Bulletin 2
2001

Welcome to another Corresponding member's newsletter. First, a very big thank you to those who responded to our questionnaire on the Swan Brewery's promotion of fishing competitions. The response was outstanding.

Comments in the first part of the questionnaire were excellent and well reasoned as were those accompanying the second part of the questionnaire concerning member's attitudes towards the promotion of tagged fish competitions.

The overall result of the second part of the questionnaire asking for an indication of attitude towards the promotion of tagged fish competitions was.

Option A. They are a great idea because 9.5%

Option B. They are a novel and interesting promotion because 3.2%

Option C Neither for nor against 4.7%

Option D. Mildly concerned with such competitions 14.3%

Option E. Strongly opposed to such competitions because 68.3%

All comments received are being given careful evaluation and will be invaluable in formulating Recfishwest's policy on such competitions.

We will be seeking your opinion on other issues in the very near future.

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One of the issues currently most important to the recreational fishery is the ongoing deliberations by the committee headed by Mr. Justice Toohey on Integrated Fisheries Management. Recfishwest has made a comprehensive submission to the Committee. This submission is over 8 pages in length and obviously cannot be reproduced in full here. However for your information the following is a brief overview of its contents. Please note that the excerpts have been extracted "as is" from the body of the submission.

"Recfishwest believes that for an integrated management system to be able to avoid protracted and probably adversarial negotiation processes there should be a clearly defined and independent process to initially determine the proportional catch shares which can be taken by the various sectors.

Initial Allocation
The process of initial allocation must be transparent, and allow the opportunity, at least initially, for all interested parties to make submissions on what they consider the appropriate or optimum allocation to be. There should be an appeal provision, but such a provision should have narrow terms of reference in order to consider matters of procedural fairness rather than have the capacity to review the decisions themselves.

Judicial Review
Sector groups may dispute the initial shares allocated in specific fisheries. To deal with this it is proposed that a Judicial Review process be established to hear issues limited to procedural fairness by the Initial Allocation Council in making its determination.

It is proposed that the Judicial Review Panel should be made up of experts in procedural fairness and process.

Resource Council
A Fisheries Resource Council (FRC) should be established to administer and monitor the performance of each fishery.
The FRC would have the ongoing statutory responsibility relating to sustainability. Given its function and responsibility the FRC should be expertise based and not representative of user or interest groups.

Integrated Fishery Consultative Groups
Integrated Fishery Consultative Groups (IFCG's) should be established for each fishery. Similar to the current MAC process, the groups should comprise members from all principal user groups such as recreational fishers and commercial fishers as well as other interested parties such as conservationists. The IFCG's should consider and provide the FRC with advice and recommendations on all matters relevant to their fishery and in particular issues in relation to their fishery management plan and business rules.

Managing Resource Shares
Management of resource shares will be an ongoing and fluid process. The Recfishwest model proposes that each sector allocated a share of the resource should be involved in the development of management plans and business rules that will apply to the management of its catch share.

Exploitation Categories of Fisheries
Fisheries can be generally described as falling into one of three categories, those being under-exploited, fully-exploited and over-exploited. Each would require different management techniques.

1. Under-exploited Fisheries
These are fisheries in which the present total take (commercial and recreational) is, with the best available information, believed to be significantly below the estimated maximum sustainable yield.

2. Fully-Exploited Fisheries
These are fisheries in which the present total take (commercial and recreational) is
equal to or very close to the estimated maximum sustainable yield.

There must be agreement that total catch cannot increase and appropriate management arrangements implemented to ensure this does not/cannot occur.

3. Over-exploited Fisheries
These are fisheries in which the present total take (commercial and recreational) is considered to be already above the estimated maximum sustainable yield.

There must be a requirement that the Fisheries Resource Council has direct intervention and direction in relation to setting business rules rather than negotiated agreement between sectors.

Conclusion
Recfishwest believes that the system outlined would be fair to all parties. It would provide due process for decision making and ensure discipline in respect to the management of sector catch allocations. Most importantly it would give far greater emphasis to sustainability of fish stocks than is possible at present for most species."

The submission in totality is very specific on the methodology necessary to meet recreational fishery requirements. More information will be provided to you as the process evolves. Should you require more detailed information at this time, please contact Recfishwest.


Compiled & edited by Des Wood, Recfishwest.



This page last updated on 29 December 2003.