Media Release

 

Fremantle and Mandurah meetings on catch allocations

 

Date: Sunday, 25 July 2010

 

Recreational fishers from the Metropolitan area will have the opportunity to be briefed and provide feedback, on the allocation of catch shares for West Coast demersal scalefish, at meetings this week.

Meetings will be held in Fremantle and Mandurah to discuss how it is proposed to allocate species, such as dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper, between the commercial and recreational fishing sectors.

The Integrated Fisheries Allocation Advisory Committee (IFAAC) has been given the task of developing recommendations on sharing these valuable community resources.

Recfishwest is facilitating the IFAAC’s meeting for recreational fishers.

The Fremantle meeting will be held at the Fremantle Sailing Club, Marine Terrace, Fremantle, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday (28 July 2010).

Mandurah’s meeting will be held at RAAFA Estate Meadow Springs, 41 Portrush Parade, Meadow Springs from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Thursday (29 July 2010).

The issues are complex and all interested parties are urged to attend and there will be plenty of time for questions to be answered.

IFAAC has proposed two-thirds of the resource be allocated to the commercial sector and one third to recreational fishers. There are additional recommendations to ensure the dhufish take does not increase beyond historical proportions for the sectors.

The independent advisory committee is seeking feedback on its draft recommendations and inviting interested parties to submit their formal responses by 30 September 2010.

West Coast demersal scalefish covers about 200 species, including some of WA’s most iconic finfish, which are subject to a range of management rules to ensure sustainability of the stocks.

The WA Fishing Industry Council is conducting separate meetings for the commercial sector, to seek their input on the proposed allocation.

Copies of the consultation paper (Integrated Fisheries Management Draft Allocation Report – West Coast Demersal Scalefish) will be available at the meeting, or it can be downloaded from the Department of Fisheries’ website at www.fish.wa.gov.au. Look for the Integrated Fisheries Management tab on the home page menu.

 

A list of all the public meetings is also available online.