Commercial fishers in Western Australia's $285 million lobster industry say warning bells are ringing for the sector's future sustainability, despite reassurances from state government scientists that stocks are at healthy levels.
The commercial lobster industry is concerned due to the number of baby lobster, known as puerulus, being found along the coast, along with falling catch rates and revised economic modelling.
As a result, the industry has requested its total catch be dropped next season from the current limit of 7,300 tonnes to 6,800 tonnes.
Lobster fishers say the puerulus settlement has dropped. (ABC Mid West and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)
That reduction equates to about one million fewer crayfish coming out of the water next season.
Cervantes based fisher Michael Thompson supported the catch reduction, and said it could have gone lower.
"Our puerulus since 2007 till today is 50 per cent lower than what we used to receive back to the coast to our collectors," he said.
"We always used to say in the old days, if it was a rough winter we got a good puerulus settlement — and the winters aren't what they were.
"The northern part of our fishery is starting to struggle with numbers on the ground, so there are warning bells ringing all over the place."
Quotas saved the industry
Monthly counting of puerulus found in traps along the WA coast has been underway since 1968 and is regarded as a key indicator of the health of the fishery.
Mr Thompson's concerns about fishery health have been echoed by other fishers the ABC has spoken to, with the events of 2007–08 fresh in some minds.
Then, puerulus settlements were abnormally low across collector sites, and as a result the industry moved to a quota management system in 2009.
The move to a quota to reduce catches and increase biomass in the water is now regarded by many in the industry as what saved it from being over-fished and destroyed.
This year's puerulus numbers have again tracked well below historic levels.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development principal research scientist Simon de Lestang said this did concern him, but he said research was showing the fishery's overall health was different to 2008.
"There's almost four times the breeding biomass out in the water, and stock levels are much, much higher than they've been since the 1970s — we know the stock out there is healthy," he said.
Commercial lobster fishers want their total allowable catch lowered to 6,800 tonnes. (ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis)
Lobster lovers divided
Some fishers remain unconvinced and are worried about how much lobster will be left in the years to come.
After meetings in Geraldton and Fremantle this month, the Western Rock Lobster Council (WRLC) board agreed to request a reduction in next year's catch.
Council CEO Matt Taylor said, in hindsight, this season's total allowable catch of 7,300 tonnes was too high.
"The maximum economic yield model range changed or lowered down to 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes," he said.
"So really what we're doing is adjusting our catch based on the most up-to-date data that we have about the economics of the industry and the biology of the resource."
Matt Taylor is the CEO of the Western Rock Lobster Council. (ABC News: Emily Piesse)
The lobster industry is expecting China to be back buying live crays next year.
While this was a factor in calculating the maximum economic yield, Mr Taylor said the Chinese economy had changed, and prices were not at the highs they were four years ago when country last imported live crays.
Mr Taylor said WRLC focused on achieving maximum economic value from the fishery, but this was underpinned by biological sustainability.
The recreational fishing sector is allocated a total of 500 tonnes of lobster each year, but Mr Taylor said the council did not trust catch estimates.
He said recreational fishers should be made to log their catch to ensure an accurate total picture of how much lobster in total was being removed from the water each year.
The recreational catch is measured through a random survey and catch inspections at jetties.
Recreational fishers not on board
Recfishwest CEO Andrew Rowland said he did not support mandatory catch reporting, as it was unnecessary and interrupted recreational fishing experiences.
Mr Rowland said there were approximately 50,000 recreational lobster fishers, and he was confident the catch estimates associated with them were correct.
"We're more than comfortable with the modelling, it does stack up from a peer-reviewed science perspective," he said.
The final decision about catch rates rests with the WA fisheries minister.