Archived page, Consultation on proposals for management of crabbing in Peel Harvey Inlet, 2009

Recfishwest has been requested to provide comments on a proposal to extend the current September-October seasonal closure of crabbing in the Peel Harvey Inlet to include November and 1-14 December for both commercial and recreational fishers.

The Department of Fisheries says there are two underpinning reasons for proposing to extend the current closure that exists in the fishery until the 15th December. These are:

  a) To protect pre-spawning and berried females

  b) To reduce catch of undersize crabs

The Dept of Fisheries proposals do not include any alternative options for management which may also achieve some of these aims.

Some media reports have said that this proposal is out for public consultation closing on 25 September. However the research information on which the proposal is based has not been placed on the Department of Fisheries website or published in the media.

The public needs access to the research information to be able to make informed comments about the proposed extended closure, including to be able to suggest alternative management based on the research data.

The letter to stakeholders and the crab research data is available in the links below

Letter to stakeholders (10 kilobyte PDF file)

Note:- Recfishwest received a DRAFT version of a proposed letter to stakeholders which included some questions and proposals about recreational netting. Recfishwest was asked to comment on the suitability of the DRAFT letter before it was finalised. That draft letter was posted on this web page.

RFW responded that inclusion of the netting proposals in the DRAFT letter was not appropriate. That response led Fisheries to amend the draft to a FINAL version of the letter to stakeholders, as is now attached, and which was used to respond with the RFW comments as below.

The Department of Fisheries asked for the DRAFT version of the proposed letter to stakeholders to be replaced with the FINAL version as was actually sent out. That replacement was completed on 4 February 2010.

Research data (1,221 kilobyte PDF file)

Please send any comments to Recfishwest, PO Box 34, North Beach, WA, 6920 9246 3366 Email recfish@recfishwest.org.au

Recfishwest crab survey and results

Recfishwest response to proposed management changes

Andy Warmbrunn,
Department of Fisheries,
3rd Floor, The Atrium,
168 St Georges Terrace, PERTH WA 6000

Dear Andy,

Re Proposed management of the Peel-Harvey Estuary Crab Fishery for 2009/10

Thank you for your letter requesting Recfishwest's comment on reviewing management arrangements for the Peel-Harvey Estuary Crab Fishery for 2009/10.

The Recfishwest Board has not had enough time to fully discuss this proposal. Nevertheless, we believe that changes to the current management arrangements for the blue swimmer crab fishery in the Peel-Harvey Estuary require more thorough consideration than ad hoc changes to the closure time.

Recfishwest has received considerable correspondence from fishers opposed to the proposed extension to the seasonal closure of this fishery. Many fishers not only have concerns over the justifications for the proposed management arrangements, but also recognise a need to considered alternative actions which may better address the underpinning objectives.

Based on the information provided in the preliminary report, Recfishwest sees little evidence that a change to the current September-October closure would make a significant contribution to the long term management of this important fishery.

The highly responsive nature of the blue swimmer crab population to variable environmental conditions is acknowledged by the Department and is clearly evident in the data presented in the preliminary report. While Recfishwest supports the protection of berried females and sees a benefit in protecting pre-spawning females, there is no clear evidence that justifies extending the closure into November.

For instance, female crabs appear in low numbers within the pot lifts of November during the 2007/09 survey period yet no females were present in the pot lifts during the same period of 1998/2001. A November closure would have protected a small proportion of females during 2007 to 2009 but would have provided no benefit in 1999 to 2001. Indeed, if the protection of pre-spawning females is a priority, then consideration should be given to a complete closure of the Peel-Harvey Estuary Crab Fishery during winter.

(Figures 2, 3 and 5 below are extracted from the Research data 1,221 kilobyte PDF file)

More evidence is also needed with respect to the rationale "to reduce the catch of undersize crabs" based solely on the percentage of undersize crabs being 76% during the monitoring surveys of 2007-2009. For example, the mean percentage of undersize crabs in the monitoring surveys of 1999-2001 was 40% with only an 18% undersize proportion in November 2000. It appears that "a noticeable increase in the number of recreational fishers caught with undersize crabs during this period" is a matter of education and compliance rather than an issue of sustainability in a highly variable recruitment fishery.

The blue swimmer crab fishery is one of the most important recreational fisheries in Western Australia, particularly because much of the resource is so close to major population centres. It is shared with a sizable commercial fishery and competition between these sectors is an important issue. There have been two lengthy negotiations between the sectors resulting in agreements. One of these was in Geographe Bay and the other in Cockburn Sound. The first of these was overturned by a political decision and the second was not supported by the Department of Fisheries. This was followed by a large reduction in recreational bag limits affecting the whole South West recreational blue swimmer crab fishery without any apparent adjustment of commercial catch. Recfishwest believes that it is time that the blue swimmer crab fishery is brought under proper integrated fisheries management with managed allocations to major sectors.

In light of the recently introduced seasonal closure and a recent 50% reduction in recreational bag and boat limits (September 2007), for which there is little data on its impact on the recreational fishery, Recfishwest cannot support the proposed management change for the Peel-Harvey Estuary Crab Fishery. Recfishwest believes that more comprehensive data sets on the catches, biology and ecology of this exploited stock are required to provide a background for proper integrated management of this fishery

Recfishwest believes that the reopening of Cockburn Sound to crab fishing will shift some pressure away from the Peel-Harvey system over the summer months of 2009/10.

Recfishwest has met with members of the commercial fishing association to discuss future resource sharing and the opportunity to develop a MOU arrangement for the Peel-Harvey Estuary Crab Fishery for the 2010/11 season. Recfishwest supports the proactive proposal to introduce escape gaps on commercial fishing pots to minimise handling of undersize animals. We have also discussed the need to reduce the commercial catch of pre-spawn cobbler and a variety of environmental issues where we share common concerns.

Should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact our office on 9246 3366.

Yours sincerely,

Frank Prokop
Executive Director
23 September 2009

cc.   Doug Bathgate, Chair RFAC
       Damien Bell, BellBuoy Seafoods

Recfishwest crab survey

Recfishwest conducted a survey in October to gauge the public response to a proposed extension of the Peel-Harvey Crab Fishery closed season.

• Current Situation:- Fishery closed 1st September to 31st October.

• Proposed Situation:- Fishery closed 1st September to 15th December.

A total of 108 respondents took part in the survey, of which 27 were residents of the greater Mandurah area and 81 were residents from elsewhere.

The question: Which of the following best summarise your thoughts on additional management for Peel-Harvey crabs?

The results:

Other information collected from respondents:

Do you fish for crabs in the Peel-Harvey Estuary? N.B. All local respondents indicated they fished for crabs in the Peel-Harvey.

At this stage the Minister for Fisheries has made a decision not to extend the two-month seasonal closure in the Peel Harvey Estuary this year. Instead, catches will be closely monitored over the summer crab fishing period as part of the final year of a current three year Department of Fisheries research project. Recfishwest believes that this data together with information collected through public consultation should be used to determine the course of any future management actions.

Over the 2009/10 season, Recfishwest and the WA Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) will be working together to develop a resource sharing agreement for the fishery and are expecting to provide an arrangement before the start of the next summer fishing season.

The three year closure of Cockburn Sound Crab Fishery will soon be lifted with Fisheries Minister Norman Moore recently announcing the reopening of this fishery from December 15 this year to March 31, 2010.

For any further enquires please contact the Recfishwest office on 9246 3366.

Results formatted for printing on an A4 page (49 kilobyte PDF file)



This page was prepared on 19 September 2009, updated on 21 October 2009, and last updated on 5 February 2010.