Propaganda regarding Commercial Fisheries

[craig51063]

thanks trawler skipper its great youve joined these ranks for discusion. ive contacted fisheries several times and they say they do on the spot checks and it all seems in order. as i said these small fish come from interstate [or so were told ]were it is not ilegal to catch and sell these fish to interstate customers .this still does not make it right .i hardly buy fish but if i do i make sure its farmed eg salmon anyway thanks for your reply. im also interested in seeing what you think of governments buying back pro fishing licences.

[roz]

With regard to the comments on low recapture rates of tagged fish.

I am trying to find the actual article/publication, without luck so far...

However, I did read in this article, that the shed rates for tags could well be as high as 60%.

[rob tranter]

I have no Factual knowledge on what most have commented on in this thread.

I do however agree that trawling within Estuary's is wrong.
This is due to the determined damage done to breeding and growing grounds that all aquatic animals rely on.

All Australians have the right to make an honest living, in what ever area they like.

Having recreational sportspeople, blaming the profeesional peolpe for losses within there area of recreation is not the answer.

Working together is the answer to sustainability.

we all want the same thing, "Fish to Catch"

Playingthe Blame game is not the answer.

The Pro's want to be able to hand there business over to there kids.

I've had this arguement with other types that want to ban Farming in Aus.

I have been a Farmer, and now I'm a recreational Fisherman.

People in aany industry, be it Fishing or Farming or whatever, do not want to work for today.

Theywant the industry to live and go on for ever, so that there Grandchildren may be able to have a go.

Let us get together, form a policy, and tell these pollies how it should be.

Just my rambleings

Rob

[nosy]

Thread

I understand what you are talking about mate.I am a very keen amature fisherman whose has been an invited deck hand on many pro-fishermen's boats.These trips are some of my fondest memories as I have fished with them from Portland Vict.(cray fishing) to north queensland(prawning) my main trips were out off Evans Head.As a group they have been some of the best blokes I have ever met and take risks every night just to support their family.

Over the years I have been disgusted at some of the amature fishermen I have encountered who whilst having a good job still want to slink around selling fish om the black.These fish have been in many cases over and above legal limits.
So dont feel bad thread it's only ignorance that motivates some people,most are doing the right thing and can see with both eyes
Cheers nosy

[kingie]

Quote : "These reforms include effort restrictions, quota management, gear restrictions, permit reductions, implimentation of marine parks, by-catch reduction devises, vessel monitoring systems and total closures of many esturine and inshore fisheries. These changes were painful but necessary to maintain sustainable fisheries"

They hurt because they effect the $$$$ The BIG point is none were VOLUNTARY the commercial industry did everything possible to prevent their implimentation - they had to be forced into the changes, sustainability policies reducing catch rates & By catch from the non government side of commercial sector other than calling for reductions from the recreational area just don't exist

[bay trawler]

hey trawler skipper,greeting from moreton bay. i own and operate a trawler operating within the moreton bay prawn fishery. i applaud your imput aimed at disspelling some of the common myths held by the recreational fishing lobby/industry. anyway good onya.
to step ahead a little in an attempt to answer questions before they are asked;
all moreton bay and beam trawlers adhere to strict legislative requirements as to the inclusion of Bycatch reduction devices [brd] and turtle excluding devices [teds]. Morton bay fishers were pioneers in the field of teds with these devices being in common use a good ten years before they were a legislated requirements.
Moreton bays professional fishers [crab,prawn and line] have worked very hard to develope and implement an Environmental Management System [EMS] which was the recipient of the DPI&F sustainable production and best overall contribution to sustainable production awards in 2006. We aim for sustainable harvest achieved through recognizing and limiting our impacts.
re hoppers; moreton bay fishers are working on a govt. funded project to determine the costs and practicalities with regard to hoppers. you cannot just lump an extensive and heavy apperatus on the back deck of a vessel without research done into vessel stability and safety.
as to the repeated calls for the banning of beam trawling .
a DPI&F study [DREDGE 1983] found that
" disturbance by beam trawlers was 'imperceptable' relative to the major environmental disturbance in the region caused by barrage construction, siltation and pollution"
a sepate UQ study concluded that the ' recreational sector would recieve no benefit from the closure of the beam trawling in QLD'.
WMB Oceanics conclude after an exhaustive hydrographic studies in the bay and surrounding tributaries "there is little evidence to conclude that beam trawling is having a significant impact on either stocks or habitats of species targetted in recreational fisheries'
so please folks next time you want to bag out the beamies feel free but at least have the grace to preface your comments by ' despite the overwhelming evidence showing that beam trawling has minimal impacts on stocks and habitat'.......
blah blah blah. its your personal opinion fenothing more.
i would urge all fishers on this site to visit the Moreton bay access allience web sit for links to see what it is fishermen are doing in the bay to ensure sustainable harvest.

anyway back to u trawler skipper; where you at the national prawn conference this year in adelaide? if so i probaly met you there
drop us a line and say gday

[bay trawler]

Quote : "These reforms include effort restrictions, quota management, gear restrictions, permit reductions, implimentation of marine parks, by-catch reduction devises, vessel monitoring systems and total closures of many esturine and inshore fisheries. These changes were painful but necessary to maintain sustainable fisheries"

They hurt because they effect the $$$$ The BIG point is none were VOLUNTARY the commercial industry did everything possible to prevent their implimentation - they had to be forced into the changes, sustainability policies reducing catch rates & By catch from the non government side of commercial sector other than calling for reductions from the recreational area just don't exist

hey kingie what your industry [recreational fishing] doesnt fight legislative changes made in fisheries legislation with regard to bag and size limits aimed at ensuring the sustainability of recreationally target species. the recreational sector must come to the relization that they are a 'harvest extractive' industry that at the moment has no real idea of what there actual 'take' is. as professional fishers we have logbook reporting requirements; fisheries know exactly nwhat we catch.
the estimations of recreational harvest are based on a phone survey and in no way reflect the true magnetude of the scale of harvest....... so please dont put me on the ' forced into' rave dude it just doesnt wash.

[luigi]

as professional fishers we have logbook reporting requirements; fisheries know exactly nwhat we catch.

Fair enough - but how accurate are the logbooks?

[snelly1971]

I have alot of friends who work in the Trawl industry here and i can agree with you on some points Skipper...but alot of blame must go back to those pimply faced uni students who now are running some of our fisheries....most of them have never stepped a foot on a boat , let alone worked in the industry , so i find it hard to see how they can sometimes make stupid changes to the fishing regulations when they have never worked in the industry....
IE...Quota`s are a good thing in a lot of ways...but i have seen and heard of many times here where the particular target of fish...eg..Ling was not caught and the fish that was caught...is just dumped back to the bottom...

There was a Skipper here who was targeting ling and caught 50-70 tonnes of Blue Eye ....no quota...so it was just dumped back to the bottom...

Now i dont have the answers how to fix this....but surely someone does....It is just a waste ....

[bay trawler]

Fair enough - but how accurate are the logbooks?

luigi it is in a fishermans best interest to maintain accurate logbook information especially in the currant climate of uncertainty that all fishers ,pro or recco, that work in moreton bay. most fishery log books talk about 'estimations' of a days catch. my own 'estimations' are generally less than what i actually catch as i err on the side of caution. When i offload my product to the buyer it is weighed in with a very accurate record of this catch both in their or my records. fishers are very concious of the need for accurate log book information especially when dealing with the impending GRMBPA style ocean grab by the rabid green lobby planned for moreton bay. hope this answers your questions.

[pickers]

I have been a pro fisher for many years skippering offshore trawlers in common wealth fisheries for the last 18 yrs. Many of my crew have been keen amateur fishermen, they have been avid readers of sport fishing magazines. While reading these publications, I was horrified to discover that they were rarely objective in their reporting regarding commercial fisheries. In fact, their reports were often false and could only be discribe as propaganda! I have tried to address this thru the forums of the magazines but have never received replys to my letters or ever had my letters published. The fact is, that commercial fisheries have been going thru constant reform as have land based industries. These reforms include effort restrictions, quota management, gear restrictions, permit reductions, implimentation of marine parks, by-catch reduction devises, vessel monitoring systems and total closures of many esturine and inshore fisheries. These changes were painful but necessary to maintain sustainable fisheries. Australian commerical fishermen are hardworking in a dangerous industry that brings valuable export dollars into this country. All costs of management and policing are drawn from the industry. Australian commerical fishermen deserve the respect that commerical fishermen receive in other countries. All information regarding fisheries management in Australia is available from the Australia Fisheries Management Web Site. Don't only rely on the magazines for all the facts. (After all, have you every read Women's Day?????)
Any feed back would be appreciated.

I myself am an ex-pro fisherman and have learnt that a lot of the people who make the rules regarding closures and so forth have NEVER even set foot on a trawler or reef fishing boat and would not know if their butt was on fire.
It's all about VOTES for the polly's and has bugger all to do with fishing be it pro or amatures.None of them can be trusted and not worth a cracker.

[bay trawler]

pickers ur obviously a person of great insight and understanding and i agree with you whole -heartedly. one only has to look at Abezts' lastest media release re long tail tuna status for confirmation of what we already know. the problem is that pollies dont pander to our vote [recco or pro] but to the green party preferences which allows a single platform party much more voice than they should rightfully have. we need to stand up and vote this radicals out of our polital system. we are talking about people who expouse and propagate [eco] terrorism. lets learn from the tasmanian example where after years of the timber industry addsresssing its impacts etc the tasmanian people voted for jobs as the levels of forestry protection where what the 'people' viewed as appropriate rather than the broad based bans on everything except dreadlocks that the radical greens wanted.
good onya pickersd

[luigi]

Yeah, lets fight fire with fire - enough votes for the Fishing Party in the up-coming election & the pollies will suddenly start pandering to OUR needs & preferences.

That goes for both recreational & commercial fishers as it's in both interests to pull together in a common cause. As bay trawler says, get rid of the radical greens from our Aussie political system.

Cheers - Lou

[shaman]

Funny, I was just talking to a mate (5 minutes ago). He had just picked up some prawns off a pro fisho mate and was saying that his mate was about to stop selling local and will be snap freezing 5 kilo packs to be sent to Mackay to be exported as he will get more $$$ for them. He sells them off the boat at southport for $15 a kilo which is half of what you would pay from a retailer..
Begs the question, We as the general public are either not paying enough for our own product or are the retailers too greedy and are trying to steal the stuff on a wholesale level??
Could it be the masses are too willing to buy the inferior imported product??? I know these questions are old and worn but I thought it fitting to share this info gleaned off my mate....
I also hope it wasn't off the track, thread-wise
P.s why don't the govt wack a levy on the imported crud and rebate the pro per kilo supplied locally ??? I guess that might work but only if the retailer doesn't get greedy............. Might it bring the imported and local product more into line and maybe help close this obvious gap??? or am I thinking with my butt in a less than perfect world????

[bay trawler]

shaman....yes the retailers are to greedy and what u say about the fishermans price is basically true...for larger cooked prawns [ half the retail price is what the fisherman recieves] . this doesnt hold true for the bait industry where the retailer [your local servo selling bay prawn at $25/kilo[ 200g=$5]] whilst the fisherman is paid 4 or five dollars a kilo....a 500% mark up.
Supermarket chains dont want to deal with local product because it is easier for them to defrost a box of imported prawns ,that irregardless of how they taste and whether or not they have pestyicices or antibiotics in them , has a mark up on them[ due to thestrength of the aussie dollar] thats an offer too good to refuse. its a walk up start.
good onya thanks for your comments.