Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly has provided his support for our proposal to increase protection for spawning snapper in and around Cockburn Sound.
- You can find the details of the closure here.
- You can read the story about the issue on WAToday here.
We would like to thank you all for your support of this proposal, without your support, we cant get stuff like this done!
On July 9, Recfishwest wrote:
Following last year’s pink snapper spawning season in Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds, Recfishwest held concerns over the effectiveness of the current rules in providing adequate protection for spawning snapper.
Recfishwest asked the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to provide an update on current research, which was supplied yesterday.
Click here to view DPIRD’s research update
This Fisheries research update indicates that:
- There are fewer older snapper in the south-west/metro population than there should be;
- There are a limited number of age classes in the population;
- Pink snapper in spawning condition begin to gather in Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds in August and September; and
- Evidence suggests that fishers are actively targeting pre-spawning fish as they make their way to the spawning grounds.
What does all this mean?
Put simply, snapper require more protection, particularly during the spawning period when they are very easy to catch due to their schooling nature and predictable migration pathways.
Given this Fisheries research update, Recfishwest propose the following:
- An extension to the current spawning closure period to include September (currently October to January),
- An extension to the current closure area to outside of Garden and Carnac Islands (see map below).
Recfishwest believe these measures will provide adequate protection to spawning fish whilst still letting fishers catch pink snapper on the Five Fathom Bank and along the rock groynes at Fremantle.
These measures will allow fish to spawn undisturbed as well as provide protection along the known migration pathways to snapper spawning grounds.
The Cockburn Sound pink snapper spawning aggregations are the largest and most important on the lower west coast. The breeding success of these fish is critical to maintain the future of snapper across the region.
The right time to do the right thing is right now and we’d like to see these measures introduced immediately.
See what Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland had to say below:
