The West Coast Demersal Scalefish Fishery covers over 900 km of coastline along a latitudinal gradient (27°S to 115°30′E) including, Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. This multi-species fishery comprises species with naturally variable distributions and abundances as well as differing exploitation levels by commercial, charter and recreational fisheries.

Regional stock assessments of three key indicator species (dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper) have been undertaken. However in these fisheries the spatial and temporal data are limited (e.g. lack of relevant catch and catch rates) and it is not possible to develop models that can estimate stock abundance. In these circumstances, a ‘weight-of-evidence’ approach was considered best practice to assess the status of a stock. This approach individually examines any quantitative measures that may be available (e.g. estimates of fishing mortality) and considers these holistically with species biological characteristics (e.g. natural productivity, habitat requirements etc.) in conjunction with any operational characteristics of the fishery plus the potential influences of environmental changes.

Results from the regional stock assessments and the management implications are presented.