An auditor-general's report on the regulation of commercial fishing in WA raises serious concerns about the efficiency of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and its fisheries officers.
Despite months of investigation and trawling through DPIRD records, Ms Spencer said her office found there was no data to adequately conclude whether current compliance and enforcement activities were making a difference to the health of WA fisheries."We found that there are key weaknesses in the department's regulation of the commercial fishing industry.
A key concern raised in the report was the lack of acknowledgement that fisheries officers regularly worked with the same commercial fishers for long periods of time. "The department does not have a maximum tenure for regional positions or rotate its staff through regional posts to manage this risk." "And that's a problem where we have an industry that has inherent risks around overfishing and black-market sales."Complaints about a fisheries officer are not required to be handled independently of that officer or their local management.
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