- Spring recreational demersal fishing period doubled
to four weeks
- Commercial and charter sectors to receive
support from purchased entitlement
- Changes made possible by the success of the Cook
Government's $4.1 million West Coast
Demersal Scalefish Interim Managed Fishery Voluntary Fisheries Adjustment
Scheme
Commercial fish
supply to local markets is being supported, and charter and recreational
fishers will have more opportunities to fish for pink snapper and dhufish,
thanks to the success of the Cook Government's $4.1 million voluntary fisheries
adjustment scheme (VFAS) for commercial operators.
The adjustment scheme
requested by the commercial fishing industry is a key initiative of the $10
million West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource (WCDSR) recovery support package.
The scheme allowed commercial wetline fishers to voluntarily sell units
of entitlement (available fishing hours) and their associated Fishing Boat
Licence back to the Government.
Due to high demand from commercial fishers wanting to voluntarily
relinquish entitlements, the Government increased the funding available from
$2.5 million to $4.1 million.
A total of 12 offers were accepted by commercial operators, equating to approximately
38.5 tonnes of demersal scalefish annually - 18.5 tonnes will be
reallocated to other commercial fisheries that primarily target non-demersal species
but were facing potential restrictions.
This will support the continued supply of locally caught, affordable,
quality Western Australian seafood to the hospitality sector, and WA consumers.
Closures to the recreational fishery will be partially eased, with an
additional 10 tonnes per year provided to allow recreational fishers with more
time on the water. The spring opening will be doubled from two to four weeks
between 16 September and 14 October (inclusive) each year.
From Monday, 1 July 2024, the allocation for the charter sector will
also be increased by 50 per cent to 30 tonnes annually - recognising the
importance of this industry to regional WA communities, and the tourism
opportunities it provides.
To provide an immediate boost to the charter sector, an additional 1,500
tags will be distributed to eligible charter operators for the remainder of the
current season. This year, the number of charter operators eligible for tags
will also increase by 50 per cent from 21 to 33.
These changes do not affect the 375 tonne benchmark set for the recovery
of the demersal scalefish resource by 2030.
The new access arrangements for the recreational and charter sectors
will be reviewed once the resource has fully recovered.
More information on demersal recovery is available from fish.wa.gov.au/demersal
Comments attributed to Fisheries Minister Don Punch:
"I am pleased to be able to announce the changes we have made to support
ongoing commercial seafood supply which benefit the Western Australian community.
They also give charter and recreational fishers more opportunities to catch
demersal scalefish - including pink snapper, WA dhufish, baldchin groper, and breaksea cod - in the West Coast
bioregion.
"This is a genuine win-win-win scenario in very difficult circumstances
for this critical fishery, and I'm pleased that we were able to achieve this
outcome through a voluntary scheme delivering a very fair price to commercial
fishers.
"The changes recognise the importance of charter and recreational
fishing to our regional communities, and help us to continue to balance the
fishing experience with ongoing recovery.
"Recfishers
are still encouraged to consider switching their fishing activities to target
non-demersal species such as tuna, tailor, whiting,
crabs, and squid to give demersal
fish a rest, and the opportunity to recover."
