Fish bites: WA abalone fishery reopening talks kick off
Victoria lifts shellfish bans; spear gun poacher punished; and the need for (very high) speedAbalone fishing bans introduced in 2011 in the wake of a heatwave that decimated shellfish stocks along most of Western Australia’s coastline could be overturned if the results of a survey show they have recovered.
WA Fisheries Minister Don Punch told ABC Midwest that a survey to look at the health of abalone stocks in the northern part of the state would include a popular abalone fishery close to Perth ranging between the Moore River in the south to the Greenough River just south of Geraldton.
According to the minister, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development would work with recreational fishing lobby group Recfishwest late next year on potentially reopening the closed areas to recreational abalone fishing later in the season.
Recreational abalone fishing in the state’s south-west region usually takes place in one-hour blocks over four Saturdays between December and February, with a reserve day in March if one of the official days is deemed too rough to go into the water.
WA’s recreational abalone catch is currently capped at between 21 and 25 tonnes.
Victorian abalone fishery reopens
The Victorian Government has lifted bans on recreational abalone fishing around Portland after containing the outbreak of a potentially fatal virus that was detected in the shellfish.
Surveillance dives have shown no sign of the abalone viral ganglioneuritis virus that forced an extension of the precautionary closure of the waters between Portland and Lawrence Rocks in the state’s south-west.
The ban also affected rock lobster fishing in the area.
However, the Victorian Fisheries Authority has asked fishers to be vigilant and to always clean their gear, including the boat, to prevent the potential spread of an unexpected outbreak.
Repeat offender fined, sentenced
A NSW spearfisher who took far too many abalone and used a spear gun to illegally snare a blue grouper has been slapped with an 18-month community corrections order and a $500 fine.
Bystanders dobbed the man into fisheries officers after the man was photographed and caught on video with the grouper and a pillowcase field with 52 abalone at Moonee Beach, near Catherine Hill Bay.
The man, identified as a repeat offender, refused to speak to fisheries officers and failed to show up in court, and was later arrested by NSW Police on the fisheries and other unrelated charges.
He was found guilty of having more than the possession limit of abalone, limited to two, and also of using a spear gun to catch the grouper – they can only be legally caught by line.
Need for speed
Blowering Dam will be closed to recreational boating this weekend so that a jet-powered boat can run trials ahead of attempting to break the world’s on-water speed record.
The exclusion zone will block all access to the trial zone between 8am and 4pm on November 18 and 19 to give space for the high-speed runs.
Anyone who tries to sneak out for a fish during the trial runs is liable to be hit with a $3300 fine for failing to comply with the closure, as well as $1100 for going inside the exclusion zone.
Blowering Dam is no stranger to high-speed boating; the current world record of 511.11km/h was set there on October 8, 1978, by Ken Warby in the Spirit of Australia. Making the new record attempt is Ken Warby’s son, Dave, in the Spirit of Australia 2.
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