Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
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Resource Assessment Report No. 2: West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource 2025 assessment
No full textThe West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource (WCDSR) comprises over 100 species inhabiting inshore (20-250 m deep) and offshore ( \u3e 250 m deep) waters of the West Coast Bioregion (WCB; north of Kalbarri to east of Augusta). The WCDSR is primarily targeted by commercial, charter and recreational boat-based line fishers, including the commercial West Coast Demersal Scalefish (Interim) Managed Fishery (WCDSIMF). Indicator species selected for monitoring and assessing the status of the inshore suite of the WCDSR include Snapper, WA Dhufish and Baldchin Groper, while indicators for the offshore suite include Hapuku, Bass Groper and Blue-eye Trevalla.
The WCDSR is more than halfway through a 20-year recovery plan to recover stocks by 2030. As outlined in the WCDSR harvest strategy, the recovery of the resource is currently monitored through annual reviews of total removals (including retained catches and estimates of post-release mortality) against specific recovery benchmarks for each sector, as well as periodic stock assessments of each indicator species (DPIRD 2021). The 2025 WCDSR assessment presented in this report incorporates catch and effort information collected up to 2024 (inclusive), as well as biological data on the sizes and ages of fish sampled from commercial and recreational catches in each management area (Kalbarri, Mid-West, Metropolitan and South-West) up until 2021-22 (inclusive).
Total removals of demersal scalefish by commercial fisheries in the WCB in 2024 (291 t) were well above the 240 t recovery benchmark in place for that year. The total removals of key demersal scalefish species collectively caught by boat-based recreational and charter fishers in the WCB in 2023-24 (217 t), derived from the 2023-24 survey of private boat-based fishing and reported charter catches in the same year, were also well above the 135 t recovery benchmark for this sector. These data show that the substantial management changes implemented in 2023 have not been effective at reducing fishing mortality to the level required to support recovery.
The WCDSR provides a high social amenity to fishers, with the indicator species representing primary targets for recreational fishers in the WCB. The estimated gross value of product (GVP) of the commercial WCDSIMF was $1-5 million in 2024
Stirling, City of - North BEN sign map – 1 of 2
No full textBeach Emergency Number (BEN) Signage Installation Map – City of Stirling (north)https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_bens/1045/thumbnail.jp
Jerramungup, Shire of - East BEN sign map – 2 of 2
No full textBeach Emergency Number (BEN) Signage Installation Map – Shire of Jerramungup - easthttps://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/gis_bens/1034/thumbnail.jp
Estimating the carbon footprint of sheep production in Western Australia
No full textWestern Australia’s broadacre mixed farming systems combine cropping and sheep production and are the largest component of the state’s agricultural sector. The south west Western Australia (WA) agricultural area hosts about 98% of the state\u27s sheep flock. The sheep industry contributed $1.5 billion to the state’s economy in 2021-22 and accounts for about a quarter of on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most sheep industry emissions (over 80%) come from methane produced by the sheep. Despite this environmental impact, only 9.9% of Australian sheep producers have estimated their emissions, which limits the industry\u27s ability to monitor and manage carbon footprints effectively. This report presents comprehensive carbon footprint estimates for sheep production across different agroecological zones (AEZs) within WA’s agricultural area, drawing on five years of industry benchmark data to establish regional emission baselines. We examine relationships between profitability, emissions, and emission intensity
Value of horticulture from Western Australia 2023–24
No full textIn 2023–24, WA produced approximately $1.92 billion worth of fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables, and amenity horticulture at the wholesale level. The real value of Western Australia’s horticulture sector, as of 2023–24, grew by 9.6% compared to 2020 levels, driving regional economic development
Fisheries Research Report No. 357: Recreational fishing for Marron in south-west Western Australia in 2025 - estimates of participation, effort and catch
No full textThe smooth marron (Cherax cainii) (‘marron’) is endemic to freshwater dams and rivers of south-west Western Australia. Marron are managed as a single stock within the South-West Recreational Freshwater Resource and are highly vulnerable to over-exploitation due to the biological characteristics of the species (e.g., low fecundity, localised populations) as well as environmental (e.g., habitat loss, reduction in rainfall) and human (e.g., fishing, land clearing) pressures on freshwater ecosystems.
Due to this vulnerability, this species has been the focus of research, monitoring and management since the 1970’s. Since 2000, annual phone-recall (2000 – 2021) and online-recall (2022 – 2025) surveys have been undertaken using the marron licence database as the sampling frame.
Participation in the Recreational Marron Fishery (marron licence holders aged five years or older) in the 2025 fishing season (8 January – 5 February 2025) was 71% of licence holders or 8,546 fishers (95% CI 8,199 – 8,893). Statewide fishing effort for marron by licensed fishers in 2025 was 29,289 days fished (95%CI 27,205 – 31,373); of which 65% or 19,064 (17,267 – 20,860) was in rivers and 35% or 10,226 (8,663 – 11,789) in dams. The top five hydrographic basins captured 76% of the statewide fishing effort, with the Collie Basin, Harvey Basin and Warren Basin having the highest levels of fishing effort. Fishing effort in these basins was predominately from the Wellington Dam and Collie River (Collie Basin), Harvey Dam (Harvey Basin) and Warren River (Warren Basin).
Statewide total catch (numbers) of marron by licensed fishers in 2025 was 179,551 individuals (95%CI 161,020 – 198,083); of which 66% or 107,016 (94,460 – 119,572) was caught in rivers and 40% or 72,535 (57,409 – 87,661) in dams. The top six basins captured 88% of the statewide total catch, with the Collie Basin, Warren Basin and Harvey Basin having the highest levels of total catch. Total catch in these basins was predominately from the Wellington Dam and Collie River (Collie Basin), Harvey Dam (Harvey Basin) and Warren River (Warren Basin).
Statewide retained catch (numbers) of marron by licensed fishers in 2025 was 84,322 individuals (95%CI 75,061 – 93,582); of which 63% or 52,944 (45,974 – 59,914) was caught in rivers and 37% or 31,378 (24,620 – 38,135) in dams. The overall release rate of marron in 2025 was 53%.
Although the retained catch has fluctuated across years, the catch range (defined by the 95% confidence intervals for the retained catch) has been within the acceptable catch range of 50,000 – 100,000 since 2003. Therefore, the Recreational Marron Fishery is currently deemed sustainable.
Ongoing monitoring and management of the Recreational Marron Fishery is required to ensure it continues to be sustainable in an era of changing environmental conditions. A key part of this is ensuring that the annual online-recall surveys continue to provide information at scales appropriate to support management decisions
WA Narrow Orchard Systems (NOS) project update: Initial tree training (Year 1)
No full textThe Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is investigating the potential of 2D multileader narrow orchard systems in Western Australia for three Australian bred apple cultivars (‘ANABP 01’, ‘ANABP 09’, ‘ANABP 14’). This pilot trial is a part of the five-year national ‘Narrow Orchard Systems for Future Climates’ project, funded through the Hort Innovation Frontiers program
Marine Heatwave Response Plan for Western Australia’s Wild Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture
No full textThe purpose of the Western Australian wild capture fisheries and aquaculture marine heatwave response plan (the Plan) is to document the Department’s approach for identifying and responding to the hazard of a marine heatwave on wild catch fisheries (commercial, recreational, charter and customary) and aquaculture resources within the geographic boundaries of WA. It provides risk reduction strategies and establishes best-practice processes for each stage of the hazard management and response continuum, ensuring that DPIRD is able to adequately prepare for, respond to, and recover from marine heatwave events. This Plan operates in conjunction with WA’s existing aquatic resource management framework, including relevant legislation, subsidiary legislation and policies
A simple guide for describing soils, 2nd edition
No full textSoils are enormously diverse and can be very confusing to understand and talk about. This simple guide for describing soils helps to identify the most important parts of a soil profile and provide an easy way to understand and explain what you see. It gives you a step-by-step guide of what soil properties to describe and how to describe them, along with the tools to make basic soil classifications. The soil descriptors help you to identify the soil type and aid in assigning a simple and standardised name to the soil. While this guide is designed to link with a simple classification system already in use for Western Australia — Western Australian soil groups — the soil description standards used here are applicable everywhere.
This guide is suitable for anyone who is interested in understanding the basics of soil morphology, characteristics and description. Experts in other scientific fields, industry consultants, students and interested lay readers will also benefit from using this guide as a stepping stone to a more advanced understanding of soil.
This second edition updates key information resulting from new editions of the Australian Soil Classification, the Australian soil and land survey field handbook and the Western Australian soil groups: a diagnostic key to identify soils in Western Australia. It includes revised visual aids to classification using a simplified key based on soil supergroups and the WA soil groups, new diagrams that explain the exemplar soil types, and an updated glossary to match the references this guide relies on for technical information
Successful artificial incubation and juvenile-rearing of dropped eggs of a critically endangered freshwater crayfish (Cherax tenuimanus)
No full textOne-third of the world’s freshwater crayfish species face extinction risk, necessitating extreme and urgent conservation measures such as captive rearing. Little information exists on these measures for most threatened species. The hairy marron, Cherax tenuimanus (Parastacidae), is a critically endangered freshwater crayfish endemic to the Margaret River in south-western Western Australia. C. tenuimanus is being rapidly replaced by the smooth marron, Cherax cainii, a translocated congener, causing its progressive decline in range, and now it faces imminent extinction in the wild. Attempts at captive breeding have resulted in few occurrences of egg laying of C. tenuimanus, which ended in complete loss of the clutch as eggs were progressively dropped by the female. To assess the potential of dropped eggs in captive rearing, we trialled ex situ artificial incubation techniques by using eggs dropped from a captively held female. Of 41 dropped eggs, 85% were successfully hatched in suspension upwellers, and 74% of the subsequent juveniles were reared successfully for 111 days in a purpose-built recirculating aquaculture system. We describe our protocols and facilities in detail because captive rearing of dropped eggs was demonstrated to be a viable option for improved success of captive reproduction. These approaches may be applicable for conserving similar crayfish species