Queensland is phasing out gillnets in the Great Barrier Reef by mid-2027 to reduce interactions with threatened, endangered, and protected species. To maintain wild-caught seafood supply from the East Coast Inshore Fishery (ECIF), the Fish-LIGHT project is trialling alternative low-impact gears such as trap nets and inshore line fishing. The differential selectivity of these gears may alter catch volume and species and size compositions. These biological changes may affect supply-chain viability and seafood supply for ECIF and wider communities.
We characterised the ECIF supply chain to identify the conditions required for economic viability under altered catch composition. Semi-structured interviews with 19 actors—six fishers and 13 postharvest businesses—documented species dependence, product pathways, perceived transition impacts, responses to a severe hypothetical no gillnet-no alternative gear scenario, and capacity to commercialise underutilised species.
The supply chain historically depended on a narrow group of species, especially Barramundi and King and Blue threadfins. Fishers mainly supplied wholesalers/distributors, relying on intermediaries such as auction providers. Postharvest businesses were mainly household-consumer oriented but also supplied commercial buyers. Thirteen of 19 respondents reported major negative transitional impacts, with reduced fishing access and operational flexibility translating into lower, less reliable postharvest supply. Under the severe scenario, fishers anticipated contraction, exit, or diversification into other fisheries. Postharvest businesses considered alternative wild, farmed, or imported supply, none of which preserves ECIF-origin seafood. Among underutilised species, Grunters (Pomadasys spp.) and Golden snapper had the strongest commercial prospects, but uptake would require reliable volume, viable prices and processing yields, buyer access, product development, and consumer and chef acceptance.
A viable transition requires reliable supply of commercially useful catch compositions and market interventions to support harvest and postharvest viability and consumer acceptance. The central implication is that the ecological performance of alternative gears cannot be assessed separately from supply-chain consequences.