Changes to commercial fishing
Commercial fishing for demersal species will be closed from 1 January 2026.
This will include a closure of:
- the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Interim Managed Fishery
- the West Coast Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery
- Zone 1 and Zone 3 of the Southern Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery.
The following spawning closures still apply to commercial fishers:
- The Cockburn and Warnbro Sounds pink snapper spawning closure from 1 August to 31 January (inclusive).
- The Abrolhos Islands baldchin groper spawning closure from 1 October to 31 December (inclusive).
Compulsory Fisheries Adjustment Scheme
The WA Government has committed $20 million towards a Compulsory Fisheries Adjustment Scheme ‘buy out’ for the commercial gillnet and line (south of Kalbarri) fisheries in the west coast bioregion.
The compulsory scheme only applies to the commercial fisheries that will be permanently closed in the west coast bioregion.