BUNBURY commercial fisherman Nick Soulos wrote and sent to the West Australian Newspaper on 12/12/2025. It never got published.
What was the issue that the West Australian saw fit not to publish? WA’s Labor government has decreed a permanent cancelling of demersal gillnet fishing licences.
This is an act of treachery not only against legitimate family fishing businesses on the WA coast, it is denying the WA public a valuable and nutritious food source.
So what did Mr Soulous, a south west demersal gillnet (shark) fisherman and operator of Leschenault Fisheries, write to the state’s preeminent newspaper?
“For more than a century, Western Australia’s waters have sustained my family. Today, the Cook government threatens to end that legacy forever.
“My grandfather began shark-net fishing in the 1920s with old military camouflage netting. For 55 years, our family has run a sustainable local fishing business – now including my son Emanuel, the fourth generation in these waters.
“But our future hangs by a thread after the government permanently closed Zones 1 and 3 of the Southern Demersal Gillnet Fishery.
“We didn’t hear it from the government. We learned through a social media post shared by a friend. No warning. No consultation. No respect for the people whose lives depend on these decisions.
“What makes this decision so devastating is that it defies the government’s own science. At a parliamentary forum attended by Premier Cook and Minister Jarvis, departmental scientists confirmed that demersal gillnet fishers take less than 0.04 per cent of iconic scale fish in the West Coast bioregion.
“Our industry is, overwhelmingly, a shark fishery – 97 per cent of our catch – managed under strict scientific frameworks since 1992. Over 30 years, we’ve reduced our fishing effort by 70 per cent, creating one of the most sustainable and selective shark fisheries in the world.
“Closing it won’t rebuild demersal stocks. In fact, reducing shark fishing pressure may increase shark numbers, leading to greater predation on juvenile scale fish – and potentially more dangerous encounters.
“This is not a sustainability measure. Whatever the intention, it is a political decision with real human consequences.
“We’ve seen this play out before. Commercial closures in the Leschenault Estuary, the Metropolitan Zone and Geographe Bay were supposed to aid recovery. After 25 years, none have recovered; several have declined further under recreational-only pressure.
“History is clear: shutting out small operators destroys livelihoods without restoring fish stocks. On 1 January 2026, our skipper and crew – each with more than 30 years’ experience – lose their income overnight. They have mortgages, rent, and families to support. So do we.
“Our cashflow stops immediately, yet compensation won’t arrive for at least six months. Worse, the package doesn’t even cover the administrative costs of shutting down.
“To do this to fishing families at any time would be harsh. Just weeks before Christmas, it’s cruel. There are more logical options on the table.
“The government could apply the temporary effort-reduction measures proposed for the 1st June 2026 in Zone 2, across Zones 1 and 3 until demersal stocks recover and a spawning time/area closure, together with a voluntary buy back of licences (VFAS) – targeting the actual issue, which is scale-fish effort, while keeping a viable shark fishery alive.
“Or it could adopt Queensland’s humane five-year transition model from the Great Barrier Reef, which provided families certainty, income stability and time to plan their futures. Other governments have managed change responsibly.
“Premier Cook and Minister Jarvis: reversing this decision isn’t just sound policy – it’s the decent thing to do. Don’t take away our ability to work. Don’t remove fresh local fish from West Australian tables. And don’t devastate hardworking regional families on Christmas Eve.
“It’s not too late to choose fairness and evidence over politics, at the very least, put a pause on its implementation, and please come to the table and talk with us.”
Cairns News can tell the WA commercial fishing community that this is the diabolical Agenda 20-30 and net zero at work – the philosophy of scarcity that emanates from the ideology of global environmentalism aka “globalism”.
This is centralised control of resources, as you already see in play with the book-full of regulations imposed on your industry in the name of “sustainability”.
Fisherman, like the dying breed of Australian timber millers, instinctively know that resources must not only be used but conserved by sensible regulation for the sake of their own future.