WA’s commercial fishers mount fightback against sweeping ban

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Western Australia’s commercial fishing industry is pushing back against a major ban off the Perth and South West coast, questioning the claim some demersal fish stocks are in dire straits and arguing the “unfair” decision will penalise all who make a living from the state’s fisheries.

A coalition of industry figures have banded together to form Fish For All, and have launched a petition to urge Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis to pause the implementation of the demersal fishing ban in the west coast fishing zone – which stretches from Kalbarri to Augusta – conduct an independent statewide biomass survey, and give the fishing community opportunity to identify a “sustainable” solution.

WA’s sweeping fishing ban was brought in to protect fish stocks of species including pink snapper.

Fins Seafood co-owner Phil Clark, who owns licenses in several WA fisheries, told media on Sunday the industry had not predicted such a severe cut and permanent ban.

“It doesn’t need to be this way, and there’s enough fish resource out there, and we really need to do some really good, reliable science to work out whether or not there’s more there than what we think,” he said.

When the government announced the sweeping restrictions on December 3, Premier Roger Cook said “we’re not winning the fight” against plummeting stocks of iconic demersal species like dhufish and snapper, despite years of effort.

Jarvis said at the time the state would consider lifting bans on specific demersal species if they recovered faster than others.

Clark said there had been significant changes in the recreational and commercial sector, and claimed the data used to justify the ban had been taken from before those changes were made.

He called for an independent scientific body to study the fish biomass off the WA coast, “because that way we can all trust the data”.

“At the moment, we don’t trust the data that’s been put into the models,” he said.

Commercial fisherman Phil De Grauw, who has worked out of Kalbarri for 40 years, said he was “blindsided” by the government’s decision.

“Our whole goal is to have sustainable fishing, [if] we haven’t got a sustainable fishery, our livelihood and everything we do is in question,” he said.

“But unfortunately, this decision made ... was more a blanket approach.

“At this stage, I lose all of my entitlement in the Mid West, and [the government is] proposing a two-year ban in the Kalbarri zone.

“But there’s no detail of what happens after the two-year ban, and there’s no detail in the conversation that I’ll get in the Mid West.”

De Grauw said pink snapper stock, judged by catch-per-unit, was at a record high, and claimed the government had ignored suggestions over the past decade to move restrictions to a quota system.

Joel Rees, the co-owner of South Fremantle seafood restaurant Madalena’s, said international diners would often visit for dhufish and scallops.

He said it was a “hard problem to solve” as a hospitality business.

“If we lose that tourism factor, where we are in Fremantle, it’s a very touristy spot, the whole of Freo is going to be changed,” he said.

The ban would affect the price, Rees said, but there were still a lot of unknown impacts.

“Seafood already is a challenge. It’s a lot more expensive than other proteins, but we have been managed to be successful based on the quality that we get, and the quality is just above any other,” he said.

“That’s what WA is known for, supreme quality.”

Trawling ban heads to court

Meanwhile, two companies that trawl for demersal species in the state’s Pilbara will take their challenge against that practice being banned – which was among the restrictions announced earlier this month – to the WA Supreme Court on Monday.

The local arm of South African-headquartered Sea Harvest Group and Westmore Seafoods have lodged legal action against the government reforms.

In a statement, reported by the ABC, the companies argued the court action was about “ensuring fisheries management decisions are evidence-based, consultative and proportionate, and do not casually devastate regional jobs, local food supply and long-standing commercial investment”.

Sea Harvest Australia chief executive Danie du Toit said in the statement that the decision effectively meant “a legitimate and approved foreign direct investment has been expropriated without consultation or compensation”, raising concerns about sovereign risk, protection of property rights, and Australia as an investment destination.

“Banning a fishing method that’s globally recognised and certified as most efficient and sustainable in the context of food security considerations simply makes no sense,” du Toit said.

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