Recfishwest Policy
Recreational Fishing Sustainability Management Measures

Recfishwest supports the use of fisheries management measures that, while continuing to provide access, act as a control to ensure the sustainability and quality of recreational fishing in Western Australia. If required these measures may also be used to manage the share of the total catch allocated to recreational fishing.

Recfishwest does not support an 'absolute' view as to how various measures should apply, or in what mix. Recfishwest will respond to proposals and situations on their merits; thus allowing it to advocate different solutions for different circumstances.

Recfishwest supports the principle that the same recreational management rules should apply equally to all recreational fishers irrespective of whether they are fishing from private or charter vessels.

Each management measure must be part of a total management approach. Key sustainability measures include the following:

Bag Limits
Recfishwest supports the use of recreational fishing bag limits but believes they should be kept as simple as possible to ensure that they can be easily understood. For this reason Recfishwest supports that most fin fish species should be placed in one of four categories with, as far as practicable, each category having a single bag limit that applies to the species within it.

The categories being:

• Fish species that are totally protected from fishing because there is considered to be a threat to their sustainability on the basis of some evidence.
  
  
• Large or highly prized fish species that are valued for their fishing and/or eating qualities or fish that have a high risk of overexploitation.
  
  
• Fish species that are considered to be key angling species. This category would include fish of intermediate size and population that have a moderate risk of overexploitation.
  
  
• Fish that have large populations with a low risk of overexploitation are generally smaller and provide the 'bread and butter' catch of inshore and shore based fishers.

Size Limits.
For many species size limits are important to ensure that breeding can occur successfully at least once. Minimum size limits provide the opportunity for fish to reach sexual maturity. Maximum size limits provide protection from capture for larger fish which are capable of significantly higher egg production and a greater contribution toward spawning success.

Recfishwest supports that where size limits are deemed appropriate to ensure the sustainability of a fish species they should be set in a precautionary manner and must apply to all recreational and commercial fishing activities.

Possession Limits.
Possession limits provide the capacity to addresses the issue of gross accumulation of fish by recreational fishers and may act as a conservation measure that reduces the need for other existing or contemplated management regulations in a more equitable way. Recfishwest supports possession limits as a key sustainability measure.

Boat Limits.
Recfishwest believes that Boat limits can be a useful management tool as they provide the capacity to limit the potential for localised depletions of fish species. Localised depletions can occur as a consequence of the fishing impact of vessels with a large number of fishers on-board, whether from charter or private vessels.

Boat limits could be based on a simple mathematical function of the number of fishers in the boat rounded up to the next whole number as set out below. Boat limits should apply to all recreational fishing from boats.

............Number of People in Boat. ........................Number of bag limits in boat limit.
............................1...........................................................................1
..........................2-4 .........................................................................2
.........................5 - 9 ........................................................................3
.......................10 - 16 .......................................................................4
.......................17 - 25 .......................................................................5

Noting this, it is Recfishwest's position that further consideration of the possible application of boat limits should be deferred until Recfishwest recognises that satisfactory outcomes have been achieved via the current wetfish review and integrated fisheries management process.

Other Measures
There are a suite of other measures that can be utilised to assist in ensuring the sustainability of fish stocks. These include spatial and temporal closures, fishing gear restrictions, quota allocations and restrictions based upon biological factors such as reproductive condition and spawning aggregations. There are also management regulations such as restrictions on at-sea filleting that act to ensure compliance of primary management measures.

Appendix 1 contains extracts from various Recfishwest submissions and reports which detail Recfishwest's position in respect to a number of key fisheries management measures, in relation to those submissions and reports specifically.

Appendix 1: Extracts from Recfishwest Submissions and Reports

Bag Limits

Proposal 6 - Bag limits

We support strongly the conservation theme underpinning these sub-proposals. However we also reiterate that our support is contingent on complementary measures being placed over the commercial take.

Size Limits

2.6 Need for Greater Involvement of Commercial Sector in Reviewing Size Limits

The difficulty with addressing minimum size limits within both reviews is that they will also apply to commercial fishers. The lack of formal consultation with the commercial fishing sector as part of the review has meant that the recreational reviews have had a much stronger emphasis on bag limit reforms. In many cases, however, there is a stronger biological reason for reviewing size limits. The fact that size limits are more likely to apply equitably to both sectors further reinforces their value to the wider community.

To ensure equity, commercial fishers should have opportunity to address and comment on the size limits proposals. However, their views need to be assessed in the context of the community value and benefit for fin fish, which clearly falls to the recreational sector.

Possession Limits

3.2.1 Possession Limits

This proposal is strongly supported by Recfishwest.

Recfishwest believes that whilst possession limits should be implemented immediately for the whole of Western Australia, the implementation of all the other species specific controls (size and bag limits) should be deferred until we receive Government assurances that complementary effort reduction management measures are defined and a timetable for their implementation is in place for the commercial fishing sector.

Accumulation of fish at sea

Proposal 9 - Accumulation of fish at sea

Not supported. Recfishwest believes people living on boats should be regulated by the same possession limits as other fishers. The odd mixture of provisions in Section 50 of the Act and Regulation 20 of the Regulations should be replaced by a uniform possession limit. Recfishwest consistently supports fish conservation measures but believes they should be applied equitably.

Filleting at Sea

3.2.8 Filleting at Sea

Recfishwest understands the need for the management of filleting or dismemberment of fish at sea to allow checks of compliance with bag and size limits.

However Recfishwest is also aware that stringent, all encompassing restrictions will introduce difficulties for:-

(i) people who stay at sea on board their fishing vessels for significant periods of time

(ii) processing of larger fish to maintain and improve the quality of fish product,

(iii) processing of bait and species of fish from the low risk category,

and are a significant inequity compared to the rules applying to shore based anglers.

Recfishwest will support regulations which provide a balance between the needs of anglers where compliance with bag and size limits are not in question, and the need to be able to check compliance for the species at greatest risk.



This page last updated on 8 April 2005.