Just saws this on the Perthnow site, hope I copy/pasted it right

FINFISH possession limits could be changed as the fisheries management focus broadens to include the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions.

Much of the attention recently has been on managing demersal species in the West Coast region (Augusta to Kalbarri) but at a recent Recfishwest information seminar, a Department of Fisheries spokesperson confirmed that possession limits were one a of a number of areas under review, due to concerns about overfishing in the North-West.

The spokeperson said that the possession limit review was in response to some community concerns about the amount of fish being caught by visitors to the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions, with some local stations considering introducing their own reduced limits linked to the accommodation terms and conditions.

He stressed that no decision had been made and it was just part of an overall review of the state’s fishing regulations.

While I very rarely bring back more than 10 kilos of fillets from a fishing trip and therefore any potential change to possession limits probably wouldn’t be an issue for me, a split limit of 10 kilos of pelagics and 10 kilos of demersals, for example, would be a contentious issue for many anglers.

Anglers who enjoy annual trips to places like Steep Point, the Mackerel Islands and Exmouth would find just one large spanish mackerel would exhaust their quota.

It would be a real issue at land-based rock fishing spots like Steep Point, where catch and release is not an option.

While community concern may be the spur for the review, surely sustainability of fish stocks is the crux of the issue and such a change should only occur if Fisheries has scientific evidence of a problem caused by possession limits, which does not appear to be the case at the current time.

In good recreational fishing news this week, Fisheries Minister Norman Moore unveiled the new four-wheel-drive fleet to be used by mobile compliance patrols that began operating in the middle of this year.

The six new land-based mobile patrol units will enhance education and enforcement and were deployed in July as part of Western Australia’s revised recreational fishing management arrangements.

With 13 new Fisheries and Marine officers also employed this year, the State Government has effectively quadrupled the number of mobile compliance units available across WA to monitor recreational fishing activity.

This will help with general monitoring of fishing activity and also help speed up responses to illegal fishing reports.

Meanwhile, Fisheries has also dismissed as totally inaccurate a recent media report that suggested bag limits for tailor and herring were likely to be further tightened.

The report in a local newspaper, which ran on September 3 under the title “Fish study may force tighter limits”, and claimed “stocks are lower than 20 years ago, with preliminary findings from a Department of Fisheries' report - to be released in November - showing that recreational fishers are putting more pressure on herring numbers than the commercial industry.”

It went on to say: “(Senior research scientist) Dr (Kim) Smith said commercial fishing pressure on herring was low, but recreational fishing pressure was still significant and "something of a concern".

“It has revealed that between 70 and 80 per cent of herring caught during the spawning season were female, a quota Dr Smith said was unusual and unsustainable.

“She said tailor stocks were "not where we'd like them to be" but the health of the stock had improved in recent times.”

However, The Sunday Times understands that Fisheries contacted the writer before the piece went to print disputing the accuracy of the draft article and warned against pre-empting the report, which is yet to be completed, but that the journalist simply ignored their concerns.

In some final Fisheries news, data on how last year’s changes to demersal fishing regulations have worked with regards to cutting the catch by the required 50 per cent in the West Coast region (Augusta to Kalbarri) are close to being finalised and released.

The noises coming out of Fisheries suggest the initiatives, including the two-month seasonal closure, are working towards achieving the desire result.