Regional Changes Imminent?

 I was at the Exmouth Court last week and talking to a Fisheries Officer while waiting.... Initially chatting about most common infringement types etc in that region and then got to talking briefly about the recent changes for the West Coast Region as he had recently relocated from Gerladton. He mentioned that a reduced personal limit from 5 fish to 3 fish is already on the cards as a result of expected increase in pressure from fisherman travelling outside of the West Coast Region during the bans. 

Certainly not unforeseen but sounds as though it could be iminent for the regions..... If only they had good data on how many fish are lost to sharks in this region, they might look at that avenue to protect fish stocks instead, and i'd assume with a much greater chance of success!! Might also save the average fisherman some money on tackle lost to the bastards!!


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 I posted that up 6 months

Mon, 2023-03-20 19:28

 I posted that up 6 months ago and made it known for those outside the WCDS region as a reason to support the petition campaign.

Never got any traction.

Fisheries were already pushing that before finalising the WCDS rules

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Yup

Mon, 2023-03-20 19:54

 Forgone conclusion. Dictator Mark can push anything through when the opposition are basket cases. Anyway, enough politics, just guess we got to get used to it.

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Faulkner Family's picture

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And yet on the east coast

Mon, 2023-03-20 20:15

And yet on the east coast they can catch more on any given day than you could eat.

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scotto's picture

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enough rope

Tue, 2023-03-21 07:59

someone posted this just recently, about the new regs allowing more dhus in the southern region, and people travelling down to windy harbour now bringing in boats with 6 to 8 10kg+ dhus. it was worded fisheries have given us enough rope to hang ourselves, and I personally couldnt agree more. 

sstevee's picture

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I am a little baffled as to

Tue, 2023-03-21 08:26

I am a little baffled as to how people can accurately gauge that all these 'tourists' coming to fish their local are taking 6+ Dhu fish??? Are they looking inside every esky on every boat? Or is it easier to spit the dummy and demand that only locals have access to the fishery? 

I did say a while back that they'll simply keep picking us off one by one. Dont upset too many people at once because that way those that arent affected will sit on their hands and do nothing. We had a chance to stand up as a united front but thats gone. They have backed the rec fisherman in to a corner and now that the fishing pressure is being dispersed (a positive I would have thought) they're going to take that away too. 

I look at my 2 year old son and feel completely defeated that if something isnt done to protect the rec fisherman that he will never get the chance to enjoy fishing in the ocean. 

If anyone knows of any meaningful way to affect change other than just 'e-mail your member' please PM me. Would love to see how I could help. Is there anyone that is still fighting these changes? 

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Not entirely sure how easy

Tue, 2023-03-21 08:56

Not entirely sure how easy the south coast is to fish, but assuming unless people have spent some time fishing those waters, the average tourist is unlikely to be pulling 6+ dhus?? Although I could be wrong!!

Again, I'm not sure of other peoples thoughts around the reduced catch, particularly here in the Gascoyne region, but I dont necessarily think its a bad thing and like you said, nor is dispersing the pressure from the metro area. My main thoughts are around actions which I can actually see reducing the pressure on the fisheries either simultaneously with catch reductions or otherwise. In my opinion the overwhelming presence of sharks in this region would be doing the majority of the damage to the fishery.... Even at a reduced catch rate, people could be killing 8-10 fish to catch their 3. Even fishing land based it can be tricky to get fish in past the sharks which I often encounter just swimming back and forth along the shoreline at your feet. 

I'm sure different regions all encounter different issues, but i'd certainly be keen up this way to know if people think there is any potential to lobby for actions to reduce the presence of sharks in the region, if not to improve conditions, certainly to stop them from deteriorating further!

 

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 I made these comments about

Tue, 2023-03-21 12:40

 I made these comments about the dhus getting slaughtered,i have personally seen 2 boats with 16 dhus between them in 2 days.Plus there's the bins and cleaning bench's you can check if you like aswell as the socials.And not many tourists either,just day trippers as I pass them on the road at 3am.

Feel free to come down for a fish mate I'm just putting out there what I'm seeing.

 

sstevee's picture

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Can't argue against that. If

Tue, 2023-03-21 20:07

Can't argue against that. If there's blokes out there that are smashing 16 dhus in two days then they clearly have no moral compass... 

scotto's picture

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im not sure morals enter this equation.

Wed, 2023-03-22 11:05

Marko and Donny Puncho have allowed this to be legal. they are no longer breaking any rules or laws, and are entitled to bring these fish to land. Same with the (just) undersized dhuies at all my 200+ dive spots in the metro area....  theyre all going to get pinned. Not sure if by me or others, but either way, in 9 days, they're fucked, and there would be no problem bagging 4 of these dhuies (or baldies) on one dive. Who should we hate, the player, or the new rules of the game??? 

 

The DPIRD and all their wisdom have literally given us the ammunition we need to kill ourselves. I can see all their first-year uni-student data, collected by foreign immagrants not born here, and have never seen a dhuie, baldy or blackarse. They get told what data to fetch. Their book tells them shark numbers arent an issue, and the money they generate for the government from commercial fishing, well outweighs the damage it does to stocks.  DPIRD and Fisheries WA are sitting back biding their time before they announce their new rules arent working, and its a total blanket demersal ban recreationally for the forseeable future. 

 

 

sstevee's picture

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I agree with what you're

Wed, 2023-03-22 12:40

I agree with what you're saying. But also spearing I wont be shooting what I consider to be undersize fish. Knowing that the less time they are in the water means the less chance they have had to reproduce I simply wont be able to bring myself to do it. As you point out, the only thing stopping me from doing that is me. Technically I would be completely in my right to plug whatever I see. But I would like to think I have an obligation to future generations not to be an idiot. As you have pointed out, it is now legal to do it though. Funny how in their publications around the new laws they are telling people not to upsize their catch, to be responsible fisho's, to consider barotrauma, to have morals?? As you said, that way it's the rec fishermans fault when it all goes belly up.

I 100% agree that this is going to end in disaster. The new laws are a complete farce. It would be nice if common sense wasn't a super power. I would just like to be able to see my son spear a Baldie or Dhu one day.

 

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 Recfishwest still is.But

Wed, 2023-03-22 13:33

 Recfishwest still is.

But there is only so much they can do without popular and widespread support.

 

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

scotto's picture

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not sure about that

Wed, 2023-03-22 14:19

Rob, you know me, and you know I'm a strong advocate/supporter/member of recfishwest.

 

I know they did a lot to minimise/reduce these rediculous new rules, but I somehow feel really let down that they didnt do more. I understand their member numbers arent probably high, but they were the only voice we had, and they let the DPIRD/FWA/Government walk all over them. I still cant put a finger on why... maybe it was their general silence, or just the way RFW handled it, but they honestly felt quiet during the whole process. the only way I can explain is to compare it to a body like the CFMEU or MUA during a strike or serious issue. sure they use ugly tactics, but you hear about every single strike, death, issue they disagree with. 

 

it was salt in the wound to hear state government were going to fund an extra $10million to rec fishers, then watch Recfishwest at the mercy of the state government literally days later, with the funding for the metro FADS initiative stalling for months. fuckin deplorable IMHO. state government on a mission to make RFW look like idiots. 

Brock O's picture

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Don't understand people

Tue, 2023-03-21 10:08

Don't understand people having an issue with new rules, nothing wrong with the old rules ha....just shit science yeah.

So some things get the blanket others don't, metro gets the additional ban period, yet southwest doesn't but south west now gets the updated catch figures ?.

Then yes boats will and can bring in 6 - 8 Dhues, now they get what Metro has been getting...Flogged ? seriously no were near it, ya dreaming. But this is there rules and the science stats its ok.

So no changes required...In the short term anyway...until they take more scientific data, you know what the volunteer Uni students do at the ramp a couple times a year, the ones we all walk past and don't talk to except the numpty that catches fuck all.

Can they make new changes so close to there existing new changes because of the historical science, as per sharks bay, yes they can.

I'm not a Liberal voter, but surely this is Greens / Labor...few years before this can get turned around, because new magical science figures will be in.

Yes because I can..

uncle's picture

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Was always going to be

Wed, 2023-03-22 14:45

 The thin edge of the wedge, students were out at pt peron on the weekend but we declined 

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Brock O's picture

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Its a conspiracy, research

Wed, 2023-03-22 17:00

Its a conspiracy, research and science know fk all, they have but these in place so we smash the stock and then they get to shut the whole fishery down.

Not sure who wins there..

Check the other states and there min size limit, WA slow to follow suit by the looks.

Whats doing more damage...the weekend fisher / diver taking a dhue under 500mm....or the guys on here with there 100k plus boats and all the flash gear fishing 40-60m all day sending fish back down trying to find a different species.

quadfisher's picture

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4 fish total on west coast.....

Sun, 2023-03-26 01:51

 Everything i read says a NEW boat limit of 4 demersals per boat per trip regardless off blokes on board ,,,, plus the 0ne bait rule plus numerous other rules they have stuck in

 Take one mate fishing , theres no point taking another if catching a feed each is important ,,,

 

 

  quote......On 1 February 2023, the following changes will commence:

  • The current two-month demersal closure will be extended to a total of six months for recreational fishers in the West Coast Bioregion from Kalbarri to Augusta.
  • New seasonal dates - Catching demersal scalefish from a boat will be prohibited from:
    • 1 February to 31 March (inclusive);
    • 1 August to the beginning of the September/October school holidays; and
    • end of the September/October school holidays to 15 December (inclusive).​
  • *Note this does not apply to land based recreational line fishers, and persons on a fishing charter.
  • A boat limit of four demersal scalefish per vessel 
  • The removal of the WA dhufish boat limit, so an individual angler can catch up to two WA dhufish
  • A maximum of one bait or lure per line when fishing from a boat for demersal scalefish.
  • Removal of size limits for WA dhufish, baldchin groper and breaksea cod to limit baro-trauma.
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quadfisher

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 Some of these comments are

Sun, 2023-03-26 08:14

 Some of these comments are about what's going on around the south coast.(no boat limit on dhus) just depends on the amount of licenced fishos on board