Recfishwest has been extremely pleased with the fishing community’s response to our recent survey seeking views and ideas on new management action to support the continued recovery of pink snapper and dhufish stocks.
Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland was inspired by the response which broke all previous Recfishwest survey records.
“We received 5,957 responses – making it the biggest response to a single-issue fishing survey there has ever been in WA’s history!” said Dr Rowland.
“Not only is the quantity of responses impressive, but the quality of feedback was also extremely high, demonstrating people care deeply for these fish,”
“Those who responded spent 10 minutes on average providing feedback adding up to 992 hours – the equivalent of six months of work, a truly amazing effort!”
“This shows we have an active fishing sector who are wanting to engage in critical issues like this that are going to have a real bearing on the future sustainability of these fish.”
Where to from here?
It is going to take time to sift through the thousands of responses to ensure we capture a truly representative picture of collective views and assess each of the many great ideas that have been suggested.
Over the next few weeks, Recfishwest will undertake this work and report back on the survey results once analysed in full. Recfishwest’s West Coast Demersal Expert Working Group has met several times and will assess ideas and feedback from the survey to help formulate advice about preferred future management options.
This advice will be provided to DPIRD to inform the development of management options DPIRD will take to formal public consultation in July.
READ MORE ABOUT THE CONSULTATION PROCESS HERE
In the meantime, we will continue to keep fishers up to date with any developments.
