Mud Island Spoil Grounds Being used again

[Marlin_Mike]

I read in the Bayside Bulletin this morning, that it looks like Toondah HArbour is finally going to get dredged. ;D

And it seems te EPA has agreed to allow the spoil to be dumped at Mud Island. This brings me to questions -

1/ Will it effect the fishing?
2/ If it does effect the fishing, how long will it effect it for and to what degree, if any, will it harm it?
3/ How long before the spoil settles and the grounds return to normal?

I relise the spoil grounds may not be right on the fishing grounds, but the spoil when dumped will dirty up the water which will in turn flow through the area for a while.

Any opinions?

Mike

[Marlin_Mike]

Another thought, is the cost of disposing of the spoil on land prohibitive as the article said?

If so, how much dearer is it, and is the saving worth more than the potential damage, if any, to the grounds around Mud Island? Interesting thoughts to all you shallow reef fishermen/women.

Mike

[rando]

Turbidity has been identified as one of the main ecological problems for the western bay. I would have thought any activity that increases turdidity would get knocked on the head by EPA.

[juju]

They always have to stuff things up, i was just talking this morning to someone about what the South Pine river was like 25 years or so ago, nice mangrove linned banks,great bream area.....went for a run up there a while back, all the mangroves are gone , banks washed out.........wouldnt have anything to do with the drains that come from the shopping center.....But with mud you cant see how in teh short term it could not harm things

[SgBFish]

Why don't they use it to extend the port of Brisbane all the way to Mud Island. That's their goal anyway.
One day they will have a terminal at the NE end of the island.

[FNQCairns]

The EPA are a crooked bunch, dumping back into the ocean is just plain vandalism but Government can do anything it likes free from punishment or consience, we need a return to legalising civil cases against individuals in authorities who sign on dotted lines, nothing else will staighten them out, the Goverment and authority as untouchables experiment is over, it failed!

cheers fnq

[PinHead]

juju...25 years ago they were dredging the bay for coral for the cement works...the readymix barge was constanly travelling from the bay to darra...at least the fishing has improved in the bay since they stopped that.
Also take a look along the foreshores..especially areas in the redlands...absolutely murdered the breeding habitat as far a mangroves goes...but no one gave a hoot when that was being developed so why should anyone bother complaining about any further works.

[bay trawler]

I read in the Bayside Bulletin this morning, that it looks like Toondah HArbour is finally going to get dredged. ;D

And it seems te EPA has agreed to allow the spoil to be dumped at Mud Island. This brings me to questions -

1/ Will it effect the fishing?
2/ If it does effect the fishing, how long will it effect it for and to what degree, if any, will it harm it?
3/ How long before the spoil settles and the grounds return to normal?

I relise the spoil grounds may not be right on the fishing grounds, but the spoil when dumped will dirty up the water which will in turn flow through the area for a while.

Any opinions?

Mike


whattya mean are going to.........they have been doing it for months. the dredge brisbane and the dredge volvox asia have been dumping rocks and crap from the expansion of the port of brisbane for the last coupla months. Your average person doesnt see it cause they do their dredging and dumping at nights so that the general public dont see it. coupla months ago they had the dredge ' ken harvey' working on the tow line south of the red coffe pot.......dredging in the bay........it seems the port of brisbane can do what ever it likes in the name of the almighty trade dollar. if you want to know what is destroying habitat in the reaches of the brisbane river its the POB......... with backing from EPA . notice how none of the areas mentioned in the moreton bay marine review have anything to do with major shipping routes or the dredging business...toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
much money for the govt. govt gets a $1.40/royalty outa every tonne of sand taken from the mining leases in and near the bay. every load the volvox asia took was about 15 000 cubic meters. if a cubic meter of sand equals 2 tonnes= 30,000 tonnes of sand a trip . by a $1.40/tonne=$42,000 to the govt per trip.
at 3 trips a day and 7 days a week= $820,000 per week..........
that only one of the dredges . Why does epa let em do it................
i reckon you can answer that one yourselves.

[finding_time]

:D Great post Bay Trawler!


That should show some of the ever growing anti profisho sector on this site that you guy's really do care about your fishery, sometimes i wish people would look for the "real reasons" for a declining fishery not just attack the easy targets all the time.


Some of the great fish caught recently at mud have come from the spoil grounds so dumping there would a a fair harsh impact on the fishery i would think.


Ian

[seatime]

juju...25 years ago they were dredging the bay for coral for the cement works...the readymix barge was constanly travelling from the bay to darra...at least the fishing has improved in the bay since they stopped that.
Also take a look along the foreshores..especially areas in the redlands...absolutely murdered the breeding habitat as far a mangroves goes...but no one gave a hoot when that was being developed so why should anyone bother complaining about any further works.

Yeah, QCL dredged Mud Is until 1991 for the lime from old dead coral, they used to have a plant at Ormiston too. Now they extract it NW of Gladstone, used to mine caves near Rocky once, but they harmed too many bats.

[bay trawler]

hey finding time good onya.
one has to wonder why the moderators of this site havent moved this thread to the news section and put a flag on it............POB too big ehhhhh?
anyway there are other considerations that POB have neglected in any assesments done on dumping/dredging the bay.
There are OH&S and Maritime Safety issues that remain unaddressed.

for example... i was out working [ yes trawling] when the Ken Harvey was dredging the tow line south of the red coffee pot[ chasing bananas at the EB]
i plotted his position and when i came out on my next trip i drove over that area and marked out the hole left by its work......right on one of my 'runs' i might add.
where did the POB notify the fishing industry of a potential danger to trawlers created by this dredged hole....notification was given that the dredge was engaged in dredging activities on channel 12 thats it....no notices to mariners sfa else. Same with dumping rocks in the spoil grounds which are also an area of economic importance to the trawl industry both as habitat and grounds. wattya reckon trawling into a pile of rocks is going to do to the stability and safety of my boat, wheres my notice to mariners stating the introductions of hazards to trawlers created by dumping rocks on grounds.
Destruction of habitat is the single greatest threat to all fisheries recreation or pro. Why is EPA so unwilling to take on the real threat to all fisheries, developement , dredging,ports and airports all have to go through epa for approval.
Why is it that when they come to managing the impacts of the developement approvals that they have signed onto do they then target fishermen/women as the important control measure to be changed.
if epa wanted to drastically improve the state of what is already fishery for all sectors they could start by reafforestating all canal devolpements which are on in or adjacent to moreton bay with mangroves.
WE WOULD BE UP TO OUR NECKS IN SEAFOOD.

[bay trawler]

if epa wanted to drastically improve the state of what is already fishery for all sectors they could start by reafforestating all canal devolpements which are on in or adjacent to moreton bay with mangroves.
WE WOULD BE UP TO OUR NECKS IN SEAFOOD.

oops theres a typo there...should read
if epa wanted to drastically improve the state of what is already a premier fishery for all sectors.....etc
chz

[bay trawler]

im going to have to stand corrected. after reading novices post i googled notices to mariners and found
1 Notices to Mariners (http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/resources/file/eb9fc20c40d19a3/Pdf_ntm_102_t_2007.pdf)
... Dredging will be performed by the dredger Ken Harvey which will be attended by the tug Sealion and two spoil barges. ... 4516'E. Dredge material will be disposed of at the Mud Island spoil ground. ...
http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/resources/file/eb9fc20c40d19a3/Pdf_ntm_102_t_2007.pdf (http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/resources/file/eb9fc20c40d19a3/Pdf_ntm_102_t_2007.pdf) - 2k pdf
which ill have to assume contains lats and longs etc as when you link to it it says its been moved or doent exist.
sorry for the unjust ohs and maritime safety imputations.
doesnt change any of the enviromental implications though.

[SgBFish]

bay trawler.
I spoke to someone who had had negotiations with the EPA and I questioned them on why it took so long to get EPA approval to anything while to POB can do as it pleases.
The response was the that the EPA gave the POB a blank cheque to do as it pleases because if they didn't the POB has too much clout with the Govt.
So the POB can do what it wants.

[mudskipper]

does any one know if there are any long term detrimental effects of this action or are we talking about short term discolouration and increased turbidity say similar to a week of good rain (whats that stuff u say) and i take it the rocks their dumping are a reasonable size?. apart from being a hazard to trawlers won't these in turn become natural reef (as apposed to the millions of tonnes of steel in the form of trams barges and ships and even tyres). i thought the other name for the spoil grounds was the bait grounds?. i completely agree that the decline in mangrove habitat is nothing short of enviromental vandalism and i'm not a big fan of the EPA but i thought the bay fishing was getting better. i wonder what reaction this news would have recieved if they had of announced they were going improve the fishing at mud by creating an artificial reef at the spoil grounds?. any thread that opens up discussion on these topics has definitely got my vote.

[Feral]

The EPA are a crooked bunch, dumping back into the ocean is just plain vandalism

Believe it or not dumping the spoil back into the water is the most environmental way of doing it.

Most of the mud in morteon bay is whats known as Acid Sulphate soils. When it dries out and is exposed to the air a chemical reaction occurs which releases sulphuric acid, the same stuff as is your car batteries. And it is not just a little bit, it is a huge amount. If you want to see what happens drive around Raby bay and see how damaged the footpaths are, that orange stain leaching out and the moth eaten concrete kerb and channel is as a result of the acids being released from the acid sulphate soil used to build it.


Treating Acid Sulphate soil for above water disposal involves mixing it thoroughly with hydrated lime to kill the acid, and as often as not they get the mix wrong. Either leaving it still acidic, or putting in to much lime.

By putting the spoil back under water it stops this chemical reaction from occurring, and then the only issue is turbidity. If they do that right it is no great issue, and can improve the fishing as the bait fish are attracted to all the tucker in the turbid water.

[dnej]

In the USA,the EPA,have great power, to stop all this crap.
They have the "clean water act", that does not allow discharge of any type, into any waterway.

They moved sewerage plants, that were discharginging millions of litres of treated sewerage into the water ways, yet here we still allow the Redlands Shire to do just that.
The EPA is worried about nutrient levels in the bay,on one hand, yet allow discharge on the other. Doesnt make sense.

However, this can all be fixed, by additional green zones.Ha Ha de Ha ha.

Lets get real ,and fix the cause of the problems.
Regards David

[Dezzer]

Mud island spoil grounds have been used for a long, long time. Have read many threads on this site about the government not maintaining harbours to a safe depth so I guess we can't have it both ways.
Scarborough harbour has recently been dredged ( it needed it! ) and the spoil was taken to the mud spoil grounds. The actual dredging did indeed take place at night, presumably because this is a quiet time for boat traffic, I don't think it was a secret squirrel operation. From what I saw the spoil headed over to the grounds during the day.

[mudskipper]

in the last 10 yrs the redland shire has upgraded all of its major treatment plants and because they discharge to a marine park, the EPA has set licence limits of 5 and 2 , meaning a total Nitrogen of 5 mg/l (parts per million) & 2mg/l for phosphous and some of the newer ones are lower again. as far as i know the EPA can only set new licence limits (or only appear to ) when councils upgrade their plants. they also monitor the overall condition of surrounding waters where the discharges are and tingalpa,hilliards and eprapah creeks are all markedly improving as a result (how bad is it if they're considering using it as drinking water). this ain't bondi beach by any means, if you have a look at the new laws covering sewage discharge from vessels from the gold coast to the north side of peel, it prohibits the discharge of any untreated sewerage, while i think this will probably be easier to enforce with commercial vessels- i'm not sure how, apart from on the spot checks, they intend to do this with the week end warrior in his floating caravan. which i spose gets back to the indivdual to do the right thing , some times it takes declining fish stocks to give everyone reality check and like i said earlier i think its getting better not worse.