The West Coast demersal wetline fish stocks are currently overfished. The best assessment calls for an immediate 50% reduction in the catches of Category 1 “high risk” species.

New management initiatives are being implemented across the commercial, recreational and charter sectors to secure the necessary catch reductions. The success of these initiatives depends upon each sector responding appropriately.

Early assessment of the impact of these changes and the response of each sector is essential. The time for this assessment is now, as the changes begin to take effect, in order that an early understanding of the reactions of fishers and the likely long-term impacts can be formed.

The new restrictions will impact significantly on recreational fishing over the next year, therefore, there is a pressing need to understand how the sector responds in terms of behaviour, catches, and overall satisfaction with the fishing experience. The proposed recreational fisher survey is designed to meet this requirement, so that the early operation of the new regime can be measured, and compared to the pre-change situation captured in a similar survey funded under FRDC 2001/036 undertaken by Nicholls and McLeod. Knowledge about changes in behaviour and satisfaction with the fishing experience are crucial to understanding the impact of the changes.

Department of Fisheries estimates show that the commercial catch has been brought within the desired range. There is now a need to assess how these changes have impacted upon the commercial viability and social dynamics of coastal harbour towns. No pre- and post-change comparisons have been undertaken, a deficiency that the proposed data collection is designed to address.

The role of the Charter sector and its response to management changes is an integral part of the project.

All components of the project are designed to deliver the required information in a timely fashion.