The Australian fishing industry began to enter a new phase about 1958. The great advances in fisheries management, research and development which were made in the 1960's were preceded by a period of intense questioning which brought the post war period to an end. Many of the initiatives of the Controllers of Fisheries were re-examined and the role of the four partners - the Commonwealth Fisheries Office(CFO), CSIRO Division of Fisheries, State Fisheries organizations and industry organizations were substantially altered
The questioning of the great optimism for a major fishing industry commensurate with the length of the coastline, first publicized by the Tariff Board in 1941, could no longer be ignored. The highly protected environment created by wartime controls had deferred consideration of the matter but in the freer market of the late 1950's Governments could delay no longer. In Tasmania the Benjamin Report stated "the fishing industry is passing through a crisis and the future is somewhat obscure"
The role of State Fisheries Departments was questioned in Victoria by a lengthy Parliamentary Enquiry and in Tasmania by the Hobbs Report into inland fisheries and the Select Committee into the scallop fishery. In Western Australia and South Australia the growing importance of crayfisheries promoted internal re-evaluations and Queensland appointed an Inspector of Fisheries on a permanent basis for the first time. The Hobbs Report was in turn reviewed by the Benjamin Committee and followed by another report by D D Lynch. The Licensed Fishermen's Association sought an Enquiry into the industry but the Government refused. In June 1958 the Fisheries Act was amended by a Bill introduced by the Opposition. W.C. Hodgman moved that the Act be amended to increase the fishermen's representatives on the Advisory Board from two to four. Hodgman's justification was that it was "a matter of great importance that practical advice should be receivable by the Board - the proposal will not disturb the balance of power." The Government supported the Bill.
The role of the professionals in the administrations was firmly embedded by the resolution of the Commonwealth/States Fisheries Conference held in June 1961. The policy change was profound but implemented without conscious consideration of Ministers. It was a measure of the influence of the new professional leadership that such a change came about without political debate. Nevertheless from this point onward there was an expectation that management measures would be introduced only after some quantitative assessment of the state of the exploited stocks. They also decided that the universal objective of management will be to maximize the yield from the resource and maximize returns to fishermen.
Towards the end of 1958 the Minister had recognized that a firmer hand and stronger regulations were required to control the crayfishing industry and in October the Act was amended with the intention of giving Tasmania control over fishing in all territorial waters and to regulate the taking of crayfish beyond the three mile limit. Further Commonwealth and State discussions on crayfish had been held in Melbourne in February 1958 which recommended a minimum legal length regulation in Commonwealth waters adjacent to Victoria and Tasmania, and a closed season in the same waters from September 1 to October 15 each year and to complement the closed season for females. In June the Fisheries Division prosecuted crayfishermen for having female crayfish in their possession during the closed season but the case failed on the grounds that the fish were legally taken in Commonwealth waters where no closed season had been declared.
The Commonwealth amended their legislation in 1959 to enable them to apply similar regulations to those being applied by the States in adjacent waters. "The legislation was designed to protect fishermen from such ('fish piracy') nefarious practices" In May of that year a further meeting on crayfish confirmed the minimum size of 4.25 inches rostral carapace length and that the Tasmanian measurement and enforcement methods be adopted. The meeting asked the Commonwealth to consider a different closed season for the King Island area.
Uniformity between Tasmanian and Commonwealth regulations was finally achieved in 1960. The closed season for females was shortened to June to October inclusive. Vessels over sixty feet long were allowed to use 40 pots. CSIRO began a major research program that included measuring the lengths of samples of the catch. More detailed collections of catch and effort began in 1963 and this enabled much better monitoring of the effect of fishing. The CSIRO research led to a reduction in the legal minimum length of females in November 1966 in order to allow a more effective exploitation of females in southern waters. Resistance by fishermen to any form of zoning meant that this lower size also applied to Bass Strait waters where it put the stocks under greater pressure.
The Tasmanian Crayfishery 1941 -1968
YEAR Catch Catch Boats Potdays no/pd Price Price Value Value
tonnes thous thous c/kg 84 c/kg $'000s 84$'000s
1941 750 668 84 108 1205
1942 759 678 83 100 1200
1943 772 512 84 16 189 123 1460
1944 1018 795 94 16 189 163 1920
1945 741 663 145 16 189 119 1400
1946 987 881 210 16 184 158 1820
1947 1268 1103 225 188 5.87 16 178 202 2260
1948 1448 1327 210 307 4.32 16 163 232 2360
1949 1348 1284 207 320 4.01 19 168 251 2269
1950 1295 1257 165 357 3.52 34 265 435 3430
1951 1000 1010 222 266 3.80 34 225 336 2251
1952 1104 1104 242 274 4.03 35 216 391 2380
1953 1197 1197 220 409 2.93 39 228 469 2734
1954 1381 1501 265 390 3.85 39 219 541 3023
1955 1281 1281 260 383 3.34 39 208 502 2670
1956 1118 1189 254 321 3.70 49 244 543 2727
1957 1258 1245 306 278 4.48 56 281 704 3536
1958 1350 1406 275 411 3.42 56 277 756 3738
1959 1611 1751 237 437 4.01 63 305 1010 4906
1960 1688 1779 292 486 3.66 76 351 1286 5920
1961 1738 1801 298 524 3.44 94 430 1635 7478
1962 1705 1776 323 507 3.50 101 461 1719 7860
1963 1817 1873 329 370 5.06 99 446 1791 8107
1964 1554 1602 337 596 2.69 125 551 1949 8564
1965 1913 2057 384 930 2.21 110 465 2100 8904
1966 2014 2427 357 840 2.89 116 483 2346 9732
1967 2038 2370 330 738 3.21 148 588 3013 11980
1968 1733 2038 345 760 2.68 190 746 3300 12928
The growth of the crayfishery can be seen in the previous table. The value of the catch rose by 500% between 1958 and 1968 although the number of vessels inthe fleet increased by about 50. In the figure below the value of landings is in thousands of 1987-8 A$ and includes all fish, shellfish and cultured species.
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| The price paid to fishers for their lobsters rose steadily from the end of World War II until 1973 (blue line). After 1974 it rose more quickly but the yellow line that shows prices adjusted for infltion suggests a steady increase in real returns to fishers. In 1984 and 1985 there was a marked jump in prices. |
Concern about the economics of crayfishing resulted in the first survey into costs and earnings undertaken by Doug Fergusson and John Smith of the Department of Agricculture. The Department also published Tony Harrison’s analysis of changes in catch and effort since 1953. When these studies were presented to Cabinet the Government decided to limit the number of vessels that could fish for crayfish to 420. A Committee chaired by Dr Eric Guiler of the University of Tasmania considered the cases of those who felt unfairly excluded from the fishery.