Reply With QuoteI Know its not. The few local barra pros get the sh&#@ each year when out of region blow ins target the spawning aggregations of big female barra. I have had one pro tell me he hates targetting the big fish but feels if he doesn't other just will anyway so what is the point of him trying to look after the local stock. Same goes for inshore banana prawns. There are clearly 2 "types" of pros. Those who try to self regulate and take a long term view of "their patch" and those who travel far and wide to take maximum advantage of any fishery they have a stake in. The entire fishery would be better off if commercial fisheries were retricted to regions and each region had a TAC on mainstream species. If a local barra pro had done such a good job in looking after his "patch" that he gets his TAC easily, then he can use the remained of the time to target other species and still have a good year.....maybe even have fisheries give him a "bonus" if he CPUE comes down with a bit more quota or access to some reef fin fish. I just believe the fishery can be better managed so regions, or particular species are not hammered and local guys, who live here, invest here and are part of the economic fabric of the community have an advantage, both economicaly and socially of looking after the fishery. The "fresh fish for everyone" argument falls flat when so much of our fish is exported. We should not be the fish monger to the rest of the world if the consequences are potential overfishing and pros driven by the dollar at the expense of sustainability.
KC
Originally Posted by bg1000
