Question On Notice No. 400 asked in the Legislative Council on 9 November 2021 by Hon Colin De Grussa
Question Directed to the: Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Fisheries
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
I refer to the
managed fisheries licences in operation in Western Australian fisheries, and I
ask the Minister to provide:
(a) the number of managed fisheries licences issued for each managed fishery in Western Australia;
(b) the number of managed fishery licences and entitlements issued for each managed fishery that
have not been actively fished during a 12 month fishing season based on a licensing period of 12 months using the most recent period data available for each of the fisheries;
(c) the number of managed fishing licences and entitlements issued for each managed fishery that
have been actively fished during a 12 month fishing season based on a licensing period of 12 months using the most recent period data available for each of the fisheries;
(d) the number of managed fishing licences and entitlements issued for each managed fishery that
are transferred to another licence holder to be utilised by another fishing unit within a 12 month licensing period using the most recent
period data available for each of the fisheries; and
(e) the number of Western Australian registered active primary fishing units (vessels which have
operated in a Western Australian fishery or multiple fisheries for six months or longer, including those that also fish in a Western Australian fishery and also in an interstate or commonwealth managed fishery) based on the same period used in providing answers to questions (a) to (d)?
Answered on 9 December 2021
(a)-(d) The information requested in (a) to (d) is complex and, in many cases, not readily available. There are 43 managed fisheries established under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 with over 1,000 individual managed fishery licences granted under these fisheries with over 1,200 licenced fishing vessels. In many cases several separate managed fishery licences may be held on the one fishing vessel.
It is not possible to ascribe precise usage levels for individual licences in managed fisheries where there is not a ‘unitised scheme’ of entitlement. Even for managed fisheries that operate with units of entitlement, the level of entitlement usage varies based on the individual business model of the licence holder. Entitlement can be fully utilised in fisheries such as the West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery which has around 775,000 units of entitlement held against over 600 managed fishery licences. In other fisheries with lower Gross Value of Production, the utilisation of entitlement can vary significantly among years for a range of economic, sustainability and other reasons.
The critical component for management effectiveness is that the overall level of catch/effort is kept within an acceptable and sustainable range for each fishery. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s 2020-21 Annual Report includes Key Performance Indicator 6.4 which is the Percentage of commercial and recreational fisheries where acceptable catches (or effort levels) are achieved. The key effectiveness indicator for 2020-21 was 91 per cent which was above the target level of 90 per cent.
The assessments for each fishery are presented in Appendix 3 of the Annual Report: Breeding stock status, catch and effort ranges for Western Australia’s major commercial and recreational fisheries.
(e) The question about which WA licenced vessels also operated in Commonwealth fisheries during the period needs to be directed to the Commonwealth.