THE annual month-long snapper closure in SA has run its course, and the season officially re-opened at midday on November 30th.
The weather was fairly poor for the opening of the season and the ensuing few days, as stiff 25kt southerlies blew across the state. The brave souls who battled the elements were rewarded with some quality fish, especially in Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent.
In my home waters of Arno Bay some quality fish have been coming in from a number of grounds. We fished with Ash Smith of Arno Bay Fishing Adventures for the opening of the season, and there were plenty of fish caught in the 7–9kg category. The fish were schooled up on the deeper drops.
This year we were using an assortment of soft plastic lures (Squidgy and Atomic), plus Lucanus jigs, Wax Wing lures, 60g butterfly jigs and some Sebile Shads. All presentations were claiming fish, but in the blustery conditions the heavier lures like the Lucanus, butterfly jigs and heavier weighted plastics were the most effective.
Once again the commercial snapper fishos have been out in force since the season reopened, and they have sadly been capitalising on the aggregations of broodstock-class fish. I understand and appreciate that everyon edeserves the right to make a living, but the price is now bottoming out at $3 per kg market price (opened at around $9 per kg), and for such a valuable resource it doesn’t make long-term economic sense to be removing such volumes of breeding fish for such a small profit return.
Our state markets are reaching saturation point for snapper and as a result large volumes are now heading interstate to try and fetch a better price. Is our state government so short sighted it cannot see the long-term revenue recreational fishing brings to regional SA? In our little seaside community, all accommodation is booked and we have an influx of interstate fishos visiting for the opening of the snapper season, bringing substantial economic spin-off to our town during an otherwise quiet time of year.
How can this fishery sustain itself for the long haul? Improved commercial snapper management strategies are in the pipeline with PIRSA, so let’s hope some wise long-term decisions are made to better manage our valuable resource.
