Demersal fishing ban—Nannygai stocks
1293. Hon Rod Caddies to the Minister for Fisheries:
I refer to the recent decision by the WA Labor government to prohibit commercial demersal fishing in the west coast bioregion.
(1) Can the minister advise whether nannygai stocks in the South West region of Western Australia are depleted, overfished or at risk?
(2) If the minister maintains that nannygai stocks are in danger, will she table the most recent scientific assessments and data that justify including nannygai in the blanket closure?
(3) Will the minister consider introducing a targeted exemption allowing a limited number of licensed commercial fishers in the South West region to harvest nannygai at sustainable levels, specifically to supply fresh local fish to Western Australian consumers and businesses?
(4) If the answer to (3) is no, why is the minister unwilling to adopt a more nuanced species-by-species management approach for demersal fisheries, given the markedly different stock status and recovery rates of individual species such as nannygai compared with more vulnerable indicator species?
Hon Jackie Jarvis replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. It is clear that no-one has read the science that has been tabled because it is all contained in there—but I will proceed with my answer:
(1)–(4) The most recent stock assessment indicates that the demersal species bight redfish—nannygai—in the South West area are at adequate levels. However, with the fishing gear used, and high mortality rates due to barotrauma, commercial fishers cannot effectively target individual demersal species without impacting other at-risk demersal species.
