Catch! January 2015

A daily bag limit of 12 for recreational fishers is just one of the changes that will come into force on 1 March to ease fishing pressure on Australian herring and help the stock recovery of this important nearshore species.

The changes follow our research that showed concerns for the sustainability of herring and proposed the overall catch be halved to reduce the impact of fishing and provide the best opportunity for recovery.

A combination of environmental factors and fishing pressure have been identified as the causes of the current concerns for the herring stock.

You are encouraged to get involved in our herring research to assist with the collection of the crucial data needed to monitor the stock – sign up to participate in our Research Angler Programor you can donate frames of herring you catch. More.

We are urging fishers to leave undersizeblue swimmer crabs alone so they can grow.

There is concern about the number of people with more than their bag limit of crabs, as well as large numbers of undersize crabs, which are totally protected and should not be fished at all.

Protection of undersize crabs is currently the number one priority of compliance officers in the Peel-Harvey region. More.

If you are taking part in Western Australia’s popular licensed marron season, check our 2015 marron fishing guide to ensure you have the correct gear and know the rules.

The annual recreational marron season opens each year from 12 noon on 8 January and closes at 12 noon on 5 February. You cannot begin fishing or baiting your nets prior to midday.

Fishers may only have legal marron fishing gear in their possession within 50 metres of the waterline of marron waters. These waters often include campsites, so avoid having any other fishing gear with you in this situation. More.

Our research monitoring shows that Roe’s abalone stocks along the Perth metropolitan coast have not recovered from the decline in 2012. As a result, the daily bag limit in the West Coast Zone has been reduced to 15.

The licensed season still has two more one-hour fishing windows to go, between 7am and 8am on the first Sunday of February and March. More.

The vast majority of recreational fishers in WA keep to the minimum size limits that apply to a variety of fish species. However, some fishers may not realise it’s illegal to use any undersize fish as bait.

The rules are very clear; undersize fish are totally protected and if you catch them, they must be returned to the water immediately, regardless of what condition they are in. Using an undersize fish for bait, whether dead or alive, is illegal.

To check on the size limits that apply for different species, get a copy of our Recreational Fishing Guide.