出版社：Government of Western Australia / Department of Fisheries
摘要：A 12-month survey of recreational estuarine shore and boat-based fishing in the South Coast
bioregion of Western Australia was conducted between December 2002 and November 2003.
A total of 17 estuary and inlet locations were surveyed using creel, bus route and census
methods to determine recreational catch and fishing effort. While not included in this survey
the recreational fishing activity using nets and from charter boats is negligible (<2 % effort) in
estuaries on the South Coast.
During the survey, 534 boat-based fishing groups were interviewed at public boat ramps when
they returned from their fishing trips and 927 shore-based fishing groups were interviewed while
fishing at locations around estuaries or inlets on the South Coast. In addition, a census was
used to collect data from 132 groups fishing from houseboats rented in Walpole/Nornalup and
Oyster Harbour.
The total annual recreational fishing effort for the estuaries and inlets of the South Coast
bioregion was estimated at 254,171 fisher hours (SE ¡À 6,236) or 86,482 fisher days
(SE ¡À 3,630). This comprised 202,658 fisher hours (67,778 fisher days) from boat-based
fishers, 47,816 fisher hours (17,451 fisher days) by shore-based fishers and 3,698 fisher hours
(1,253 fisher days) from houseboats. The highest fishing effort was found to occur in Walpole/
Nornalup Inlet and Oyster Harbour.
The total recreational catch of all species recorded in the survey (except cockles, mussels and
razor clams) was estimated at 212,575 kept fish (SE ¡À 13,099) and 201,710 released fish
(SE ¡À 13,182). The highest catches occurred in Oyster Harbour (70,809 kept fish) and Walpole/
Nornalup Inlet (57,366 kept fish). A summary of the total retained recreational catch (by numbers
and weight) for the main species caught in each estuary and inlet surveyed is shown in Table 1.
When combining all the survey locations within the South Coast bioregion, the most frequently
kept species by recreational fishers were King George whiting (66,244 retained fish), black bream
(46,216 retained fish), Australian herring (32,930 retained fish), skipjack/silver trevally (20,951
retained fish) and blue swimmer crabs (10,545 retained crabs).
The survey showed that most recreational fishers interviewed had a reasonable knowledge of
the bag and size limits for the species they were targeting or the predominant species they had
caught. Recreational shore-based and boat-based fishers correctly identified the bag limit during
60% and 78% of interviews, respectively. The size limits of species were correctly identified by
71% of shore-based and 90% of boat-based groups. Only four fishing groups exceeded their bag
limit during the survey period although 74 fishing groups retained undersize fish.
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