Blindsided by the ban - Busselton fishers speak out at fishing forum

Mental health impacts, insufficient notice and a lack of accurate data about the State Government’s demersal fishing bans were among the key issues raised at a forum in Busselton on Friday evening. More than 100 people impacted by the new fishing rules attended the forum, hosted by Vasse MLA Libby Mettam and shadow fisheries minister Kirrilee Warr at the Naturaliste Game & Sport Fishing Club. Ms Warr said the turnout underscored just how deeply the issue was resonating. “It just reiterates that the issue is really important and we will not be giving up the fight to ensure that we can get an inquiry up, because a lot of the questions today are leading to those decisions of government,” she said. “We’re certainly wanting the Government to be transparent on how they came to this decision and what they are hoping to do into the future of fisheries management. “No one is disputing that sustainability is important, we all come from that baseline and I’m hopeful that this inquiry will be a process of discovery and assist us as members of Parliament, but also the punters and the locals here today getting some answers to their questions.” Geographe Fishing and Outdoors owner Nigel Hoffman told the Times his business had been severely impacted by the fishing bans. “Our summer trade has been, in comparison to past years, really flat,” he said. “We were down six figures and you’re not going to get that back. “It’s caused me a lot of stress and a lot of worry.” Naturaliste Game & Sport Fishing Club vice-president Tom Miller said that while memberships have remained steady, morale at the club had dropped. “We’ve tried to diversify a little bit, and we’ve had to change three of our biggest comps for the year,” he said. “Obviously we can’t catch demersal fish, so we’ve had to reroute those comps to not target those species. For the Blue Water Classic, we had 165 anglers last year, and we had 70 this year. “But in saying that, thanks to our sponsors, the club’s still going pretty good, so we’re just chipping away.” Vasse MLA Libby Mettam said it was valuable to have Ms Warr in Busselton to attend the fishing forum and to hear firsthand from those impacted in the local community. “We heard from a large number of recreational, commercial fishers and retailers whose livelihoods have been destroyed as a result of the minister’s so-called ‘captain’s call’,” she said. “Business operators like Nigel Hoffman . . . had made significant investment decisions ahead of this announcement that has completely blindsided them. This is simply unfair. “It is not unreasonable for the community to want transparency from this Government — in particular an inquiry — and they owe that to regional communities who are already suffering.” Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis said by implementing strong measures up and down the coastline, “we are all playing our part”. “The Opposition is seeking to rip up the laws that protect demersal fish and allow fishing to return immediately during peak demersal spawning season, a time that is critical to the future of these fish,” she said. “This is reckless and totally irresponsible. Our recreational fishers called for closures over the spawning season. “The Leader of the Opposition proudly stood next to a sign that said ‘non-stop fish for the future’. Non-stop fishing will mean no more fish.” Ms Jarvis said Ms Warr was given “unprecedented” access to meet with Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development scientists and provided hard copies of the science in September 2025. “They are still calling for an immediate return to fishing and to ignore decades of scientific knowledge,” she said.