Catch!

Recreational fishing news

FADs are making a splash this summer!

Fish aggregating devices (FADs) are being deployed as the weather warms up.

Thirty fish aggregating devices (FADs) will soon be deployed along the WA coast, bringing the total number of FADs in the DPIRD program to 42! We are deploying FADs from Steep Point through to Albany to improve recreational fishing opportunities as the weather warms up.

You may notice a secondary smaller buoy on some FADs. These are our new echosounder buoys that will provide DPIRD scientists with a 24/7 live stream of the density of fish under the FAD. This data will help us measure the effectiveness of the current FADs network and learn more about pelagic species.

The WA Government has invested $1.5 million in FADs as part of the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource support package to enable fishers to ‘switch their fish’ and go for large pelagic species like tuna, mahi mahi, and marlin.

We will be updating our website as the FADs are deployed over the coming weeks.

Cockburn Sound re-opening to crabbing!

From 1 December, blue swimmer crabs can be caught in Cockburn Sound.

WA recreational fishers will have the opportunity to return to Cockburn Sound from 1 December to catch blue swimmer crabs for the first time in a decade.

Cockburn Sound has been closed to both recreational and commercial fishing since 2014 to provide protection to the stock. Under the new rules, rec fishers will be able to catch up to 5 blue swimmer crabs per day, or a boat limit of 20 per day (when 4 or more Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence holders are on board).

The opening was informed by new DPIRD research, which shows that whilst blue swimmer crab populations in Cockburn Sound have not returned to historic levels, they can support a reduced level of catch. The next stock assessment for the Cockburn Sound Crab Managed Fishery will be undertaken in 2029.

'Whites run' prediction for this summer

Scientists from DPIRD use counts of lobster post-larvae four years ago to predict the 'whites run'.

The annual lobster migration off the WA coast (known as the 'whites run') is predicted to commence around 20 November, based on slightly warmer than average ocean temperatures.

Thousands of recently-moulted western rock lobsters will leave the shore on a bearing of approx. 283 degrees and journey from shallow coastal reefs to deeper waters, providing excellent fishing opportunities in nearshore areas.

Scientists at DPIRD are predicting the migration this year will be average, with slightly less lobsters than the previous year based on counts of lobster post-larvae four years ago. 

150,000 yellowtail kingfish released!

Yellowtail kingfish are reared at DPIRD's Fremantle Marine Finfish Hatchery.

DPIRD has worked with Recfishwest to rear 150,000 fingerlings at our Fremantle Marine Finfish Hatchery and release them into metro waters over the last 4 years. We’ve just released the final 15,000 at the Fremantle Sailing Club!

Yellowtail kingfish are ideal for stocking as they are a hardy, fast-growing and tasty table fish which only take about 18 months to reach the 600 mm minimum legal size limit.

Keen to catch a feed? With the first fingerlings released in 2020, recfishers may now be seeing legal size fish at hotspots like Three Mile Reef off the Perth coast.

All fingerlings released as part of the program have been marked with a special dye so that researchers can track them through the Send us your skeletons fish frame program.

Wire trace restrictions in Esperance and Busselton

Busselton Jetty is one area where fishing with wire trace is now prohibited.

Restrictions to discourage shark fishing in popular diving and swimming locations are now in effect. This includes all nearshore waters from Tim’s Thicket Beach to Two Rocks north, all waters of the Swan-Canning Estuary, Busselton Jetty and the Busselton foreshore, and Esperance Jetty.

These rules have been introduced following ongoing community concerns around anti-social recreational shark fishing. Recreational fishing from the shore for large sharks is incompatible with other recreational activities such as swimming and diving.

Fishers who target species such as mackerel and tailor are encouraged to speak with their local tackle shops to switch out the use of wire trace with other rig types and fishing techniques.

Snippets

• Holy Mackerel! DPIRD recently attended the 2024 Onslow MACK10K Fishing Competition to sample mackerel weighed-in at the comp. Working with the Recfishwest Fishing for Science team, DPIRD scientists collected samples from 65 Spanish mackerel. The samples will now be analysed to determine the age of the sampled fish, going towards DPIRD’s assessments of the WA Spanish mackerel stock in the Pilbara Management Area. Thank you to Ashburton anglers who donated their mackerel heads to science!
• DPIRD’s successful shark tagging program has tagged 16 white sharks so far this year along the WA coastline. Tagged sharks provide near real-time notifications of tagged shark detections through the Shark Monitoring Network. 
• ​​​​​South Coast fishers are encouraged to donate frames of demersal fish as part of a genetic study to better understand fish populations along the South Coast. By collecting these fish and comparing their DNA, we can see how populations are connected between different areas of the WA coastline.

Seasonal notes

• 15 October to 15 December (inclusive): Boat-based fishing for demersals in the West Coast is prohibited due to a effort closure. Avoid catching demersal fish, and if you do happen to catch one, use a release weight to mitigate the impacts of barotrauma. 
• 1 August to 31 January (inclusive): Cockburn and Warnbro Sound pink snapper are closed for pink snapper fishing to protect this species while they aggregate to spawn.
• 1 October to 31 December: Spawning closure for baldchin groper at the Abrolhos Islands.
• 1 September to 30 November (inclusive): Recreational fishing for crabs is prohibited in Perth and the South West to protect the blue swimmer crab breeding stock.
• Print a copy of our recreational fishing season calendar so you're always up-to-date on the rules.

Caught out!

A 58-year-old Quinns Rocks man has had his fishing licence suspended and was prohibited from being on any recreational fishing boat or possessing recreationally caught rock lobster for 6 months. The offender was found to have illegally sold recreationally caught rock lobster on 3 occasions between early December 2019 and February 2020. The man was ordered to pay more than $19,000 and he forfeited an additional $11,500 security bond he had paid for the return of a boat and trailer seized during a compliance operation.

A 51-year-old commercial licence-holder from Darwin has been ordered to pay more than $214,000 after pleading guilty to intentionally or recklessly contravening clauses under the Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery (MAFMF) Management Plan. The offences related to the collection and recording of marine aquarium fish off the Kimberley coast in 2021. On 3 June he committed 3 counts of providing false or misleading information to the department.

A 47-year-old Fremantle man has been issued penalties and costs of more than $2,800 by a Geraldton magistrate for capturing and retaining 6 baldchin groper, 4 coral trout and a WA dhufish in April this year. WA’s boat possession limit for demersal finfish is 4, so the skipper had exceeded that by 7 which is illegal. When the officer checked a compartment at the stern of the vessel, the skipper initially said he didn’t know anything about the fish in the battery box, but he later admitted he put the 5 fish there to hide them from Fisheries officers.  

Be SharkSmart

Join more than 184,000 people who have already downloaded the SharkSmart WA app. Report shark sightings to Water Police on 9442 8600 or download the SharkSmart WA app for near real-time updates of the latest shark activity.

FishWatch and aquatic biosecurity 

If you see something that looks a bit fishy, please report it so we can investigate.

• Information about illegal fishing activities should be reported to FishWatch on 1800 815 507 or online at: https://www.crimestopperswa.com.au/organisation-report/fishwatch/.
• If you see a fish kill (small or large numbers of dead fish in the aquatic environment), please report it immediately​ to FishWatch.
• If you see or catch any ornamental or pest species, please do not release them into the water - instead, report them to: Aquatic.Biosecurity@dpird.wa.gov.au. 

Important disclaimer 
The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it.

Copyright © State of Western Australia (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development), 2024.