Commercial Longtail Tuna by-catch increase !!!

[nigelr]

I always enjoy reading your comments samson even though I may not agree with them. I appreciate your taking the time to post them, it is great to get some input from the commercial sector, and I find your comments above very interesting and something that I for one would have no insight into.
I'm just wondering how many of the general, non-fishing public are eating basa, farmed barra or nile perch these days, it is cheaper and arguably more widely available than most fresh wild-caught fish. I've eaten battered Nile Perch from a Bistro and it wasn't too bad at all, but personally I'd rate flake above it.
Cheers.

[deepfried]

samson,
what market is there for them ? i get out with a pro in NSW every now and then and he never sends them to the market and prefers to keep them for bait. Is there really a fresh food market for them anyway or are they going to end up as crab bait or cat food. If thats the case i tend to think they are better in the water.

Scott

[samson]

nigelr as far as imports like basa are concerned the tv flogged the hell out of this trade it used to be enormous but has dwindled massively mostly sold to pensioners or goes through fry's at fish shops but farmed aussie barra is massive and getting bigger and is one of those reliable fish sources most shops are taking advantage of being fresh week in and week out and being aussie helps although imported barra is not going so good.

Deepfried most longtail i get is bycatch when chasing spanish and usually wouldn't even come close to getting my bycatch limit in the south but the size is generally a lot better than the northern fish on average,the biggest trade for them is the asian market who will take as much as you can get but price fluctuates with abundence in catches from other guys especially netters but for me my local buyers are happy to have them as an alternative to yellowfin although the loins aren't as rosy red as yellow's, if big enough they can bring similer money and the smaller one's the asians prefer but generally you get between $3 and $6 kg depending on the market being flooded and if caught out of season.

[Macks forever]

So let me try to understand this because I am new to this site.

In one quote supporters of increased netting for tuna [and other species] state that the greedy selfish few [10% of rec fishers] will stop the rest of the people who live in Qld being able to buy and enjoy fresh local fish. eg Sampson said "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"
This is in spite of the fact that this is the current law and people are asking that IT DOES NOT CHANGE. They are not asking for anything currently allowed for the netters to be taken away.
Hypocrisy perhaps?

Not to mention implying that the fish are the only thing keeping people alive
eg Sampson states "think about people that eat fish to survive" as well as some personal derogatory comments aimed at the previous writer.

Then they totally contradict themselves by saying that the fish are not worth much and are not really eaten locally much.....
eg Sampson says "the biggest trade for them is the asian market who will take as much as you can get"

A logical conclusion could be that the only "greedy" and "selfish" fishers, to use terms already aimed at rec fishers, are the commercial netters asking for the laws to be changed so that they can sell more Longtail tuna to the asian market to make more money and "stuff the rest of QLD that love eating fresh fish" to use Sampson's own words.

It appears that from this debate that the real truth is that the majority of fresh local longtail tuna being eaten in Qld must be coming from anglers who feed their family and share with friends.

Long live the restrictions!!!!!

[samson]

Macks forever just love the way you twist peoples words for your own selfish needs, are you racist don't you consider asian immigrants australians that have a right to eat tuna.

The facts are these longtail tuna used to be allowed to be taken commercially but were stopped wrongly to allow a small minority to take them for themselves.

Only over recent years have your average aussie joe blow acquired the taste for sushimi and tuna in general to the point where it is needed in the local shop window weekly and the public deserve the right to have access to it.

Yet from macks forever's comments i can clearly see that you hate commercial fishing and probably asians, don't get me wrong i've clearly stated that i'm not a big fan of netting in general as it drives prices down for line guys and the ghost nets do damage but prawns,bugs,crabs,fish are the reward that the 90% of the general public can't catch themselves and have the right to access these products not just the lucky more experienced minority, if you can't share a public resource with the public then i'm wasting my breathe.

[JB]

I have to say, longtail does taste like poo, made that mistake first time and never keep ever again, it went to my never keep list along with cobes and kingies.

[snapperdan]

I have to say, longtail does taste like poo, made that mistake first time and never keep ever again, it went to my never keep list along with cobes and kingies.

Longtail eats really well raw if you bleed it and ice it straight away. After filliting skinning your catch wrap the fillets in glad wrap and put them in the freezer for 1/2 an hour before slicing for sashimi. Its not yellow fin but it is good though you can occasionly have a dud. On the other hand, dont bleed it, and ice it straight away or leave it in the fridge for a day or freeze it and its crap. Me thinks that any longail caught in the gulf will be a few days old before it hits market and wouldnt be much good to eat.

Infact most fish from north queensland and the nt that hit the sydney market look crap in my book. The wild barra and red emp never have clear eyes always cloudy with dry skin. The dead trout are the same but i suppose these are just live ones that didnt last the journey.

[Scott Mitchell]

Bled straight away - longtails a fantastic eating

Dipped in soy, crumbs & shallow fried - try it now while you can .......

They used to be plentiful - Scotto

[Macks forever]

Sampson.
I find your outburst and borderline defamatory accusations rather disturbing.

Your statement “i can clearly see that you hate commercial fishing and probably Asians” is so wrong on so many levels.

Firstly, I don’t see how you can possibly assume to know me from 2 short posts.

Secondly, I do not hate commercial fishing. In fact I support many aspects of commercial fishing, especially the line fishers. I also buy and appreciate most seafood.

Thirdly, how you can accuse someone of being racist because they question you by quoting your own words back at you is a real concern. Could it be that you just lash out at anyone who dares to show up your contradictory statements?

Threatening or bully-boy tactics have never worked on me. Never will. In fact the more someone tries to shut me up by abuse, threats or lies, the more I will voice my opinion, and correct those lies.

Just to prove my point and to quote you again “The facts are these longtail tuna used to be allowed to be taken commercially but were stopped wrongly to allow a small minority to take them for themselves.” Again this is simply misinformation and lies, aimed at creating a perception that only a few recreational anglers can take Longtail tuna. Under the current rules, ANYBODY in Qld, recreational or commercial, can take Longtail tuna. Can’t get much fairer than that! Personally, I support a limit of one or 2 fish per recreational angler and the continuation of 10 fish for commercial operators.

If you are not willing or able to debate the facts without personal abuse then I suggest you do what you said you would do, take your own advice and, in your own words, stop “wasting my breathe”.

[samson]

No misimformation and lies here bud check the facts yourself ring fisheries check for yourself under current rules rec's could single handedly take tonnes and dump them legally but commercial guy's can't legally target them at all or risk prosecution, the vast majority of rec's wouldn't even know what one looks like so the fishery gets fished by a minority fact.

The facts are simple the public needs fish if you don't support ways to make this happen without any harm to the fishery then there's no more to be said, the extra fish that the netters want kept may be in excess of what a commercial line operater would want but if there thrown back dead it's waste and it's been proven in other states that keeping bycatch helps the fishery by taking less target species to make the business more vialble nothing wrong with that if the bycatch is dead and of legal size .

The fact that most would go to the asian trade makes no difference though you seem to imply so, without the asian market commercial line operaters couldn't offord to stay in business its simple as that.

[brisbane_boy]

Thats pretty much it samson, if they are throwing fish back dead, there methods need changing, if u allow them to sell waht is now bycatch and they get an asian market for it, they will just net the shit out of it for the quick buck, no doubt about that.

[PinHead]

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.

samson..I believe 70 tonne is the total allowable commercial catch in Commonwealth fisheries. I don't know how NSW altered this as it was implemented by the Commonwealth.
However, if pro fishers are having trouble making a living then I guess it must be time for them to look at alternative professions.
I did share my toys when I was a kid but by doing that I did learn one valuable lesson..there was always someone that wanted them all to themselves..so now as an adult..KEEP YA BLOODY HANDS OFF MY TOYS..I AIN'T SHARING!!!!

[samson]

Brisbane boy i won't argue about netting bycatch being limited its the nature of the beast if you have ideas that work fisheries offer big bucks for them.

Pinhead the commonwealth didn't force uniform changes across the board to all states they just wanted something done about tuna and the state fisheries decided how they would handle it NSW decided a 5 fish limit and two over 90cm for rec's as their agreement and QLD decided ban the commercial catch and let the rec's take as much as they want in essence its a total opposite state to state,except in QLD they went in favour with heavy lobbying from the rec's with no science, which rec's are the first to winge about if it happens to them but went in their favour and pro's got locked out.

As far as pro's looking for other jobs most do, don't no many that are full time but it ain't just pro's closing down it's fish shops,wholesalers and many other trades and when fisheries put fee's up like they have and then decreases fish varieties and throw in shit weather and greem zones it's not viable for the effort put in.

Soon the anti pro rec's will get their way and you will have all the toys to yourselves and you can go back to pre 1990 and black market the shit out of everything, fisheries have already pushed heaps out that couldn't afford to stay,greens will get another chunk, rec's will get a chunk the public will love bassa and farmed barra and nothing else.

[PinHead]

Brisbane boy i won't argue about netting bycatch being limited its the nature of the beast if you have ideas that work fisheries offer big bucks for them.

Pinhead the commonwealth didn't force uniform changes across the board to all states they just wanted something done about tuna and the state fisheries decided how they would handle it NSW decided a 5 fish limit and two over 90cm for rec's as their agreement and QLD decided ban the commercial catch and let the rec's take as much as they want in essence its a total opposite state to state,except in QLD they went in favour with heavy lobbying from the rec's with no science, which rec's are the first to winge about if it happens to them but went in their favour and pro's got locked out.

As far as pro's looking for other jobs most do, don't no many that are full time but it ain't just pro's closing down it's fish shops,wholesalers and many other trades and when fisheries put fee's up like they have and then decreases fish varieties and throw in shit weather and greem zones it's not viable for the effort put in.

Soon the neo nazi anti pro rec's will get their way and you will have all the toys to yourselves and you can go back to pre 1990 and black market the shit out of everything, fisheries have already pushed heaps out that couldn't afford to stay,greens will get another chunk, rec's will get a chunk the public will love bassa and farmed barra and nothing else.

that terminology is offensive to any normal thinking person and it really shows where you stand. You accused someone of being racist and yet you use that term. it really does show where you stand. If most pros are like you and have that attitude then the sooner they are out of the industry the better. Certainly get no sympathy from me.

[nigelr]

Samson the fact that you are apparently a line and trap fisher makes your informed comments valuable in my eyes, and I suspect others as well.
I know a couple of local L & T fishers and they are very mindful of both their fishery and the fish they catch. There was a great example I think you will recall one of our members posted about, a NSW fisher taking tailor on line and getting top $ because of the efforts he made to keep his catch pristine.
Guys (and gals) like this need quodos and support IMHO.
I'm another who has eaten longtail I've caught, bled and iced and it came up a treat in the smoker and in curries and dare I say it, Asian-style stir frys.
Cheers.