The 2012 marron fishing season in Western Australia will see the introduction of a reduced daily bag limit and a possession limit change, required as precautionary measures to deal with changing environmental conditions.

An expert committee of freshwater fisheries stakeholders, including Recfishwest and Department of Fisheries’ managers and researchers, reached consensus on the changes and put a recommendation to the Minister for Fisheries Norman Moore, which he has agreed with.

Department of Fisheries’ Principal Management Officer for the Southern Bioregions Dr Kim Walshe said the 2012 Marron season would run from 8 January to 5 February.

“For the new season the daily bag limit will be reduced from ten to eight marron and the possession limit will drop from 20 to 16 marron in non-trophy waters,” Dr Walshe said.

“Existing marron fishing rules applying to trophy waters will not change and the precautionary measures to adjust bag and possession limits in all other waters will be reviewed at the end of the season to assess the impact of recent higher rainfall.

“The reductions have been necessary because rainfall in the region for 2010 was the lowest recorded and, despite some unexpected good winter rains this year, there is ongoing uncertainty about future rainfall levels for the South West. Rainfall in Perth has declined 20 per cent in the past 10 years and run off into dams has fallen by 60 per cent.”

Dr Walshe said Recfishwest, the peak recreational fishing body, supported the precautionary measures to protect marron stocks, and would be helping to raise awareness of the rule changes with recreational fishers.

“The department will also be running a communications campaign to get the message out about the changes to the bag and possession limits in non-trophy waters,” he said.

Dr Walshe said Department of Fisheries’ researchers were currently undertaking the annual survey of marron populations within the South West.

“This survey will continue until mid-December, to gather important information on abundance, size, sex ratios and reproductive status within the fishery,” he said.

A licence is required for recreational marron fishing during the season. Licences and other information for Western Australia’s recreational marron fishers are available from Department of Fisheries’ website at www.fish.wa.gov.au.