Snapper management

Snapper is an iconic fish in South Australia and important for commercial, recreational, charter boat and Aboriginal traditional fishers.

The decline of Snapper stocks has been noted for several years and is supported by the latest science.

In 2019, management measures were announced to secure the long-term future of the Snapper fishery for all South Australian fishers.

Following the release of the independently reviewed SARDI Snapper Stock Assessment Report 2022, the Marine Scalefish Fishery Management Advisory Committee (MSFMAC) recommended that the total Snapper closure in the West Coast, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island Fishing Zones continue. The Government of South Australia has accepted this recommendation and extended the closure to 30 June 2026.

Snapper fishing restrictions

Closures

The West Coast, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island Fishing Zones (PDF 440.7 KB) are closed to Snapper fishing until 30 June 2026. Snapper may only be taken in the South East Fishing Zone for this period.

Fishing limits

Daily size, bag and boat limits apply to Snapper catches.

Mandatory reporting for all snapper catches

You must report all Snapper catches via the Fishwatch 24-hour hotline or the free SA Fishing app.

Snapper support intiatives

Supporting measures have been established to protect the future of Snapper stocks in South Australia and support the need for urgent action.

Snapper fishery supporting measures include the following projects:

Science funding

A $5 million Snapper science program ($2.5 million Government of South Australia funding with matching funds from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), includes:

  • refining the Daily Egg Production Method (DEPM) and trialling/integrating acoustic surveys for improved estimates of fishable biomass
  • stock discrimination and population study on the West Coast to better understand the connectivity of the Spencer Gulf/West Coast stock
  • continuing recruitment surveys to develop a cost-effective method of monitoring the number of juvenile Snapper that enter the South Australian population each year, and understand the drivers for recruitment variability
  • continuing adult sampling, including collecting genetic material for future close-kin mark-recapture study
  • further developing recreational fishing reporting abilities to provide timely monitoring of recreational catches
  • aquatic habitat restoration projects
  • enhancing the Snapper stock assessment model to include forecasting and management strategy evaluation capability to assist in designing recovery strategies.

Snapper restocking program

The Government of South Australia is providing $1.2 million over two years to undertake further Snapper fish stocking in Spencer Gulf and the Gulf St Vincent. Nearly 1 million Snapper fingerlings will be produced and released across the two gulfs.

During the 2019-2022 closure period, a Snapper restocking program was undertaken, with 380,000 Snapper fingerlings released into each gulf in 2021 and Spencer Gulf in 2022.

Commercial and charter boat fishery fee relief

Commercial Marine Scalefish Fishery licence holders with Snapper quota entitlements, and all Charter Boat Fishery licence holders will have 50% relief applied to their annual licence fees (the base fee for MSF licence holders) during the closure, at a total cost of $2.4 million.

Affected licence holders will be notified of the fee reduction.

Reef restoration for recreational fishing

The Government of South Australia has invested $200,000 for reef restoration projects and will work closely with RecFish SA on these projects.

Mental health support

The Government of South Australia will work with Seafood Industry Australia to expand national Stay Afloat program to support the mental health and wellbeing of affected commercial fishers, charter operators and seafood processors.

Support is also available through the PIRSA initiated Family and Business (FaB) mentors. FaB mentors provide free informal financial or health and wellbeing advice.

Ongoing Snapper management and research

We will continue to progress planned work including:

  • developing a Snapper rebuilding plan as part of new harvest strategies for the shared-access Marine Scalefish Fishery
  • developing a Snapper bycatch / discards reporting
  • an external review of the Snapper stock assessment model.

FRDC post-release survival and movement research project

The Government of South Australia has partnered with the FRDC to:

  • understand the impacts of barotrauma on the survival of line-caught Snapper
  • estimate the survival rates of Snapper at various depths using electronic tags
  • improve the understanding of Snapper movement patterns through the analysis of existing tagging datasets
  • engage with key fishing sectors to develop a Code of Practice that promotes responsible fish handling practices, humane-treatment, and harm minimisation for Snapper.

Status: Due for completion 30 June 2023

FRDC recruitment variability project

The Government of South Australia has partnered with the FRDC to:

  • improve understanding of the ecology of Snapper larvae and juvenile Snapper
  • develop an understanding of the processes that regulate recruitment for Snapper, including annual variation in environmental factors
  • develop a sampling protocol to monitor the relative abundance of juvenile Snapper that can be used as an index of recruitment
  • undertake recruitment surveys in 2022 and 2023.

Status – due for completion 31 December 2023

For more information, see Snapper recovery.

Page last reviewed: 24 Oct 2023

 


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