A CHAT WITH A PRO

Shane Mensforth

Recently I had a very interesting meeting with Hugh Bayly, a lifelong commercial fisherman based on Lower Eyre Peninsula. Hugh had made contact a couple of times by phone, and eventually we managed to get together over a cup of coffee at my place on Yorke Peninsula. As way of background, Hugh has been a professional for decades, with his pursuits varying from many styles of inshore fishing all the way out to leatherjacket trapping on the Continental Shelf. He’s pretty much seen and done it all, and I was very interested to hear some of his stories, as well as his opinions on several significant Fisheries management issues.

Like most of us, Hugh is very concerned at the way our fishery is headed. He’s not happy with the way the Government has handled the sustainability of popular species like King George whiting, and fears that, if extraction is allowed to continue at current levels, we face another collapse —as has been the case with snapper in both gulfs. And Hugh’s opinions are not just his own; apparently, many of his commercial colleagues feel the same way, which is why he approached the magazine to try and put the professional fishers’ views out there.

I realise that there is, and has always been, a general division of opinion between the commercial and recreational sectors. The old ‘us versus them’ mentality is still out there —often with some justification on both sides. However, there is plenty of common ground that needs to be considered as well. Whether we rec’s like it or not, there will always be a need for commercial fishing, and the way both sectors interact (and even co-operate) just may be critical going forward —probably more critical than ever before.

During my hour-long chat with Hugh, I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he said, while inwardly cringing over a couple of significant issues. We all know that commercial fishers are restricted in what they can take, with TAC’s (Total Allowable Catch) in place for certain popular species, as well as having area restrictions and closed seasons enforced in certain locations. The pro’s also pay significant licence fees to operate, and are closely monitored as far as catch data is concerned.

I’ve heard it from several other pro’ fishing mates, and now more recently from Hugh, that commercial fishing is becoming less viable all the time. Licensing and operating costs are going through the roof —to the point where many have either left the fishery or are sailing very close to the wind. Hugh told me that being a pro’ fisher was once his dream job, but it’s rapidly becoming more of a nightmare. The fish are getting harder to find, expenses are skyrocketing, and he’s frightened that consistent mismanagement just might see our once vibrant fishery spiral into oblivion.

To this point in our conversation at least, Hugh and I had found plenty to agree on. Blind Freddy can see that the future of our fishery is anything but healthy, and it’s obvious that something has to be done to arrest the decline. Exactly what that ‘something’ will be is the burning issue, and it’s here that Hugh’s opinions and mine began to diverge.

It’s the opinion of many commercial fishers that the recreational sector needs to be subject to TAC’s on several popular species, such as King George whiting, garfish and calamari. For the 2023-24 year the pro’s are allowed to take 183,000kg of whiting from the West Coast, 116,963 from Spencer Gulf and 46,334kg from KI/ Gulf St Vincent. Spencer Gulf commercials can take 207,529kg of calamari, while those in KI/Gulf St Vincent can take 164, 837kg. The garfish TAC for the same period is 103,451 for Spencer Gulf and 75,289kg for Gulf St Vincent. If and when these TAC’s are met, commercial fishing for the species concerned has to cease.

Many commercial fishers are now beginning to question why they are restricted in what they can take each year, but the rec’s are not. Sure, we are subject to daily bag and boat limits, size limits and area closures, but we don’t have to worry about the total amount of whiting, gar, squid —or any other species —we take home each year. About the only broader restriction we need to consider is a possession limit that covers the amount of fish we have in the home freezer at any given time. I suspect very few recreationals would stockpile anywhere near the allowable maximum weight of whiting or gar fillets. We eat fish pretty regularly at home, and I doubt I would have ever had more than 50 per cent of the possession limit in the freezer at any one time.

According to Hugh Bayly, the commercials have already approached Government about the imposition of a recreation TAC on several species, but to date they have received little interest. My obvious question to Hugh was precisely how a rec’ TAC would work (most significantly, how it would be monitored) and his response was, I guess, predictable. He suggests that an app should be developed that would call for mandatory reporting of the day’s catch. This app would be downloadable and available to every angler, regardless of how often they fish, where they fish, or what they target. I stress this would be a mandatory procedure, not optional.

Hugh is also strongly in favour of a recreational fishing licence — an issue on which we agree totally, and one I have been pushing for many years. Whether or not we both want a licence for the same reasons is debatable, but at least it’s an area of common ground.

While I can understand the pros’ point of view on the TAC issue, there is no way I can see it being accepted by the rec’ fishing masses. Being a recreational fisher is now more difficult than it’s ever been, with shrinking access to many popular areas, spiralling equipment costs and a dozen other negative factors that are slowly, but steadily taking the gloss off the whole deal. I know there are a lot less kids fishing these days than ever before, and adding mandatory reporting to what would otherwise have been a leisurely day on the water can only serve to exacerbate the decline.

Hugh concluded our meeting by asserting that something will have to happen to arrest the impact recreationals are having on our fish stocks, and in this area he may be right. He reckons we will either be faced with further reduced bag limits on popular species, more seasonal closures, or spatial lock-outs to limit what we take. We know the Government is already looking closely at some or all of these, and that there’s likely to be further pain at some point down the track.

Although Hugh and I obviously have different views in several areas, I can tell you he’s a reasonable sort of bloke who is as worried about the future of our fish stocks as I am. As mentioned, the main reason for our chat was to lay it all out for readers to take on board and think about. We shook hands as he departed for the seven-hour drive home, both concerned in our own ways how this will all pan out. As usual, time will tell.