ALL fishers are reminded that the annual snapper fishing closure for South Australia commences on the 1st November.
This year will see a two-week extension being implemented across the board to cover both the recreational and commercial sectors. The snapper ban will run through until the 15th December, and covers all state waters.
The state ban includes targeting snapper for catch and release, so if you do happen to accidentally find yourself in the midst of a snapper bite, you are required to up anchor and relocate away from the school.
In addition to the extended closed-season, there will be five spatial closures that will further protect key spawning aggregation sites. Four of these sites will be located in Spencer Gulf, and one in Gulf St. Vincent. These five sites are recognised aggregation grounds for spawning snapper, and as such are heavily targeted areas by both the commercial and recreational sectors once the season had traditionally opened.
These spatial closures will see a 4km radius placed around the known grounds that will further prevent any fishing activity through until 31st January 2014, and hence “closing” these important breeding grounds for 3 months of the year. The spatial closures will better align with actual spawning seasons for snapper in our Gulfs.
These spatial grounds include the Illusion and Santa Anna, both of which are wide of Port Broughton (Spencer Gulf), Jurassic Park wide of Wallaroo (Spencer Gulf), the Estelle Star wide of Arno Bay (Spencer Gulf) and the barges wide of Ardrossan (Gulf St. Vincent).
For detailed maps of the spatial grounds, visit:
http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/fisheries/closures/closed_areas/snapper_spatial_closure_map
