Fisheries Minister Norman Moore has announced certain changes in the rule for recreational rock lobster fishers for the coming season. It is said that the recreational rock lobster season runs from November 15 to June 30. Moore told that the measures would also apply to commercial fishers, as part of a package of measures to contain that sector’s overall catch.
The new rules for the 2009-10 season are:
• a consistent minimum legal size of 77mm for western rock lobsters all season
• a reduction in the maximum legal size limit for female western rock lobsters from 105mm to 95mm, when taken between Green Head and North-West Cape
• a reduction in the maximum legal size limit for female western rock lobsters from 115mm to 105mm, when taken between Green Head and Cape Leeuwin.
According to Moore recreational fishers must play their part in contributing to the sustainable management of this fishery by adopting the new sustainability rules. He added that the new rules took into account the record low settlement of puerulus (juvenile lobsters) in recent seasons, which indicated that in the next two to three years the fishery would experience its lowest catches in 40 years.
Moore also explained that for the first time in this season the sectors will be managed to allocated shares of the sustainable harvest level. This season, the commercial catch’s managed target is 5,500 tonnes, with a likely range of 4,950 to 6,050 tonnes. The target catch for the recreational sector will be 290 tonnes, with a range of 260 to 318 tonnes.
