West coast demersal closure from 1 February – recfishers leading by example

From Thursday, 1 February, the west coast demersal fishery between Kalbarri and Augusta will be closed until 29 March (Good Friday) to recfishers.  

It’s great to see recfishers play their part in the recovery of these treasured fish by giving them a break for a couple of months. 

It’s a particularly important time to give dhufish a rest as the closure coincides with their peak spawning period. 

Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, “This late summer closure was something that Recfishwest, the West Coast Demersal Expert Working Group and grassroots members of the fishing community called for. 

“This was because protecting spawning dhufish helps replenish the stock and speeds up the recovery. Furthermore, protecting spawning fish is the right thing to do and simply makes sense. It’s great to see recreational fishers get behind the closure, because it shows how much our community cares about these special fish.  

“Unfortunately, the closure does not apply across all sectors and we think it should. 

“In good news though, the Government took on board our call for the west coast demersal fishery to reopen coinciding with Easter. This year this means fishing mums and dads will be able to get out and fish for bottom fish again on Good Friday on 29 March, giving them a chance to catch a quality, fresh demersal for their Easter dinner.”  

Although the demersal season is closing for two months, it doesn’t mean you have to stop fishing – there are so many other great fishing options to explore in the region, whether it’s chasing yellowtail kingfish on nearshore reefs, trolling for tuna, targeting squid and whiting or beach fishing for tailor and mulloway – it’s a great time to try some new tactics and widen your fishing activities.  

“While the demersal fishing has been great over the past couple of months, many recfishers have thoroughly enjoyed the red hot pelagic and inshore fishing on offer and that option is still available to us,” said Recfishwest Operations Lead Matt Gillett.  

“The FADs continue to fire for dolphinfish and wahoo, there’s various whiting species across the shallow sand and weed patches, you can troll for tuna, drop a net for blue swimmer crabs in the rivers and inlets, flick a squid jig out for some delicious calamari or visit our South-West to target various freshwater species – we’re very lucky to have so many options available to us.”

Dolphinfish and tuna have been regularly caught at the FADs off the WA coast, squid are plentiful over the shallow weed beds and delicious whiting are easy to catch over the inshore sand patches – to name a few options!

Want to keep up to date with what’s being caught and where during the February-March closure? Sign up as a Recfishwest member to receive our free weekly State-wide fishing report!

Continue Reading

October 02, 2024

Women take the wheel through community grant subsidized skippers’ ticket course

A group of ladies will now be able to take the wheel at the helm of their vessels having qualified for their skipper’s tickets through a dedicated women’s course initiated by Cockburn Power Boats  (CPB) with the…

Read More

October 01, 2024

Lords of the swords – a deep dive into Perth’s hot new swordfish fishery

Recfishwest Operations Officer and Perth Game Fishing Club committee member, Levi De Boni is no stranger to billfish fishing off the metro coast. In this article he writes about the exciting emergence of the metro…

Read More

September 25, 2024

South Mole fishers with mobility issues celebrate return of vehicle access to their favourite fishing spots

Fishers with mobility issues are once again enjoying being able to drive to their favourite fishing spots on Fremantle’s South Mole – thanks to the fishing community banding together.   Following a big reaction…

Read More

September 25, 2024

State record smashed again by Barra Bash with 1,400+ anglers and epic catches!

For the second year running, this weekend’s Apex Kununurra Barra Bash has smashed the State record for most entrants in a fishing competition with 1,412 anglers registering for the popular community fundraising…

Read More

September 09, 2024

2024 Troutfest highlights WA’s big love for trout and freshwater fishing

The eighth annual edition of Troutfest produced the biggest turnout yet, with beautiful weather and a lively crowd of around 400 people providing a fitting celebration of our South-West freshwater fishery!    More…

Read More

September 02, 2024

Recfishwest calls for “criticial” Government policy to protect environment and fishing access from wind farm developers

Recfishwest is bitterly disappointed with the Minister for Climate Change and Energy’s announcement declaring two areas off the Bunbury Coast locations for offshore wind energy (OWE) development. Recfishwest…

Read More