Once the New South Wales South Coast was brimming with abalone, but today most of the populations are depleted and the state government is considering a ban on commercial fishing to allow the shellfish to repopulate.
In a draft management proposal seen by the ABC, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has proposed a shutdown of commercial abalone harvesting from Bundeena, south of Sydney, to Eden near the Victorian border.
The proposal cites pressure from overfishing and "resource-sharing issues" with native title holders as creating "significant sustainability challenges".
The proposal would result in about 350 kilometres of coastline being declared off-limits for commercial abalone fishers.
Abalone Association of NSW (AANSW) chair Stephen Bunney said the mood among divers was one of dismay.
"It has now got to a state where three-quarters of the fishery is probably unrecoverable," he said.
"It's certainly no longer commercially viable."
Under the proposal, the Central Zone between Bundeena and Red Point would be closed to commercial abalone harvesting. (Supplied)
In a statement, a DPIRD spokesperson said the draft was based on a reduction in commercial abalone harvest to relieve pressure on the resource and submissions from stakeholders were being considered.
Fishing quota slashed
The latest report from the independent Total Allowable Fishing Committee (TAFC), a statutory body that reviews fishing catch limits, found there was a "severe decline" in abalone stocks across the NSW coastline in the past year to either depleting or depleted.
In response, DPIRD last month slashed the amount of abalone able to be caught in the upcoming season by more than 40 per cent.
A major issue identified by the TAFC was illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) fishing, which the DPIRD has previously estimated at between 25 and 35 tonnes of abalone each year.
Stephen Bunney says the fishery has "pretty much collapsed" north of Eden. (Supplied)
Mr Bunney said the rezoning and closure would not address their ongoing concerns about the government's inability to stop IUU fishing.
"Many people have just lost absolute confidence in the government to manage this," he said.
"The only thing they can do, if they're not going to pursue compliance and illegal fishing, is remove the commercial fishery because it's the only thing they've got control over."
Abalone stocks across the NSW South Coast are depleting or depleted. (ABC South East NSW: Vanessa Milton)
Native title holders 'used as a scapegoat'
The stretch of coastline that would be closed is subject to an ongoing native title claim filed by the South Coast people in 2017.
While the native title applicants have welcomed the proposed closure, applicant and long-time advocate for Aboriginal cultural fishing rights, Wally Stewart, said the South Coast Aboriginal community was being "used as a scapegoat" for the depletion.
Wally Stewart is a lead applicant in the South Coast people's native title claim. (ABC South East NSW: Vanessa Milton)
Under Commonwealth native title law passed in 1993, Aboriginal cultural fishers are entitled to take sea resources under traditional lore and custom without restrictions under state fisheries management laws.
But Mr Stewart said it had been a protracted battle for the state government to respect the rights.
"We always knew that it was our water and our resources, and there was even a law there to back it up," he said.
"But the NSW government discriminated against that and prosecuted our people under state laws."
The DPIRD and the TAFC includes the legally protected native title catch within the IUU take.
But native title applicants say that classification has fuelled discrimination.
Abalone is a traditional food for South Coast Indigenous people. (ABC South East NSW: Vanessa Milton)
"They've made us out to be poachers and the ones that destroyed the fishery," Mr Stewart said.
"We'd be lucky to take 2 tonnes a year between the whole mob up and down the South Coast.
"In the meantime, the commercial divers have been taking around 100 tonnes a year."
The continued prosecution of native title holders by the state government under NSW fisheries management regulations was the subject of a 2022 parliamentary inquiry and a class action that was filed in 2024.
Buyout offer rejected
The draft management framework is part of the state government's attempt to reform and reset the abalone fishery that was announced in June.
It included offering a voluntary share buyout to commercial abalone fishers at a valuation of about $4,200 a share to reduce fishing pressure.
There are currently 41 shareholders in the industry with shareholdings between 10 and 90 shares, meaning the largest shareholders would receive $378,000 under the offer.
But on July 10, the AANSW voted to reject the government's offer.
Mr Bunney said the offer was unfair and poorly formulated in light of what the industry believed was a failure to police illegal fishing.
"They've offered them less than a third of what they've paid to be in these businesses when the fishery was being properly managed," he said.
"This is people's businesses. This is people's lives."
The commercial abalone industry has rejected the government's offer of a voluntary share buyout. (ABC South East NSW: Vanessa Milton)
But Mr Stewart said the government should be focused on habitat recovery rather than compensation.
"That money should go into restoration, rather than giving these guys a golden handshake,"
he said.
Mr Bunney said AANSW would be asking for mediation with Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty while also pushing for an upper house inquiry.
