Fisheries Minister Extends Voluntary Adjustment Scheme Deadline to December 2027

The Minister for Fisheries, Hon. Jackie Jarvis MLC, has extended the closing date of the Kimberley and South Coast voluntary fisheries adjustment schemes by a full year, moving the deadline from 18 December 2026 to 18 December 2027. The change is made by the Kimberley and South Coast Fisheries Voluntary Fisheries Adjustment Schemes Amendment Notice 2026, published in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 133 of 20 October 2026 under reference FI401. The instrument was dated 1 October 2026 and takes effect through its publication in the Gazette.

Made under the Fisheries Adjustment Schemes Act 1987

The amendment notice is made by the Minister under section 10B of the Fisheries Adjustment Schemes Act 1987, and carries the instrument identifier [A36197]. It operates by amending the voluntary fisheries adjustment schemes notices already in force rather than by creating a new scheme.

Clause 3 of the notice targets clause 8 in each of the affected notices, deleting the words “18 December 2026” and inserting “18 December 2027” in their place. The operative effect is therefore a single, uniform one-year rollover of the closing date across every scheme caught by the instrument.

Nine fisheries covered by the April notices

The first limb of clause 2 amends the voluntary fisheries adjustment schemes notices published in the Gazette on 10 April 2026 (No. 36). Those notices were made with respect to:

• Marine Aquarium Managed Fishery
• Octopus Managed Fishery
• South Coast Crustacean Managed Fishery
• South Coast Line and Fish Trap Managed Fishery
• South Coast Nearshore Net Managed Fishery
• South Coast Purse Seine Managed Fishery
• South Coast Salmon Managed Fishery
• Southern Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Managed Fishery
• Specimen Shell Managed Fishery

Abalone fishery added through the May amendment

The second limb of clause 2 reaches a separate instrument: the voluntary fisheries adjustment scheme amendment notice published in the Gazette on 15 May 2026 (No. 52), which was made with respect to the Abalone Managed Fishery. That notice is amended in the same terms, so the Abalone Managed Fishery also moves to the 18 December 2027 closing date.

Taken together, the instrument resets the deadline for ten managed fisheries — the nine named in the April notices and the Abalone Managed Fishery — under a single gazettal.

A one-year window for licence holders

The practical consequence is that holders in the affected fisheries now have until 18 December 2027 to act within the voluntary adjustment schemes, rather than the December 2026 date set earlier this year. Because the amendment deletes and replaces the date in clause 8 of each underlying notice, the extension applies uniformly and without any change to the other terms of those schemes.

The notice sits in the Fisheries section of the Gazette, at page 2371, immediately ahead of Justice, Lands, Premier and Cabinet, Racing, Gaming and Liquor, Regional Development and Public Notices items in the same edition.

Why it matters

For operators in the South Coast, Kimberley, southern demersal and specimen shell fisheries, the amendment removes the immediate pressure of a December 2026 cut-off and gives an additional twelve months to decide whether to remain in the fishery or take part in a voluntary adjustment process. It also signals that the State has chosen to keep the schemes open rather than let them lapse at the end of 2026, a decision that will shape fleet restructuring and quota consolidation across the affected fisheries well into 2027.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 133, 20 October 2026, Fisheries, p. 2371 (official reference: FI401 / [A36197]).