Coral overharvesting on Great Barrier Reef investigated by regulator

Fisheries Queensland has confirmed it recently investigated an overharvesting of coral on the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, but has declined to share the outcome. 

In the 2025-2026 fishing season the harvest of Pocillopora grandis, known as antler coral, was overfished by 30 per cent according to FishNet data.

Coral harvesting is the process of collecting coral from the ocean. Harvesters are permitted to take up to 190 tonnes from the reef annually, with much of this destined for the global aquarium trade. 

Bright colours and interesting shapes are highly prized by 'reefers', who drive demand.

But coral catch quotas have been breached several times in recent years, while some operators have been charged with fishing offences.

The ABC understands an internal investigation has now been completed into this year's exceeded quota. When questioned by the ABC, Fisheries Queensland would not send through the information about the investigations findings.

Coral reef ecologist Dr Morgan Pratchett said while this particular species is not under threat, any overharvesting event is of concern.

"It sends a bad message given the overwhelming international scrutiny on how this industry is being managed," Dr Pratchett said.

Going over quota

There are two quotas within the coral harvesting fishery on the Great Barrier Reef, known as individual transferrable quotes (ITC) and prescribed commercial catch (PCC) quotas.

Individual quotas are where fishers are given a set amount to fish individually. Breaking these quotas can result in prosecution.

PCC quotas, or competitive quotas, are where an amount is set and fishers essentially race to harvest until the quota is exhausted.  

According to Fisheries Queensland, this can sometimes result in going over the competitive quota for a coral species, which they say is not "uncommon or unreasonable."

A 2024 assessment of the Queensland coral fishery noted that despite efforts to control overharvesting, some species continue to have their catch limits exceeded. It said fisheries would consider "trip limits, increased notifications, and more individual quotas if this issue continues."

At present, several Australian coral species are banned from being imported into the EU due to sustainability concerns.

Simon Miller, from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said he was concerned catch limits are not set at the right levels.

"So when you see fishers in a race to fish to go out there where they're competing against each other to catch these corals as quickly as possible, and seeing this overrun of quotas, that's really concerning," Mr Miller said.

"They're meant to be some kind of precautionary catch limit yet we keep seeing them overshoot year after year."

Ongoing compliance issues

The coral harvesting industry has faced ongoing compliance issues.

One recent case of alleged illegal coral harvesting being pursued by the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions involved coral collector Jardini. The case included Jardini's director Jason Coe, who currently holds five licences in the Queensland coral fishery. Coe has not yet entered a plea.

Earlier in 2024, Monsoon Aquatics lead diver and skipper Tim Green was prosecuted by Western Australia Police for offences related to the collection and recording of coral and fish while harvesting on behalf of Monsoon within the Western Australian coral fishery. He was found guilty and fined almost a quarter of a million dollars.

ASIC documents show Tim Green continues to be a shareholder at Monsoon.

Monsoon director Daniel Kimberley, who was head of the company at the time, said the organisation is dedicated to improving compliance and monitoring in the fishery and supports heavy penalties for people doing the wrong thing.  

Monsoon has received taxpayer money for reef restoration work, partnering with the government-owned Australian Institute of Marine Science.

"We were selected on our past experience with coral spawning, our aquaculture permits, and our willingness to work with the government to improve the current practices," Mr Kimberley said.

Monsoon also works with the University of Technology Sydney on reef restoration.

Fisheries Queensland said it is committed to sustainable fisheries management and works closely with industry to promote compliance and best practices.

"Fisheries have implemented some pre-warning tools for us to warn us of that [overharvesting]," Mr Kimberley said, "but there's still improvement we can do and the fishery is committed to looking at more species that we can transfer to an ITQ."

Mr Miller said coral harvesters and aquarists have a role to play in scaling up reef restoration.

"Moving forward, the government certainly needs to be looking at who they're partnering with to make sure that they are trustworthy and that they are the right type of partner."

Sustainability concerns

Mr Kimberley said when it comes to sustainability, it is important to view the coral fishery "in context".

"The vast scale of the Great Barrier Reef ensures that the footprint of the fishery is relatively small."

But some, like Dr Pratchett, are concerned the quotas set for corals are not sustainable.

He said current data is "very poor", and noted added pressures from major disturbances left corals "impacted and vulnerable".

"We're already quite concerned about the level of fishing and if there's any ... major issues with compliance where the level of fishing might actually be even higher…then that elevates our concerns," he said.