New report likely to see snapper ban remain in place for years

The ban on catching snapper is almost certain to remain – potentially for years – with a new scientific report revealing the perilous state of the prized table fish.

The ban on catching snapper is unlikely to be lifted in February, with a new scientific report revealing stocks of the sought-after tablefish are still at historically low levels.

The key SARDI stock assessment report shows that while the three-year ban on catching snapper has stabilised the decline of the biomass, there has been “no measurable improvement’’ in fish numbers.

The report has found that Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf and West Coast snapper populations are still classed as depleted, with modelling indicating that the “fishable biomass and recruitment’’ of snapper in Gulf St Vincent “near the lowest recorded levels”.

Snapper caught from a charter boat.

The report is the key piece of scientific evidence that will be considered by the Marine Scalefish Fishery Management Advisory Committee in its deliberations over the future access to snapper stocks.

The committee will provide its recommendations to Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven, with a decision expected next month.

“Snapper is an iconic species, and one which SARDI research shows has been in

decline over the past decade,’’ Ms Scriven said.

“The government understands how important the decision on whether to re-open the snapper fishery is to both the commercial and recreational fishing sectors and is committed to making the decision based on the long-term sustainability of the species.’’

The snapper ban, which outlaws the catching of snapper in all SA waters except the southeast, was introduced after stock levels collapsed to record low levels through overfishing.

The Advertiser last month revealed RecFishSA was calling for shares in the allowable catch of snapper to be reallocated prior to the scheduled February reopening, while professional fishers wanted it delayed to enable an accurate survey of recreational catch levels to be undertaken.

SARDI research director of aquatic sciences Dr Mike Steer said research showed snapper stocks in the key areas were still depleted.

SARDI research director Dr Mike Steer with former Primary Industries Minister David Basham at SARDI in West Beach.

“There is a reduced amount of fish available in the population and there has been extended periods of poor recruitment to replenish the populations,’’ he said.

“We have seen extended periods, over two decades in Spencer Gulf and a decade in Gulf St Vincent, where we have not seen decent recruitment.’’

Dr Steer said while recruitment, which was largely controlled by environmental factors, had been poor there was also a much smaller biomass of snapper available to spawn.

“We are not seeing any old fish in the population anymore. We don’t have the big, old breeders contributing to that population because of an extended period of exploitation and just not having the replenishment recruitment events,’’ he said.

Dr Steer said the latest results were “not unexpected’’ because of the slow rate at which snapper grow and the recent history of low recruitment to the biomass.

The stock assessment report is available at https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/snapper-report