Estuarine gillnet fishery catch rates decline during drought in eastern Australia

Commercial catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data from nine estuaries were related to hydrological variation in eastern Australia. Relationships between drought declaration, rainfall, freshwater flow and fisheries catch rates were assessed from 1997 to 2007. Estuaries varied from 0.5 to 2.0 × 106 ML of mean freshwater inflow per annum. Monthly CPUE data from gillnetting were used to infer the abundance of yellowfin bream (Acanthropagrus australis),...