Fish For All

Latest Oped from Darryl Hockey- as we said a couple of weeks ago “it’s the company you keep”

Jackie Jarvis MLCRoger CookSouthwestern Fresh FishFishing Around Western AustraliaKirrilee Warr MLAWestern Australian Fishing Industry CouncilBasil ZempilasShane Love MLATerritory Seafood CrewStayN Afloat Ocean & Fishing

WHAT A MESS

Darryl Hockey GAICD

May 19, 2026

The fishing reform process across WA continues to deliver a textbook example of mismanagement, with the community anger now deeply embedded and indelible reputational stains upon the Minister, Jackie Jarvis.

It started to go wrong last year when the whiteboard first came out to set the plans. For years there’d been concerning science showing dangerous declines in WA dhufish stocks in the West Coast Bioregion, the waters between Kalbarri and Augusta. This area has four zones, the major one being the metro zone which covers 100kms north and 100kms south of Perth.

Here the dhufish spawning biomass had been reduced to a dangerous 7% and something needed to be done – particularly as the previous Minister Donald Punch had DOUBLED the recreational boat limits and officially driven the risks from SERIOUS to SEVERE.

However to be clear - commercials have been excluded from the metro zone for the past 20 years and three out of every four dhufish caught in the state were from recreationals. The metro zone issues had nothing to do with commercials.

Despite this, Jarvis decided to use the opportunity to deliver some ‘political’ outcomes, which is code for ‘blame it all on the commercials’ and close them down to secure a celebratory voting upswell from 750,000 recreational fishers. As well, the greens, teals and urban elites would surely flood the government with their support.

But six months later, every single day Jarvis’s social media pages are flooded with toxic attacks from both the general public and rec fishers.

So how did she get it so wrong?

Well firstly she assumed that the political calculus was on a linear scale – what you take off on the RHS you gain on the LHS. But it hasn’t worked that way, only 5% of rec fishers chase demersals in that bioregion. 95% of them don’t.

Plus 100% of rec fishers can’t possibly catch everything they need and are reliant upon commercial catches for home consumption, restaurant meals, fish & chips and bait.

The fishers and community also fully know they need a proper balance between commercial and rec, not a wipeout. Already 70% of seafood consumed in WA is imported frozen from the northern hemisphere, much of it rubbish quality and caught unsustainably from environmentally damaging trawlers, crewed by slave labour. With the latest reforms, now we have to import more.

Importantly too, Sandgropers like to see a fair go - they can all clearly see just how badly the commercials have been treated – an ambush decision at Christmas, with minimal consultation, no logic and no fair compensation or ‘just transition’ support.

Importantly though, it wasn’t just the specifics of the reform package, it was also the behaviour of the Minister which has really stood out and incited the reactions.

Minister Jarvis has openly behaved with callous indifference to the plight of the fishers, bluntly dismissing their reactions, turning the blame back onto them - thinking by demonising the commercials with gaslighting then the community would come onside.

But it certainly hasn’t worked. And it’s so unnecessary as it could’ve been done quite differently if there was good faith engagement and an industry-wide process to secure a balanced outcome to keep both sides of the industry open.

To be clear – there are some issues with some species, we all want sustainability and there is a solution which can deliver this – which could have both commercials and recs back on the water tomorrow – but the Minister simply isn’t interested – instead she wants to completely crush the commercial fishing industry - and further steps towards this goal are being taken every day.

MAC the Knife

For instance the process has now dived into even more disrepute as the Minister set up a Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) to make recommendations over the reform implementation. It’s chaired by Recfishwest (RFW) and has representatives of the charter sector, the tackle shops, the PEW-funded environmental activists - and the UWA science group, which is even more radical than PEW.

The committee does not have any commercial representation, despite the MAC providing advice over the future management of the South Coast, Pilbara and Kimberley bioregions - which are overwhelmingly commercial.

Yes, it’s unbelievable – but there’s more.

Then we look at the ‘governance appropriateness’ of the MAC, we wonder what the Auditor General might think. The tackle shop sector already has control over RFW, particularly as RFW silently receives hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations each year from rod and reel manufacturers.

When the last demersal reforms were underway in 2021-22, the RFW ‘expert committee’ was controlled by the tackle shops – and they objected to every single proposal to sensibly cut back on fishing pressure. They wanted to sell tackle, not sustainability. In fact they then funded a major media campaign as well as legal cases against the government. So too the charter operators who now have a seat on the MAC.

Meanwhile the commercials responsibly took an across-the-board 50% cut and proposed 33 other smart constructive initiatives including quotas and spawning closures (which were all inexplicably rejected).

It’s therefore intriguing to see the commercials now being punished - while those purporting to represent rec fishing interests are being rewarded.

And being rewarded in more ways than one – firstly MACs traditionally attract government sitting fees for participants – and now we see tackle shops being the beneficiaries of $3,300,000 worth of $50 vouchers being handed out to rec fishers. And those paid MAC members that recommend this on one hand and benefit on the other, then get free TV exposure in their shops for the media announcement with the Minister.

Does this pass the sniff test?

Then we see expensive TV advertisements funded by the taxpayer through RFW – and the main actor - whether on the beach or in the restaurant - is the Editor of WA’s major fishing magazine who in turn gets free promotion. And furthermore, one of his regular key magazine contributors (who attacks commercial fishing on social media using a nom-de-plume) is also on the MAC.

[Note, I have personal respect for the Editor - but sorry Scotty, the conflict optics here look awful.]

The bottom line is that the whole situation is a godforsaken mess. It’s been managed terribly from a technical perspective – as well as politically.

It’s no wonder that after six months the community revolt hasn’t subsided and the reputation of Minister Jarvis has been trashed. And it all could’ve been done differently, to secure a fair and reasonable outcome to deliver balanced sustainable fishing in WA.

But there’s no way this can be delivered under current settings.

For instance the MAC has recommended a bag limit of four demersals a day across the state – without any science to support this - and sans any consideration or calculation for the supposed savings from more than 5000 sq kms of marine park sanctuaries in these areas.

They’ve made decisions without any idea of the biomass or fishing pressures, they’re simply grabbing gut-feel numbers out of the sky.

And the MAC has failed to recommend the most important tool of all – the need for mandatory real-time reporting. This would deliver real-time data on current fishing pressures to enable smart management decisions to be taken. The rec data of today has been generated by voluntary phone surveys taken four years ago, it’s ridiculous.

You’d think that the MAC would’ve insisted upon this to be able to do their job – but then again, the App is free and tackle shops can’t profit from it.

And the MAC has stated they now want to encourage fishers to change their practices to target pelagics (btw check out your nearest tackle shop for the $$ cost of these lures), but they’ve failed to consider the serious pressures already on Spanish mackerel which are being dangerously flogged not only by rec boats, but also land-based fishers at places like Steep Point and Quobba.

So now to ‘save the demersals’ the MAC has recommended a surefire (but profitable) recipe to put mackerels at further risk – and guess what, surprise surprise, Minister Jarvis has now agreed.

They’ve also failed to place some long overdue protection for hapuka on the south coast, which are being unreasonably targeted by recs and commercials alike, especially during aggregations in August-September. Everybody knows that the alarm bells are ringing for hapuka, it’s common knowledge - but the MAC “chooses” to ignore the issue.

All I can say is that an industry-wide two-month closure each year would be wildly supported across the south coast (but perhaps not by the tackle shops).

Meanwhile the MAC has recommended an increase in the minimum size for pink snapper, even though they know full well the numbers are abundant. In doing so they have ensured that upsizing will be encouraged, where the fisher will keep throwing back smaller fish that have suffered barotrauma, to face certain death from organ damage (if the sharks don’t get them first). In turn this will set the next assessments up for a considerable handicap due to post-release mortality having gone through the roof, (a critical input to the "modelling".)

And yes on that note, there’s two things that I continually hear from rec fishers as being top-of-mind, these are the ‘plague’ numbers of snapper and shark bite-offs. The MAC, controlled by RFW and tackle shops – have not come up with anything to help their constituents.

Recreational fishers are once again being short-changed by those who purport to represent them.

The End

Meanwhile it’s sad to report that the functionality of DPIRD has collapsed – as they can’t even deliver upon their primary core purpose of sustainable fisheries management.

Yes it’s not easy to run a government agency when the final decisions are ultimately made by Ministers - but that’s not an excuse.

For instance, is ambulance ramping the fault of the Minister or the Health Dept – the answer of course is both.

So questions now hang over the limp and insipid leadership of DPIRD which has brought things to where they are today. Commercial fishing is currently in the active process of being dismantled and shut down forever.

This represents a major dysfunction within the department.

Meanwhile DPIRD has posters all over their office walls reminding themselves of their stated motto of “Protect, Grow and Innovate – that’s what we’re all about!”

Have any of these three values been achieved for commercial fishing?

Obviously not - so it’s clearly a report card of: fail, fail and fail.

The truth is that the DPIRD situation has gone from its former heights and descended into being a complete joke - but not a funny one.

Response to Jackie Jarvis MLC recent announcements in the comments- a big thank you from the commercial sector for laying the boots in.

The Government Gazette gives us the clearest statement yet as to what this ban is actually designed to achieve.

"The reduction in the size of the fisheries is required to achieve the necessary decrease in commercial effort in the relevant fisheries to ensure ongoing sustainability of the demersal scalefish resource for recreational fishing."

Sustainability is the stated goal. But the science tells us that reallocating fish from one sector to another doesn't reduce how many fish are being caught overall.
What the Gazette describes is a reallocation of access to a shared public resource. A sector supplying seafood to the WA community has been removed, while a sector fishing for personal use retains access. The Government Gazette puts that in writing.

WAFIC continues to call for evidence-based fisheries management that serves all Western Australians.

Read the Gazette yourself: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/gazettestore.nsf/FileURL/gg2026_036.pdf/$FILE/Gg2026_036.pdf?OpenElement

Long one, but a very sobering tale from Trevor Whittington.

The Pirate Queen and the Sinking Department

Last week I wrote that Budget Number Ten would tell us everything we needed to know.

Well, now we know.

And it’s worse than expected.

For all the Government’s talk about farm resilience, diversification and food security, when it came time to fund the department that actually underpins those things, the treasure chest was empty. Not just empty — quietly looted and lowered over the side over the next four years.

You wouldn’t know it from the Minister’s office, of course.
No glossy announcements.

No triumphant press releases.

No grand unveiling of a new agricultural science fleet or a biosecurity armada ready to defend the coast.

Nothing.

Not even a ceremonial cannon blast.

What did Jackie Jarvis, the self-appointed Pirate Queen of DPIRD, actually bring back from Treasury after another budget raid? You would never know unless you locked yourself in the cabin and read the fine print buried deep in the budget papers.

There were no glossy brochures celebrating support for agriculture and fisheries.

No proud declarations about rebuilding regional science capability.

No vision.

No map.

No compass.

Just a tired old vessel drifting further into the fog while the crew quietly eye off the ships cutter.

Having spent 30 years reading state budget papers — particularly those involving agriculture and fisheries — I can safely say this Minister now captains one of the worst sets of forward estimates cuts most older departmental hands have seen in their working lives.

Not one major division of the department can look forward to calmer seas.

The total cost of services falls from $727 million to $467 million over the next four years.

Income from Government sinks from $577 million to $381 million.

Employee benefits slide from $290 million to $275 million — and once you factor in wage rises, that likely means more than 100 full-time positions quietly being marched to the plank.

First to walk it may well be some of the 557 biosecurity staff, with funding slashed from $143 million to $111 million.

Apparently the strategy for dealing with invasive pests and exotic diseases is now little more than “keep a weather eye out and hope for the best”.

The 353 people working in natural resource management will also be nervously checking whether their names are next on the manifest as funding drops from $110 million to $79 million.

And the few remaining agricultural scientists — already rarer than an honest pirate accountant — may soon be packing their sea chests, with the 433 staff in regional technical services staring down a brutal one-third cut from $108 million to $72 million.

Meanwhile, over on neighbouring vessels, life appears considerably more luxurious.

At the HMAS Department of Mines and Petroleum, the Minister has at least managed to hold the line, with employee benefits rising from $88 million to $92 million.

And over at His Majesty’s Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, the crew are positively feasting, with employee benefits climbing from $342 million to $366 million.

But the old hulk DPIRD? DPIRD is becoming the ghost ship of Government. A once-proud vessel now drifting through the policy doldrums under a captain who appears to have lost both the map and the will to sail.

Where are the bold Cabinet submissions?

Where is the world-class biosecurity research centre?

Where is the grand plan to rebuild horticulture?

Where was the fisheries rescue package when the fleet started taking on water?

Where was the push to drag a decent share of the billions in GRDC reserves back into WA through matched Treasury funding?

Nothing. Not even a faint breeze stirring the sails. Just Captain Jackie pacing the quarterdeck in a feathered hat marked “JJ”, peering through a brass telescope searching for another Welcome to Country ceremony while the lower decks quietly flood.

After ten years and two failed captains, the great DPIRD amalgamation experiment — once sold as a mighty flagship of agricultural efficiency — now resembles a patched-up pirate tub leaking from every seam.

And the longer this Government keeps the current captain at the helm, the more we can expect the same slow drift towards the reef.
What makes it worse is the state is hardly short of treasure. After a decade of surpluses, Treasury’s vaults are overflowing.

This is not poverty. It is priority. And agriculture, fisheries and regional development now sit somewhere below interpretive dance grants and diversity deck-chair committees on the Government’s list of concerns.

DPIRD has effectively been relegated to drinking bilge water.
The upper decks still enjoy fresh rations and imported rum while crumbs drift down below to the remaining crew busy bailing the bilge.

The focus is no longer on discovery, innovation or planting the flag on new agricultural frontiers — it is simply managing decline while pretending the ship is still seaworthy. It is survival.

Who will be the next experienced scientist, biosecurity officer or regional expert to quietly slip overboard at night and swim for a more competent vessel?

Meanwhile, farmers and regional communities stand on the shoreline watching in disbelief as this once-proud ship drifts past like a wreck of the Spanish Main — sails torn, crew mutinous and the captain insisting everything is “ship shape”.

It is as though the current officers have concluded there are no new worlds left to discover, no threats left to fight and no point investing in the future.

Just sit back, sip the taxpayer-funded rum and watch the vermin spread across the empire.

And as for the captain herself — what exactly will be her legacy?
What mark will she leave behind other than a trail of shrinking budgets, abandoned ports and a once-proud vessel left drifting through the fog?

Or perhaps that was never really the point.

Perhaps the real treasure was never rebuilding agriculture at all. Perhaps it was the captain’s hat, the taxpayer-funded trade voyages, the first-class cabins, the cabin boys and girls in the office forever scurrying about with cries of “Yes Minister!”, and the endless medal ceremonies aboard the good ship Equity and Inclusion, where every sailor receives a ribbon for attendance while the hull quietly slips beneath the waves.

So let’s call it exactly as it appears in the budget papers. DPIRD is rapidly becoming a ghost ship.

And perhaps it is time for Captain Jarvis to surrender the wheel to someone who understands that running a ship requires more than diversity shanties and ceremonial deck inspections. It requires ideas, energy, calculated risk-taking and, above all else, a close friendship with the Treasurer — the grim keeper of the silver chest who decides which ships are repaired, and which are simply left to drift towards the rocks.

In the meantime just watch the next wave of sailors jump ship.

Please see description in comments- your voice is now more important than ever!

The company you keep- description in the comments.

Peter Ridd from Queensland- we’re not the only ones questioning the science Jackie Jarvis MLC.
WA is being watched from around the country- even gets a mention here with a few sneaky shots of Fish For All members.

WHY CHECKING THE SCIENCE IS VITAL FOR THE FISHERIES AND FORESTRY INDUSTRIES The LNP Crisafulli Government is being asked to refer the matter of checking the science to the Queensland Productivity Commission