Capes fishers fear net loss

Commercial fisherman in Busselton and Dunsborough are concerned about the future of the industry and the worth of their businesses, ahead of planned rezoning of the Ngari Capes Marine Park.

Commercial salmon fisherman Alan Miles told the Times it would be hard to prove losses due to the Ngari Capes rezoning because many areas were already closed to the region's salmon fishery before the establishment of the marine park in 2012.

"In the creation of the marine park the Government had a community committee," he said.

"And the community committee met quite a few times over 12 months.

"We were well represented in that committee.

"As a result of the agreements that came out of that we believed the impact would be minimal."

However, Mr Miles said a short time later the Government closed the area from Cape Naturaliste to Port Geographe for salmon fishing, also closing the area from Port Geographe to Black Point for fishing of any beach-seinable species and ring-netting of other species.

He said fishers who were not offered a voluntary fishery adjustment scheme after the closures were told they must also give up all other licences.

Mr Miles pointed to legislation he said stated commercial fishermen who lost a percentage of the value of their licence should be compensated.

Commercial fisherman Richard Lear added there was also an "act of grace" payment available after the closure of the Geographe Bay area, but said in his case, when an agreement couldn't be reached between him and the department on a voluntary adjustment scheme, it was too late to access the act of grace payment.

Mr Miles said as far as salmon fishers were concerned, 52 per cent of salmon were caught in the area initially closed.

He said for some of the six licence holders in the region it was 100 per cent of fish caught.

Department of Fisheries acting director-general Rick Fletcher said because a Fishing and Related Industries Compensation Marine Reserves process has yet to be initiated for the Ngari Capes, and as the amount of compensation was determined by negotiations between the affected person and the fisheries minister, it was "not appropriate" to speculate on the extent of impacts or the nature or amount of any compensation payable.

"Commercial fishers are entitled to compensation should the market value of relevant fishing authorisations they hold be reduced as a direct consequence of the establishment of a marine park," Dr Fletcher said.

Department of Parks and Wildlife marine park co-ordinator Matthew Dasey said commercial fishing was a complex issue.

He said the aim of the creation of the marine park was to protect the area for the future and he said he believed the benefits of the zoning would far outweigh any negative aspects.

"Marine parks are being put in place because they've been shown to be good for fish stocks as a whole," he said.

"So I would think commercial fishermen should be happy there will be places that act as a reserve.

"What we're hoping is there will actually be more fish in the future."

Mr Miles said he was very concerned about the future of commercial fishing in the South West and feared skills would also be lost.