Ballina pippy's where have they gone?

[URAGANGI]

I fish patch's beach quite often (7 mile beach) and was wondering since late 90's the stock's of pippy's have slipped away to nearly nothing. Is it the PRO NETTER"S who have over harvested this resourse or it a natural thingo that has aided their decline in numbers. Or hey let's be fair even increased beach traffic?

I can remember when you used too see :o thousands clustered together all the way up the beach , and now you really have to look for them. Big question.....

If anyone that lives near by or has info please let me know.

Tight lines and fish on your plate .

Cheers Long shift.:gossip: :gossip:

[Slider]

They're not only scarce in Ballina Long Shift - we had a bit of a discussion relating to pippis/eugaries in the 'Teewah Beach' thread on pg 1 of saltwater chat. Might be worth a look.

Lindsay

[nigelr]

Plenty of pipis down here at Coffs, seems the NSW DPI regs in relation to the harvesting of of eugaries are working well.
Cheers.

[blackrat1]

professional pippi liscenced have no limit on how many they harvest . the asian pippi soup is very popular throughout Sydney and live pipis fetch in excess of$20 a kilo .Onnce again our strict quotas have done litttle to protect OUR resource while a few Pros rape and pillage I know of 4 pros on the Mid North coast and service an area of 100 ks of Beaches each and put 1000s of Kilo thru the market annually .Ya gottaa love ya fishin liscence at work !!

[nigelr]

News to me blackrat, I had no idea they were able to be commercially harvested in NSW, are they taken by commercial bait gatherers? For some reason I thought that only indigenous people were allowed to take them off the beach, for reasons of cultural heritage.
Thanks for better informing me mate, I appreciate it.
Cheers.

[rabbi]

Hi Guys,
I have seen them so thick on sth ballina beach that even just the wave action would bring thousands to the surface.
I have also seen pro,s with 4wd,s with small scoops attached and even one with a tractor with what appeared to be a large scoop approx. 1.5 metres across and close to a metre deep attached to the back of the tractor and it would drive through the wash at low to mid run in tide with the scoop down in the sand and it was quite impressively efficient at sifting them out.
To be fair I saw all this happening about 5 to 8 years back when I used to frequent the beach for a bit of fishing. But back then and before that period there was always a plentiful supply of pippis on the beach,.
Fairly hard work now.
No worse than the 3 large pro punts I saw come back in near the ferry bout 4 years back in the early hours loaded up to the gunnells with large jew that were shipped off to Sydney without a whisper being heard. Don't get me started!!!
Sustainable fishing! Yeah right!!
Just wondering who our licenses are working for?

[FNQCairns]

if human commercial activity is causing a great decrease it is a right shame.

Nature has an eb and flo never more apparent than when witnessed locally, there is so very much going on at the lower trophic levels and most often this happens at a level we cannot consciously recognise.

There is a real and true measurable impact upon wetted sand by the weight of 4wds, the degree this impact actually impacts in any one area is debatable, i suspect. i speak of this not because i am tying the two together just that there are impacts outside of our normal consciousness...this goes for natural impacts too...we see only ever the end result and most often that needs to be macro or aesthetic in extent.

Given the flaky nature of commerce and the value society places on any one individual actually having a job (very little) possibly a moratorium on for profit harvesting could be considered. A statisticly significant difference could easily be obtained if there was to be one, given just a 2 years i would assume. Although not worthy of identifying the source of the problem until a few more measured but staggered moratoriums had passed.

Pipis are to important to a beach to stuff around with, wish the greenies in this country had their heads screwed on properly, their mostly wasted energy could in theory be placed where it would actually make a natural difference.

cheers fnq

[blackrat1]

Nearly all pippi harvesting is done at night as was the 3 punt load of Jews you saw being shipped off . The things that happen after dark would amaze most fishos . What we dont see wont hurt us . I wish . I guess it doesnt upset us as much but the damage goes on while we all sleep !GOD SAVE THE PIPPI , cause no one else will

[URAGANGI]

Thank's to all that have posted a reply!!

Blackrat1 your right on. It's all bad news from here.. This explains why a local nearly got into serious blue :argue: when he tried to stop a convoy of pro's getting onto the beach via his property. It was all about the pippy harvest... nice try mate a medal is worth your effort.

Greed.. Greed... Rape and pillage it's a two edged sword sooner or later someone
will slip, lesson hard earnt I say. The almighty dollar wins again. The local mentioned above told me as said in other posts above, it all happens under the cloke of darkness during mid week when no one else is in sight.

Very true about our licence for boarder hopers like myself, we are trying to do the right thing while the other's take advantage and cause maximum damage for the rest. Don't they want to see the look in their kids eye's when they catch their first fish or really big fish.... I wonder, now that's true selfish GREED.

Spoken above while hoping that no one notices, I bet'ya the Ferry Skipper knows the full story.

The pippy isn't just an item it's a vital part of the food chain. Not just for the fish but for the bird life as well.

Why isn't the D.P.I and fisheries on the ball about this.? Oh yes silly me It's all about filling up someone's pocket and then going blind. The bastards need shooting.. Hey wait a minute I have those skills as well.:rifle: :rifle:

Can we band together and make a differance, or at least make life harder for the Pro's who are bending the rules. Cause I know not all pro's are BENT.. Hey I'm hard but fair.


ONE VOICE MAKES NOISE MORE THAN ONE CAN MAKE THUNDER

:gossip: :gossip: :gossip: :gossip: :gossip: :gossip: :gossip: :gossip:

[URAGANGI]

FNQCairns.

WOW I love those stat's very true.

[deepfried]

while i dont agree with pros taking masses of pipis from the beaches and also remember a time when they were thick at patches beach i dont see how the rec licence had anything to do with this current situation. Pros have harvested all types of seaford for the market before and after the rec licence so why would it change that.
Was the RL spose to buy out every pro in the state fishing or harvesting all types of seafood that the rec fisho may want ot fish for or may need for bait???
Sorry about the post but i just cant see the link between the two issues.

[URAGANGI]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Slider thank's for the heads-up on teewah beach...good read thanks

Tight lines and fish on your plate.

cheers Long shift.

[nigelr]

Know exactly what you mean re nocturnal activity blackrat.
Travelling QLD beach haulers ostensibly working on NSW licences find night time the best time to haul mullloway, out of the publics' sight, out of the publics' mind.
Deepfried, personally I would like to see more Rec fund money going to buy out selected pros. Would be more beneficial to the fishery than new cleaning tables....
Cheers, damn good thread to IMO.

[rabbi]

No worries mate,
I just dont like the fact that one group has strict limitations as to what can be caught and the other group has open slather. Must be a two law state.
I support the bag limits for us fishos but what or who are we saving the fish and pippi stocks for??
No pippis and declining fish stocks so get used to it.
Your right nigelr. Check out south ballina beach in the middle of the night in winter and see who is spotlighting the fish.
Same old story.
Cheers.

[deepfried]

Deepfried, personally I would like to see more Rec fund money going to buy out selected pros. Would be more beneficial to the fishery than new cleaning tables....
Cheers, damn good thread to IMO.

Dont get me wrong i would love to see them stopped from collecting them from beaches and i think it would be a good use of RL money. I would also like to see them completely banned from all estuaries as well. One thing that is a possiblity though is asking for funding from the RL fees to do a study into pipis and the impact of harveting them on the eco system, it would just need someone to ask and to have the facilities or a partnership with a uni or such to do it much like the longtail tuna survey starting now. At least then there would be some scientific reason to ask for the harvesting to be banned and the pros bought out if more of a reason was needed.

I do like the cleaning the table at ballina though ::) :)

[URAGANGI]

Rabbi I hear what you say. It is totally unfair that we the rec fisho's abide by the ever changeing laws and reg's and the other team get's the so called right's of GOD.

Look all I'm all for the netter's trying to earn a living. But I'm dead against The pro U.F.O.'s (Unlawfull Fishing Offender's ) It's so wrong how the minority group U.F.O's have depleated the stock's of pippies so fast and yet it was done in such a short space of time.. Why and how did this happen... The answer might start with lax quota's greasy back pocket's , blind inspector's and invisable ink .It all spells disaster.

Quota's must be put in place with strict penalties in conjunction with a possible loss a licence. This might keep the U.F.O's on the radar.

When will these guy's learn. Fish don't grow and respond like mushroom's do when there over harvested. this takes years not hours. The damage has already been done this is clearly obvious and it's spreading.

We the majority could holt the minority the on going damage while we sleep is getting worse.. It's out of controll.

If you as a reader of this site, have anything to do with Pro fishing/netting please voice your side of the story.Two sides of the story is alway's better than one.

Would the local reader's/members of the norther rivers section care to take action. Would the boarder hopper's like myself care to follow. we have all vented a little steam the only thing saving the pippi is the weather. Could we Band together and be heard in some way.


Sterile beaches means No Fish Which Means hurt tourism Which means lost jobs .....and it all started with the pippi. Action of some type is needed. Am I alone on this one ......who has some idea's.?

[nigelr]

Your right nigelr. Check out south ballina beach in the middle of the night in winter and see who is spotlighting the fish.
Same old story.
Cheers.

They do the same thing at least as far south as Port Macquarie, and I suspect further south as well, every autumn from when the first decent SWer blows. They must be laughing their heads off at the NSW rec fishos, whose licence $ pays for re-stocking their prime target.
Unbefurkinglievable.>:(

[Lucky_Phill]

thelongshift, click on this link to take you to the NSW ECOfishers site.

Merv and crew will provide all info and assist where possible.

http://www.ecofishers.com/


Cheers Phill
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[URAGANGI]

Thank's Lucky Phill top link. This is pure Gold Thanks again. I had no idea that these guy's exsisted. The only way to attack this is to talk to the right people and be organized. I'll glady seek membership and follow through, with bringing this issue to light.It's time to act, it's gone on for far too long and the damage is getting worse.If the light of day does shine on this we might've set the standard for other's to follow. Norther River's folk I call for your support, surrounding Fisho's the same Invo is open. We the majority can have impact on the minority.These midnight runner's or what I call U.F.O.'s (unlawfull fishing offender's ) need far tighter quotas and regulation's to keep these guy's in queck. Once again everyone has the right to earn a living, Yeah sure but with regulations and penalties just like the rest of REC FISHO's. I'll contact Sunfish and get their advice also. No harm in trying cause it's worth it.Tight lines Phill.Cheer's Gavin.