gold coast mackerel fishn polution

[mackmauler]

Anyone who fishes down there knows what Im talking about, very rarely see guys using foam breakaways up here but every trip down there the ocean is dotted with polystyrene. Lots of it :o

couple questions who fishes this way?

is there an alternative?

is it legal to not pickup the floats?

do sea creatures eat the stuff or is it environmentally friendly?

[Jeremy]

Rob,

I occasionally use breakaways off Caloundra with a pilchard. I am sure they are not environmentally friendly and take a long time to break down. I justify using it by picking up other floating or washed up rubbish when I see it.

Same questions could be asked of balloons, and yes I use balloons occasionally too.

Jeremy

[jeffo]

apparently baloons break down in pretty quick time in the sailt and sun... if this is true its obviously the better option. maybe some one can confirm it?

[kleiny]

have seen the poly floats used at hervey bay every time you get a strike the float breaks into peices & floats away. can't be good for the enviroment or a fish, bird that eat's this stuff. My thoughts Kleiny

[Scott15]

yeah what kleiny said. couldnt be doin any good to the environment. i would emagine that the turtles would eat the bigger chunks :( and that kind of stuff doesnt just break away in a week or 2. it takes years same as the plastic bags. not good!!! >:(

Scott

[Boxhead]

I use breakaway polystyreen occasionally when fishing for sharks (Strictly Grey Nurse's of course ;)) but I'm much the same as Jeremy, I would definately pick up more than I loose.

I think you will find the stuff is biodegradeable, I guarantee that in 10,000 years it will be all gone....... [smiley=jester.gif]

Nath...

[propdinger]

there was over 400 peices on sunday floating around and not one person seemed to give a shite they all just finished fishing and left now im not the most enviro person around but with 20 boats only fishing around us this day and around 400 peices i would hate to see how much would be there if it was abusy day ??? ??? ??? ???

just a thought

[Mick]

I was watching ifish on tele last week end. The young guy on the program can be quoted at saying a balloon is completely broken down in a few days in salt water. I find it hard to believe, but he said it on national television.

[getwet]

ballons are made out of latex rubber which is a natural product and i would have to agree with this call.

cheers mal

[Billo]

yes , i will confirm balloons do break down in salt water .
several days fishing on a rock ledge saw many dead balloons in a rock pool . When leaving and cleaning up , we noticed that they were considerably weaker and broke up with unbelievable ease .

I used breakaways occasionally when on the LBG missions when the winds were onshore as balloons just got pushed bak to the rocks ...but would not use them any more ......as Rob stated ...i have seen too much of the stuff floating around our waterways as it is .

[devocean]

Use blown up condoms I here they are 99 per cent safe

[mackmauler]

LMFAO devo ;D

Good to see some responses coming in, and some ideas.

There has been a deafening silence from the gold coast contingent ???

Its your backyard fellas ??? what you got to say for yourselves :o

[JB]

Havent heard of any pollution related problems myself ??? Personally i'm not too fussed. ;D

[basserman]

lucky me we hardly see the stuff down thise way only the old cruddy bits that wash up on the beaches (more than likle washed down from queensland :P)
can't say i really float lives out under anything just pin them and toss them over the back to do what come natrual to them and when going after jews we just use normal running floats buy hey condoms maybe the answer they are thinner than ballons and may break down quicker as for poly no way!

[DaneCross]

Definitly got a point Rob. Seems to be common practise at Palmy, maybe even classed as local knowledge :-X I have to admit to using the same method when I've fished there - Seems to do the trick for those fishing the reef and I cant see them changing tactics in a hurry, which is unfortunate because, yeh, where does it all go?? :-/
DC

[JB]

can't say i really float lives out under anything just pin them and toss them over the back to do what come natrual to them


Generally there is not much current at palmy , and without a balloon the chances are your yakka would hide at the back of ur boat under the prop ;), yakkas arnt as dum as u think they know open water means death ;D

They also sit in position a lot better under the balloon, stops them from running laps around your other floaters.

I'm not pushing for pollution, dont get me wrong, but it will take a lot to find a better solution.

Jas

[nofrills]

you can stop your baits getting under the arse of your boat buy driving it slowly forward, .....slow trolling ;)

but it is hard to do if there is a heap of boats anchored over a reef with bloody floaters tied to pieces of foam. ;D

[Burley_Boy]

I too read with interest, naturally trying to find the combination of best results for both the fishing and the environment. Mind you as breakaways work on the principle of breaking off after a hookup I don't pollute that much....

Seriously though I do note the crap on the high tide mark when we walk down South Straddie and from that point I must wonder about the amount of glass bottles that float ashore and get smashed up, less of the foam is to be found but maybe its all been eaten by the turtles...

[Spaniard_King]

Rob, dunno how this slipped passed me (till now)

yeah it's a widely used method at Palmy and we don't have an alternative. Foam is generally used when there is little current, when the current is up I don't use the foam but having said this I use foam more often than not. As I am a regular to the Palmy area I cannot say I have seen enough foam for it to be an issue for me.

I do agree that it's not the best but surely everyone on here does not have a clean slate in the polution stakes.

Ifrequent the beaches around here and have not noticed foam turing up in huge amounts although that could be to the South Westerlies taking it up your way ;D

cheers

Garry

[Spaniard_King]

you can stop your baits getting under the arse of your boat buy driving it slowly forward, .....slow trolling #;)




Good idea 100 boats Trolling around 1 square klm of reef boat rage would take on a whole new meaning [smiley=rifle.gif] how come we havent got a shoulder mount rocket launcher on here yet 8)

Garry

[devocean]

Sounds like some one should invent something here. Heres someones opportunity to make a cool million

[getwet]

how about using 6ft x 4ft peices of thick foam as break aways,when they break away they could act as shelter for dollies.

cheers mal

[nofrills]

Good idea 100 boats Trolling around 1 square klm of reef boat rage would take on a whole new meaning #[smiley=rifle.gif] # how come we havent got a shoulder mount rocket launcher on here yet 8)

Garry
sounds more like the foam is necessary due to the fact that there are so many boats no one can move,gee that sounds like fun ::)cant wait till we get that up here >:(

[Spaniard_King]

how about using 6ft x 4ft peices of thick foam as break aways,when they break away they could act as shelter for dollies.

cheers mal

Mal you are a genius ;D

[getwet]

thanks mate ;D

[Hagar]

From another of the goldie contingent - have to agree with Garry and JB . Walk a mile in our shoes . Slow towing is only possible around the 'pack' due to the close proximity of all boats on the pick . If only spotties are around then anchoring is almost the only option to maintain order . Most of the regulars/ clued up guys use foam minimally but this description does not describe all of the fishers at Palmy / Mermaid . I see huge bits of foam that are not necessary . Myself , I rarely use foam just unweighted or slightly weighted baits but this only works with sufficient current . This year have experimented with reusable plastic round floats with some success . Most days it is just impossible to fish livies without a balloon as the buggas won't leave the boat and drifting is not a proposition with the boat numbers .

Chris

[Cheech]

I also wathche ifish a couple of weeks ago where they spoke about the balloons disolving and not harming the environment. I did not know if they had special balloons, or if it was all balloons.

If it is all balloons, then that is great. If this is the case, isn't that the answer instead of foam (not just palmy, but anywhere).

Note that I have never fished palmy, but have wanted to float a bait out a few times but have been worried about poluting. If the balloon thing really is true, then I will start doing that and feel warm and fuzzy that I am not harming anything.

Cheech

[DICER]

Styrofoam is relatively much much harder to degrade than latex found in balloons. Disulfide (sulpher) chemical bonds in balloons and rubber bands are the target of sunlight and oxidation. UV irradiation markedly speads up the degradation process. My guess though, is that the balloons and rubber will degrade less once on the bottom (away from sunlight), but after a year they will be gone or at least heavily degraded.

Quite often in our lab, we get foam packaging particles which are actually made from wheat germ, and they slowly dissolve in water. They really look like styrofoam worms, but to get rid of them we actually put them in the sink and dissolve them by flushing. I'm sure that the manufacturer would know about different varieties that would dissolve slower. Perhaps they could be used as a temporary float.

When I fish (which is mainly shore based), and use a balloon, I use water bomb balloons, as they are smaller and more likely to pop. Furthermore there are plenty in a packet.

I can say that I have seen styrofoam with barnacles and algae attached, drifting in the ocean.

[mono]

Ballons left in the sun and salt do eventually corode away. The problem with them is they are colourful, soft and turtles and fish eat it and it actually binds there gut up. A lot of dead turtles found down this way died of starvation because of blokages caused by balloons in their gut. I dont know what the solution is but have been thinking about it for many years and yes, I have, and still do use tiny pieces.
Getwet has the best idea so far ;)
Cheers

[getwet]

just another thought.
we should all buy shares in ansell and all convert to using those edible condoms as floats.
we would make money as the share price should skyrocket with the huge sales growth and we would all be contributing to saving those balloon stealing turtles.
but make sure you take out some big chunks of polystyrine cause the dollies still need a home. ;D ;D ;D ;D
cheers mal

[NQCairns]

Just a thought, why not run a seperate line for a store bought float and use a pressure release clip to hold the main line?? bit like a downrigger release ;)
I dont think I will ever bother with anything but foam, but it should work I guess....

[DICER]

getwet, you could even invent new flavours...like ultrabite or poppa

[getwet]

ultrabite could be dangerous if used buy the wrong people. :-X :-X

cheers mal

[DICER]

likewise you wouldn't want to use the poppa in the wrong situation :D