The State Government has acted on calls from the recreational fishing community to make changes to the way recreationally caught rock lobster are marked, which identifies them from those commercially caught.
Previously, recreationally caught rock lobster were required to be only marked by clipping its middle fan tail in half horizontally and removing it.
Recreational fishing groups, including the Kingston SE Recreational Fishers Association Incorporated and RecFish SA, raised concerns that this practice may cause discomfort and blood loss for the rock lobster, and could impact the quality of eating.
The changes, initially implemented by Ministerial Exemption while the State Government works through the process of changing Regulation 23 of the Fisheries Management Act 2007, will allow fishers to now either:
- mark their recreationally caught rock lobster by punching the rock lobster’s middle tail fan with a hole not less than 10 mm
- use the current tail clipping method.
Further, a declaration made under Section 79 of the Act allows for the same tail marking arrangements to be extended to other rock lobster species.
The changes bring South Australia into line with most other states where rock lobster is caught recreationally. The requirement to mark the rock lobster before landing remains.
This is another example of the State Government and RecFish SA working closely together to deliver outcomes for the state’s estimated 360,000 recreational fishers. It follows a recent announcement of an additional $200,000 to RecFish SA in 2024-25 to deliver programs that increase participation in recreational fishing amongst women and young people right across the state.
