A new marine park in Western Australia's Kimberley has redrawn the map for anglers heading to one of the country's most remote stretches of coast, placing a quarter of its waters off-limits to fishing from Sunday.
The Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park — 204,000 hectares of water around the northern Dampier Peninsula and the western islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago — came into effect on 19 July, jointly managed by the Bardi and Jawi Traditional Owners and the state's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).
Under the new zoning, 25 per cent of the park is now sanctuary zone, where no fishing or collecting of any kind is allowed. A further 26 per cent is set aside for cultural protection, where recreational anglers can only wet a line as part of a licensed tour. That leaves 47 per cent as general use zone — open to both recreational and commercial fishing — with the remaining 2 per cent a biocultural conservation zone that permits recreational and some commercial fishing. Customary fishing by Traditional Owners is allowed throughout.
Officials have framed the split as a compromise rather than a lockout. "The zones strike the right balance between protecting wildlife and cultural values while supporting recreation, tourism and commercial use," said Kevin Bancroft, DBCA's Buccaneer Archipelago Marine Parks Coordinator. He noted that the closed areas are not shut to visitors altogether: "In areas where recreational fishing is not permitted, visitors can enjoy low impact activities like boating, photography, wildlife viewing and enjoying the natural beauty."
For anyone planning to drop a line, the message from fisheries authorities is to check the maps first. "I encourage anyone heading out on the water to familiarise themselves with zone maps and make sure they are only fishing within the permitted area so they don't risk fines or prosecution," said Matt Gogoll, a Senior Operations Manager with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).
The penalties are not trivial. Fishing in a prohibited zone carries a $400 fine, and the consequences climb from there. "More serious matters referred to court can attract a fine of up to $5,000, as well as an additional penalty of up to 10 times the value of any fish involved," a DPIRD spokesperson said.
The changes have not been universally welcomed. Recreational fishers, who prize the Kimberley for its barramundi and trophy sportfish, have bristled at seeing productive ground shut off, with the tighter restrictions described in ABC reporting as a "slap in the face."
But there is a scientific case that closures can eventually help the people they frustrate. Research from the University of Western Australia's Oceans Institute has found that no-take zones, paired with ordinary fisheries management elsewhere, can lift the overall number of spawning fish — and the benefit spills over the boundary. "The addition of no-take zones resulted in recreational fishing catch rates doubling in open areas near where the fishers accessed the ocean, for example, within 10 kilometres of a boat ramp," the UWA team of Associate Professor Tim Langlois, Dr Charlotte Aston and Dr Matt Navarro reported. The reason comes down to the biology of big fish: "One big, older female can produce as many eggs as a dozen or more smaller adults."
Whether Kimberley anglers see that payoff will take years to judge. For now, the rule is simpler: know your zone, or risk the fine.
