Fisheries Management Paper 225 - Time for people to have their say!! and
Western Australian Young Future Leaders in Recreational Fishing

Amongst the midst of the heartbreaking news for any West Coast Eagles fan that Chris Judd would be returning to Melbourne to continue his football career, there was another news item on the lips of many talkback radio callers. It wasn't another sporting drugs controversy, federal election issue or unsolved murder case..... it was in fact about fishing.

Monday 17 September 2007 marked a landmark day in recreational fisheries management. It was on this day that the Minister for Fisheries, Jon Ford, made the announcement of the largest recreational only fishing zone in Western Australia. The area stretches the entire metropolitan coastline from Mandurah to Lancelin out to the 200 metre isobath and closes it to commercial fishing for demersal scalefish by way of drop lining and handling as well as gill netting.

This announcement was obviously well received by Recfishwest as we have been working on greater access for the recreational fishery in the metropolitan region for nearly 10 years along with many other passionate recreational fishers. They know who they are.

The simple fact is that the recreational fishery is worth around nearly $750 million to the Western Australia economy and a majority of the recreational fishing effort is focussed on fish species around the metropolitan region. The creation of this recreational only zone isn't a simple resource sharing issue between the recreational and commercial sector. With a high proportion of recreational fishing effort being focussed around the metropolitan waters coupled with a commercial fishery it is inevitable that pressure will arise on fish stocks.

It is concerns for key indicator species such as dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper which has brought about the Minister's action in developing the metropolitan recreational fishing zone.

Now I will not get into a debate about the science in this article, however, I am sure we all agree that dhufish on the west coast are under pressure.

The announcement to close the metropolitan zone to commercial demersal scalefish fishing was not surprisingly met with discontent by the commercial sector, backed up with a series of ad campaigns in the West Australian blaming everyone for the diminishing stocks. Please do not interpret this as a passing shot at the commercial sector as I am sympathetic to the loss of livelihoods and business as a result of this closure, but I believe the Minister has had to make a hard decision to reduce fishing effort and in this instance has made the right one.

Commercial fishermen will not be left on their own following this announcement, with the Carpenter Government committing $7.6 million to assist in compensation payments to those commercial fishers affected by the introduction of the Metropolitan zone closure and the implementation of the outcomes from the Wetline Review.

The closure of the Metropolitan zone will begin from mid-November and will provide an immediate reduction in the total catch by approximately 50% and immediately commence the process of recovery for stocks in that zone. Dhufish catches will be reduced by 39% and pink snapper by 67% in the metropolitan area as a result of this closure.

For those of you who like to purchase fish there have been a number of ill informed articles recently pushing the line that prices for demersal fin fish will sky rocket as a result of these closures. The reality is the commercial catch from this metropolitan zone represents only about 3% of the total commercial catch of demersal scalefish such as dhufish and pink snapper, with the majority coming from the State's northern fisheries. The real reason for price hikes can be attributed to the simple fact that production costs such as fuel and labour have increased significantly in recent years. It is these increased costs which are now being passed onto the consumer. This is a fact of life.

The new arrangement recognises the importance of the recreational fishery in the metropolitan zone and provides an opportunity to the recreational sector to ensure that the resource is sustainable into the future.

In saying all this, the recreational sector will not be without its own management reform. Whilst the removing of commercial fishing from the metropolitan zone will have immediate impacts on reducing catch, the recreational sector also needs to look at how we go about managing our catch into the future.

The announcement of the metropolitan recreational only zone coincided with the launch of Fisheries Management Paper 225 - Managing the Recreational Catch of Demersal Scalefish on the West Coast (FMP 225). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the major issues currently faced in managing the recreational sector catch. It proposes some of the new and potential innovative tools available to manage the recreational catch to specific target levels into the future.

This paper will set the future directions for recreational fisheries management. For that very reason I urge every recreational fisher to read FMP 225 and provide comment to the Department of Fisheries via a submission or forward your comments to Recfishwest. Copies of the paper can be downloaded from the Department of Fisheries website www.fish.wa.gov.au or a limited number of hard copies are available from the Recfishwest office in Waterman.

A series of public meetings would have been run during the month of October by the time this article has gone to print. I am sure they would have generated a good turn out of recreational fishers despite some short notice.

It is important that people make the effort to read this document in its entirety before providing comment. The management tools discussed in the paper are not necessarily going to be implemented, but are purely in the document to generate discussion and get the public's feedback. Recfishwest will also have its submission on the website well before the closing date to assist in the preparation of what can be a pretty daunting submission.

The onus is now on the recreational fishing public to have their say on how we believe it should be managed in the future. The amount of public interest on this issue on talk back radio stations and the number of letters to the editor suggests that a huge number of people in the community care about our fish resources and how they should be managed.

Further changes to bag and size limits for species like dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper are no longer effective management tools for these species. The paper discusses registration systems (licences), tag systems, closed seasons, closed areas and wilderness areas. All these tools have there own strengths and weaknesses.

If there is only one thing you read this year, make sure it is FMP 225. (here is the Recfishwest submission on FMP 225 )

Western Australian Young Future Leaders in Recreational Fishing

Are you under 35, keen recreational fisher and interested in learning how to become more involved in the future management of the recreational fishing industry?

Recfishwest is now calling for Expressions of Interest for participation in a 5 day leadership course to be held at the Abrolhos Islands from the 2-7 March 2008. The selected participants will be educated and mentored by a group of experienced leaders in recreational fishing. This project will help to ensure that there is a well prepared group of people able to assist in the advocacy and leadership of recreational fishing for many years to come.

Recfishwest was successful in gaining funding from Round 4 of the Commonwealth Recreational Fishing Community Grants Programme to run this important initiative.

I have recently returned from the Recfish Australia Next Generation of Leaders Course held in Darwin. I can highly recommend such a course and urge that people interested in developing their leadership skills and understanding of future issues facing the recreational sector apply for the West Australian equivalent course to be held by Recfishwest.

More details and application forms can be downloaded from the Recfishwest website Young Future Leaders program page. Applications close on 31 December 2007.

If you would like to discuss a potential Expression of Interest, your eligibility or future details on the course please contact Recfishwest on 9246 3366 or email recfish@recfishwest.org.au

Kane Moyle



This page last updated on 17 December 2007.