The Fisheries Department has announced the TAC for the 2015/2016 lobster fishing season. The global TAC has been set at 1924.45 tons which translates to a 6.83% increase when compared to the 2014/2015 lobster TAC.
The global TAC for the 2015/16 west coast rock lobster fishing season has been apportioned as follow:
· Commercial Fishing (Offshore): 1243.48 tons (previously 1120.25 tons);
· Commercial Fishing (Nearshore): 376.10 tons (previously 376.10 tons);
· Subsistence (Interim Relief Measure) Fishing: 235.30 tons (previously 230.10 tons); and
· Recreational Fishing: 69.20 tons (previously 69.20.5 tons)
The 2015/16 west coast rock lobster recreational fishing season will open on Sunday, 15 November 2015 and will close on Sunday, 28 March 2016. The 2015/16 WCRL recreational fishing effort will be restricted to 21 days and will be split as follow:
· Fishing allowed from 15 November 2015 to 15 November 2015 (1 day)
· Fishing allowed from 21 November 2015 to 22 November 2015 (2 day)
· Fishing allowed from 5 December 2015 to 6 December 2015 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 5 December 2015 to 6 December 2015 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 12 December 2015 to 13 December 2015 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 19 December 2015 to 20 December 2015 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 26 December 2015 to 27 December 2015 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 2 January 2016 to 3 January 2016 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 9 January 2016 to 10 January 2016 (2 days)
· Fishing allowed from 25 March 2016 to 28 March 2016 (4 days)
Recreational fishing times for WCRL will be from 08h00 until 16h00 and the bag limit is four per person per day and the size restriction is 80 millimetres carapace length.
No person catching WCRL with a recreational fishing permit may sell his/her catch and any WCRL caught, collected or transported must be kept in a whole state.
A maximum of 20 lobsters may be transported per day on condition that all the persons who caught such WCRL’s are present in the vehicle, vessel or aircraft during transportation and that such persons are in possession of valid lobster recreational fishing permits.
