Southern Gharfish Ban in South Western Australia
9 to 12 months ago the Department of Fisheries of Western Australia (WA) banned the catching of the Southern Gharfish. As a regular beach fisher in the Cottesloe area of the WA coast I had for the last three years hardly seen a Southern Gharfish caught in spots where they had been prolific. My wider beach fishing fraternity had the same experience. The complete ban seemed to be essential to allow the species to recover. One problem with this ban was that the occasional Southern Gharfish might be caught when we beach fishers were after the 12 Herring we are allowed to take. Releasing a Southern Gharfish for return to the water is not so easy. They tend to draw the hook deep into their throats and when handled shed their scales. Thus one could be returning to the water a fish traumatised to the point where it most likely will not survive. I had a long phone conversation with an officer of the North Beach Research Centre explaining my release concerns. I suggested i...