Demersal scalefish recovery going to greater lengths with State Government buying back commercial licences

The recovery of demersal scalefish is going to even greater lengths as the State Government is putting more efforts in place to reduce the amount caught. In a further attempt to decrease the amount of demersal scalefish caught, commercial fishers are being offered a line with the State Government offering to buy back fishing licences. The Voluntary Licence Buyback Project launched on May 26, giving commercial fishers an opportunity to leave the industry and sell their licence back to the government. The project comes as part of the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Recovery Package, which aims to reduce 218.5 tonnes of scale fish caught a year, with the voluntary surrender of permits targeting an 18.5 tonne reduction. The scheme is targeted at fishers who might be looking to retire from commercial fishing and step away, or those who cannot keep up with the rising costs of the industry. Recfishwest operations manager Leyland Campbell said the industry was not as profitable as it used to be. “The costs of operating over the law few years have increase quite significantly, with the increase cost of labour, cost of fuel,” he said. “Whether the price they’re receiving for the fish hasn’t necessarily kept pace with that. “I think there might be quite a few operators that would look at this as a good opportunity to leave the fishery in a dignified way.” The massive reduction of scalefish caught has already had a hit on the industry, as charter fishermen have had to reduce catches by 70 per cent, recreational fishermen reduced their catch by 60 per cent and commercial fishers have been reducing their catches by 12 per cent. Following the previous two-month ban on catching demersal scalefish, it was extended to six months for recreational fishers. The initially proposed period of nine-months has been reduced, but it still means that fishers will now only be able to catch the popular fish during the school holiday periods. With the aim of reducing the total demersal scalefish by over 200 tonnes, fishers have suffered from the efforts to repopulate the fish. “Recreational and charter sector have been hit the hardest, they are being asked to reduce catches by the greatest amount and there’s no compensation being offered,” Mr Campbell said. “A similar scheme should be opened for the charter fishermen as well.”