Blue murder: Why NSW’s blue groper ban hurts recreational fishers

COMMENT

It is now illegal to catch, keep or even “fish for” this common species anywhere in that state for at least the next year.

This shocking change to recreational fishing appears to have come from NSW’s Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty as a “captain’s call”, with little support from her department, zero scientific evidence, and no public consultation. 

In giving her reasons for this snap decision, Moriarty is quoted as saying that groper are “big”, “bright blue” and “curious”. It seems these were her sole motivations for making the rule changes. 

However, when presented with a photo of a groper during parliamentary question time, she was unable to correctly identify the fish.

This rule change is one of the worst fisheries management decisions I’ve witnessed in my 65 years on the planet, and my half-century as a recreational angling communicator. 

It sets an awful precedent. Fisheries management decisions should be based on good science, backed by research — not on emotion, or the projection of human feelings onto the natural world. 

Being “bright blue” and “curious” are not scientific grounds for protecting a species that’s under no significant threat, is very lightly fished, and is present in healthy numbers throughout NSW’s inshore waters.

Blue groper are a member of the wrasse clan. They start life as females and may be green, brown or reddish in colour. 

They form schools or “harems” based around one larger fish that has become a male and turned blue in the process. 

If this blue male dies, the next largest female in the group quickly changes sex (and colour) to become the dominant male.

During the 1960s, as spearfishing became popular along the NSW east coast, groper stocks declined. 

This resulted in the introduction of a moratorium on taking them by any method. That ban was extended at least once.

However, by the time it was lifted, groper stocks had rebounded spectacularly, and they were again one of the more common inshore species between about Hervey Bay in Queensland and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria.

Spearing groper remained prohibited after the ban was lifted, and strict limits were imposed on line fishing for the species. 

Before March 1 this year, line fishers in NSW were allowed to keep two gropers each per day, over 30cm in length, and only one of which could be longer than 60cm. 

These regulations were clearly very effective, as groper numbers have remained strong.

So abundant are they that in certain locations, hand-feeding groper with sea urchins and other morsels has become quite popular amongst divers, effectively “domesticating” individual fish to the point where they’d actively approach people in the water. 

These so-called “pet” groper are often given names.

Throw a couple of uninformed or ill-intentioned spear fishers into this picture, and there’s trouble in paradise. 

Over the past few months, there have been several high-profile cases of groper being illegally speared in NSW. These incidents have attracted much publicity, along with the misinformation that these days typically seem to accompany a media-led feeding frenzy.

It seems a poorly advised minister reacted to this media melee by making a snap decision to ban groper fishing. 

This clearly blindsided even her own department, which took several days to sheepishly acknowledge the rule change. 

Yet, in the final wash-up, it’s clear that no one had the courage to put their foot down and firmly say what desperately needed to be said: “No, minister!”

This sorry saga reflects very poorly on both the department and the minister and draws clear battle lines between them and the people who are supposed to be their most significant stakeholders: recreational fishers. 

I believe it has set back fisheries management and relations between NSW’s fishers and the NSW Department of Primary Industries by several decades. It will take a long time for any trust to be won back – if it ever truly is.

So, what can we do about this mess? 

Most importantly, we must keep talking about it. Explain the situation to your non-fishing friends and keep hammering the department, the minister, the premier and your local state member of parliament to let them know how unhappy you are.

Most importantly, respond right now to the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ request for feedback on the decision by going to this link. 

Whether you fish for groper or not, the precedent set by this unscientific “feelings-based” decision sounds alarm bells for the future of our passionate pastime. 

It’s time to draw a line in the sand and say “no more”. If we lose on this one, I fear it’s all downhill from here…

Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling is one of Australia’s best-known and most respected fishing communicators.

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