Australia: A new rule has come into force over the weekend to limit fishing activity of commercial rock lobster fishers to just four days each week, to protect the sustainability of Western Australia's most important fishery.
Department of Fisheries CEO Stuart Smith said this new regulation was part of a suite of management changes, in light of the need to preserve rock lobster stocks for carryover into the forecast poor seasons ahead for the fishery and to protect breeding lobsters.
"The objective is to ease the total commercial catch from a predicted level of 9,200 tonnes to 7,800 tonnes, to shift catch forward and offset forecast low catches within the next three seasons," Mr Smith said.
The existing three-day closures near the full moon in Zone C in the southern sector of the fishery have been replaced by a weekly prohibition on rock lobster fishing for Saturdays, Sunday and Mondays in all zones.
Mr Smith said that by March 15, new size limit rules would also apply for the rest of the season. There would be a reduction in the maximum legal size for female rock lobsters taken by commercial fishers in Zone A and Zone B from 105mm carapace length to 95mm carapace length.
To increase the carry-over of Zone C commercial catch into future seasons, the legal
minimum size for rock lobsters would increase from 76mm to 77mm carapace length.
"To assist licensees in the north of the fishery, new gauges are being made available free of charge to masters of boats operating in Zone A and Zone B," he continued.
"We must do everything we can to protect the breeding stock, after three years of record low settlement for juvenile rock lobsters. There will be a review in April to assess the impact of the measures and whether they need to be tightened or eased to meet the season's sustainability target," he said.