We have completed fish resource sharing assessments for western rock lobster, Perth metropolitan Roe’s abalone fisheries and west coast demersal scalefish.
In March 2008 the Minister for Fisheries determined that 95 per cent of the total allowable catch for the western rock lobster resource would be allocated to the commercial sector, 5 per cent to the recreational sector and one tonne to customary fishers.
The 2009/10 season was the first season when these shares formally applied and the recreational sector caught 4.0 per cent of the catch.
Following an examination of the Perth metropolitan Roe‘s abalone fishery by the Integrated Fisheries Allocation Advisory Committee, a total allowable recreational catch of 40 tonnes was introduced for the West Coast Zone in January 2009. The commercial sector has a total allowable catch of 36 tonnes. Five hundred kilograms was allocated to the customary sector (see Related Information for all three formal Integrated Fisheries Management allocations).
The west coast demersal scalefish resource allocation has recently been determined.
Multi-species fish resources are dynamic and variable over time so, to account for this, the allocations of key species within the resource suite would be managed under allocation guidelines, rather than by fixed proportional shares.
For example, under the guidelines, the allocation covering dhufish will be 60 per cent for the recreational sector and 40 per cent for the commercial fishing sector, while for pink snapper it will be 20 per cent for the recreational sector and 80 per cent for the commercial sector.
In developing these guidelines, many factors were considered; including the popularity of dhufish, in particular, as a recreational catch and the important role the commercial sector plays in providing fresh fish to WA consumers.
Overall, for the total suite of demersal species in the region, a 64/36 per cent allocation has been set to apply from 2014 for WA's commercial and recreational sectors respectively.
Management of the recreational catch will involve monitoring the five-year moving average of the estimated catch, with adjustments to fishing rules, such as changes to the number of days and daily catch limits, to ensure the 40 tonne catch limit, or the 5 per cent allocated share, is maintained.
We expect to take about 10 years to assess the majority of the State’s shared fisheries using the Integrated Fisheries Management process.