Controversial new Spanish mackerel quotas, closures in place

Some are calling the state government’s new policy on Spanish mackerel ‘criminal’, while others say it is ‘reasonable’. Read the full details here.

The new rules on Spanish mackerel are in and the reaction from fishermen and conservationists swings from rage to acceptance.

For Mackay Reef Fish Supplies owner David Caracciolo, the state government’s rules are “criminal” and an illegitimate attack on Queensland’s fishermen.

“The state government is forcing fishermen out of the industry,” he said.

“The resource is in good shape, this is all about politics.

“Closures, net free zones, rules and regulations, fishermen just cannot abide by the rules and regulations. Reporting systems for quotas, it just goes on and on and on.

“It is just totally criminal what they have done.”

Starting in October, a seasonal closure, or prohibition on any fishing in North Queensland waters for Spanish mackerel, will be in place for two three-week periods around the new moons in October and November each year.

“The 2022 closures will provide vitally important protection for spawning aggregations and will run from 22 October 2022 to 12 November 2022 and 21 November to 12 December 2022,” the government states.

A southern closure will run in February and March.

In addition to the closures, commercial fishers will have a reduced total allowable catch of 165 tonnes for the 2023 fishing season.

The current TAC is 578 tonnes and it is understood the commercial catch over the past five years has been about 280 tonnes.

Recreational fishers will also be affected, with the in-possession limit adjusted to one fish per person, or two fish per boat with two or more recreational fishers on board from July 1, 2023.

The rules are designed to replenish depleted Spanish mackerel stocks, which have fallen to 17 per cent, and Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said they would be reassessed as new data came through.

“These carefully-considered new management actions are not a ‘set and forget’ approach,” he said.

Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Minister Mark Furner spoke by the Pioneer River in Mackay about Spanish mackerel stock. Picture: Duncan Evans

“Spanish mackerel stocks will continue to be monitored annually through a combination of measures including catch rates and stock assessments using the most up to date data.”

Mr Caracciolo expects the rules to crush Spanish mackerel fishing in Mackay and push up prices.

“We probably will not see any locally caught Spanish mackerel in Mackay,” he said.

“If we do it will be minimal and the price will be horrendous.

“It will be another product off the market.

“All they are doing is opening doors for imports.”

Mr Caracciolo also disputes the stock assessment underpinning the government’s new policy.

“I do not think it is a legitimate concern (decline in stock numbers),” he said.

“The QSIA (Queensland Seafood Industry Association) has asked many times, to tell us their model.”

While Mr Caracciolo believes the new rules go too far, Australian Marine Conservation Society Queensland fisheries expert Simon Miller says they do not go far enough.

“We are dismayed by this decision,” he said.

“The Queensland government has thrown their own policies in the bin and gone with what the commercial and recreational fishing sectors have pushed for.

“For Spanish mackerel to recover to resilient and healthy levels, the Queensland government must close the fishery for two years and then completely protect the spawning aggregations by banning fishing altogether.

“But they have chosen not to take this option.

“If this is how the government thinks they will get a sustainable fishery, they are in dreamland.

“We have serious concerns for the future of Spanish mackerel under this ill-conceived approach.”

Mackay Recreational Fishers Alliance president John Bennett sits in the middle and says the new rules are “reasonable”.

Mackay Recreational Fishers Alliance president John Bennett.

“I think the closures were a necessary change, the closed season, to protect spawning,” he said.

“If that (17 per cent stock levels) is true and correct, there has to be something done about reduction in catch, across the board, for both commercial and recreational, everyone has got to do their bit.

“Personally, I have some trust in their science.

“There has been more rigour around this stock assessment than any other stock assessment they have done.

“At some stage you have got to trust the science and trust that the right things are being done.”

Mr Bennett also said the government’s policy went against the “rule book”.

“Every harvest strategy I’ve read says when the biomass gets below 20 per cent, you shut the fishery,” he said.

“The rule book says to shut the fishery and that did not happen.

“So we have probably got to remember that.”