Department of Fisheries Media Release:

The Sounds reopen to pink snapper fishing tomorrow.

Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds will reopen to pink snapper fishing tomorrow (Thursday 11 January 2007).

Late last year, the Department of Fisheries extended the annual spawning closure to provide adequate protection for the largest known spawning aggregation of pink snapper on the West Coast of Western Australia.

Fisheries Management Officer Nathan Harrison said he was pleased with the support and understanding from fishers, who realised the need to extend the closure and protect the breeding stocks at a highly vulnerable time.

“We had an unusual set of environmental conditions that delayed the spawning activity from its normal pattern,” Mr Harrison said.

“It is important when there is a fishery like this, so close to the metropolitan area, that we monitor it carefully and manage it in a sustainable way.

“Ongoing monitoring indicates the majority of pink snapper appear to have now finished spawning.

“As a result the spawning closure will end at midnight tonight (Wednesday 10 January).”

Mr Harrison said Department of Fisheries compliance officers had also issued a number of infringements against fishers during the short window in which the pink snapper fishing was allowed last month, before the spawning closure was reimposed.

“Some of the fishers were breaching the bag limit and taking more than one of the larger sized pink snapper, over 700mm, which is breaching a rule specifically designed to limit the take of the larger breeding stock – some of which are more than 20 years old,” he said.

“The daily bag limit for pink snapper is four and only one of the fish can be more than 700mm – on the West Coast the minimum legal size for pink snapper is 410mm.

“Fisheries and Marine Officers will be looking closely at bag and size limits for pink snapper, particularly in next few months.

“Our management decisions and the rules that apply in the fishery are about preserving pink snapper stocks, so the opportunity to go fishing for such a popular fish species is still there in the future.”

Please report all suspected illegal fishing activity to FISHWATCH -
1800 815 507

(put this number in your phones, you never know when it will come in handy!)