The future of Western Australia's demersal scalefish species, including the WA dhufish, is at risk after the latest scientific assessments indicated depleted stocks along much of the state's coast, the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s (DPIRD) said recently.
The DPIRD's latest stock assessments for the Kimberley, Pilbara, West Coast and South Coast demersal resources show fishing pressure on a number of demersal species across the state is too high.
DPIRD Fisheries and Aquaculture Executive Director Nathan Harrison said Western Australia was committed to sustainable fisheries management backed by science.
“The systems we have in place, including periodic stock assessments, closely monitor the state’s fish stocks and guide management action when needed,” Harrison said.
To support the stock assessments, DPIRD conducts a statewide recreational boat fishing survey every two to three years in collaboration with Edith Cowan University and Recfishwest.
The survey will collect information from boat-based recreational fishers about what species they catch, size of the fish and from where along the Western Australia coast the fish were caught.
"The recreational fishing data collected from the 2023-24 survey, along with commercial and charter catch data, was vital for DPIRD fisheries scientists to measure the health of demersal stocks across the state."
Harrison said the stock assessment methods used to determine the health of demersal species in WA had been independently reviewed by an international expert, which confirmed DPIRD’s assessments of sustainability risk to Western Australia’s demersal species.
In 2023, management measures were introduced for the West Coast bioregion to reduce the commercial and recreational catch of demersal fish, balancing the interests of fishers and coastal communities with the recovery of stocks.
Harrison said the measures had been successful in part to reduce catches, but not to the level required for WA dhufish and pink snapper to recover to sustainable levels.
“To safeguard the future of these highly valued demersal species along the entire WA coast, further management action is required,” Harrison said.
“We know strong management does work to recover fisheries, and the Gascoyne oceanic pink snapper fishery is a great example. Thanks to a recovery plan that significantly reduced fishing quotas and introduced spawning closures, we have been able to rebuild the stock.”
The WA Government will be holding a demersal scalefish science and management forum on October 20 with key stakeholders to discuss the results of the stock assessments and explore future management strategies.
