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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-11 Daily Xml
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MURRAY COD FISHERY

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Could the minister update the house on the status of the Murray Cod Fishery which was closed in 2009?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! This is an important question.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Northern Suburbs) (14:52): I thank the member for Little Para for the question. Members may have seen the piece in today's Advertiser (the 'codpiece') that announced that the iconic Murray cod will now be available to recreational fishers as a catch-and-release fish in the coming season. I am pleased that this move has also been welcomed by the South Australian Recreational Fishing Advisory Council. As members may well have been aware—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is too much background noise and the minister is quietly spoken so it is hard to hear.

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: It was a reasonably prominent article and brought to the attention of the state's fishers the change in regime as far as our new catch-and-release policy for the Murray cod is concerned. I think the member for Chaffey, in particular, would be interested in the import of this particular decision given the fact that an extensive process of consultation occurred throughout the Riverland to determine where we went with this particular issue.

As members may be aware, the Murray cod has been a threatened species and has been in significant decline since European settlement, for a whole range of environmental reasons, such as the introduction of pests and disease, and numbers have been plummeting. What we found during the drought was that there was a virtual cessation of breeding because the fish actually need heavy flow to breed. In December 2009 we prohibited the catching of the cod.

The drought has broken and the science informs us that we will see a resumption in breeding. Recreational fishers along the Murray, particularly in the Riverland, not only residents of the Riverland but also visitors and, as the member for Chaffey is well aware, shack owners, bring significant amounts of money into the Riverland, particularly over a weekend and on holidays.

So, we went through a process of consultation with the community and with fishers to determine where we went with the management of this particular species. The end result has been that, on the basis of science and public consultation, we are now opening up that fishery to the catching of cod, but it is very much on the basis that they must be returned.

What was not mentioned by The Advertiser is that PIRSA will now be embarking on a fairly comprehensive campaign of advice and education for anglers, because this is a vulnerable species and rough handling can impact on their breeding. This is a great outcome for the Riverland and for amateur fishers, and hopefully it will prove to be a good environmental outcome.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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