Amendments to Tasmania’s Rock Lobster Fishery Management Plan will protect the valuable commercial and recreational fishery and ensure it is sustainable for generations to come.
Following extensive public consultation a number of amendments will support a suite of existing measures to sustainably manage the total rock lobster catch on the East Coast and rebuild the stock.
This change is necessary to protect the fishery, as research by the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies has highlighted serious issues regarding rock lobster stock on the East Coast.
In 2013 a 10-year stock rebuilding strategy was implemented to rebuild stock, and commercial and recreational catch limits determined to achieve stock rebuilding goals.
A catch cap was introduced for the commercial sector which sees commercial fishing closed on the East Coast when the determined limit is reached, as occurred in January this year.
However, as the stocks begin to rebuild, the recreational catch will exceed the notional 42 tonne limit by the end of the 2014/15 recreational season.
It is clear that the current management measures for the East Coast for the recreational sector will not be sufficient to keep the total catch within the target limits to rebuild stocks and additional measures must be put in place for recreational fishers, joining commercial fishers who already have explicit limits imposed by the commercial catch cap.
The amendments to the Rock Lobster Fishery Management Plan include:
• A reduction in the daily bag limit from three to two;
• Possession limit reduction from six to four;
• A boat limit of 10 irrespective of number of days fished; and
• Closure of the winter recreational fishery from May 1 to November opening.
These measures applying to non-commercial rock lobster fishing on the East Coast are critical to ensuring we protect the stock rebuilding process and have a better fishery in the future.
As part of this strategy, the Government will deliver on our election promise to allocate $315,000 over three years to support the translocation of slow-growing lobster from the south-west to the East Coast, to boost biomass and spawning in the area. An operational plan is being finalised with the Tasmanian Rock Lobster Fishermen’s Association that should see the first translocation of rock lobster to the East Coast take place in the New Year.
The rock lobster rebuilding strategy will continue to be monitored and other measures to potentially support the strategy will be analysed for possible future implementation.
Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Primary Industries and Water
