Dozens of professional lobster licence holders are getting ready for the 2022/23 Southern Zone season which kicks off at 6am on September 1.
This is well ahead of the customary starting date of October 1 and is one of the State Government’s responses to the loss of the Chinese export market in 2020 as well as the impact of COVID.
The early start has been authorised by Fisheries Minister Professor Gavin Begg with a statement published in the South Australian Government Gazette.
Almost 12,000 pots are licensed to the professional lobster sector with many fishers averaging around $55 per kilogram during the 2021/22 season.
The Southend fleet shrank by one over winter with one prominent local fishing family selling their pot allocation.
Although there are 180 professional licences in the Southern Zone, the actual number of operational boats is well below that figure.
At its peak in the 1960s, there were about 328 boats and licences in the Southern Zone.
