Fisheries Minister Jon Ford was manhandled by commercial fishermen at a meeting in Fremantle when the minister tried to explain the real reason behind the recent closure of the metropolitan fishing zone. The minister was stopped amidst his speech and Fremantle fisherman Bruno Micalizzi started giving impassioned speech which was welcome and applauded by hundreds of people gathered there.
Micalizzi said that the decision of the ministry to put ban on fishing was unfair because it was only for the commercial fishermen while the recreational fishermen were enjoying their fishing in the metro zone. Commenting on ministry decision of ban Micalizzi said that if the authority is so concern about the depletion of the fish in the zone then it would called for seasonal fishing allowances for the industry rather than an overall ban over commercial fishing.
The metro zone is stretching from Mandurah to Lancelin where the blanket ban was put on commercial fishing. It was implemented last year in order to preserve the depleting stocks of big demersal fish such as dhufish and snapper. On the other hand a spokeswoman of Ford has announced that the ministry would soon release the details of restrictions on recreational fishing in the zone.
