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The pristine waters along Western Australia’s 12,500 kilometres of coastline yield a wide variety of the highest quality seafood in the world. The commercial fishing industry contributes an estimated $1.2 billion annually to the State’s economy.
In addition to generating the annual $1.2 billion in income, it is estimated that commercial fishing industry has in excess of $7 billion invested in land and buildings, vessels and fishing licences.
Our largest commercial fisheries are western rock lobster, pearls, prawns, scallops and abalone. While some of the finfish harvest is exported, the domestic and national markets consume the majority. Aquaculture is a major growth area for the state.
The vast majority of our fisheries are managed for the State Government by the WA Department of Fisheries (Map). Under cost recovery the licence holders in the major fisheries (rock lobster, pearling, prawns, scallops and abalone) pay fees to the Government to cover ALL COSTS associated with management, research and enforcement of their fishery. Minor fisheries pay a proportion of their management cost.
The Patagonian Toothfish and Swordfish and Tuna fisheries are managed for the Federal Government by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.
Recent developments have seen the creation of new fisheries for octopus and the rejuvenation of older fisheries through value adding, which has seen species like sardines taken from a bait fish to a fashionable table fish.
However this is the exception to the rule, almost all of the wild catch commercial fisheries are fully exploited and have limited entry regimes, which means no new licenses will be issued, or have been since 1983. There are currently 1500 fishing boat licences in Western Australia.
The annual harvest is valued at around $650 million accounting for about 33 percent of the national total landed value. The annual income earned from each of our high value export species fluctuates according to the state of international economies and the strength of the Australian dollar. Based primarily on small family businesses, 85% of the commercial activity is conducted in remote coastal communities. The industry, including the catching, processing, exporting and retailing sectors, provides employment for 15,000 Western Australians and is our third most important industry after mining and agriculture.
Download Australian Fisheries Map
(32.55kb)
