Hey team,

Taking the misso to kalbarri next week wondering how the river fishing has been. Is it worth taking the crabs nets up this time of year or wasting my time? 

Still rewiring the boat and onto the switch and VSR which I had installed by a boat mech.

He has wired the positives to position 1 and 2 on the 4 way switch using 30a cable but looking a diagrams I should have it wired to the positive of each battery.

Should I replicate whats been done or run positive wires to the batteries? At the moment it's running 30a to 115a battery cable...

I think I've come to the answer typing this but keen to hear thoughts.

 I was heading out from bent street a week ago just as two blokes came in. looking into their boat it was hard to miss the jumbo crays they had in a tub. they had been diving out in the 32 meter mark and reckond there were a heap of them out. the said they had seen about 500 jumbo crays.

they are ashit load braver than me, there are some really big bitties out there, whites as well as tiger and bronzies. Good luck to them.

i sure as hell don't need crays that bad.

Enjoy 

 
the issue was a faulty isolator and the batteries was not holding a charge, all good now and motor started first kick without the choke and seemed to have more power with new batteries, thanks to everyone especially wifecallsmegrumpy 

Cheers

Hi Guys my Johnson 140HP 4 stoke aka Suzuki has lost power to the ignigtion and to the tilt/trim, power to the accesories is OK, I've check every fuse I can find including the one's in pic located in the motor and the someone has suggested the Power Harness Fuse, can some point me in the right direction ( or post a pic ) where this fuse could be located ? 

TIA

Cheers

Removing everything makes huge difference . Wait for mine to be done . Have a look ( only near rocko hospital) new LED lights all new fittings on way .pool about 46 thou litres

 Hi evcery one we are heading to Augsta in mid Otober taking a 3 mt poly mainly chasing flaties and Whiting any sugestions Thanks 

Hey all

 A mate was fishing out of Thursday Island over the weekend. He had just caught a tuna and was bleeding it off the side of the boat when a couple of sharks decided to remove the head and gut cavity of the tuna leaving the best part of the fish ( pretty thoughtful of em I do believe ) They were pretty worked up and had a go at the leg of his donk too.

Can anyone report on the clarity of the water just out of the heads? Is it still brown?

Whats looking better north or south?. 

Cheers 

Hi guys,

I'm heading to Ledge Point in a week or so with the missus and kids with the caravan and I'm thinking of bringing my 3.75m tinny also. I'm interested in squidding with the young fella and maybe catching a dhuey in close if I get lucky. Is it worth taking a tinny there and any tips for areas to target for squid?

Thanks guys.

Hi guys,

I use an elite 12 ti for navigation only. Two problems I have recently had and wondered if anyone else has had same / similar problems?

- sometimes maps don't load properly (all the contours / depths) have to keep turning off and on until they do. This is a pain in the arse when your trying to navigate out through the reef

- yesterday after deleting a waypoint my trails decided to delete aswel and did not restart. This made it difficult to set a drift. When into settings and trails were still turned on. Flicked on / off, restarted sounder but no luck. 
 

maybe my unit is just cooked 

cheers

Won’t be cheap to replace. Hole bottom of 3 rd step .bugger . I got 16 years out of it . Was full, 2.5 hours later lost 3 feet In depth

 Happy to squid, fish fish for pinkys etc, will pay my way

Anybody bothered targeting the

robust or common name storm

Gar . Obviously the southern is

still protected . Been seeing a heap

lately might have a crack at them .

cheers pirate.. 

Enjoy 

Just a quick question for the dudes with aluminium trailers... 

what fixings are used generally? 
 

my (new to me) ali trailer has what I'm presuming is high tensile bolts and U bolts, and a few stainless steel nuts and bolts. The high tensile bolts are rusting, and the stainless are reacting with the ali, generating a thick, strong, white oxide that is seizing the fixing to the ali. 
 

im going down the path of making new bunks and maybe shifting the axles, so I may as well change out the shit fixings. Just curious to see what those in the know are using. 

 Hi

My mate Alan will be in Coral Bay for 4 days from Saturday 18th. He is hoping for a ride. If anyone who will be in CB at that time has a spot available, Alan would love to go.

Willing to pay more than his share of Fuel, Bait etc.

His contact number is 0419 890-509

Cheers

Anybody been sucessful finding reds out from Point Samson? Heading up that way soon for a couple of weeks and looking to prospect out to 60k.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Cheers

Tony

560 Barcrusher F150 Yammy

Full moon is seldom kind to me when it comes to fishing and I would often do better howling than fishing at this time of the month.  With windows of good weather few and far between, especially over weekends it seems, I had to capitalise on the forecasted fair conditions on Saturday.  Regular fishing mate Glen was up north shooting pigs and I knew that the conditions would be dicey for some of my other fishing buddies with lighter stomaches, so solo it was to be.

I launched at sunrise and made my may west in somewhat sloppy conditions.  At one stage I stopped to check my weather app and realised that they had got it wrong - again, but what the heck, I was out and had to make the best of it.  By the time I reached my favourite fishing grounds I was the only boat out there and was wondering whether the other boaties knew something that I did not know.  I did a bit of bottom bashing releasing a few smallish demersals before noticing birds hitting surface baitfish.   This prompted me to change tactic and tow a couple of lures behind the boat.  After about 45 minutes of towing a Richter Dorado skirted lure on the one rod and a Halco Laser Pro 160 on the other rod I had a double hit and had fish on both rods.  After landing and snapping both the tuna I was off again and it did not take long to land another tuna.  I decided to stop trolling and to rather cast a lure at the tuna for a different fix.  I introduce a Fish Inc Right Wing 120mm Stickbait to the second school of tuna that I found and was immediately into the fourth tuna for the day.  

Satisfied with the tuna time, I still wanted to get a snapper before heading home and decided to anchor up and burley.  Managed a few undersized snapper and a bloody shark on SP before landing a snapper of 53cm - mission accomplished!  I also managed to land the 5th tuna for the day on bait that was actually meant for snapper.  

Whilst at anchor I was twice smashed by something large that bricked me down below and had a feeling that the YTKs were around.  My last fish for the day ended up being a 105cm YTK which surrendered to my landing net after giving a decent account of itself - as they normally do.  Satisfied with the outcome I headed back to Woodman Point in rather challenging conditions.  I guess that I need to take back my words concerning fishing at full moon.

YouTube video of the action - https://youtu.be/58kD1LRmlp0

 I've searched this but most posts seem to be pretty old.

I'm thinking of replacing my Spotters which look like they're straight out of a 90's music video! They've been great but recent reviews I've read are very mixed. What are others liking out there? My everyday sunnies are Maui Jims with plastic lenses. They are great but the lenses are prone to scratching. Maybe look for Maui's with glass lenses?

Today I received an email from the Minister which did not address 95% of the issues I raised. I assume this is a standard letter sent to all those concerned.

Note that he says a reference group from the recreational, charter and commercial sectors recommended a catch reduction of 50%. Did they recommend this and who represented the recreational sector at this time? Obviously he feels the new ban has the approval of all these sectors. Is this the case? This is the main substance of the email.

Thank you for your email regarding the sustainable management of demersal fish stocks in the West
Coast Bioregion (the area between Kalbarri and Augusta.)

Demersal Scalefish in this area have been in a formal 2010-2030 recovery plan following a period of
over-fishing in the 1990s and early 2000s. Objectives of the recovery plan were to end overfishing,
rebuild the demersal fish stocks and ensure long-term sustainability. Scientific stock assessments or
“health checks” have been undertaken periodically throughout the recovery plan.

The most recent scientific stock assessment released in November 2021 shows that while the best
efforts of commercial and recreational fishers had helped to halt the decline, stocks were not
recovering fast enough to safeguard the future of these fish. Demersal species like dhufish and pink
snapper are slow growing and live up to 40 years. The stock assessment shows there are very few
older fish in the population and most fish are below 10 years of age. It is vitally important that older
fish are present in the breeding populations to replenish stocks.

In February 2022, an industry led reference group of representatives from the recreational, charter
and commercial fishing sectors, recommended to the State Government that the total catch for
demersal species be reduced by 50 per cent to meet 2030 recovery targets for demersal scalefish.

Phase one consultation involved Recfishwest, Marine Tourism WA and the WA Fishing Industry
Council gathering feedback and suggestions from their respective fishing sectors and providing
submissions to Government. This feedback and suggestions were used in the development of
proposed management options put forward by the State Government.

The State Government has invited Western Australia’s recreational, charter and commercial fishers to
comment on proposed management options to help rebuild stocks of demersal scalefish, including
iconic indicator species pink snapper and dhufish. I encourage you to visit
https://yoursay.dpird.wa.gov.au/wcdemersal to have your say.
The public consultation is open for a six-week period, ending at 5pm on Friday, 30 September 2022

 How do you rule out Berry when you gave Toby Green 3 chances at the same offence all alot worse all on camera all in finals all dirty as this one more reactivate than his if someone has their forearm in your throat what do you do.

 Guys,

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Its in the chines, mostly likely below the waterline. Hole does not go right through the plate, but its 2-3mm deep.

The paint around it has blistered, not sure if this is from the hole being there or if the hole is caused by something under the paint?

Boat is 5 years old....

Any thoughts?

On the ABC online news this morning, a quote

Recfishwest chief executive Andrew Rowland said the lobby group "supported the science and need to take action" but that the recreational sector was being hit unnecessarily hard by the proposal.

Do we really support the science?  We don't need to "take action" if the science is wrong.

Once again Recfishwest, think about it and get it right. The science is wrong, the data is old, the sampling is out of date and insufficient, where is the sampling for the 70% of our coastline that is hardly fished offshore because of lack of boat ramps.  These areas act as as natural reserves for fish stocks.  We always will have fishing pressure in the Metro and nearby area with the majority of the popoluation.  This area will represent the most affected area with fish stocks, and according to my own sampling there isn't a problem with stocks of snapper at all, and there is no shortage of large dhufish either.  There are less dhufish than areas outside the metro area, but this area is fished a lot more.  We need thorough sampling done in lots of areas outside the metro region.

Please Recfishwest, challenge them on the science, they use the same data, same "scientists" to arrive at different results for the 2019/20 report and the 2021/22 report.  This shows how weak there conclusions are.  Get your own scientists to challenge the report. PLEASE.

 All welcome 

Hey guys

just chasing some info on gnaraloo taking 2 x 7.5m boats up there.. have been before but a while ago with smaller boats. Have tracks and stuff ready will it be easy enough to launch and retrieve and anyone ever had dramas with mooring in the bay.. going up in June 

Enjoy 

 Yep, Ive posted more on here in a couple of days than the last few years. But the more I think/ read/ understand the proposed rest of state proposal, the more angry/ worried I get. 

Ive been speaking to an ex senior fisheries mate who is both an avid rec fisherman and understands the commerical side of things a lot more than I ever will, and together (with admittedly my small contribution, a majority of the work is his) this response to the loaded (just like the mid west bio region) survey DPRIB has out about the rest of state proposal is the end result. 

If you think its worth copy/ pasting into responses to the survey. feel free. If not, cancel all your future trips north unless your like me an either allergic to fish or a pure sportsfisherman (Im both so not that much skin in the actual game besides being pissed off at the total lack of thought and pure stupidity in the proposed new rules....)

Maintaining quality recreational fishing experiences in Western Australia: A review of statewide finfish management (NOT including West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource proposed management package). DPIRD, August 2022.

Statewide Finfish Bag and Boat Limits

Proposal 1. Do you support protecting the quality of recreational fishing in regional Western Australia by introducing a total mixed species bag limit of three demersal scalefish with no individual species bag limits (outside of the West Coast Bioregion)?

A mixed bag limit of three demersal scalefish is still a generous amount of fish and is designed to ensure the available recreational catch is shared amongst recreational fishers, particularly around popular regional tourism centres. Removing individual species bag limits is designed to reduce the need to release demersal scalefish with fishers being encouraged to retain the first three demersal scalefish they catch regardless of species.

This proposal is not supported for three main reasons with further information provided in each section below.

1.       It is not equitable fisheries management as catch reductions are limited to one sector (recreational fishing).

2.       The impacts of the proposal have not been clearly articulated to regional recreational fishers.

3.       With a reduced commercial catch of demersal scalefish on the West Coast region, fish prices will go up and commercial catches in the regions may increase to fill the void. This will make catch reductions by the recreational sector pointless.  

1.       It is not equitable fisheries management as catch reductions are limited to one sector (recreational fishing).

If recreational fishing regions adjacent to the West Coast are to have their demersal scalefish catches cut by at least 40% (i.e., from 5 to 3 fish per person) then the commercial demersal scalefish fisheries should be equally cut.  If this does not occur then the recreational sector is disadvantaged in any future Integrated Fisheries Management (catch sharing) decisions, which have been based on historical catch allocations.  This proposal further reallocates the regional demersal scalefish resource from the recreational to the commercial sector. The proposal will result in the following regional reductions for the recreational sector (Table 1). 

Table 1. Summary of proposed regional (outside West Coast) recreational and commercial demersal catch impacts.

*It is unclear to the public from these proposals if recreationally caught Bight redfish on the South Coast are to be included as demersal finfish species in the proposed new limit of 3 demersal fish.  On the South Coast you currently may take 8 Bight redfish, 8 yelloweye redfish and 8 swallowtail, PLUS a mixed daily bag limit of 5 other demersal finfish. On 5/9/2022 DPIRD management advised the author that Bight redfish were included in the proposed demersal limit of three fish.

Total demersal catch comparisons between the recreational and commercial sectors for regions outside the West Coast are summarised in Table 2.  The figures indicate that if there is a need to reduce total demersal catches, then the catches from the various commercial fisheries in each region far exceed the recreational catch. Without a discussion around total catches for all sectors being included (as has been done for the West Coast proposals) the public does not have the information to properly consider proposals about sharing a public resource.   

Table 2. Summary of total regional (outside West Coast) recreational and commercial demersal catches. Source: State of the Fisheries Report 2020/21.

2.       The impacts of the proposal have not been clearly articulated to regional recreational fishers.

Such inequity makes this “statewide recreational finfish management review” appear like an ad hoc, afterthought tacked on to a separate process for the West Coast region.  Most regional fishers are not aware their recreational demersal bag limits are being considered for a minimum 40% reduction and there are no examples provided in the proposals of what these reductions actually equate to under various scenarios, such as extended trips at sea. Media attention has been focussed on the West Coast “being closed to recreational fishing for 9 months”. Even DPIRD’s “Catch” recreational fishing news email to recreational fishing licence holders of August 2022 has the lead story as, “West Coast Demersal Consultation Open”. There is no mention of regional reductions, there have been no regional public meetings or targeted regional media to date.  Equitable management actions are required for both sectors and a proper, transparent process needs to be developed if significant recreational fishing changes for the regions are to be implemented. 

3.       With a reduced commercial catch of demersal scalefish on the West Coast region, fish prices will go up and commercial catches in the regions may increase to fill the void. This will make catch reductions by the recreational sector pointless. 

The basis of the argument that recreational fishing bag limits need to be reduced as effort may be displaced from the West Coast Bioregion to adjacent regions also applies to the commercial fishing sector. No reference is made to catch reductions in any regional commercial fisheries, other than Zone 1 of the Southern Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery.  Zone 1 of this fishery aligns with a small section of the South Coast recreational region from Black Point, Augusta to west of Walpole (~60 nautical miles).

A 50% cut in the demersal scalefish commercial catch on the West Coast will reduce demersal scalefish supply to WA consumers and result in an increase in the price of demersal scalefish. Further, longer closed seasons for recreational fishers on the West Coast, or whatever means is used to reduce the recreational catch by 50%, will reduce the amount of recreationally caught fish kept and consumed by metropolitan households. This will increase demand for purchased commercially caught demersal scalefish and increase fish prices. Most of WA’s population resides and fishes in the West Coast region and if they can’t catch their own demersal fish, a proportion will choose to buy it, eat it more at restaurants etc.

A combined decrease in supply and increase in demand for demersal scalefish could provide the financial incentive for regional commercial fisheries (e.g. the South Coast Demersal Line and Trap Fishery and Zone 2 of the Southern Demersal Gillnet and Longline Fishery) to fish harder to fill that void.  Both of these commercial fisheries have ample opportunity to increase their catches if the financial incentives are provided to do so, thus making recreational reductions ineffective.

South Coast Bioregion Specific Comments

In the South Coast Bioregion, it took from 1997-2021 (24 years) to bring the commercial ‘open access’ wetline fishery under a legislated management plan. This commercial sector was obviously not a high priority or properly resourced by government, despite cries for regulation from both the commercial and recreational sectors over decades.  It is therefore very puzzling that in 2022, after this delay and record high South Coast commercial wetline catches, that only the recreational sector has a proposed minimum 77% demersal scalefish reduction.    

A proper review of the South Coast demersal scalefish resource would include critical issues, such as the targeting of hapuka spawning grounds on the edge of the continental shelf.  Commercial hapuka catches are at record levels in recent years on the South Coast (2020/21 State of the Fisheries Report p. 226). Anecdotally, the average South Coast hapuka size has decreased over the last 10-15 years from 10-20kg fish on average to around 3-10kg fish.  Ongoing targeting of bight redfish aggregations by both sectors are also concerning. Bight redfish on the South Coast have been aged at 84 years old, so in terms of a “risk based approach” to management these would surely be the priority.  Fishers in both sectors are travelling further to find smaller aggregations and the spawning aggregation sites are well known.  A lack of resourcing towards adequate scientific assessment to quantify these decreases may lead this region down the same trajectory as the West Coast. 

Gascoyne Bioregion Specific Comments

While somewhat understandable in locations such as Coral Bay and Exmouth that historically experience a higher volume of fishing related tourism (and just went through an unprecedented COVID-19 driven influx of tourism), a blanket approach to bag and boat limits is unreasonable and not required. For example, townships such as Carnarvon which experience relatively low fishing tourism needs to be considered. The main productive fishing grounds (Bernier and Dorre Islands) are inaccessible by recreational fishing boats for around 70% of the year due to distance (25 nautical miles to the closest point) and weather which contributes greatly to maintaining the current healthy fish stocks in the area. The only identified at risk species in the area is pink snapper, and this is primarily a result of long-term overfishing of spawning aggregations by the commercial sector. As a result, the spawning areas in the region are already subject to a closed season, which should be sustained.

Other fishing locations that are similarly inaccessible (such as the Monte Bellow Islands) also experience the same protection from fishing pressure due to logistical and distance challenges. Under the current proposal, a recreational boat travelling less than 30 minutes to fishing grounds in Coral Bay or Exmouth is subject to the same species and boat limits as a boat completing a multiple day trip to remote offshore islands (being 9 fish total).  

Simplifying rules has merit but implementing blanket regional recreational fishing rules for such a massive State without considering the diverse collection of species, locations and risk profiles of areas is not smart fisheries management. The recreational fishing rules for demersal scalefish outside the West Coast are effectively being consolidated into one region. This is similar to asking all commercial finfish fisheries in WA to comply with one legislated management plan, without considering the particular management issues for different areas or operations.

Management of the inner Shark Bay pink snapper populations through area specific limits (both size and bag/ boat limits) is an example of where specific management has been successful and can be implemented on merit where warranted.

Removing Individual Species Bag Limits

This proposal is not supported for the following reasons.

Many recreational fishers and spear fishers have the ability and knowledge to specifically target dhufish, coral trout and blue groper for example. Experienced spear fishers could take nine coral trout between three fishers in the Gascoyne/Pilbara and the same applies on the South Coast for blue groper. This is not an improved sustainability or resource sharing outcome. Similarly, many boat fishers on the South Coast target known dhufish grounds and could shift their fishing behaviours towards catching three dhufish per person. Fishers would be reluctant to keep a smaller demersal fish of lesser eating quality in the knowledge they could keep three dhufish each. This proposal promotes inter-species high grading and targeting of the highest priority demersal finfish, particularly when combined with a reduced bag limit from 5 to 3 demersal fish (or 13 to 3 on the South Coast).

Statewide Finfish Bag Limits

Proposal 2. Do you support protecting the quality of recreational fishing in regional Western Australia by introducing a boat limit of three times the bag limit of demersal scalefish? This proposal allows a boat with three or more licensed fishers on board to retain up to nine demersal scalefish on a fishing trip (outside of the West Coast Bioregion). This is a generous amount of fish and will accommodate most existing practices but prevent excessive amounts of fish being targeted and retained.

This proposal is not supported for the following reasons.  

Recreational fishers with bigger boats able to fish with more people on board are disadvantaged most by this proposal and those who take extended trips at sea (e.g. take their own boat to offshore Islands camping/exploring).  The following example in Table 3 highlights these impacts, which are not mentioned in the proposal or explained to the public.

Table 3. Impacts of proposed recreational boat limit of 9 demersal fish on overnight stay- example assumes three people on board.

This proposal could encourage more boats to fish unnecessarily which increases the carbon footprint of recreational fishing. A proportion of recreational fishers in regional areas will be reluctant to take more than 3 persons on a boat given these boat limits and the reduced bag limits.

If people choose to take less people on their boat it increases costs for those sharing in the trip, particularly for those with larger boats who have the ability to travel further from boat ramps and decrease the potential for localised depletion of fish stocks surrounding major ports/ramps at popular regional tourism centres. The proposal penalises those who choose to share the recreational fishing experience with more people. 

In addition, the charter sector limit remains at 20kg of fillets per fisher (the previous recreational possession limit), however those with private boats can only take 3 demersals per fisher (maximum of 9 fish with 3 or more fishers on board).  It is inequitable and confusing as to why people who choose to go on an extended charter are advantaged over those who own private boats. The proposal appears to imply that by paying thousands of dollars to a charter business you receive a ‘privilege’.

Private vessel owners pay thousands of dollars every year in running and maintaining vessels after the initial purchase price. They also pay all of the State government charges for vessel and trailer registrations, insurances, boat fishing and skippers’ licences, flare replacement, EPIRBs etc. all required by government to go boat fishing.  The effort and cost of owning their own boat in the regions with all these additional restrictions imposed with little sustainability basis is

More recreational fishers will consider it’s not worth the effort and cost of owning their own boat in the regions with all these additional restrictions imposed with little sustainability basis which is not inline with the proposal to accommodate existing fishing practices.  

Statewide Finfish Size Limits (also applies to commercial fishers)

Proposal 3. Do you support maximising the overall utilisation of our fish resources by removing size limits for demersal scalefish and large pelagic finfish species with estimated post-release mortality rates equal to, or above 50%? Minimum size limits do little to benefit overall egg production for species with high to very-high post-release mortality rates. Removing minimum size limits for these species is designed to reduce the need to release these fish and maximise the overall utilisation of our fish resources.

The proposal is not supported for the following reasons:

1.       Removing size limits for the demersal species listed will be less effective from a sustainability basis if combined with the proposed substantial bag limit reductions.  Recreational fishers with new 40% - 86% bag limit reductions imposed in the regions will be less likely to retain small fish and the proposal may promote high grading. For example, on the South Coast if the recreational bag limit drops from 13 fish (5 demersals and 8 bight redfish) to three, then people will try and maximise the size of those three fish kept and probably travel less far from boat ramps to minimise travel costs. This is particularly the case in regions where adverse weather prevents recreational fishers with small boats from fishing frequently. When the weather does permit people to go fishing for demersal fish, they want to maximise their experience.

2.       Recreational line fishers on the South Coast experience very little shark depredation, unlike parts of the West Coast and just about all of the north of the State.

3.       Spearfishers selectively spear fish and this could encourage inexperienced spear fishers to spear small tuskfish or blue groper, for example. Similarly, shallow water boat fishers (e.g. less than 20m) may also increase catches of long-lived demersal species in their juvenile habitats, which could have survived if released.  

4.       Also of concern is the removal of the maximum size limit for the Blackspotted Cod (Malibar) currently at 1000mm/ 30kg. While acknowledging this species susceptibility to barotrauma mortality, in many locations within the northern regions of the state, populations of the Malibar cod exist in shallow (less than 10m) environments. By removing the maximum size limit, this exposes large breeding fish to spear fishers targeting them directly due to their location (shallow water) and inquisitive nature (making them an easily targetable species). This is compounded by the removal of the species specific bag limits. As an extreme example, three fishers could capture nine 30kg+ Malibar in one day while still complying with the proposed laws as long as the fish are kept whole until returning to shore.

Statewide Finfish Possession Limit

Proposal 4. Do you agree that the current finfish possession limit provides the right balance between ensuring our vulnerable demersal scalefish stocks are able to be shared and enjoyed by current and future generations of Western Australians, while allowing recreational fishers to accumulate an appropriate amount of fish on a fishing trip? The current finfish possession limit allows recreational fishers to accumulate up to; • 10kg of fillets (or pieces) of fish of any species, plus 10kg of large pelagic fish (with skin attached for identification purposes); or • 10kg of fillets of any species and one day’s bag limit of whole fish; or • Two day’s bag limit of whole fish; or • 20kg of fillets (or pieces) of fish of any species while participating on an extended fishing charter.

The proposal is supported with the exception of the limit of 20kg of fillets of fish of any species while participating on an extended fishing charter. This inconsistency between recreational fishers on charter vessels and recreational fishers on private vessels is discussed in Proposal 3 and needs to be clarified by fisheries management from a sustainability and equity perspective.

The 10kg demersal finfish possession limit, if adequately enforced, will help reduce the impact of potential recreational effort shifting from the West Coast to other regions. The 10kg demersal limit should mean only around a couple of days fishing by tourists before that demersal possession limit is reached.  You cannot transport recreationally caught fish unaccompanied, so if people aren’t abusing the system, regional recreational demersal catches may have already decreased. Assessing the impacts of the first year of this possession limit reduction trial (i.e. since the COVID-19 regional tourism boom prompted the changes) would be important before introducing additional recreational fishing management restrictions. 

I drafted a submission to the Recfishwest Expert Working Group on behalf on my fishing club a few months ago.  The content was discussed at length in a committee meeting and the letter was drafted, subjected to peer review/approval and then submitted.

I was having a recent debate about the issues and referred back to that submission.  On review, it might be good text for persons to use as a “form” letter to be sent to politicians, etc?

I have modified the original text and included a draft below  Any feedback before potential release for further use would be appreciated.  Modifications to include the proposed state wide changes might be worthwhile? 

Initial issues raised in opposition are that: a maximum size limit is not practical because of barotrauma; and extended bans around breeding are required so that breeding age fish are not caught leading up to the season.

Thanks for any feedback.  I genuinely believe this would be a poor decision and could be done better, irrespective of any conflict of interest that I may have. 

Mick

*************

Date

Person

Person Address

Dear Person,

I, (Name) do not support the DPIRD proposed 8 or 9 month fishing ban for demersal scalefish in the West Coat Bioregion.

I make the following submission whereby I:

1.       support fisheries management that appropriately conserves the resource in a sustainable manner for future generations;

2.       believe the current fisheries resource in Western Australia is generally healthy, when compared to other fisheries in Australia and around the world;

3.       acknowledge research should be ongoing to assess local fish stocks, and this research should inform political decisions;

4.       note the significant error bounds surrounding the current recreational catch estimate due to sampling methods that are not precise, and are subject to significant error (the 95% Confidence Interval for the recreational catch estimate provides for a large range);

5.       question conservative long term management decisions, that have large social and economic consequences to key stakeholders, that are based on data that requires expert review to properly inform the process;

6.       believe that social and economic impact assessments should be caried out prior to the decision;

7.       acknowledge that barotrauma occurs when demersal fish are captured from depth;

8.       note that the severity of barotrauma varies dependent on the depth of capture, the species caught, the rate of retrieve to surface, and methods of post capture release (PCR);

9.       support a public information campaign aimed at minimising barotrauma when catching and releasing fish;

10.   support a revision of fisheries regulations that:

a.       consider appropriate size limits for demersal fish that are captured from depth;

b.       provide for maximum size limits so that “breeding age fish” are preserved in the population as far as practicable, with consideration of PCR survival probability in the specific situation; and

c.       review total demersal fish bag limits with the aim of minimising upsizing.

11.   suggest that any proposal to increase closed seasons for demersal fishing must align with the biological requirements of breeding fish to maximise resource recovery.

Should you have any questions or matters for discussion please contact (Name) via (Name Contact Number or Email Address).

Yours faithfully,

(Signature - Name)