Tue 11 May, 2010

Commercial rock lobster fishing in Western Australia's A zone fishery around the Abrolhos Islands has been closed in a bid to preserve the fishery for the future.

The move follows last week's announcement of the closure of C zone - which stretches from Augusta to Leeman, south of Geraldton.

Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said that A zone fishers, like their C zone counterparts, had reached their total allowable catch for the 2009-10 fishing season, due to close on June 30.

“There had been a total allowable catch of 1,045 tonnes for A zone fishers,” the Minister said.

“This limit was reached early this week triggering my decision to close the fishery to ensure the protection of the State's valuable rock lobster stocks.”

The decision to close the season almost two months early was consistent with warnings made at the start of the season.

“I made it clear to industry that the total 5,500 tonne catch allocation for the three fishing zones would be closely monitored and I would close any, or all, of the three individual fishing zones when they reached their allowable catch limits,” Mr Moore said.

“All the scientific evidence provided to me shows that WA's rock lobster fishery is under extreme pressure and in danger of collapse unless it is properly managed.”

The A zone closure will officially take effect from Monday, May 17 - meaning the last day fishers can legally land their catches is Thursday, May 13.

New management arrangements for the State's rock lobster fishery were announced in September 2009.

A core component was an overall catch target of 5,500 tonnes with lower and upper catch limits of 4,950 tonnes and 6,050 tonnes respectively.

To optimise economic benefits and address equity issues, catch targets and limits were set for each zone for the first and second halves of the season.

“These targets and limits were provided to all rock lobster licensees and processors at the start of the season and the Department of Fisheries has published weekly updates of the cumulative catch for each zone,” the Minister said.

“It is expected that B zone fishers, who operate from north of Jurien to North West Cape, will reach their total allowable catch sometime in the next fortnight.

“I will take similar action to close the B zone when it reaches its limit.”