A parliamentary inquiry has begun examining WA's tough demersal fishing rules. ( ABC Landline: Chris Lewis ) Western Australia's demersal fishing ban has come under scrutiny during three days of parliamentary hearings. The ban took effect this year, banning the catch of popular species like pink snapper, red emperor and dhufish along much of the WA coast. The inquiry's chair has called for calm amid a heated an emotional debate. The first parliamentary scrutiny of Western Australia's demersal fishing ban has exposed deep ongoing divides over how the Cook government is managing the state's fish stocks. Over three days of hearings this week, the Legislative Council's Environment and Public Affairs Committee heard from supporters and opponents of the ban, as well as the government officials tasked with enforcing it. Along with closing the West Coast demersal fisher y, Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis banned trawl fishers in the Pilbara, and halved other demersal fishery catches, aside from the Gascoyne fishery. She pointed to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's (DPIRD) assessment demersal fish like pink snapper, red emperor and dhufish were under 'severe threat' and the harsh rules were needed to protect the fish from extinction. While conservation groups welcomed the move, it drew strong criticism from the recreation and commercial fishing sectors. Manue Daniels says fishers are owed an explanation. ( ABC News: Hayden Smith ) The third day of this week's hearings cut to the core of the hurt and distrust within WA's fishing community. Visibly emotional during her testimony, West Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) chief executive Manue Daniels told the hearing the government's approach needed to be scrutinised. "Trust in fisheries management has been deeply shaken," she said. "This inquiry can establish what went wrong, whether the decisions were justified and what must change so we don't find ourselves here again. "WAFIC is not arguing against sustainability, we never have, but we expect decisions to be based on sound science." The committee was told WAFIC had been writing to Fisheries ministers for at least 20 years raising concerns about persistent 'overfishing' of demersal fish on the WA coast by the recreational sector without response. There were a number of protests across the state at the government's new demersal laws, including this former shark fisherman who chained himself to a government building roof. ( ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis ) Fish retailers have told the ABC their businesses are failing as sales have plummeted and the price of fish increases. Ms Daniels said fish were a publicly owned resource, and the government's decision to only re-open the West Coast demersal fishery to recreational fishers should be thoroughly examined. "As commercial fishing access is reduced, we have made locally caught seafood increasingly difficult for ordinary Western Australian families to afford," she said. Third generation shark fisher Nick Soulos spent 58 years operating in the waters off Bunbury. He told the committee his entire fishing licence was cancelled in December, despite only half his fishery falling within the west coast bioregion. Nick Soulos (right) and his shark fishing crew. ( ABC South West: Jacqueline Lynch ) With shark forming 96 per cent of his catch, and never exceeding the required limit for associated scalefish catch, Mr Soulos said the government's decision was difficult to accept. "(The fishery) put 200 tonne of shark into the domestic market, into the restaurants and fish and chip shops for the local consumers," he said. Demersal fish have long been a popular catch for many anglers. About 130,000 people are licensed to fish from a boat in WA, about 70 per cent of them fishing in the West Coast demersal zone, which extends fr
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