A report on commercial fishing in Western Australia has questioned the activities of state government officers. 

WA’s auditor-general says there has been little acknowledgement of the inherent conflicts of interest in fisheries officers living in towns where the entire community is dominated by commercial fishers.

Additionally, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) was found to face conflicting responsibilities for promoting the industry while also regulating it.

Other issues include the fact that data management systems for regulating fisheries are out of date, and still paper-based for many processes.

The review found the data is not being used to inform decisions on fisheries enforcement and compliance activities, which are often ad hoc, random, and reactive.

In some WA fisheries, over 80 per cent of enforcement and compliance activities were classified as random or reactive.

“Fisheries officers will set out for a day and sometimes get a little distracted by what they see in front of them, rather than targeting the planned risk that they were actually setting out to monitor,” said Auditor-general Caroline Spencer

“There are very dedicated professional fisheries and marine officers that work for the department, and many of them are doing a fantastic job day in and day out.

“But in terms of targeting the highest-risk areas in a really strategic way, those risks that are of the highest impact when protecting our fishery resources, there really isn't that overall strategic systemic risk-based approach in making sure that planned activities are actually conducted.”

Ms Spencer concluded that with all these failings, there is no meaningful strategy to ensure the biggest threats to WA's fisheries are being targeted.

“The results of our audit really provide a view that we can't be confident that there's not over-fishing and illegal fishing happening in WA fisheries,” she said.

“We can't tell.

“There are key weaknesses in the department's regulation of the commercial fishing industry.”

While WA fisheries officers have significant law enforcement powers, the auditor-general found they did not have ongoing integrity checks to monitor their use.

The department's integrity framework lacks recognition or management of conflicts of interests among fisheries officers, who typically work with the same commercial fishers for long periods of time.

“There is also a lack of guidance for fisheries officers on managing conflicts of interest in regional areas where officers may enjoy social relationships with the people they need to monitor for compliance and potentially sanction or prosecute,” the report said. 

“The risk is high in regional areas because communities are often small and there is an increased likelihood of familiarity over time.

“The department does not have a maximum tenure for regional positions or rotate its staff through regional posts to manage this risk.”

The audit also found that the risk of the department being influenced by commercial operators is not recognised by the department at a corporate level.

“They have dual roles in the commercial fishing industry, they regulate and support the commercial fishing industry, and they also seek to see the industry grow,” Ms Spencer said.

“And those are competing roles that can lead to industry capture or being dominated by industry.

“And that's a problem where we have an industry that has inherent risks around overfishing and black-market sales.”

The DPIRD has issued a statement saying it welcomes the “benchmarking and assessment report from the auditor, which will help with continual improvement”.

“We've commenced a review of the relevant findings, to identify options to develop and advance our services where required,” the department said.

“DPIRD is confident in the integrity and effectiveness of its compliance program and the regulation of commercial fishing.

“We deliver a range of monitoring, surveillance, inspection, and investigation services, using capable, professional, and trained officers.

“DPIRD always seeks to do better, and we remain committed to delivering comprehensive science-backed awareness and education programs, through which we can increase the ability of all West Australians who fish to willingly comply with the regulatory requirements we oversee.”