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Western Central Region

Description

Fact Sheet [PDF]

Fishing activities play an important role for local economies across the Region, given that fish industry employment is largely located outside of the Metropolitan portion where the vast majority of its workforce resides. The Region includes the Shark Bay and the Ningaloo Marine Parks.

Major commercial fisheries in the Region include: the western rock lobster trap fishery (Western Australia); prawn and scallop trawl fisheries in the vicinity of Shark Bay (Western Australia); pelagic longline fisheries offshore (Australian Government); and various finfish fisheries (Australian Government and Western Australia).

 

 

Emptying the rock lobster catch,
Western Australia (Dylan Skinns, Newfish)

Socio-economic characteristics

The Region has a population of approximately 312,100 persons, 81% of whom reside within the coastal Metropolitan portion. Between 1996 and 2001 the population grew at an annual rate slightly higher than for coastal Australia, with much of this population growth occurring across the northern and peri-urban fringes of Perth, and around Geraldton.

The Region is characterised by the sharp contrast between socio-demographic conditions in the Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan portions, which comprised sparsely distributed coastal towns, many of them holiday villages. These coastal Non-metropolitan areas had larger proportions of Indigenous people, an older median age, a higher level of dependents and fewer working age persons, a larger proportion of low-income households and a less diversified employment structure.

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