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 it might be better during this recovery phase to allow recreational beach and boat fishers to take a maximum of 6 Southern Gharfish if accidentally caught. He tended to agree with my concerns but indicated that a complete ban was the only way to guarantee recovery.
This modified ban approach was applied to herring which were reduced to a bag limit of 12 fish. I find this ban workable and note that I rarely miss catching my 12 and of late of very good size. The restriction to 12 has it seems to me worked a treat. Why not take a similar modified ban approach to the Southern Gharfish with no commercial netting being allowed.
A Case Study
On the evening of 25 June 2018 I fished at a sheltered spot on the Cottesloe coast targeting herring. To my surprise I began to catch Southern Gharfish of very large size. They were on the bite and I only hooked 2 herring. I ceased fishing earlier than I would have liked because I did not want to harrass the banned Southern Gharfish population. I caught and released 7 large Southern Gharfish and on return to the water, after me handing them as gently as possible, they seemed to swim away. Despite this I remain concerned that about whether they survived or not.
I informed the Department of Fisheries about my experience and my concerns. I also spoke with Recfishwest, who tended to agree with my concerns and proposal about taking 6 Southern Gharfish as described above.
I further discovered that the total ban on the Southern Gharfish is not to be reviewed until 2022. In my view this is overkill and I urge fellow fishers to support my modified ban proposal.
Fishing along the Cottesloe and adjacent beaches the main catch is Herring, a few Skipjack, Tailor, Tarwhine and the odd Flathead. In the past I would also have included the Southern Gharfish. Sand Whiting are also caught but my observations are that fishers are happy to take Sand Whiting of very small size which is a concern. The should be on a banned list for a couple of years at least.
I believe in recovery bans but am concerned that a possibly stretched Department of Fisheries lacks the funding and personnel to check the numbers every couple of years. It is easier to ban for 5 years, 10 years and do no counts during the period of the ban.
Come on fellow fishers post your comments on this blog. It would be useful to hear of other case studies where the Southern Gharfish in the banned areas are now starting to reappear. We could let the Department of Fisheries know, building evidence to convince them to modify the ban. Let reason prevail.
May the Force be for responsible fishing!
GD
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 it might be better during this recovery phase to allow recreational beach and boat fishers to take a maximum of 6 Southern Gharfish if accidentally caught. He tended to agree with my concerns but indicated that a complete ban was the only way to guarantee recovery.
This modified ban approach was applied to herring which were reduced to a bag limit of 12 fish. I find this ban workable and note that I rarely miss catching my 12 and of late of very good size. The restriction to 12 has it seems to me worked a treat. Why not take a similar modified ban approach to the Southern Gharfish with no commercial netting being allowed.
A Case Study
On the evening of 25 June 2018 I fished at a sheltered spot on the Cottesloe coast targeting herring. To my surprise I began to catch Southern Gharfish of very large size. They were on the bite and I only hooked 2 herring. I ceased fishing earlier than I would have liked because I did not want to harrass the banned Southern Gharfish population. I caught and released 7 large Southern Gharfish and on return to the water, after me handing them as gently as possible, they seemed to swim away. Despite this I remain concerned that about whether they survived or not.
I informed the Department of Fisheries about my experience and my concerns. I also spoke with Recfishwest, who tended to agree with my concerns and proposal about taking 6 Southern Gharfish as described above.
I further discovered that the total ban on the Southern Gharfish is not to be reviewed until 2022. In my view this is overkill and I urge fellow fishers to support my modified ban proposal.
Fishing along the Cottesloe and adjacent beaches the main catch is Herring, a few Skipjack, Tailor, Tarwhine and the odd Flathead. In the past I would also have included the Southern Gharfish. Sand Whiting are also caught but my observations are that fishers are happy to take Sand Whiting of very small size which is a concern. The should be on a banned list for a couple of years at least.
I believe in recovery bans but am concerned that a possibly stretched Department of Fisheries lacks the funding and personnel to check the numbers every couple of years. It is easier to ban for 5 years, 10 years and do no counts during the period of the ban.
Come on fellow fishers post your comments on this blog. It would be useful to hear of other case studies where the Southern Gharfish in the banned areas are now starting to reappear. We could let the Department of Fisheries know, building evidence to convince them to modify the ban. Let reason prevail.
May the Force be for responsible fishing!
GD
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