The first West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource stock assessment of indicators species WA dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper was completed in 2007. This stock assessment concluded that overfishing of the stocks was occurring and that the levels of fishing mortality by all sectors needed to be reduced by at least 50% to allow stocks to recover. Between 2008 and 2010, significant management action was introduced with the management objective of maintaining total retained catch and effort by all sectors below 50% of 2005/06 levels to recover the resource within 20 years.

In 2017, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development completed the latest stock assessment of the resource. This assessment indicated that there were signs of early recovery in some management areas however the expected rate of recovery in some management areas was not being achieved due to previous or current high catches and high levels of releases and associated post-release mortality

Now, ten years since the first stock assessment and halfway into the original recovery plan, the effectiveness of the current management objective is able to be reviewed to adapt to changes in fisher behaviour and ensure the resource is able to recover in the appropriate timeframe.