WAFIC calls for mandatory digital fish catch reporting for everyone
As fish stocks in highly prized fisheries, such as West Coast demersals, remain under pressure, the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) is calling on the state government to mandate catch reporting for all major fisheries.
It is a legal requirement for commercial fishers and charter operators to record and report everything they catch. However, recreational reporting is not compulsory and is monitored through voluntary surveys of around 3000 people using logbooks and memory.
WAFIC Chief Executive Officer, Melissa Haslam said the time has come to do the right thing for the future of fishing.
“Commercial fishers and charter operators have been using mandatory reporting for years and are supportive of digital catch validation as it underpins sustainable fisheries management. Recreational fishers, particularly those fishing from boats for highly prized demersal species that are in low stock numbers should also be required to undertake mandatory reporting too.”
“We have been asking the government for mandatory reporting in the West Coast Bioregion for many years as the number of recreational boats and fishers grows. There are just too many fishers out there now to keep ignoring the reality that we are trying to manage critical fish stocks on a sustainable basis when we are capturing less than half the data.”
“Nobody has more of a vested interest in healthy sustainable fish stocks than the commercial fishers whose livelihoods depend on getting it right.”
“The most recent stock assessments are currently using recreational data from the COVID lockdown period, which has absolutely no relevance with real-time fishing levels today. The voluntary recreational reporting model is a farce,” Melissa said.
There are two methods used to report recreational catches.
- Random phone and logbook surveys: These can be several years old with no way to validate the information provided, and
- Random boat ramp surveys that are then extrapolated to approximate what is being caught everywhere.
“This simple form of catch reporting might have been sufficient back in the 1970’s when WA was a sleepy State with a sparse population. A few mates fishing from a tinnie was not a concern. But not anymore, with an explosion in the size and number of recreational fishing boats.”
“Our population continues to grow exponentially with more and more people boating and fishing recreationally, and many of these vessels are highly geared up with all the latest technology.”
“It’s time to change.”
“Fishers already use their phones to check the weather and sea reports, and they use their phones to take photos of their catch and post to social media, so it’s not a big deal for fishers to use their phones to report their catch.”
“The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has spent a fortune developing a smartphone app that is designed for recreational fishers. It’s a simple process and takes less than a minute. No more excuses. Let’s just get it done,” Melissa said.