IN November Fisho, Greeny wrote a column describing how good it was to see salmon back in south Queensland waters, and what joy they were bringing to local anglers.
Around the same time we commended the new NSW Fisheries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson for kicking off a review of the State’s commercial fishing arrangements, to be completed by February 2012. Then out of the blue, before the review is completed, her department announced that it was walking away from the 2001 commitment to virtually make salmon sportfish-only north of Barrenjoey Headland.
In the early 2000’s, under Minister Obeid, we reccies did pretty well. We got 30 Recreational Fishing Havens (RFHs) established along the NSW coast, where commercial operators were bought out. We saw tailor made “rec only” for the whole of the state and Aussie salmon in the northern half.
The commercial interests hated these decisions. Minster Obeid’s successor, Ian Macdonald told Jim Harnwell and I in an interview just after his appointment that “the balance had swung too far towards the recreational sector” and that he intended to address that. He abolished the Advisory Council on Fisheries Conservation and the Advisory Council on Aquaculture, and basically let the Fisheries Resources Conservation and Assessment Council (FRCAC) wither away, with its work unfinished. He established the Seafood Industry Advisory Council (SIAC) in their place, with 20 members, 3 of whom were hand-picked Ministerial reps. Of the 13 SIAC voting members, 9 were commercial or fish marketing reps, 2 were aquaculture, 1 indigenous and 1 conservation. That changed the balance all right….
For years the commercials have whinged about the salmon decision. What’s happened to the SIAC I’ve no idea. The DPI website shows it met 11 times from June 05 to October 09…..then silence. Now the salmon decision.
Let’s unpack that. The DPI press release says “The latest scientific information shows that the Australian salmon stock is in a very healthy condition.” That may be so … they’ve been virtually protected in half the State for 10 years … and remember there’s a five fish bag limit for reccies state wide.
Question 1: Can we see an analysis of whatever study… preferably peer reviewed … that backs this assertion?
DPI then says “The new arrangements will allow a limited increase in the catch of Australian salmon caught in waters north of Barrenjoey Headland in the NSW Ocean Hauling Fishery”.
Question 2: What is a “limited increase”? Currently operators can retain 100kg of by-catch salmon per day. If they average 2kg each, that’s 50 fish … plenty of fish trap bait, which is what DPI says the increases are for. Yeah, I know, premium sportfish for trap bait and on sold for less than a $1 per kilo … words fail me. Now the haulers can target and take three tonnes each per day … maybe 1500 fish each. That’s a limited increase?
Question 3: What’s the overall current stock status of salmon, DPI? Your last set of catch statistics on the web are for 06/07, where 1,065 tonnes of salmon were reportedly taken, predominately from the south, making them still the third biggest take out of 50 target species listed. 1054 tonnes of the total were ocean hauled. Now you’re adding a potential 224 tonnes from northern waters, maybe 112,000 fish, according to your press release.
Question 4: DPI, how thoroughly are you monitoring catch rates and industry performance and making review results publicly available, as your own Fisheries Management Strategies require? The last FMS Performance Report on your website is dated 2004…
The FMS for Ocean Hauling completed in 2003 had a trigger point for the review of the total salmon take of 837.9 tonnes. Add the 1,065 tonnes reported in 06/07 to the additional 224 now proposed and you’re close to the record 1300 or so tonnes from 96/97 when the Eden cannery was operating at full bore … basically after it had depleted the state’s SBT stock and turned to salmon in desperation. It still went broke. In 98/99 the catch dropped to about 200 tonnes, and by 99/00 was at 361.9 tonnes. The FMS used this figure to set its 837.9 trigger point.
Question 4: Minister, did you get any worthwhile justification for the decision to redress the 2001 Australian salmon decision, which was hugely applauded by the rec sector and has resulted in greatly enhanced sport fishing opportunities, other than the tired old “right to buy NSW-caught fish” argument?
Question 5: Are you going to approve similar questionable recommendations on other fish where numbers have bounced back? What if the commercials would like to you drop the yellowtail kingfish size limit back to 55cm, or bring back traps, given that kingfish stocks, like salmon, have recovered well?
Question 6: Do you intend to redress years of neglect by the last government and give Fisheries back some pride, identity and enough resources to do its multiple jobs – management, research, enforcement, up-to-date public information – properly and fearlessly? Or are the Australian salmon decision and Cronulla closures indications that we’re just going to get more of the same that we saw under Minister Macdonald?
