WA seismic blasting plans ‘fly in the face’ of demersal fishing ban, conservationists warn

Western Australia’s peak environmental body claims the state government’s continued permission for seismic blasting off the coast “flies in the face” of a controversial fishing ban recently introduced to protect demersal stocks.

The Conservation Council WA has backed the ban on demersal fishing, introduced on January 1, labelling it necessary to protect species recovery into the future. But the environment group claimed the ban was undermined by approvals for seismic blasting to explore for new gas reserves.

The council highlighted a recent approval from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority for Pilot Energy to carry out a seismic survey off the Dongara coast, near Geraldton.

Council executive director Matt Roberts said restricting fishing activities to address a sharp decline in spawning biomass levels was critical, but the additional threat posed by seismic blasting “seems to have been overlooked and is likely to have a significant impact on fish stocks”.

“CCWA is particularly concerned about the impacts to demersal scalefish species, which have been woefully under-assessed in the NOPSEMA-led evaluation, and are rated as under ‘severe risk’ in the west coast region,” he said.

“Studies of fish species show both behavioural and physical impacts from seismic blasting, including damage to their hearing ability, and making them more susceptible to predation.

“Demersal species live and feed on the seafloor, putting them more at risk of the devastating impacts of the blasting as the noise from seismic arrays increases as you move down the water column.”

Roberts said the council had met with Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis to express their concerns.

Jarvis told this masthead the plans made by Pilot Energy were outside WA waters and its assessment and approval fell under Commonwealth responsibility.

“The Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development has participated in the Pilot Energy consultation process and lodged a submission to NOPSEMA recommending additional research be undertaken to directly assess whether the MSS may impact local marine fauna,” she said.

Michael Butcher, a fisherman and vice president of the Dongara Professional Fishers Association, said there were demersal species all over Leander Reef, where seismic blasting has been proposed by Pilot Energy.

“We’ve got baldchin groper, dhufish and buff bream all over the reef, alongside commercial species like western rock lobsters and octopus,” Butcher said.

“Right now, the crays are covered in eggs, so we can’t keep the females, but the blasting window is this time next year.

“While we’re following the rules to keep the stocks sustainable and healthy into the future, Pilot is allowed to come in and blast our reef and all the species that live there.”

However, Matt Smith, who is running the environment plan and consultation process for the Eureka seismic survey on behalf of Pilot Energy, said in accepting the plan, NOPSEMA had determined it would not result in unacceptable impacts to demersal scalefish.

“As a condition of approval, Pilot Energy is required to maintain its environmental knowledge base and to review and reassess environmental risks where circumstances or information change over time,” he said.

“Pilot Energy is aware of the recent demersal scale fish reforms announced by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and supports measures to protect these long-lived, slow-growing species.

“In light of these reforms, Pilot Energy has identified that its impact assessment requires review, which may lead to amendments to the environment plan.

“Separately, due to the limited availability of suitable survey vessels, Pilot Energy is unable to undertake the survey during the originally planned February to March 2026 window.

“Pilot Energy will review and, if necessary, modify the Eureka Environment Plan and resubmit it to NOPSEMA for reassessment in due course. This will include another public comment period.”

Petition against fishing ban gathers pace

While the Conservation Council still supports the new policy, a petition urging a parliamentary inquiry into the ban is gathering steam.

Opposition fisheries spokeswoman Kirrilee Warr said the Nationals’ petition to end the ban had been garnering support with more than 31,000 people signing it.

She said it was on track to becoming the largest e-petition ever lodged in the Legislative Council’s history which demonstrated how “gutted” communities were.

“If the growing unrest over Labor’s demersal fishing bans is any indication, the Cook Labor Government has bitten off more than it can chew and badly underestimated the strength and unity of WA’s fishing community,” Warr said.

“In recent weeks we’ve seen protests from fishers, hundreds of personal stories shared online, and grassroots community action where fishers are taking to the streets to protest the bans.”

Jarvis said the science showed iconic demersal fish species were under severe threat in some parts of WA.

“Urgent action was needed to protect these species,” she said.

“We understand that some people in the fishing community are upset with the demersal reforms. However, as difficult as these decisions have been to make, they had to be made.

“We want our kids and grandkids to be able to enjoy fishing in our beautiful state into the future.”

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