Research survey into recreational boat fishing - Mandurah area

8/12/96

Mandurah fishers will have a chance to participate in one of Australia's biggest-ever recreational boat fishing surveys.

Fisheries Minister Monty House said the Fisheries Department of Western Australia was conducting an extensive research survey during the next 12 months to record and study the number of people boat and shore fishing, the amount and size of the various popular fish species and where fish were being caught.

General biological information, fishing equipment used and general attitudes to fishing and fishing regulations would also prove to be key findings.

"About half a million people fish more than once a year in WA, making it one of the most popular activities in Australia," Mr House said.

"The information collected helps build an accurate picture of the State's fish stocks and allows fisheries managers to make informed management and protection decisions.

"The Fisheries Department of WA will use the information gained to further its knowledge about our valuable fish resource."

Mr House said the survey would be a huge logistical exercise involving more than a dozen researchers from the Fisheries Department's WA Marine Research Laboratory and covering 57 public boat ramps along more than 1,000kms of coastline.

"The majority of data will be focussed on the many popularly fished species including WA dhufish, snapper, mulloway, salmon, tailor, herring and whiting," he said.

"Information gathered from the questionnaire will enable us to compare catch rates from shore and boat-based fishers, look at the fishing equipment used and the attitudes of fishers to various compliance measures, and to extend our knowledge of the biology of popular WA fish species, such as dhufish."

Interviewers from the Research Division of the Fisheries Department can be easily identified by their red shirts and jackets. They will be recording catch and related information from boat fishers as an information base only.

Media contact: Nicole Trigwell - (09) 481 2044, pager 476 0369