THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY IS CURRENTLY MANAGED BY INPUT CONTROLS. THE CURRENT MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENT IS UNDER REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION IS BEING GIVEN TO A MOVE TOWARDS OUTPUT CONTROLS IN 2006. THERE IS RECOGNITION BY WA FISHERIES AND INDUSTRY OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SOCIAL DIMENSION AND THE NEED TO ASSESS THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS. THIS STUDY WILL ASSESS THE SOCIAL COMPONENT OF THE FISHERY WHICH WILL INFORM MANAGERS AND INDUSTRY ON THE LIKELY SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGES TO THE EXISTING MANAGEMENT RULES, IN PARTICULAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF A CHANGE FROM INPUT TO OUTPUT CONTROLS. INDUSTRY HAS INDICATED THAT ANY DECISION ON THE FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL DIMENSION. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH MOST studies THAT highlight the importance of the social dimension and conclude that more extensive investigation IN THIS AREA is required.

The lack of a well developed model for assessing the social consequences of the industry on hosting communities is a substantial and significant gap in knowledge. Failure to address this gap means that future decision regarding the industry will be flawed. Reliable and valid sustainability assessments must be based on a genuine integration of the environmental, economic and social elements of the triple bottom line. This is consistent with the industry commitment to ESD, and addresses key elements of the FRDC research priorities. The 2000-2005 FRDC R & D Plan states, “it is important to understand social impacts of implementing fisheries management regimes…ESD will be pursued most effectively when the industry is economically strong and when social benefits are clear”. AN INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS THAT FLOW TO THE INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY FROM ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE USE OF THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER RESOURCE WILL ADDRESS THIS IMPERATIVE.

THE OUTCOMES OF THE RESEARCH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ENSURING THAT THE FISHERY REMAINS WELL MANAGED AND COMMITED TO PRINCIPLES OF ESD. THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF THIS PROJECT TO A WIDE RANGE OF DECISION AND PLANNING PROCESSES RECOGNISES THE SIGNIFICANT GAPS IN UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS AND IMPACTS OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN GENERAL AND THE ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY IN PARTICULAR. AS SUCH, THE STUDY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A RANGE OF IMPORTANT DECISIONS THAT WILL GUIDE THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCLUDING:

A) THE INDUSTRY PROJECT: "DETERMINING THE BEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER INDUSTRY". THIS INTEGRATED 3 YEAR PROJECT WILL ASSESS THE SOCIAL, ECONONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THREE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS ON THE WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY AND THEIR HOSTING COMMUITIES. THE MAIN DRIVER FOR THE PROJECT IS NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY. THIS RESEARCH WILL ENABLE DECISION MAKERS TO ADDRESS THE NCP'S ‘NET COMMUNITY BENEFIT’ TEST WITH A FULL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF CHANGES ON FLEET HOSTING COMMUNITIES. THIS DATA IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE.

B) MARINE PARK PLANNING: A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF REALLOCATING FISHERIES RESOURCES FROM EXTRACTIVE USERS SUCH AS COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL FISHERIES TO NON EXTRACTIVE USERS SUCH AS DIVE CHARTERS REQUIRE INFORMATION ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS. THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL ENABLE THE MARINE PARK PLANNING PROCESS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL COSTS OF CHANGES THAT WILL RESULT FROM MARINE PARK PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING A SERIES OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ON COASTAL COMMUNITIES.

C) INTEGRATED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT: THE OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT WILL ASSIST DECISION MAKERS ENGAGED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN. THIS PLAN WILL HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AND A FULL APPRECIATION OF THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS IS CRUCIAL TO INFORMED, INTEGRATED PLANNING. THE BASIS OF INTEGRATED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IS EXPLICIT ALLOCATION OF THE FISHERIES RESOURCES BETWEEN EXTRACTIVE USERS, FOR EXAMPLE, AN EXPLICIT ALLOCATION OF WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER BETWEEN THE RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SECTOR. THIS RESEARCH WILL ASSIST IN UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL COSTS OR BENEFITS OF REALLOCATION OF THE RESOURCE FROM COMMERCIAL TO RECREATIONAL USERS.

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.