❓ A member of parliament asks the Minister for Fisheries about potential closures in the western rock lobster fishery related to Marine Stewardship Council accreditation and catch effort reduction. The Minister denies knowledge of required closures and discusses industry views on quotas and voluntary adjustments.
AnsweredQoN 949Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN ROCK LOBSTER FISHERY - CLOSURE
No notice of this question has been given. Following the Rock Lobster Industry Advisory Council meeting in Dongara on Monday, 22 October - yesterday - I ask - (1) Which part of the western rock lobster fishery is the minister proposing to close to fulfil the requirements for Marine Stewardship Council accreditation? (2) Does the state government have any intention to reduce the catch effort of the western rock lobster industry by 30 per cent? (3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD
No notice of this question has been given. Following the Rock Lobster Industry Advisory Council meeting in Dongara on Monday, 22 October - yesterday - I ask - (1) Which part of the western rock lobster fishery is the minister proposing to close to fulfil the requirements for Marine Stewardship Council accreditation? (2) Does the state government have any intention to reduce the catch effort of the western rock lobster industry by 30 per cent? (3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(1) Which part of the western rock lobster fishery is the minister proposing to close to fulfil the requirements for Marine Stewardship Council accreditation? (2) Does the state government have any intention to reduce the catch effort of the western rock lobster industry by 30 per cent? (3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(2) Does the state government have any intention to reduce the catch effort of the western rock lobster industry by 30 per cent? (3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(1) Which part of the western rock lobster fishery is the minister proposing to close to fulfil the requirements for Marine Stewardship Council accreditation? (2) Does the state government have any intention to reduce the catch effort of the western rock lobster industry by 30 per cent? (3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(2) Does the state government have any intention to reduce the catch effort of the western rock lobster industry by 30 per cent? (3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(3) If no, what conservation efforts will be put in place in the future? Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
Hon JON FORD replied: (1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
(1)-(3) I thank Hon Murray Criddle for the question. I am completely unaware of any requirement from the Marine Stewardship Council to close down a proportion of the fishery. With regard to the future of the rock lobster industry in general, I am told - or lobbied - by rock lobster fishermen, interestingly enough, that there is some guesswork that about 20 per cent of the operators in the fishery are unviable. Of course, no-one is putting his hand up with regard to those arguments. On top of that, even though there was an 80 per cent request in the referendum to stay with an input system rather than go to a quota system, I am now being bombarded with requests to consider a quota system. Therefore, I asked that a question be put to what is commonly called the tour, and which is taking place at the moment. The question that I put to them was as follows. If the industry really believes that there is a requirement to adjust its fishery, it needs to put that to me formally; that is, if we are to do that, perhaps the industry needs to request a voluntary adjustment scheme. If there was overwhelming support for that, I would negotiate that with the industry. I have talked about an industry response. It could be one in partnership with the government, or any other way that the industry might want to do it. Since I have put that out there, I have had an even stronger response, asking me to consider a quota again. My response to quota control was that there is no way, after getting an 80 per cent-plus request to stay with the status quo, that I will do that unless I am formally requested to do so. That is the length of the ongoing argy-bargy. I have, other than the views that I have expressed there, no intention or notion of what I may or may not do with regard to the rock lobster industry until I get the results back from the tour.
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