Tag: mackerel

State-wide FADs network gets Government backing as southern/Metro FADs deployment begins!

In a great win for fishers, following Recfishwest’s successful FADs trial program, the State Government has committed to maintaining a Statewide FADs network for the next three years with the north Metro FADs already deployed.

The four most northern Metro FADs have gone in around 30 nautical miles off the coast out from Hillarys and Two Rocks.

CHECK OUT THE NORTH METRO FADS COORDINATES AND ALL OTHER FADS INFO HERE 

The rest of the Metro FADs between Mandurah and Rottnest are due to be in position by the first week of November – subject to weather conditions and logistics.

The table below shows a rough schedule of deployments for all the remaining southern FADs – but it should be noted that all deployments are subject to weather conditions and logistics.

A heads up for Gascoyne and Pilbara fishers, the six combined FADs that were deployed off Exmouth, Dampier and Point Samson have also been retrieved for maintenance prior to the cyclone season and are expected to be deployed in March until around November, 2024 to spice up the sportfishing opportunities for locals.

We will keep you up to date as soon as we learn from DPIRD once these FADs are in the water and ready to fish!

FADs location Planned time for deployment (subject to weather conditions and logistics)
The south Metro FADs between Mandurah and Rottnest Island First week of November
Lancelin (NEW!) and Jurien Bay Late November
Steep Point (NEW!) Late November
Cape Naturaliste Mid/late November
Albany Mid/late November
Geraldton/Abrolhos Islands Abrolhos Islands FADs are subject to Marine Parks Australia approvals. Once approvals have been obtained, those FADs and the one FAD off Geraldton will be deployed

At a media conference earlier this month, the Minister for Fisheries Don Punch announced the State Government’s commitment to a State-wide network of FADs for the next three years (see map below).

Minister Punch said, “The deployment of these FADs around the State follows the highly successful trial by Recfishwest. They came to us with the concept of putting them into the water, checking it out and seeing how well it worked. It’s very been well received by fishers so far, that’s why we’ve expanded it with a $1.5 million commitment from the State.”

We’re sure to see more FAD-tastic catches continue off the WA coast into the future, just like this cracking dolphin fish landed by Dwayne Robinson at one of the Cape Naturaliste FADs earlier this year!

Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland commented, “We’re really proud to have worked with the local clubs and communities in the regions to lay the foundations for this program which the State Government is backing in as a permanent fixture along the Western Australian coastline – not only taking what we’ve done in the previous three years but expanding that to 40 FADs in 13 locations around Western Australia.

“This FADs network is something which when we travel around the State provides and unlocks new opportunities for trailer boat fishing, for sport fishing and for the charter sector. It’s great to see the State Government back that in and make it become more of a permanent fixture along the coastline.”

Recfishwest would like to acknowledge the fantastic work of Perth Game Fishing Club (PGFC) in pioneering FADs off Perth. Their efforts in running their FADs program over the years have shown the effectiveness of the devices off Perth in creating fantastic new sport fishing opportunities for boat fishers.

PGFC’s assistance and advice was invaluable in helping Recfishwest establish the three-year FADs trial that paved the way for the State Government commitment to the network of FADs announced by Minister Punch.

RECFISHWEST – KEEPING FUN IN FISHING – JOIN RECISHWEST TODAY IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE FADS, ARTIFICIAL REEFS AND JETTIES IN THE WATER!

Enhanced sport fishing opportunities for Dampier and Point Samson with four FADs deployed for the first time!

Pilbara boat fishers off Dampier and Point Samson now have enhanced sportfishing options available to them, with four Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) deployed off the Pilbara towns for the first time in WA’s history.

The latest FADs deployments include one device approximately 40km (22 nautical miles) north, north-west off Point Samson in a depth of 37m, with the other three FADs deployed around 50km (27 nautical miles) north-west of Dampier in depths of 40-46m.

GET THE NEW DAMPIER AND POINT SAMSON FADS COORDINATES HERE! 

The devices have been deployed off Dampier to attract mainly black marlin, sailfish and wahoo, while the Point Samson FAD is expected to attract the same species for sportfishers with dolphinfish also a welcome possibility.

Vince Amico from Adventure Sports in Karratha said the deployment location of the three Dampier FADs – coordinated by Recfishwest and DPIRD – are bang on the money for attracting larger pelagic predators in the coming weeks.

“Given their depths and the water temperatures, I think they will fire up brilliantly for pelagics and both Recfishwest and DPIRD have done a great job on researching where to put them to the greatest benefit of the community,” said Vince.

“These FADs are on the way to most of the trolling or bottom bouncing spots for locals and are relatively close together, so they have the option of fishing all FADs within one session which will help them save on fuel.

“The best tip I can give to anglers heading out there is make sure you are courteous to others and don’t anchor up directly on the FADs. It’s a first in, best dressed scenario, so if you turn up to fish a FAD and it’s already quite busy, there are thankfully other FADs close by.”

For tips on how to fish the FADs and FADS fishing etiquette, click here.

It is another feather in the cap of the State-wide FADs program, which is being run by DPIRD in partnership with Recfishwest.

Marlin, sailfish and wahoo catches could be a common occurrence next to the four FADs recently deployed off Dampier and Point Samson in our State’s Pilbara region, with three devices in the drink off Dampier and one device positioned north of Point Samson. Photo credit: Marco Fraschetti.

“FADs being deployed off this northern stretch of the WA coast for the first time is a big win for the Dampier and Pilbara region fishing community and it’s going to be exciting to see how catches coming off these FADs compare to other parts of the State where the devices have been rolled out,” said Recfishwest Operations Lead Matt Gillett.

With the State Government committed to funding a full-time and State-wide FADs program for at least the next three years, Recfishwest is hoping to develop more new sustainable fishing opportunities like these that can provide great fishing opportunities and better value to the WA fishing community.

Want to know more about FADs and their coordinates? Check out the Recfishwest FADs webpage.

The newly deployed FADs could fire up quickly for attracting larger sportfish, making them a potential hotspot for competitors in King Bay Game Fishing Club’s Dampier Classic between 18-21 August. Right photo credit: Marco Fraschetti.

Common sense prevails with reinstatement of three pelagic finfish bag limit at the Abrolhos Islands

The Geraldton and Mid-West fishing community is relieved to hear that, following Recfishwest’s constructive discussions with the Fisheries Minister, the bag limit for popular large pelagic species like mackerel and tuna has been reinstated back to three fish around the Abrolhos Islands.

The initial revised daily bag limit down to one large pelagic fish around the Abrolhos was announced as part of the package of new west coast demersal fishing rule changes announced by the Minister in December last year.

The bag limit change had left many Mid-West fishers bewildered and disappointed, given there are no sustainability concerns around these fast-growing pelagic species which are highly abundant around the Abrolhos.

Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, “The Minister has made a sensible decision to reinstate the original daily bag limit back to three large pelagic finfish.

“We are glad that the Minister listened to us and common sense has prevailed. Recfishwest is now looking forward to seeing fishers rightfully enjoy the full benefits of the pelagic sportfishing opportunities available throughout the Abrolhos Islands.

“Generations of fishers have travelled to the Islands for the fantastic sportfishing opportunities on offer, so this is great news. We are glad to see DPIRD has now clarified the reinstatement of the original three large pelagic fish bag limit on their website and in the online version of their fishing rules booklet.

See the updated version of DPIRD’s fishing rules booklet here.

“This change was also inconsistent with the overall push to develop greater sportfishing opportunities to support the recovery of demersal scalefish species along the west coast.”

With the latest revision, it also means charter operators and their customers can rightfully enjoy the full sportfishing opportunities on offer throughout the islands during the April-May period, which is one of the most popular times of the year for visitors to travel to the region and wet a line in the hopes of catching one of these hard-fighting pelagic species.

A spokesperson for the Minister’s Office told the Geraldton Guardian, “A bag limit of three large pelagic finfish has been reinstated following feedback provided by Recfishwest about how the reduced bag limit was impacting the recreational fishing experience at the Abrolhos Islands.”

“The reduction was originally introduced as part of a new wilderness fishing concept at the Abrolhos Islands and not due to sustainability concerns.”

The Abrolhos Islands are teeming with pelagic finfish species such as this wahoo, landed by this fisher onboard Blue Juice Charters.

Onslow fishing community gets hooked on Fishing for Science

Recfishwest recently had the pleasure to attend the 2022 Munro’s MACK10K competition in Onslow to run our Fishing for Science program – and the mackies came thick and fast for our sampling table!

The annual competition, hosted by the Ashburton Anglers Fishing Club, pulls in hundreds of passionate fishers from across the state, with impressive prizes on offer across more than a dozen challenge categories.

The 2022 Munro’s MACK10K fishing competition had generous prizes on offer! Make sure you check out the Ashburton Anglers Facebook Page for more details on this great annual event.

Working in collaboration with Paul Lewis from DPIRD, our Recfishwest staff were directly involved in gathering data from Spanish mackerel brought into the weigh-in station from 233 competitors across 69 boats.

Thanks to the contribution of the friendly local anglers, our Fishing for Science program collected data from more than 60 mackerel. This included their weight, length, condition, sex and maturity stage.

CHECK OUT OUR FISHING FOR SCIENCE PAGE HERE

Not only did our Recfishwest Operations Officer Sam Russell also take belly samples from each fish for future research, but he was also elected as “resident fish filleter” for the competition! Sam sliced and diced his way through plenty of mackerel for several hours straight each night, before handing fillets out to grateful members of the community from anglers kindly donating their impressive catches.

In addition, Paul from DPIRD  took the otoliths from the 61 sampled fish donated by the competitors to determine their age, with the finalised data to be used in conjunction with commercial catch data to provide clear assessments of the Spanish mackerel stock in the Pilbara Management Area – so a win-win for the local community, DPIRD and the future of these spectacular pelagic powerhouses.

Recfishwest’s Sam Russell and DPIRD’s Paul Lewis (pictured) received a great response for the fish sampling activities for the Fishing for Science program, taking samples from more than 60 fish.

“Thanks to the fantastic response and keen interest of the Onslow fishing community who are just as passionate as we are about fish sustainability and research, Fishing for Science is a great way for fishers to learn more about the fish they love to catch while contributing toward the collection of data that will benefit the fishery in the future,” said Recfishwest Operations Officer Sam Russell.

“We need to say a huge thanks to Paul from DPIRD for his tireless sampling efforts and the crew at Ashburton Anglers for their hospitality during this great annual competition. Having a yarn with the locals and participants shows how much they care about the fish being caught.”

Congratulations to all 15 category winners from the Munro’s MACK10K competition and watch this space for future Fishing for Science initiatives.