC 1999/158. NSW Fisheries Final Report
Series No. 48. 188 pp. Cronulla, NSW Fisheries.
Klaer, N.L. (2001). Steam trawl catches from southeastern Australia from 1918 to 1957: trends in
catch rates and species composition. Marine and
Freshwater Research 52: 399-410.
0.00
Proportion
0.15
20
20
30
40
50
60
FLTL
(cm)
(cm)
The length distribution of tiger flathead landed by NSW
commercial fishers has been very stable since the 1990s,
and comprises mainly fish between 33 and 50 cm fork
length (FL). The minimum legal length of tiger flathead in
NSW is 33 cm total length (approximately 32 cm FL).
Wilson, D., R. Curtotti, G. Begg and K. Phillips, Eds.
(2009). Fishery Status Reports 2008: status of fish
stocks and fisheries managed by the Australian
Government. Canberra, Bureau of Rural Sciences
& Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource
Economics.
Please visit the CSIRO website,
http://www.marine.csiro.au/caab/ and search for the
species code (CAAB) 37 296001, common name or
scientific name to find further information.
© State of New South Wales through Industry and Investment NSW 2010. You may copy, distribute and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute Industry and Investment NSW as the owner.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (April 2010). However, because of advances in knowledge, users are reminded of the need to ensure that information upon which they rely is up to date and to check currency of the information with the appropriate officer of Industry and Investment NSW or the user’s independent adviser.
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