A Narooma charter boat skipper says a 75cm size limit could be introduced and the bag limit reduced from five fish to two fish.

A spokesman from the DPI confirmed the Recreational Fishing NSW Advisory Council was considering a number of measures to improve the status of some of the state’s fish stocks. 

“Kingfish are one of those species, however no recommendations have been made to the Minister for Primary Industries on any changes,” the spokesperson said. “Any recommendations on changes would be subject to public consultation prior to any decisions being made.”

Narooma fishing charter operator John Moore has been following up on some information he received a couple of weeks ago, regarding proposals by Fisheries to increase the size limit for kings to 75cm with a bag limit of two and only one kingfish over 100cm.

“I met with Max Castle who is the South Coast representative on Recreational Fisheries NSW yesterday to discuss the issue, and Max will send me a copy of a consultation paper, which will be out before the March meeting of RFNSW,” Mr Moore said.

The last change to kingfish regulations occured back in 2007 when the size limit was increased from 60cm to 65cm.

Mr Moore has successfully requested information about those changes and Fisheries in 2007 received just over 3300 submissions to a postal survey with the majority opposed to any changes, despite some government officials saying the opposite.

According to his information, 1314 people responded to the option of increasing the minimum legal length of kingfish from 60cm to 65cm.  He said 418, or 32 per cent, supported the proposal, and 896, or 68 per cent, did not support the proposal.

The increased size limit  of 65cm commenced on September 3, 2007.

Mr Moore alleges when the Fishing Industry Council recommended the increase in size back then, it didn’t consult their members.

“No other state even has 65cm as their size for kingfish, they are either 60cm or 45cm,” he said. “Fisheries have assured us previously that kingfish stocks would improve with the ban of kingfish traps and increased size to 65cm - neither of which has happened

Anecdotal reports from a Victorian fisheries manager was that the Victorian recreational take in kingfish had gone up over 500 per cent in the last 10 years, he said.

“The current situation, particularly with Victoria having 60cm size for kings, has resulted in fewer Victorians travelling to NSW South Coast to chase kings,” he said.