Crab Bag Limits

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:58): Supplementary, sir: given the minister's answer that there is a reduction in recreational catch for blue swimmer crabs, can the minister inform the house why he has actually increased the quota for professionals from 196 to 245 tonne?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:59): It was a fishing expedition. Thank you for putting out the bait; thank you for coming in, spinner.

The SPEAKER: That is a mixed metaphor, minister.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I love a mixed metaphor. Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the best at them—like feeding the chooks. This is a bit like feeding the chooks.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland is warned for the second and final time.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: The member for Schubert, he's an expert on everything.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Google it. Where is it?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Okay, so—

The SPEAKER: The answer?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes, the answer, my friend, is that there is a baseline level of 245 tonnes when stocks are healthy. A few years ago, when stocks weren't healthy, the level went down and now, when stocks are healthy, it has returned to its level. We haven't increased—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is warned for the second and final time. The member for Stuart is on two warnings.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: The baseline hasn't changed: it has always been 245 tonnes. But when the stock status concerns were identified in 2013, the government acted. They reduced the commercial catch of blue swimmer crabs by 20 per cent to 196 tonnes in Gulf St Vincent. To maintain the allocated catch shares, the individual recreational daily bag limits for Gulf St Vincent were reduced from 40 to 20, and the daily boat limit was reduced from 120 to 60. So—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Yes. We get back to this share thing, and the member for Schubert is really interested in this. It's not 29 per cent that the rec fishers are taking: they are taking 39.5 per cent. What we need to do is get them back to that 29 per cent. You are absolutely right that we need to maintain those percentages—so you are with us. We are all together on this, that it can't be 39.5 per cent because they are allocated 29 per cent, so by bringing them—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is called to order.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: The recreational blue swimmer crab fishers are taking more than they are allocated. If you have any resource that you are allowed to fish 100 per cent of, it makes no sense to allow people to fish 110 per cent of it. We know that the commercial people aren't exceeding their quotas; the recreational fishers are. We know that when the compliance officers go out there, the statistics from 1 July last year show that one in five people who were spoken to by Fisheries officers either had undersized crabs or they were over their bag limit. What we need to do is make sure everyone plays by the rules. These new rules come in on 1 December. It will be 20 per person and 60 per boat.