To satisfy the constitution of the WRLC, a Western Rocklobster Fishery Industry Congress must be held every two years.
To alleviate the extreme degree of uncertainty around all issues facing the Western Rocklobster fishery i.e. sustainability of stock and fishermen, management regime, marketing and marine parks all need to be addressed in a public forum where informed discussion can occur.
To address and improve upon the lack of cohesion across all sectors of the Western Rocklobster fishery.
To provide a forum which will allow for Industry consultation to occur regarding the best management regime for the WRLF i.e. input versus output debate. This will assist the WRLC as the industry peak body representative to put forward an industry consensus to RLIAC which will then allow the Minister for Fisheries to make a decision which will be supported by the great majority of MFL holders in the WRLF.
Final report
The Congress was held on Friday July 24 and consisted of 6 sessions. Expert speakers representing Research, Management and Industry for the Rocklobster gave a total of 11 presentations. The workshop was held on Saturday July 25 with the main focus on 2 subjects - Working through the Management options for 2009/10 and the Input vs Output debate.
The Congress and Workshop provided Industry, Research, Policy and Financial Institutions a forum to exchange ideas and challenges concerning all aspects of the Rocklobster commercial Fishery research and management.
This resulted in a greater appreciation of current issues and will lead to better collaboration and management for commercial Rocklobster fishing in Western Australia. One of the main issues at that stage were the debate between Input vs. Output. An industry vote has taken place since and the outcome was in favour of Output. The Minister has since decided to change the Fishery to a Quota Managed System.
Key Words: Western Rocklobster, management, quota, workshop, forum, exchange ideas
