Qld Rec fisher changes in the air

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Noelm

I hear you loud and clear on the bucket of undersized fish component, it happens everywhere. Right now we have an “issue” with Cockles in Lake Illawarra, there’s million of them, but…….car loads of people turn up, take hundreds of kilos of them and piss if before anything can be done, a few locals have confronted them, tossed buckets into the water, but, it’s never ending, until it’s too late. There is very clear bag limits on them, but that is completely ignored. The fisheries office is about a K from there, but, repeated calls get nowhere, by the time they turn up, it’s all over, how do you fix that? No amount of catch data, laws, bag limits will help. I know it’s a small issue, but, it’s a cog in a big wheel. Most of us do the right thing (well most on here) but (in my opinion) we are the minority by a big margin. Way back in the “old days” I have caught more fish in a session than I would ever need, why? Don’t know, it’s just what we did, you filled the boat, then decided what the hell are we going to do with (say) 20+ 15KG Kingfish, it’s not boasting, because everyone did it….not to mention club fishing comps where every fish was worth points, luckily, those days are long gone for most, but, it all ties in with what we have today

---

You say it's a small issue - but it's replicated up & down the coast - 100s of times each week.
I stil remember the issues had up in Qld with Nomads taking more than the bag limit of winter whiting ...... then getting nabbed .

You are 100% correct when it comes to practices of the past - I was certainly part of the problem (club days) or just keeping everything you caught .
Funnily I can actually recall my Ephinay ..... the day the penny dropped (Feb 1997) - South West Rocks ....... The pack up saw us fill a 150lt Esky with frozen fillets (Jew , Flathead , Kingfish & cobia) in addition to a cauliflower box . I also gave away a whole 40lb Jew to someone who gave us some good intel on fishing the place. .... We ate a stack of fish while we were there . It was a WTF moment ...... I didn't have the freezer space & ended up giving as much as I could to family when I returned home . After that trip I usually kept what was immediately needed plus a bit more...... unless my deckie wanted to keep more .

Actually , The more we recall these incidents & talk about it ...... maybe others might come to realise that it's not all roses out there when it comes to fishing compliance.

Chris

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lovey80

Maybe I just run in different circles to you. On my boat and on my mates that I've fished we've regularly emptied eskies to count fish after a lost count on mixed species to make sure we haven't broken our bag limit. You say you have strong feelings about this, but did you call fisheries and inform them of your mates that were openly bragging about selling fish? It's easy to get online and have a whinge, its also easy to pick and chose who you fish with but are you willing to call them out and or inform the authorities?

The worst part is to drag a conversation away from getting comprehensive data on the rec take on the back of a few people doing the wrong thing. I am sure that there's the odd commercial fisherman that do the wrong thing too and we occasionally hear about it. But we don't make arguments against Commercial and Charter log books on the back of a possibility that a few rogue operators are going to fudge their logbook figures or not report at all. Fisheries are happy to call the Charter/Commercial log book data as robust. Why can't we get to a place where we can do the same about the rec sector?

Yes this would be an inconvenience and it's one that I wish wasn't necessary. But if It means that I am not subjected to an unnecessary additional closure. If it means I am not subjected to an unnecessary increase in size limit or reduction in bag limit on a particular species, I am more than happy to have that minor inconvenience over the much larger restriction on my fishing freedoms. Do we not remember a while back the reduction in bag limit on Mahi Mahi off the back of zero science? It was purely done because someone in the bureaucracy felt that taking this many was too greedy.It was quickly reversed once it was highlighted that there was zero science backing the decision.

Like it or not, the mandate of fisheries is to maximise the sustainable yield. Not to decide on what is moral or what is greedy. I have my own self imposed MLS on a number of species. I will also self limit on a number of species. i.e Kingfish I will usually only take one fish because I only like kings as sashimi and don't much like it cooked. But I wouldn't begrudge another person if they wanted to take 2. As long as it is sustainable and they aren't breaking the rules, I have no problem with it.

---

Maybe it's because I fish with common folk ;)

& no I didn't call fisheries & dob these people in (some are good friends) ........ but I certainly let them know my thoughts & there are people that I know that I wont go fishing with.

BTW - If you had to empty out an esky to count your fish ..... how many times were you over your bag ? - yeh right you were under every time ::) How many times did you adhere to your individual bag limit or do you just pool the count & divide by the number of people on board ? ..... I reckon I know the answer.

Chris

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by disorderly

Was also my thoughts exactly....

Edited the rest due to my mum telling if I had nothing nice to say then say nothing at all..

---

As I said - When you get to know people & see / hear of their behavior / past practices etc ....... you get surprised.

Chris

The easy way out when people do the wrong thing. It is only temporary but easy to make permanent with just a stroke of a pen. Below from SEQ water website.
Seqwater will temporarily close Spillway Common at Wivenhoe Dam from 5pm, Wednesday 20 December 2023.
The temporary closure is to support community safety following an increase in occurrences of unlawful fishing and swimming in the spillway near the dam wall.
Swimming and fishing near a dam wall or spillway is dangerous and strictly prohibited, with offenders not just risking significant fines due to their actions, but their safety and the safety of those around them.
The closure includes the carpark, public toilets, lookout, day-use area and Atkinsons Crossing Paddle Craft Launch Point.

These days I ask my deckie if they want a feed of fish or crabs when the first "takeable" fish arrives on board. My "takeable" size is well in excess of the rules e.g. snapper are 50cm at the minimum to enter the box.
If we decide not to take a feed for the day everything is released.
I think the biggest of catches was 30 whiting between two of us or 7 flathead or 4 snapper.
A dozen sand crabs is our boat limit. Mud crabs is 2 each.

We often catch lots of decent fish that go back.

My father and my grandfather were greedy frigging pigs that would take anything legal and leave when they stopped biting. I hated their attitude and regularly kicked them in the guts over it. Just as well they are not around these days to rape the stocks.

Like all other government directives this will fail because Average Joe will not report accurately if at all.

Just bring in licencing for recs and increase the inspectors on the water so you should be checked for compliance around every 2nd trip.

It would be at least 5 years now since I have had a fisheries inspector come near me.....water police and maritime safety check me every 2nd trip in the Bris River these days, always a good chat and happy to see them.

The point is still that data is still urgently required to give fishery managers the insights they need.In my mind it’s worth supporting these initiatives. It’s a bit rich to criticise science for lack of data but then refuse to provide the exact data that is required to improve it. I’ve been boat ramp surveyed by Qld Fisheries maybe 4 times this year and am happy to divulge everything. This should provide really useful data on effort and catch from recs, and there does seem to be of it in recent years.
i agree with Lovey in that a simple app could do this most effectively and I’d use it, as would many I know, as long as there’s assurance about no geotagging.

If the “average Joe” doesn’t report their catch, then the long term impact will bite them on the bum real hard! The collected data will show hundreds of boats registered, yet only minimal catch recorded, instantly requiring further restrictions to let the fish recover.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Noelm

If the “average Joe” doesn’t report their catch, then the long term impact will bite them on the bum real hard! The collected data will show hundreds of boats registered, yet only minimal catch recorded, instantly requiring further restrictions to let the fish recover.

---

See, there you go assuming the fish are caught, like i said dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. Report bugger all fish caught and "they" reckon there's no fish stocks. So unless everyone reports full bag limits they'll be further cuts.
Sounds like nsw needs more regulatory measures then more size and bag limits. And what about where the fish are caught? How will they know that? It also sounds like fisheries assume every boat registered goes and plunders every weekend. Sounds like that happens down south though. Up here boats can only get out every couple of months.
Every fishing rod is in the water every weekend.
As usual 99% are f....... over because of the 1%.
And with the commies bringing in half a million from countries that have never heard of size and bag limits, and also have no regard for common law what do we expect.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Docaster, I think you need a double thickness tinfoil hat…….no one trusts the Government 100% to do what we want, but, without adequate tools to “fight” with, we are on a hiding to nothing, like it or not, change will come, and it’s going to hurt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NAGG

Maybe it's because I fish with common folk ;)

& no I didn't call fisheries & dob these people in (some are good friends) ........ but I certainly let them know my thoughts & there are people that I know that I wont go fishing with.

BTW - If you had to empty out an esky to count your fish ..... how many times were you over your bag ? - yeh right you were under every time ::) How many times did you adhere to your individual bag limit or do you just pool the count & divide by the number of people on board ? ..... I reckon I know the answer.

Chris

---

never been over a bag ever when counting. Always happens when number start to rise and some forgets what their number is. The whole boat shares the fillets equally and if the government is willing to set boat limits on fish, I’m happy to multiply the individual bag by the number of people on board to get to a boat limit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lovey80

never been over a bag ever when counting. Always happens when number start to rise and some forgets what their number is. The whole boat shares the fillets equally and if the government is willing to set boat limits on fish, I’m happy to multiply the individual bag by the number of people on board to get to a boat limit.

---

Ditto here. I and a few mates have made laminated charts with fish limits etc we use a marker pen everytime a fish goes into the esky, this is easy to control as the fish first are bled and then counted when several are put on ice. Marks easily removed for next trip with some metho. Generally on my boat fish have to be several cm over that set by qld fisheries, this stems from a fishing club I was on in not so long ago. At that club you could weigh in as meny species as you liked but only 1 fish per species and the minimum accepted size was 2cm over the minimum size limit. Got rid of that catch as many as you can mentality.
Our size and boat limits in particular are at times restrictive and we have rarely reached them with the exception of snapper, pearl perch or duskies, even then on my boat we were particular about we kept, some species like king fish- not at all as in the warmer waters their flesh is soft.

Sometimes I can't understand the difference in size limits between States eg pearlperch in qld is 38 m wheras in NSW it was from memory 30 cm, that is a ridiculously small fish to take imho. Maybe we should get more consensus between states on sizes but once again may never happen as I recall a scientific paper on what age duskies mature, from memory again it was at a smaller size limit the further south you went. Or maybe the figures were skewed to meet a particular agenda.

What's the answer, I don't know, certainly having volunteers at the ramps here in qld asking some very general questions is not going to give any sort of reasonable results.

I wouldnt worry too much about keeping catch records. Soon enough, with a digital currency and social credit score, fishing will be a privilege 'earned' through social, environmental behaviour, based on purchase records your online behaviour and political opinions, and social credit score level.
Fishing probably wont be worth what the social credit points will cost you to actually go fishing. And if you do, you may not have a vehicle to get there from your 15 minute city. Thats the future. Probably a big event coming to be able to bring this in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mudrunner

I wouldnt worry too much about keeping catch records. Soon enough, with a digital currency and social credit score, fishing will be a privilege 'earned' through social, environmental behaviour, based on purchase records your online behaviour and political opinions, and social credit score level.
Fishing probably wont be worth what the social credit points will cost you to actually go fishing. And if you do, you may not have a vehicle to get there from your 15 minute city. Thats the future. Probably a big event coming to be able to bring this in.

---

that might be a bit over the top, but, change is coming, and without our help, then it will hurt…….no need to tinfoil hats.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Noelm

that might be a bit over the top, but, change is coming, and without our help, then it will hurt…….no need to tinfoil hats.

---

I wish it was over the top. It's started in other countries, especially china. And governments want the "china model ".
Some of us can see the bigger picture.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

But anyway live life.
We are fortunate in Australia for now at least.
Do they still have that live cam underwater on the reef?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

NSW changed the rules for Duskies last year to minimum of 36cm and max of 70cm. Limit of 5 per person. Since that change came in the number of big fish being caught and released shows they are in a much better state after less than a year of the rule change. I believe rule change bought us into line with QLD.

I release most of what i catch so I am all for any rule changes that allow me to fish more, catch more and release more big healthy fish.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by steve099

NSW changed the rules for Duskies last year to minimum of 36cm and max of 70cm. Limit of 5 per person. Since that change came in the number of big fish being caught and released shows they are in a much better state after less than a year of the rule change. I believe rule change bought us into line with QLD.

I release most of what i catch so I am all for any rule changes that allow me to fish more, catch more and release more big healthy fish.

---

The slot limit definitely had a massive impact on Duskies in QLD. The best fisheries measure of all time. I have a personal limit of 50cm. Partly because now days you can easily catch 3-5fish in that range if you’re targeting them. And the fillets from 50+ fish make filleting worth while. I’m lazy and it seems a waste filleting a sub 50cm fish when there is so many around. Back when I was a teenager in the 90’s, decent duskies would be a rare catch unless you were doing a lot of drifting and covering a lot of ground. Now days, you sometimes can’t get past the duskies to get to the Jacks when at anchor.

I remember when NSW made the rule change, most carried on about it, saying it was not worth going fishing, and how it was taking away rights and all sorts of crap, now it’s just a rule, and Flathead fishing has improved considerably.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Volvo

Also how much of a difference would it make if we were to stop feeding the rest of the World with our stocks??.

---

I kinda agree with you on this.
Ive selected a live Coral Trout, caught in Queensland, that I watched come off a truck and put into a tank at a Restaurant in Hong Kong. We had a 3 course meal for 2 including the whole trout for $35 Australian dollars. The same fish would cost me about $75 here from the fish monger> How can this be?

Fish caught in Australian waters should be reserved for Australia. More availability will reduce the cost to the local consumer and more people will buy it but overall fewer fish will be caught.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brettoh

I kinda agree with you on this.
Ive selected a live Coral Trout, caught in Queensland, that I watched come off a truck and put into a tank at a Restaurant in Hong Kong. We had a 3 course meal for 2 including the whole trout for $35 Australian dollars. The same fish would cost me about $75 here from the fish monger> How can this be?

Fish caught in Australian waters should be reserved for Australia. More availability will reduce the cost to the local consumer and more people will buy it but overall fewer fish will be caught.

---

While that may be true, the person catching that fish will get paid less, until it becomes financially negative, then another Australian is out of work.

Coral trout have a pretty healthy size and bag limit @38cm and a bag of 10. 20 CRFF in total. I have zero qualms about an export market for our fish. Where I think the line needs to be drawn is when fisheries declare that a species requires more restrictions and Australians have to suffer. If a species requires further restrictions and it’s a species that gets exported, then the exports should be the first thing that is cut. That goes for all species.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brettoh

I kinda agree with you on this.
Ive selected a live Coral Trout, caught in Queensland, that I watched come off a truck and put into a tank at a Restaurant in Hong Kong. We had a 3 course meal for 2 including the whole trout for $35 Australian dollars. The same fish would cost me about $75 here from the fish monger> How can this be?

Fish caught in Australian waters should be reserved for Australia. More availability will reduce the cost to the local consumer and more people will buy it but overall fewer fish will be caught.

---

Your local fish monger a is ripping you off .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lovey80

Coral trout have a pretty healthy size and bag limit @38cm and a bag of 10.

---

I never take more then 7 per person...but then again I play by the rules..;D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by disorderly

I never take more then 7 per person...but then again I play by the rules..;D

---

Now I thought the limit was 7 and just checking it seems to be so, at least in qld.

https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/ac...al#coral-trout

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by disorderly

I never take more then 7 per person...but then again I play by the rules..;D

---

don’t think I’ve ever had more than 2 on board my boat my entire life. Had to google the bag before posting the above. I rarely fish coral reef.

10 Coral Trout !!, How many Bag Limits ago was that lol??.
As for Fltties , you can have my share far as im concerned :) , waste of a good Fish. Mostly head n bones.
Swap ya a good Silver Bream over a Flattie.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lovey80

don’t think I’ve ever had more than 2 on board my boat my entire life. Had to google the bag before posting the above. I rarely fish coral reef.

---

yeah no worries.....Its easy to forget that you more southern guys have a more diverse range of fish.. .Up here, Trout, Reds and Spanish are the main target species..

and because its such a long trip to the reef and back many people will try and get close to their bag of Trout ( mostly between 40-60cm)...even with the pro catchs for local and export it seems that coral trout numbers are actually thriving...lets just hope that cutting the TAC on other species doesnt put too much pressure on trout and stuff up a fishery thats currently actually sustainable....a couple of interesting facts that works in favor of trout numbers is the live trout dories focus on very shallow waters on the reefs maybe less then 15-20m because they dont want any damage from barotauma..they also are targeting smaller fish 40-50 cm plate sized as larger fish are generally worth less per kg..

I was talking to a local pro guy the other day that has a mothership and dories.....he said, though it does vary quite a bit, the average price for domestically sold fish is about $25 a kg to him while for export average price is about $45 a kg and about 20% of the total catch goes to export..most is caught north of Mackay....I was lucky enough to get a tour of an export facility in Cairns one time and could barely beleive the amount of tanks and wall to wall live fish they had in there...

He also does try and value add by sourcing restaurants and resorts to supply as much as he can direct to them at higher prices...

When diving coral reefs all over the place, coral trout (grouper as it's called in the northern hemisphere) is definitely the most prolific species. The larger they get in an area, the more sparse they are as they seem to be a bit territorial. Where there's no big fish in an area there seems to be a lot of smaller bracket fish hanging around.