Fishermen, minister at odds over catch limits
A group of lobster fishermen are at war with Fisheries Minister Norman Moore over reductions to their catch limits which they claim could force operators to the wall.
Just weeks before the new lobster fishing season is due to begin, tensions over the carve-up of the lucrative fishery have exploded in claims of bloody-mindedness and belly-aching.
Central to the row is a decision by Mr Moore to give operators in the southern zone, south of Jurien Bay, fewer lobsters per pot than those in northern fisheries off Geraldton and the Abrolhos Islands.
The decision, after months of negotiations between the rock lobster industry and State Government, gave operators in the southern C zone a quota of 71kg per pot.
In comparison, operators in the B zone, off Geraldton, and the A zone, around the Abrolhos Islands, were granted quotas of 84kg and 91kg per pot respectively, rounding out the overall fishery's 5500-tonne limit.
Mr Moore said his decision had been based on the C zone's submission through industry body the WA Fishing Industry Council. Changing the decision at "such a late stage" would be inappropriate and unfair because it could undermine the sustainability of stocks and disadvantage other fishers.
"It is time for fishers to accept that the industry is moving to the final stages of a fully tradeable quota managed fishery, managed on a zone-by-zone basis, which has sustainability and maximum economic yield as its principal drivers," Mr Moore said.
Mike Thompson, who runs a big lobster fishing and processing business at Cervantes with his brother David, claimed Mr Moore's decision had already stripped about $250 million from the value of the southern fishery.
He said the move would have effect his profitability but the ramifications would run far deeper for smaller operators.
Mr Thompson predicted it could make some fishing businesses unviable, forcing people out of the industry and delivering a further blow to communities still hurting from previous measures to rein in the lobster catch.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/15532287/fishermen-minister-at-odds-over-catch-limits/
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meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
i find this a bit
i must say i find this article a bit confusing, last year the season was not very good although this was the first quota season so the pros could fish longer to fill there quota (at least thats how i think it goes) the year before that the pros in C zone exceeded the allowable catch by a few hundred kgs and as a result last years quota was reduced to offset the amount caught the year before. Hope i've explained this clear enough, any way the bottom line is that they caught too much in2010 had the amouty they could catch reduced in 2011 and now they say that they arn't allowed to catch enough in 2012 - 13. the crays at the moment off mandurah are as rare as chooks teeth at least for the amature pot fishermen that is if anyone can find their pots still in the water and not 100 or so metres up the beach after the big blow.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Crabs
Not just the crayfishermen jumping up and down.
The crab fishermen here in Shark bay are up in arms after being told they will be allowed 35 tonne per licence, which normally works out at about 6 weeks fishing while the crab ---woops sorry prawn trawlers can still keep catching them when their percentage of take has gone up from 10% to 63% in 3 years.
The trawlers are due to start again in March? April while the crabbers not until May
And all of this because Fisheries took no notice of reports from the crabbers that things were crook well before the fishery collapsed