The fishery operates within the Great Barrier Reef. There has sufficient information for the stock status, the most recent assessment estimates that the stock level in early 2022 was at 60% of the unfished total biomass. The current level of fishing is highly likely to maintain biomass.
Handlining and Pole and lines fishing methods allow careful selection of catch. There are no endangered, threatened, protected (ETP) species interactions in the fisheries. This harvest method unlikely to damage the benthic habitats.
The stock is managed by Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF). Alough the regulatory framework covers issues such as vessel monitoring systems and more rigorous catch verification and cross checking, there remains uncertainty about the level of illegal fishing.