King George Whiting Fishing Ban Lifted Early in South Australia Amid Stock Rejuvenation

A temporary recreational fishing ban on King George whiting, which was imposed because of the impact of South Australia's harmful algal bloom, has been lifted amid early signs of rejuvenating stocks.

Fishing restrictions have been in place throughout the bloom, with fresh ones announced in April to protect several species over the winter months to give devastated stocks a chance to rebound.

Among those measures was a closure of southern Gulf St Vincent, Investigator Strait, and parts of eastern and southern Spencer Gulf and Yorke Peninsula to recreational catches of King George whiting, from May 1 to July 31.

But the state's Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) said that end date had been brought forward, in time for the current school holidays, because the bulk of the spawning season had already occurred.

"King George whiting wasn't as heavily impacted so … we can lift those restrictions," South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) executive director Mike Steer told 891 ABC Adelaide.

"The information that we have indicates that the majority of the spawning activity happens in May and June, so we're pretty confident that we can open it up.

"The benefit has been achieved through those fish accumulating down that area and doing what they naturally do."

PIRSA said recreational fishing of King George whiting could "now resume within the closure area, subject to existing bag and boat limits".

The repeal of the closure has been welcomed by recreational fishers, who "have certainly celebrated the opening early", according to RecFish SA executive officer Asher Dezsery.

"It's time to access these fish again," he said.

"Once you know the biology of a fish and where they're spawning and things like that, there's a whole bunch of tools that you can use to manage a fishery really well and help them do better, like whiting in this case."

Port Lincoln fishing retailer Lucas Wheeler said the move was "great" not just for those heading out on the water, but for the broader sector.

"It's a lot better for the shop as well, because people are coming in and buying regular tackle," he said.

"For a lot of fishos — beforehand, they did think that it wasn't necessarily worth going out for the day to catch five whiting."

Stock monitoring continues for other species

While recreational restrictions have eased, PIRSA said limits on commercial catches of King George whiting and other species would remain in place in the Gulf St Vincent and Kangaroo Island fishing zone until the end of next April.

"It's still closed for the commercial fishery and it has a 50 per cent bag limit for recs so there's still a little bit of constraint around the Gulf St Vincent area," Professor Steer said.

"SARDI's going to undertake routine assessments to track the recovery of those species, and we're particularly interested in calamari, garfish, King George whiting, snapper et cetera, and as soon as we get numbers that achieve the levels where we can … confidently or sustainably relax some of the fishing restrictions, then we'll be on top of that.

"We're actively looking at assessing the populations to work out whether they are at sustainable levels or if they represent a healthy stock."

Last week, the SA government announced a ban on boat tours and recreation water-based activities such as swimming and diving in cuttlefish sanctuary zone off waters near Whyalla, because of low numbers.

Professor Steer said that situation was being monitored.

"All indications at this stage are suggesting that the population's been significantly depleted," he said.

"It's my understanding there's a team going out this week from the Department of Environment and Water to undertake a survey, and then SARDI will go out the following week."