Your views on Southern Garfish matter
by TARFish 1 Oct 2022 00:46 PDT
Your views on Southern Garfish matter © TARFish
Southern Garfish are rated as a depleted stock, showing no signs of recovery in the last five years.
One of Tasmania's favourite target fish during the cooler months of the year, recreational fishers are estimated to have caught 300kg in 2017/18 compared with commercial catches of around 10t.
Seasonal spawning closures have been in place in the commercial fishery since 2009, prompted by declining catches. Due to the clear separation in the timing of spawning activity between the north and the south of the state (the 'north' being the north coast and Furneaux group, and the 'south' being the remainder), there are two separate commercial closed seasons:
South of the line: 15 November - 14 December
North of the line: 15 January - 14 February
The Government is proposing to extend the spawning closures to recreational fishing for the next three years to give Southern Garfish stocks a better chance of recovering.
Most recreational fishing for garfish happens throughout winter, and will probably have minimal impact on rec fishers but could it be the difference in securing the future of garfish?
It just might.
When it comes down to it, recreational fishers always seem to want to do their bit to protect the fisheries they love so we think we should support the spawning closure.
But we remain concerned about the ongoing commercial catch. There are currently no management controls, like a total allowable catch, to limit how much is taken out of the fishery.
If a fishery is rated as depleted for five years and commercial fishing has continued throughout that time, is it time to reduce the commercial catch significantly or close the commercial fishery entirely?
For us to reach a position and to provide your views to government, we need to hear them. Can you spare 2 minutes to take this survey so we can make your views heard?
Any other responses can be sent to .
Take the quick survey here.