Commercial Longtail Tuna by-catch increase !!!

[Scott Mitchell]

It never ends ........

In a move set to further strain relations between rec fishos and commercial netters in North Queensland (see related story here), Fisheries Queensland has proposed a review of the allowable netting by-catch of northern bluefin (longtail) tuna in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The review proposes the raising of the current bycatch limit of 10 fish to a 500kg total - based on an average sized 5kg tuna this represents a tenfold or 1000 per cent increase.

With news of the development only coming to light late last week, questions have been raised concerning a lack of consultation with rec fishing bodies on such a controversial move. The news also leaves little time for concerned stakeholders to lodge review submissions, with the closing date for submissions being November

1. Fisheries Queensland says it is in the process of reviewing the management arrangements which apply in the Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish Fishery and has released a regulatory impact statement (RIS) outlining proposed changes. In preliminary consultation, commercial netters have asked for the longtail bycatch increase due to the fish being "incidentally caught whilst targeting grey mackerel and any fish taken in excess of the current trip limit of 10 are discarded dead."

With the jurisdiction for tuna management in Queensland waters lying with the Commonwealth, any such change to the current limit would need to be enacted through an amendment to the Memorandum of understanding between the Commonwealth of Australia and the state of Queensland.
Such a change has to be supported through the public consultation process for Fisheries Queensland to formally approach the Commonwealth for an amendment to the MOU.

To lodge a submission on a review of the Fishery and proposed changes you have until 1 November 2010.

For more information go to the Fisheries Queensland website, www.deedi.qld.gov.au or by contact (07) 3225 1855

Regards Scotto

[TheRealAndy]

Can we se the report pls scott.

Also, I question this:

Sunfish says mackerel net fishers in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area continue to take and interfere with protected species such as turtles, dolphins and dugongs.

Where did this info come from? If this is indeed the case, then perhaps legal action should be brought against the pro's in question. Maybe we should be advertising this a little more?

[Camhawk88]

Without having read the full report this sounds like a common sense amendment.
The NBT are by-catch so are not targeted- their value as a food source are very low in comparison to the target species(macs) so there is no incentive for pros to actively target NBTs.
A maximum number of 10 means any more than this get put back dead- a waste. Is it not better to allow the by-catch to be used for some purpose- whether that be the bait market, pet food, fish oil or aquaculture feed. As anyone who has fished for pelagics up here knows the tuna are often found around mackeral schools as they feed on the same baitfish. And if a netter does hit a school (Im sure they try to avoid NBT schools where possible) then many more than 10 are caught... and wasted.

I think your statement of a 1000% increase is a bit of sensationalism- we are still only talking about 500kg here and most schools of NBTs I've seen are 2-3x larger than the 5kg you have assumed. I don't think this change would have any major impact on the stocks of NBT.

Having said this I think it is important that the consultation proccess is transparent and allows ample time for any interested parties to have their say.

[Moffy]

I think your statement of a 1000% increase is a bit of sensationalism- we are still only talking about 500kg here and most schools of NBTs I've seen are 2-3x larger than the 5kg you have assumed. I don't think this change would have any major impact on the stocks of NBT.

its 500kg a trip though and through multiple boats/multiple trips this would add up - for the gulf tuna 10kg average would be fair to high - so 50 fish per boat trip).

having said that - better that they are used then chucked back dead - Have seen the net boats over here chucking back dead tuna (and other bycatch for that matter) cause they can't keep them.

Mind you - keeping a few more Longtails is a minor issue compared to other things that are happening in the Gulf if any of the stories of what some trawlers out of weipa are doing have any truth to them.

[Jeremy]

Problem is what happens next. Pros start targetting the NBT to get their 500 kg each trip to sell as cat food or crab bait. Then the pros in CQ and SEQ want the same rules applied down here so they can take 500 kg each trip also. Bye bye longtails....

[Camhawk88]

Bye Bye longtails? At 500kg per trip if this were to decimate the species then why is the mackeral fishery in pretty good shape when the same guys are taking several tonnes per trip.
All this rule does is allow the utilisation of by-catch. You'll probably find that the 500kg is a regular catch when not targeted- only they have to be thrown back dead.

[Lucky_Phill]

Maybe they should refine their capacity to " target " their intended species.

You cannot harvest a species adhock. you must use best practice and do everything in your power to eliminate or reduce by-catch. This is simple management tool used by the vast majority of primary produces.

The thing is , long tail are an integral part of a food chain and to simply ask for an increase in by-catch limits " because we are catching too much because we cannot or will not put in place measures to reduce this " is crap.

Give yourselves an upper cut you guys. Here's some food for thought.

Your petrol station that supplies your fuel decides it is all too hard to put in best practice to reduce contaminants ( water ) pushing through the pumps that you use to fuel ya boat. So they simply ask the regulators for a permit to allow extra % of contaminants to get through ?

How do you feel about that ?

LP.





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[Scott Mitchell]

Can we se the report pls scott.

Also, I question this:

Sunfish says mackerel net fishers in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area continue to take and interfere with protected species such as turtles, dolphins and dugongs.

Where did this info come from? If this is indeed the case, then perhaps legal action should be brought against the pro's in question. Maybe we should be advertising this a little more?

Andy

Shoot me a PM with your regular email address & I will email you some back ground details on Mackerel netting


Same ol same ol!!!! They did it with the spotty macs etc etc. Greedy b!&%!*!!s.

If it is allowed in the gulf it will transfer to here. No doubt about it. Very sneeky tactic whereby they introduce it where they think it will get least resistance and then it automatically cascades to the rest of Qld and there is nothing you can do to stop it! Especially seeing as we believe they should not even be netting grey mackerel in the first place!

Everybody needs to tell fisheries that - If they cannot stop 'accidentally' catching excessive fish with their current techniques, then they need to change their current techniques, not change the rules to increase the quota!!!!

Otherwise all rec fishers MUST be allowed to keep more snapper, coral trout etc etc in excess of their bag limit when they 'accidentally' catch them while fishing for "other" species!

I encourage every one with an interest to submit a response ............

Regards Scotto

[samson]

This should of happened long ago longtails are so abundant up north down to double island in the se qld there a pest and they don't bring great money, but to let rec's kill them by the 1000's without no limit for bait or to dump them and be legal yet pro's trying to make a living to feed the public are resticted to a combined 10 of longtails and stripies is a joke aswell as two yellowfin for pro's when it should be their right to make a living they've had these rules back to front for too long at least NSW fisheries have their shit together and got their rules right straight off the bat.

[snapperdan]

This should of happened long ago longtails are so abundant up north down to double island in the se qld there a pest and they don't bring great money, but to let rec's kill them by the 1000's without no limit for bait or to dump them and be legal yet pro's trying to make a living to feed the public are resticted to a combined 10 of longtails and stripies is a joke aswell as two yellowfin for pro's when it should be their right to make a living they've had these rules back to front for too long at least NSW fisheries have their shit together and got their rules right straight off the bat.

Cry me a river. The poor pros cant make a living, how sad.

Longtails a pest. I thought they were a recreational only fish http://www.longtailtuna.com.au/Info....e%20management

I have spent a fair bit of money to chase these buggers on light tackle off cape york. Would be a real shame to see this fishery lost.

[samson]

snapperdan so let me get my head around this 10% of recreational anglers catch 90% of the fish so by making them rec only 10% get the whole longtail tuna fishery to themselves and stuff the rest of QLD that love eating fresh fish and are unable to catch them because a small selfish minority are hogging them to themselves, i guess you didn't share your toys when you were younger either pull ya head in mate and think about people that eat fish to survive thats what its all about.

[brisbane_boy]

longtails get baked in the sun for hrs in nets and on the deck of pro boats piled into a esky getting bruised, theyd taste like shit at best, nothing on a rec caught bled on capture iced down fish, even then they taste borderline shit ahah, good sportfish and worth a few bucks to rec angling

[TimiBoy]

Is it the same reasoning therefoire that if we pull up Snapper # 6 and it's suffering barotrauma, we should be able to keep it as discarding it is a waste?

Open up the floodgates people.

Tim

[Macks forever]

I cannot help but agree with the need to stop the extra/excessive netting of longtail tuna. And the grey mackerel. Agree totally with Scott and Timiboy and the others. What a waste to leave the tuna bake in the sun as one writer said.

But the reality is that they are not worth much to the netters but the netters will target them for extra pocket money if allowed.

Line fishing has never been responsible for the collapse of fish stocks. Net fishing has.

The excuses and reasoning used to support the case for netting on this thread are flawed but seem to be standard procedure to support taking more and more by net. The commercial line fishers provide ample for local consumption at a better quality at a better return to the fishers.

If the netters cannot stop "Accidentally" catching other species and endangered wildlife such as turtles and dugong etc, then the rules need to be changed to stop them netting until they can.
Or change the netting practices to ensure that they do not take things accidentally.
NOT change the rules to allow them to take more! That is simply pathetic management.

[samson]

don't get me wrong i don't support netting but its a nesecary evel that without, seafood just wouldn't make it to the consumer as commercial line guys can't have any hope of feeding the community maybe breifly in their local area but to feed the masses net guys are needed, but the commercial line guy's deserve the right to take more it's simple as that,at present its illegal to target longtails,striped tuna and yellowfin in QLD but small bycatch limits apply.

At the end of the day we're talking about a fishery thats exploding with fish numbers and recrutment is high and fast growing not like what Timi refered to such as snapper which are at threat and deserve some protection,the only reason they can't be targeted is because fisheries cocked up this rule long ago when the commonwealth wanted something done about tuna not longtails they've never been commonwealth fish their state fish rarely venturing out of state waters the commonwealth fish have always been yellowfin, bluefin and stripies which used to be poled and netted heavilly and can still be targeted by the longliners which don't even fish for longtails,what needs to be done is an amendment like what happened with amberjack sizes which was cocked up in the same way without any research its simple as that.