Dear Reference Group Members,

This morning Recfishwest received an email from DPIRD indicating that the Minister is set to make an announcement on phase 2 WCDSF consultation tomorrow, and that Recfishwest was invited to attend a joint briefing with WAFIC and Marine Tourism WA this afternoon, to be provided with an overview of DPIRD’s management recommendations.

This obviously came a surprise to us, as when we last met with DPIRD, they gave the indication that they were still working on the management recommendations for phase 2 consultation and that the public consultation process would be launched in either late August or early September, and that they would come back to Recfishwest as soon as possible to seek our feedback on the draft recommendations, prior to their public release.

During this afternoon’s briefing, we learned that the primary management measure being recommended by DPIRD for the recreational sector focuses on broad-scale effort closures of durations much more significant than the working group recommended. Two closure options will be going out for public comment, which include different open/closed times throughout the year. One option allows 94 days of fishing per year, while the second option allows 123 days.

Supporting management measures being released for public consultation include bag, boat and size limits; increasing protection of spawning fish in Cockburn Sound and Abrolhos Islands; more timely catch and effort monitoring, and a dedicated education program. No further detail was presented around supporting management measures; however, we were informed that the discussion paper being released tomorrow provides a greater level of detail and information, and that a dedicated feedback portal has been set up by DPIRD that includes a survey for recreational fishers to be able to provide comment.

From what we saw in the briefing this afternoon it appears our recommendations have been largely ignored.

 So much for consultation, just doing what they were going to all along.

wow. if i read that corrctly, then fishing times will be massively reduced.

94 days, only 3 months of fishing per year. thats gonna suck. we currently get 9 months. pretty massive reduction.

hope i am reading this wrong....

The day they bring that shit in, is the day I become a criminal.  

Here it is 

Recreational primary measure proposals To recover the WCDSR by 2030, a limited recreational fishing season for demersal scalefish in the West Coast Bioregion be implemented over:

1. A 94 day recreational fishing season for demersal scalefish, opening from 15 December to 15 January and from 20 March to 20 May.

OR

2. A 123 day recreational fishing season for demersal scalefish, opening from 1 April to 31 May and from 15 August to 15 October

 To most tackle shops .how they going to survive I don't know

I know not everyone fishes, but a lot who go to Lancelin, Jurien, Cervantes etc do. Bookings on holiday accommodation will be affected  

 Charter boats can fish year round? Make sense you can go on a chater and catch a fish but not your own boat?

 If they go with option 2 and allow zero fishing during summer then someone deserves to be fucking strung up! IMO opinion this is just insanity.

 It's why I sold my boat. They know full well that all that will happen is some chest beating and then they will do exactly as they please. They don't give a shit  about you, me or any one else. People will bitch and complain but won't get off their ass  and actually do anything. As I said in an earlier post,  it was our firearms now it's our fishing rights.  Don't forget 90% of people voted for this clown, now you are reaping what you sowed

Two options given, don't need to be a road scholar to work out they have already decided on Option 1

Trying to save a little face by saying rec fishers were given an option when that is clearly not true.

 Fuck em

 Notice how there is no option that says I disagree completly, either way it wont make a difference as there are guys not doing the right thing now and getting away with it so how it this going to change anything, the laws in place need to be inforced not changed, I have never been asked to see my catch ever!! And I would be happy to show em every trip, sad day if this happens!

i would be a bit dissapointed if this went ahead, yet charters were still operating year round. will be interesting to see what happens to the pros.

 And this in Perth now

A half-year ban on fishing for some of WA’s most desired eating fish could start this summer as authorities grapple to save dwindling ocean fish stocks.

The ban on recreational fishers chasing prized demersals, including dhufish and pink snapper, would take effect through winter and either the popular summer or spring seasons, depending on the option backed by Fisheries Minister Don Punch.

It is one of several measures being floated to help rebuild stocks of all demersal scalefish, which are not rebuilding fast enough under the State Government’s 2010-2030 recovery plan.

Talk about being bent over and no offer of a reach around. I'm glad Queensland is my home these days, 20 fish per person on any given day.  

 Last month - most people were throwing bags of siht about the Northern Rapists...Might want to revisit your thinking....

There is an agenda to reduce the total catch that has been signed by governments globally for a 50% reduction in catch rates according to the UN. I may be wrong....But i don't think so.

The trouble is - the 50% reduction in Indonesia or India will never be applied BUT we will be policed off our water - which, by the look of todays release is exactly what is happening.

Last month I spoke of the erosion of rights to fishermen and the downstream consequences and, if I remember, and read, got lambasted for squealing about my 20Kgs......

Now I guess we're all about to eat a bag of dicks hey.... 

Northern Business'will go broke, Tackle Stores will go broke, Charters will go broke, All edible fish will be farmed and we can go on our Wokie holiday to Exmouth and look at the fish through a glass bottomed boat.

Clearly, don't vote Green or Labor. But that's just me hey..................What will happen next is they'll introduce two options - one extreme, one extra extreme and slide the thin end of the wedge in - then advance from there. We are being fully screwed out of our resource - which is sustainable. 3 fish per day up North - gimme a break. It's a whitewash.

WA is a fantastic place, but becoming a more difficult and expensive place for rec fishers. Less fishing access (especially with this on the cards), more expensive licences, more expensive boat rego. The inshore species, pelagics and crays will cop it a bit more now too. I'll probabaly still take the same number of demersals each year though, which is about a dozen, just shift the dates to whatever the new ones are. That might be the case for most, who only go after them occasionally anyway, so these restrictions may not change the effort as much as Fisheries think, just make it more of a hassle.

WA is a fantastic place, but becoming a more difficult and expensive place for rec fishers. Less fishing access (especially with this on the cards), more expensive licences, more expensive boat rego. The inshore species, pelagics and crays will cop it a bit more now too. I'll probabaly still take the same number of demersals each year though, which is about a dozen, just shift the dates to whatever the new ones are. That might be the case for most, who only go after them occasionally anyway, so these restrictions may not change the effort as much as Fisheries think, just make it more of a hassle.

For the inshore snapper fishos, whilst neither option is supported, option one offers just a little more time .. Dont forget that the snapper ban for cockburn/warnbro and outter areas will still take effect, possibly beginning in August now. Its a double wammy if your fishing inshore for the snaps!

 When the closures came in I adjusted my fishing to only target a few snapper on about 5-6 trips each year, in 10-15m depths, from August until the existing demersal closure on 15 October.  Even though I don't like either of these suggested seasons (as [posted above by Pete F), option 1 would likely mean no more pinks for me at all. Option 2 makes no change to my current demersal catch efforts in the August-October window, but I object to the heavy handed approach in either case. The two options look a bit like a bait & switch effort. And I guess I'll have to find a few new ways to cook herring and tailor, plus figure out the whiting and squid!

 we need to flood mcgowans inbox indicating our next vote is all riding on whether he can reign his feral minister in or not... landslides can go both ways and seems like if we can give him an indication of how many of us there are and promise him our vote for him or libs is at stake on this one issue who knows?

Cant see much else having much effect tbh.

 Today Fisheries Minister Don Punch made an important announcement about proposals for the future management of the west coast demersal scalefish fishery. 

 
Below is the media statement we sent out today in response to the proposals. 
____________________________________________________________

Recfishwest media release 

Recfishwest rejects Government’s proposals to ban fishing for dhufish and pink snapper for up to nine months

Fast facts:

• Recfishwest says it's more important than ever to get sustainable management right;
• However, the Government proposals fail to protect spawning dhufish, are inequitable and represent a “complete failure of fisheries policy” says the peak recfishing sector body;
• 40,000 recreational fishers accessing the West Coast demersal scalefish with WA recreational fishers spending $2.4 billion a year on fishing; and
• 6,000 recreational fishers completed Recfishwest’s survey on the future of west coast demersal scalefish fishery to help develop Recfishwest’s recommendations to Government.

Recfishwest is bitterly disappointed by today's discussion paper released by the Government on the future of WA's dhufish and snapper fishery.
 
The discussion paper has ignored key recommendations put forward by Recfishwest, including a spawning closure to protect dhufish and a properly funded voluntary fisheries adjustment scheme to ensure a long-overdue fairer restructure of the fishery. 

Recfishwest’s recommendations were developed following months of extensive consultation with the fishing community. Under the Government’s proposals, WA’s 40,000 west coast demersal scalefish fishers could be locked out of fishing for iconic recreational fishing species dhufish and pink snapper for nine months a year. 

Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, "The package of recommendations we made to Government was well balanced and focussed on protecting the sustainability of the fish while delivering the best social and economic benefits. 

"Whereas, the Government's discussion paper suggests constraining the recreational sector to a nine-month closure, while commercial fishing continues all year round – this is completely unacceptable to our sector.

"The opportunity to set this fishery on a secure pathway through proper reforms should not be missed and this discussion paper represents a complete failure of fisheries policy which destroys value rather than creates it.

"The Minister has an obligation to ensure a sustainable catch delivers the highest and best use to the community and we believe the primary management measures outlined in today's discussion paper do not even come close to achieving this. 

"We will be examining the consultation papers we only received today and provide the fishing community with our thoughts to assist them in providing a response."

Don needs a punch in his head. What an absolute joke this is! The charter boat rules are a farce! How can the charter boat tally be in the rec tally when the charter boat  has paying customers on board. It's a paid service therefore should be on the commercial tally. 

 Well I was about to put my boat on the market but reckon it just lost 10k in the WA market. 

 Attack the source, my opinion is the research is innacurate. Charters can smash the pinks day in day out, what a joke.  Oh well at least we get 20 herring.

Thought I was full of crap months ago . It will never happen ( that was 6 month ban ) funny .charter boats classed in same category as personal craft is absolute bulls—t. There part off our overall quota .when it comes in ( no votes count) they have made there mind up . Anyone who votes summer time one would be real stupid . I wonder if A mining billionaire going for this also. Look at his investments lately ? Anyway time will tell

 my local member to voice my disappointment and got to admit that's a first  .

Hopefully there's a lot of people who do the same thing to try and get some vocal opposition going .

Would work if we were trying to Save the sharks!

me and several others have been on the volunteer working group put together by recfishwest to develop proposals that would if agreed to by FISHERIES give us the reductions they stated they wanted to achieve,

our brief we where told by fisheries was to develop management proposals that could meet the target reduction ,be used to consult with rec fishers so they could have their say , and would be driven by rec fishers

we did our job , and came up with a set of draft proposals that we believed would meet the required outcomes

this was given to fisheries nearly 2 months ago , sine then they have stalled on any feedback or communication , every week we where told they had not yet produced a document that could be put to rec fishers for their consultation

that late last night we get told today the minister was doing a media release on the demersal draft management proposal

to say we have been blindsided and completly ignored would be a polite response

nothing don punch released today in any way reflects any of what we put forward

a cynic would say the dept had their agenda from the outset and all the bullshit they spouted about wanting rec input etc etc , was a total falsehood right from the outset

this proposal is too harsh and not warranted imo .. im still too furious over what has happed here ,

hezzy

 Far out Hezzy

Need to have journo read you post and put those questions to the Minster and Fisheires about the process. Sounds like an absolute dissgrace to call this consultation. Just read on the ABC news site that the commercial sector have done everything right as well.  Not happy Jan!

 A sad day when government bodies openly and blatantly blindside organisations and public groups without a care. Hezzy and Rob and who ever else has been shafted thanks for your time, we all feel your pain and frustrations

 Remember that last flog, stuffing up the forests now. I'm at a loss right now, hardly know what to think anymore, so glad I'm been there and done what I've done fishing wise, it was a good ride.

A heap of struggling shops close . All the work a few guys on site have done in there own time . Basically ignored. Sad times ahead . I was informed today of totally different scenario ( obviously wrong) . They hate to loose and they never do . Trials become permanent. Votes don’t count . So our license fees must be about $15 this year . ONE of deadliest hooks for king George is the hoodlum. Heaps use them . Land anything on them . People won’t stop fishing . Kg ground always holds baldies/ dhues and black ass . Hoodlum stops them all easy. All I can see is shark food /lice food and cray food . Dead fish . Or risk loosing boat . Very dumb proposal .

Well, I have just written a lengthy email addressed to the Premier stating my feelings about the measures.

I will also be making telephone calls to the premiers office during working hours 

Hope he will be inundated with thousands more

Eric

 Mark.mcgowan@mp.wa.gov.au

    Just imagine 100,000 emails sitting in the inbox by monday ,,,,,but i dont hold much hope of that , but thats what it takes to change political minds ...

 Maybe a couple of thousand of us with placcards outside the Rockingham office

 Maybe a couple of thousand of us with placcards outside the Rockingham office

 www.wa.gov.au/government/premier-and-cabinet-ministers So, this announcement was made by the minister for ageing, disability and small business , oh fisheries is in his title too.

Anyone have any insight as to if the minister for sport and recreation was engaged in the discussion. What is his view on the matter? Maybe a few of the crew in mandurah reach out to him. 

 Just sent my email. I hope his in box blows up!

Forget the emails.....time to go fishing....can't get  out wide...still paying rego on that trailer and boat...may as well use it...few hours of a few hundred boats slowly crawling around parliament house and Donny's local members office etc every Friday till they wake up and let us go fishing.

Don't know about others on here but with the current 2 month ban, days where weather not favourable, and family commitments....I'm lucky if I demersal fish more than half a dozen days a year.....add this shite decision based on sketchy non disclosed science and what's the point anymore.  We all pay alot already with trailer rego, boat rego, parking, fishing licence,  etc etc....this will be the final straw for many. I love my fishing and this announcement today has gutted me. Bring on the next election.

 They are taking 75% of our fishing time away from us and yet they still expect us to pay 100% of our fishing licences, boat rego and trailer rego's.

When this comes into play we should all get a 75% discount on these charges at least.

Many people will also loose their livelyhoods tackle shops, caravan parks, boat service/sales and god only knows who else will be affected, This WILL be reflected at the next election so what the fuck are they thinking doing this?

 Now you are all feeling the pain of what law abiding firearms owners and hunters have been dealing with. Watching these flogs stand in front of a camera and lie through their teeth, then have the tabloid rag West Australian parrot their misinformation. Welcome to the Peoples Republic of McGowan.

 Are out of work, he has history

 So they want to save the sharks, if this rule change happens im going to catching and targeting alot more sharks.

The numbers never added up to start with 40,000 active fishers in the demersal WCB, catching 115t. Or 2.9kg per fisher. 

Personally I fish every week but only bother to chase a demersals some of the trips out maybee twice per month including my drone fishing. When I do fish in the boat don't high grade keeping the first two legal fish. Even so it is a bag out every time and more than 2.9kg 90% of the trips.

About 6 dhu a year a lot more baldies, snapper and breaksea. Probably well over 100kg. 

This should not have been a surprise.  Big Australia policy, people seem ok with it,  high imigration rate, downsizing house blocks, crowded roads , stretched hospitals, more expensive water as it now has to be taken from the sea and treated, competition camping for spots and sharing a fixed amount of fish amongst  many more better equiped fisherman than ever before. You must have noticed the crowded large scale boat launch facilities. So many quality fish being converted into shark food.

If you look in other crowded countries they have transitioned away from boating for  fishing and living in houses to living in apartments that they cannot afford to buy. If the authouritues have it all wrong it should be easy shortly to catch a large fish in the limited fishing window available.

 Emailed all these chumps this morning - wcdemersal@dpird.wa.gov.au; minister.punch@dpc.wa.gov.au; Mark.mcgowan@mp.wa.gov.au

 1. Labour has total power - whoever voted for them, slap yourself.

2. Labour is appeasing the Greens - whoever voted for them, slap yourself.

3. We have NO VOICE in parliament - they don't care what you think - this proposal will go through regardless - they have total power - period.

4. Until we have seat in Western Australian Parliament - we have no voice, no power, no resolutions. We don't exist frankly.

5. Hezzy - you should be our Independant in Parliament - if not you - then who??

6. I have too many skeletons!!! 

7. We are being locked out of our resource to align with International Sustainability Targets set many years ago. Further to this, we also have a Left wing agenda that has total power in parliament and have no opposition.

No way out of this one, whatever they want to do, they will, and it will take an act of parliament to repeal the laws - which will take years to claw back.

Snapper stocks in decline - what a Furphy.

 Who ever voted Labor must of known that the Greens were going to be heavily involved in these outcomes , the Greens in Sharkbay complained enough about the boat ramp car parks being packed during  Covid to have the fish limits halved, while there's ten trawlers anchored out from Cape Peron raping the ocean every day make no mistake voting labor in with an overwhelming majority has given these fuckers a license to do what they want.