Marine Parks and recreational fishing in WA.
These pages have been put together to address some of the concerns of rec fishos about the impacts of MPAs, and in particular sanctuary zones, on their lifestyle and fishing future in Western Australia. Despite the controversy, there is a lot of evidence supporting the view that sanctuaries will actually solve many of the problems facing us as fishos in Western Australia, a lot of which is presented here.
Quick navagation menu
1. How do Sanctuaries Affect Fishing?
2. The Science on sanctuaries and benefits to fishing
3. Sanctuaries? Are there Better Ideas?
4. Is fisheries management enough?
Sometime in 2010 the Federal Government will put in place a network of marine parks around the south west (that is roughly Kalbarri to Kangaroo Island). These will only be in waters managed by the commonwealth, i.e. 3nm from shore to 200nm from shore (the EEZ). Howard started this by signing up to an agreement with the UN to manage Australia’s waters for use and conservation and it has been done twice before around Victoria and Tassi, and at the Great Barrier Reef. You can find some information at the DEWHA site
You might already have seen the first signs of this process in the paper. Last year DEWHA released 7 of what they called Areas For Further Assessment – meaning areas they are thinking are important for conservation. It’s an important time to get clued up about how these changes might benefit and impact you and your fishing.
The WA marine parks and recreational fishing pages are written by Fishers For Conservation member Adrian Meder - contact
A note from the author
The reason I have put this information together is that I have considerable personal experience fishing, working and studying around no-take marine reserves, and am aware of a lot of misleading information surrounding their effects on recreational fishing. I am not a marine reserve scientist (I work primarily in fish farming research), but I have some scientific knowledge (a masters degree in marine biology) and know people that have conducted some important research in sanctuary zones. I also love fishing and getting on the water (its why I got into the field in the first place, like many others - to keep near the sea), and will not let anyone take fishing away from me, either through over-regulation, or overfishing. As many of the loudest voices in the debate have not actually experienced large, no-take marine sanctuaries in their backyard, there is a lot of misinformation out there. So why would a recreational fisho support sanctuaries? Because they can protect your local fishing from getting any worse in the long term, and provide outstanding fishing around their edges.
Caption: Catching big Pink snapper in shallow water – an experience worth preserving
Adrian Meder 20/02/10
