IN a disturbing new development, rec fishers in NSW may pay the price for the commercial overfishing of the popular table fish, the eastern gemfish.
With independent body the NSW Scientific Committee proposing that the eastern gemfish become listed as a threatened species, offshore anglers look to be potentially directly affected if this determination goes ahead.
The current recreational bag limit for gemfish in NSW is two fish. The species is not known to be heavily targeted by anglers with gemfish mainly found in deep water over the continental shelf.
According to fisheries research, populations of eastern gemfish had declined by up to 95 percent following historic commercial overfishing. This decline occurred between the late 1960s and 2001, which is longer than three generations for the species. Commercial fishing effort actively targeted the pre-spawning migration, when large aggregations of the species were predictable.
The NSW Scientific Committee has noted there is some evidence that stabilisation of eastern gemfish has occurred in recent years, as estimated by a 2007 stock assessment.
Anglers can make a public submission to the NSW Scientific Committee on the determination of gemfish as a threatened species via www.fsc.nsw.gov.au by June 13.
Download information on how to lodge a submission HERE.
