Some of the toughest fishing restrictions seen in Western Australia are a step closer to being implemented, closing a 900-kilometre stretch of coastline to some recreational fishers for up to nine months of the year.
The West Coast Demersal Scalefish fishery is home to over 100 types of demersal, or bottom-feeding, fish and the WA government has serious concerns about the sustainability of some key indicator species in the fishery, such as dhufish and pink snapper.
Public consultation on a new management plan to reduce fishery catches by 50 per cent, to improve sustainability, closed yesterday.
Government officials will now meet key stakeholders to finalise a management plan, which is scheduled to be implemented this summer.
Old fish are missing
Fisheries Minister Don Punch said an assessment of demersal fish stocks, released last year, flagged a shortage of older fish, which were the fish population's most important and prolific breeders.
"When we get that imbalance in the age range of the species, that's when the vulnerability starts to really creep in," he said.
"There's a lot of fishing effort out there, and when it's focused on that younger group because of the lack of older fish, then we're potentially losing the fish that are going to be the big producers into the future."
Mr Punch said the demersal fishery was placed into a 20-year recovery plan in 2010 but, despite previous cuts to fishing limits, the assessment of the fishery showed stocks had not recovered "fast enough".
Recreational and professional fishing groups agreed earlier this year that the catch needed to halve from 750 tonnes annually to 375t.
Suggestions are 'draconian'
But the government's plan of a long recreational fishery closure to achieve that catch reduction has sparked outrage.
Two options were provided for public comment that would see the fishery open to recreational fishers for 94 days or 123 days of the year.
Andrew Rowland from Recfishwest said his group had suggested alternative methods for the recreational and charter catch to be reduced to its allocated 135 tonnes.
"We object to the simplicity of this draconian, blunt measure [of] nine months [of closures] across the board," he said.
"West Australians spend $1.8 billion every year on their fishing activities and this is a major important fishery as part of that expenditure.
"And so the flow on impacts, impacts through the community jobs and businesses, wellbeing, fishing clubs that are closing down will be massive."
Recfishwest had proposed specific localised spawning closures for dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper as well as a range of other measures, such as a school-term fishery closure.
However, this package was rejected by the government. Mr Punch said it was assessed at only reducing the recreational catch by 20 per cent.
"My obligation is to the sustainability of the fishery," he said.
"I've got no desire to upset fishers or take away the experiences — it's incredibly important — but equally, if we don't act, there's no fishery in the future."
Along with a 94-day or 123-day recreational fishing season, the government's proposed recreational management package includes a range of "supporting measures", such as:
- Changes to daily bag and boat limits
- Removing size limits for demersal fish with high post-release mortality rates, and
- Education programs to "support fisher behavioural change towards responsible fishing practices"
Painful but needed
Minister Punch is "very mindful" of how much the commercial sector's catch could be cut before the industry becomes unviable.
The government's plan has been endorsed by the commercial fishing industry, including the WA Fishing Industry Council.
Chief executive Darryl Hockey said commercial fishers would operate year-round under reduced line hours, and the cuts to catches would have direct financial impacts on the industry, but the change was necessary.
"We've got to work together and make sure that we deliver upon this," he said.
"We've got one chance to do it and one chance only.
"If proper action isn't taken, or one sector doesn't deliver their 50 per cent cut, it's just going to knock the sustainability of this fishery out and our grandchildren will not be able to go out and catch a dhufish or a pink snapper.
"It is absolutely essential that action is taken straight away."
Dongara-based cray and wetliner fisher Bruce Cockman said fish were noticeably harder to catch.
"To catch [fish] you've got to work a lot harder," he said.
"Definitely the dhufish are a lot less … we used to use 10 hooks and we'd get six or seven quite often. Nowadays it's two or three."
Coast will feel pain
About 200km north of Perth, Jurien Bay tackle shop owner Shane Younger said 70 per cent of his business was based on demersal fishing and many businesses in the area relied on fishing tourists.
"This section of coast, nearly all of the towns are based on fishing. There's accommodation, fuel, everyone comes here for their family holidays," he said.
"If that's closed up they'll go elsewhere. They might decide to go to Bali or Gold Coast or further north."
Mr Younger said he would struggle to keep his doors open with a long demersal season closure.
Rejecting criticisms that he had not given enough consideration to the social and economic impacts of a closure, Minister Punch encouraged people still to fish but to target other species.
"Demersals are one species," he said.
"There's pelagic fish out there, there's some great near-shore fishing with herring and with whiting [and] people go crabbing [and] squiding — there's a whole recreational industry," he said.
"But I do know people like to target that demersal fish and in part that's why it's under such pressure.
"I don't get up in the morning wanting to upset people like that. I have no choice when I'm confronted with the fishing peak groups telling me that there is a need to cut the take by 50 per cent."
