Perfect storm of soaring transport costs, demersal ban and cyclone Narelle pushes WA’s fish supply to brink

West Aussies planning their traditional Good Friday seafood feast are facing a grim reality — the local catch is effectively off the menu. A perfect storm of soaring transport costs, restrictive government fishing bans and cyclone Narelle’s impact is pushing the State’s fish supply to the brink, with industry leaders warning it had been “impossible” to source WA-caught produce for the Easter long-weekend. Households were already bracing for a 40 per cent price hike on local favourites such as dhufish and snapper in the first major test since the controversial commercial demersal fishing ban kicked in on January 1. Then, right as the industry was coming to terms with soaring transport costs because of fuel hikes nature has delivered a knockout blow to leave the industry — and consumers — reeling. Phillip Clark, co-owner of leading supplier Fins Seafood, said Narelle’s timing — which forced fishing boats up and down WA’s coast off the water — could not be worse. “It’s compounding the effect of the fishing ban,” Mr Clark said. “We’re coming to Easter, one of our busiest weeks for fresh fish and fish fillet sales, and we’ve got the cyclone. So some of the boats up north are all tied up, battening down the hatches, so we won’t be getting much supply locally, unfortunately, for that week.” The shortage is so acute that Fins — which usually boasts of being a 100 per cent West Australian seafood supplier — expects that instore figure to plummet to just 10 per cent in the lead-up to Good Friday. “It’s our biggest day of the year... and fishermen prepare for it and they generally all gear up and fish to the Easter market,” Mr Clark said. “So that’s another thing that’s a little bit sad. Fishermen that are already struggling and here comes the time that you can sort of capitalise on prices, but then the weather’s keeping them out of it. “It’s sort of like being kicked while you’re down.” The impact is already visible on ice beds across the state. Staples like goldband snapper, pink snapper, red emperor, and dhufish predominantly sourced from waters off WA’s north are already in short supply and could this week be entirely missing from shops. “All those northern northern guys aren’t going there and that’s where we get the majority of our fish,” Mr Clark said. “We don’t tend to get too much out of the south... they haven’t been catching a huge amount.” To fill the void, retailers are frantically sourcing from the famed Sydney fish markets and abroad. “We’re getting orders in for New Zealand probably twice the size of what we normally get,” Mr Clark said. “People are always going to be able to buy something but I mean, you might find that there’s a bit more mullet and herring on the menu for Easter this year.” WA Fishing Industry Council Deputy Chair Manue Daniels said the cyclone is the final straw for a sector stretched thin by demersal restrictions and surging fuel costs. “Demand for WA’s seafood was already outstripping supply after the recent demersal fishing bans and catch reductions. When you start with a limited supply base and it’s squeezed even further, rising prices become unavoidable,” Mr Daniels said. “These kinds of cascading impacts are exactly what happens when multiple pressures collide, reduced seafood supply, extreme weather events and surging fuel costs all push the seafood prices up. “When we’re already working with significantly reduced commercial catch volumes under the new demersal restrictions, any additional disruption is felt immediately. “The cyclone’s path across the Pilbara and Gasgoyne further constrains fishing opportunities, particularly in the Gasgoyne region, which is the State’s most productive fishery, intensifying the pressure on an industry that is already stretched thin.” While some cashed-up consumers are still willing to pay a premium for local catch, many are being forced to look elsewhere — or ditch the seafood tradition entirely. “You can easily not have fish for dinner and have chicken, and that’s the sad reality, and that choice is having a huge impact on the industry as a whole,” Mr Clark said. For those determined to keep seafood on the plate, Carlo insists quality options remain, even if they aren’t local. “There is still very good fish out there that you can have,” he said. “If the customer wants to put seafood on the table for Easter, we have the variety that allows them to buy across the range... hopefully at Easter time, they will still put seafood on the table.”