ROCK lobster fishermen in the South East have clocked off early this season with quotas filled rapidly due to favourable weather and high catch rates.
Port MacDonnell Professional Fisherman’s Association president Roger Cutting said while the season typically begins in October and ends in May, only a small number of fishermen were still to catch the remainder of their quota.
“As of last Wednesday we had eight tonne left to catch and today we only have four tonne left to go and it looks like it will all be caught soon,” Mr Cutting told The Border Watch this week.
“It has been a reasonably good season – we had a bad catch last year spread over the full season, but this time everything has been caught within six months.”
Mr Cutting said the number of undersize lobsters caught and released this season was up on figures from the same time last year.
“Undersize has been up a fair percentage – it has been better than last year and the year before,” he said.
“We did not necessarily catch more this season, but it was caught quicker.
“In terms of pricing it was an up and down season – it was as low as $68 and as high as $104 at different times.
“The basic equation is less fish equals a better price – it goes for gold when the supply is lower.”
Mr Cutting said it was unlikely the total allowable catch (TAC) would be raised next season.
“A final report will be released in two to three months so we will know for sure, but as far as I know we didn’t tick enough boxes to raise the TAC,” he said.
“It is a similar outlook for next year at this stage – it will be steady as she goes for next year.”
