Cape bonnetmouth or redbait (Emmelichthys nitidus) are a widespread small pelagic species that occurs in association with seamounts, mid-oceanic ridges and continental shelfs in the southwest Atlantic, Indian and south Pacific Oceans. They can be found at depths of 20‑500 m. Redbait form schools by size and by depth. Juveniles tend to occur near the surface while adults are found in deeper water closer to the sea floor. Redbait is found from mid New South Wales to southwest Western Australia, including Tasmania. Fishing for redbait in the Small Pelagic Fishery focuses in the area of waters off southeast New South Wales, eastern Tasmania and South Australia. Redbait are mostly fished by boats operating midwater trawl fishing gear in depths between 100-400 m (ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 2017).

The stock structure of redbait in Australia has not been studied. Redbait within the Small Pelagic Fisheries (SPF) is assessed and managed as separate stocks in the eastern and western subareas (ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 2017). This profile focuses on the fishery in the eastern subarea.

Almost all small pelagic stocks in Australia are multijurisdictional (that is, managed by both the Australian and state governments) under Offshore Constitutional Settlement arrangements (AFMA (Australian Fisheries Management Authority) 2017), but state catches have been negligible for the past several years. The fishery furthermore historically uses midwater trawl and purse seine gear, but purse seine catches have also been negligible in the recent past (from 2009 onward) (AFMA (Australian Fisheries Management Authority) 2018).

The Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) extends from southern Queensland to southern Western Australia. The fishery includes purse-seine and midwater trawl fishing vessels. Historically state vessels have accounted for the majority of the catch, but with the introduction of a new freezer vessel, the catch of redbait and the other small pelagic target speciesl by Commonwealth vessels increased in the 2015–16 fishing seasons, and the Commonwealth trawl fishery now accounts for the majority of the species harvest (ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 2017). Catches in the state fisheries of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania were small enough in 2016–2017 to not have been reported separately (rather, were lumped with other species as "other"), and Commonwealth purse seine catches were not reported and presumed negligible. For that reason, separate profiles for the state fisheries are not included in this profile, and a single gear, midwater trawls, is assessed in this profile.

This fishery entered full assessment by the Marine Stewardship Council system in September 2014, but withdrew in 2016.