Fishing

Patricia Gill. Bernard Wong hopes to inspire a shared custodial ownership of the submarine world at Greens Pool. "When people have a strong, intimate connection with a place, they will work hard to look after it," he says. Since 1990 he has observed the movement of rays and their flotilla of cleaner fish, giant blue groper, camouflaged wobbegongs, conspiring old wives and much more submerged among the granite pillars.

Gary Sexton. Pinetree guests, Sam and Will, from country Victoria recently had a day out on Island Charter vessel Belle Chase. Skipper, Flinders Young, promised them a nice day out fishing for Wahoo and Kingfish around Balls Pyramid - but you can imagine their surprise when a giant Pacific Sailfish exploded onto the lures being trolled behind the boat.

Public consultation is now open on proposed changes to blue swimmer crab rules in the West Coast bioregion to make the rules easier to understand and to provide better fishing experiences for recreational fishers. The proposed changes would bring in one set of bag and boat limit rules in the West Coast bioregion, which runs from Black Point east of Augusta to the Zuytdorp Cliffs north of Kalbarri.

The Carp Herpes Virus (scientifically known as Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 or KHV) is a biological control agent proposed by the Australian government to combat the invasive common carp. Since its introduction in the 1800s, carp have decimated Australia's freshwater ecosystems, with experts estimating they make up 80 to 90 per cent of the fish biomass in the Murray-Darling Basin.

A new advisory committee has been established to support the reopening of boat-based recreational demersal fishing from Kalbarri to Augusta in Spring 2027. The West Coast Demersal Ministerial Advisory Committee will provide recommendations to the State Government on the future management of recreational fishing to balance a return to boat-based fishing with continued protection for fish stocks to support recovery.

A mainstay of the Corryong CBD will close its doors at the end of the month. Hobie's Sports Store has been an iconic business in the town's main street for 75 years but changes in people's purchasing habits over recent years and the current economic climate has forced the hand of owners Mick and Kerrie Butler ... Ron Hoban purchased the hairdresser and tobacconist shop in the early 1950s, at the height of the construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

While the WA Labor Minister for Fisheries announces the release of pink snapper fingerlings in Cockburn Sound south of Perth as part of their West Coast Demersal Recovery package, the Nationals WA continue to hold forums for fishers impacted by the demersal fishing ban and call for a parliamentary inquiry.

A Lancelin based shark fisher says there has been no commercial fishing in the West Coast bioregion between Lancelin and Tims Thicket (south of Mandurah) for nearly 20 years ... Mr Stokke, who also partners with his brother in a western rock lobster boat, said he thought the ban was probably targeting the wet liners but they (the shark fishers) were thrown under the bus with them.

A commercial fisherman affected by the Cook Government’s decision to permanently close the West Coast bioregion from Kalbarri to Augusta for demersal fishing says it should be mandatory for recreational boat fishers to provide data on their catch on the day they fish.

Leader of The Nationals WA Shane Love says if growing unrest to Labor’s demersal fishing bans is any indication, the Cook Labor Government has bitten off more than it can chew and badly underestimated the strength and unity of Western Australia’s fishing community ... "The fishing community is ropeable, and rightly so," Mr Love said.

I’m certainly no fisherwoman but when my elderly neighbour, Jim, offered to take me out on the inlet to go fishing I keenly accepted. Jim hadn’t told me what to bring so I borrowed the full range of fishing gear from friends so I’d be properly prepared. I had rods and reels, bait and burley and my gear quickly cluttered up the bottom of the boat. Jim by contrast had only a hand line and bucket and told me his bait was “still breathing” ...

With the first day of the 2025-26 abalone season underway on Saturday fishers, who are no doubt keen to get their hands on the delicacy, are being asked to keep safety front of mind ... Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) has reported an increase in incidents over the past few years, with their lifesaving services performing 118 rescues during the four hours of fishing last season and 101 rescues the previous year.

Gus van Hart. A young angler has landed the catch of a lifetime off the Cohuna pier, reeling in a metre-plus Murray cod that has kids around town asking him how to fish. Personal trainer Jye Hill, who recently turned 20, was only a few minutes into a session at the popular Cohuna spot when his rod suddenly came to life.

The Cook Government’s demersal “reform” package is not fisheries management. It’s fishing for votes at the expense of the two and a half million West Aussies who never step onto a sports-fishing boat loaded with the latest eco sounders. And, like most of this Government’s environmental crusades, the rhetoric is heroic, the delivery is sloppy, and the consequences fall squarely on the people who don’t have a big boat parked in their driveway.

The Western Australian Government has announced important reforms across WA's coastline to protect demersal fish like pink snapper, red emperor and dhufish from extinction and to help stocks recover for future generations.

Rock lobsters are active now in waters off Two Rocks with the annual whites run expected to ramp up any day now. Earlier this week Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) scientists predicted the annual whites run of three-and-a-half to four-year-old western rock lobsters would occur at the usual time from about Friday, November 28.

Victoria’s Murray cod fisheries are in strong shape ahead of the annual season opening, according to a monitoring program funded in part by recreational fishing licence fees ... "Cod season opens Monday, December 1, and there’s good news for anglers planning summer trips to the Goulburn, Ovens and Lindsay rivers and Gunbower Creek."

Western Australians love two things: arguing about politics and arguing about fishing — and not necessarily in that order ...

Michelle Daw. Gulf St Vincent should be used to trial new approaches to managing commercial and recreational fishing, says YP Country Times fishing columnist Greg James. In the wake of new fishing restrictions introduced in response to the algal bloom, Mr James said the crisis presented an opportunity to move beyond bag and boat limits, to help ensure sustainable fish stocks for the future.