Department of Fisheries’ Principal Management Officer Graeme Baudains said that the minimum legal size for recreational rock lobster pot escape gaps would be increased from 54 to 55 millimetres from 15 November 2010. This sustainability initiative was announced by the Minister for Fisheries Norman Moore in October last year. Baudains said that this will bring the escape gaps in recreational lobster pots in line with those used by the commercial sector.
He informed that in past season the recreational fishers would have an overall catch target of 290 tonnes of western rock lobster in 2010/11. Share allocations are assessed under Integrated Fisheries Management (IFM) principles, which assign 5 percent of the total allowable catch to the recreational sector and the balance to the commercial fishers. Baudains also noted that anecdotal reports suggested most recreational rock lobster fishers had fared well with individual catches in the past season and Fisheries and Marine Officers observations indicated compliance levels were reasonably high.
If extenuating circumstances arise for individual fishers, such as sickness or bad weather preventing the collection, they should contact the nearest Department of Fisheries office and notify a Fisheries and Marine Officer of the time they will be able to remove the pots.
