Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106:body:0:p52
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00106
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 138892–141707

December each year, and daily bag/possession limits apply such that recreational fishing take is permitted in Lake Dartmouth and tributaries (1 per day) and the Yarra River and tributaries (2 per day) (DEDJTR 2016). Illegal fishing is recognised as a key threat to native fish management (MDBC 2004). It is illegal to buy, sell or possess Macquarie perch in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria unless compliant with the fishing rules stated above.
Historically, Macquarie perch were considered a prized table fish (Lake 1971; Trueman 2011). They were once caught in large numbers by recreational fishers targeting spawning migrations (Cadwallader & Rogan 1977). Cadwallader & Rogan (1977) make note of 2 to 3 tonnes of fish removed from Lake Eildon in a single week by targeting a spawning aggregation. With close to 1.6 million recreational fishers across New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, approximately 24 per cent of whom undertake fishing in inland regions (Henry & Lyle 2003), the risk of illegal fishing remains high to Macquarie perch.
Tonkin et al. (2017a) explored the impact of recreational fishing on the historically translocated population of Macquarie perch in the Yarra River. There has been a gradual reduction in size and abundance of fish since 2010 (Tonkin et al., 2017a). It is highly likely that increased recreational fishing pressure is a major mechanism in the decline in adult fish in the Yarra River (Tonkin et al., 2017a).
The Macquarie perch's tendency to form spawning aggregations makes the species particularly susceptible to fishing at particular times of the year and targeting of these aggregations by fishers in the past has almost certainly contributed to the species' decline (Cadwallader & Rogan 1977; Cadwallader 1978; Harris & Rowland 1996).
Studies undertaken on other Percichthyidae species have found that the stress of being caught and released in recreational fishing activity can cause hidden, delayed impacts such as reduced gonad development and reproductive potential (Hall et al., 2009a), and fish that are gut-hooked are more likely to die than fish that are mouth hooked (Van Der Walt et al., 2005; Hall et al., 2009b). Even if accidental capture occurs and fish are correctly identified and returned to the water, injury and stress may result (Van Der Walt et al., 2005; Hall et al., 2009a; 2009b). Anecodotal reports suggest that large numbers of Macquarie perch can be taken at a time using bait (GACA pers. comm., 2017) which undoubtedly carries an increased risk of gut-hooking compared to other methods such as artificial lure or fly. Conversely, there is good evidence to suggest that if fish are mouth hooked, handled carefully and returned to the water promptly they are likely to survive.
Illegal