West Australians anglers – both commercial and recreational – face tough new restrictions as popular species along the coast plummet to “severe” levels.

A forum held with government and fishing industry representatives on Monday heard previous restrictions hadn’t been enough, with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development warning overfishing of demersal species was preventing their recovery.

Dhufish are key target species for recreational anglers in WA and are endemic to the state. Credit: David Allan-Petale

WA dhufish spawning biomass is 85 per cent depleted; northern snapper is 83 per cent depleted; and southern snapper is 80 per cent depleted, according to the department.

This meant all three species were regarded as at “severe risk”.

Fisheries Minister Jack

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