Fishers smell a rat over fish figures

Commercial fishers have accused the Fisheries Department of manipulating research data to justify closing their herring fishery in a move they say will put many to the wall.

Fisheries Minister Ken Baston announced last month he would temporarily ban the most common form of commercial herring fishing, known as G-trap netting, in a bid to ease pressure on stocks.

The ban, which was accompanied by a cut to the recreational bag limit from 30 fish a day to 12, comes into force on March 1 and will be reviewed at the end of next year.

At the heart of Mr Baston’s decision was Fisheries advice warning there had been a sharp decline in herring numbers off WA in recent years.

The advice, based on research carried out over the past few years, said that unless the overall herring catch was slashed, stocks could be at risk.

Professional fishermen have questioned the department’s research methods, saying it had “massaged” the data to suit a predetermined outcome.

Tony Westerberg, an Albany-based operator, said two of the key reasons cited by Fisheries for closing the fishery — the plunge in numbers and the juvenile age of sampled fish — were “crap”.

Mr Westerberg said though he had noticed a “slight” drop in herring numbers, the department had exaggerated the trend.

He rejected suggestions there was a lack of mature herring, saying he had sent random samples from his catches to Victoria to be analysed and the results were in line with historic precedents.

“I want to keep catching them for the public,” Mr Westerberg said.

“Once we lose it now, this two years isn’t two years — it is forever.”

The department stood by its research.

“Both independent scientific reviews supported the research outcomes that fishing pressure is too high and the stocks have declined,” a spokeswoman said.

“Even the herring samples the fishers obtained themselves and had assessed by their consultants showed the same result that fishing pressure was too high.”

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