South Australian Snapper Rebuilding Plan

Snapper stocks in the West Coast and Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent are classified as depleted and have been closed to fishing since November 2019.

To support the recovery of depleted Snapper stocks and the potential reopening of the fishery beyond 30 June 2026, PIRSA is preparing a Snapper Rebuilding Plan. Rebuilding plans are used in SA and other jurisdictions in Australia and overseas to achieve desired recovery outcomes within specified timeframes for fish stocks that have become depleted.

Over the last seven months, PIRSA has worked closely with the Marine Scalefish Fishery Management Advisory Committee (MSFMAC) to progress development of a draft rebuilding plan. A focus of this work has been identifying what recovery and fishing scenarios should be further explored and scientifically modelled by the South Australian Research and Development Institute. These have included:

• What population size should the plan aim to achieve and by when?
• At what size population is it acceptable to reopen fishing?
• How much fishing should be allowed at different population sizes?

SARDI modelling of different scenarios related to the above questions is currently being undertaken and will inform preparation of a draft Snapper Rebuilding Plan. The draft plan is scheduled to be provided to the MSFMAC later in July 2025 before being provided to peak representative stakeholder organisations for feedback before the plan is further updated and provided to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development for consideration (see timeline below).

The Snapper Rebuilding Plan, together with a new Snapper stock assessment report scheduled to be completed in November 2025, will guide whether or not fishing should reopen in July 2026.

Outcomes
Our plan will provide transparent policies and approaches to manage the recovery of Snapper fish stocks in SA. This will include:

• Management objectives for stock rebuilding, with intended target population levels.
• Estimated timeframes for stock recovery against the planned milestones. This depends on various factors such as:
  • the level of fishing mortality
  • biological characteristics of the species
  • recruitment events.
• Pre-defined criteria that will guide our decisions to meet planned objectives. These will consider:
  • when fishing should reopen on currently closed stocks
  • how much fishing should be permitted for a given Snapper population size
  • when fishing levels should be increased or decreased.
• Performance indicators that will be measured to track the plan’s progress against target and other reference points.
• Key management arrangements to achieve the rebuilding objectives.
• Frequency of monitoring and stock assessments, including what information will be needed.

Plan timeline

For more information, see Snapper management.