POLL - Fishery Survey - Help Them or Not

[Noelm]

I have sort of evidence that not all stats are used to sink rec fishos, and maybe even help, we had a survey done almost exactly like this in my area, there was volunteers at every ramp, 7 days a week for about 3 months, they collected stuff like, how long where you out, how many on board, how many fish and what species they were, how many boats used each ramp, how many cars had to park away from the ramp, all sorts of seemingly useless info. The end result was the busiest ramp got the most money spent on it (Local Council) also increased parking, the Fisheries SEEMED to increase patroling the ramps with the most catch, NO marine parks or reduced bag limits eventuated (yet) Now I am not saying this is what you could be in for, but to be paranoid and say nothing just gives US nothing as evidence to fight with, emotion and hysteria will never win any arguments against facts and figures, regardless of how they are obtained.

[Noelm]

I will do some probing and see if the data collected is available for the general public to see, I would kind of reckon it would be, or at least the resuts/findings should be. I still think WE should give as much honest data as we can, even if in the back of our minds we think some super spies maybe going to use it against us.

[Noelm]

right, here is the good oil (maybe) from a guy at the Fisheries that is/was in charge of the surveys, the results will be made public soon (maybe a month or so he said) it will be in the form of a district by district "zone" and you locate your zone, lets say Illawarra for me, then your ramp, Shellharbour, then species, or a total whatever you want, and it will show total catch per species, total catch effort, average size and so on, he claims the data was not collected with any specific interest (pro, rec, greens, marine parks) and is to be used as a benchmark so they have SOMETHING scientific to relate to, the surveys were done for 2 consective years, and for a 3 month duration, (summer for us) done 7 days a week at every ramp in all locations, those being, Sydney, Illawarra and South Coast, and others are being done now, they are going to miss one year (this one) and do it again next year and the following year. Now, this may have half of bugger all to do with your surveys being conducted, but maybe the QLD and NSW guys are doing something constructive as a whole, or maybe it will bite us on the bum, however it pans out, at least there is some kind of provable data available from a rec point of view.

[Noelm]

Sorry this bit was deleted, info was not 100% fisheries correct.

[Scott nthQld]

Whether or not they have an agenda, I think that we should report our catches accurately when asked. provide as much information as you wish, but it would be my suggestion that you be vague about location (but still truthful) Insterad of saying "I caught these snaps at mud island", just say Moreton bay, if they ask for more details, just say all over the place, i did a lot of travelling today.

Everyone on here has had a whinge and a bitch about dodgy science and data, well now they are trying to get the data, and people are still whinging. No data, no results, just opinion, good data, and results can be skewed, but at least there is data to back it up and run other models etc, AT LEAST THERE WILL BE DATA to take reference from.

[STUIE63]

Only works if they do every boat every ramp every day and night for a set piece of time like nsw not an adhoc bit here bit there approach if you get a good weekend weather then every boat goes out and gets a feed but if the following year the weather was bad then the catch rates will be down because bugger all went out
I voted no by the way I got stung with GBRMP and will never again

[Noelm]

I think that is why NSW did it the way they did, I know they were there every day, not all night though as we do not do much night fishing at all, we were not asked where we caught fish as such, but a more general question like, "how far have you travelled" all ramps were covered, including lakes and rivers, so the data will be very comprehensive, even if they counted (say) 200 boats on a single day, but only 150 supplied a record, then that too is entered, so any info could contain a caveat to cover that too. I still maintain it will be a good thing in years to come, over a period of several surveys, a proper catch record will be obtained, whether this shows stability, decline or increase is anyones guess.

[TheGurn]

I don't have any faith in how the survey data is extrapolated, or that all variables are considered, or that changes aren't imposed just for political gain.

But I'm also aware that it's too late to object to the quality, quantity and relevance of the data through submissions or at 'consultative' meetings after it has been 'processed' and 'analysed'.
That boat has sailed and I doubt basing an argument to bring it back on alternate data would be considered, and anything you provide in the way of catch experiences become anecdotal evidence when it could have been statistical.

So I participate in the surveys, and trust that enough data can be collected for someone intelligent to mount a convincing and successful argument against an objectionable outcome using that same data.

It would be great to see enough collected to at least successfully argue against employing the green trump card, the 'Precautionary Principle'.
Our biggest threat.

And I'm always wondering, while I'm in that 'happy place' I go to when the inevitable shafting is underway, whether my contribution at the boat ramp added to or subtracted from my current discomfort.

Cheers

[robersl]

Hi Pete they are at Donnybrook most weekends mainly at high tide at the ramp i normaly let that guy check my catch as long i am not in a hurry to get home i have had a chat with him on a few occasions.
as jono-ss said in his post below
The guy was likely to be one of our casual staff who is trained to carry out surveys at boat ramps. He would have been collecting research data mainly on the length of fish being caught. This is part of a routine monitoring program to collect biological data, and you can find some information on about it on http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/28_12885.htm.

The data aren't collected with the aim of estimating how many fish get caught in total - only what the overall length frequency (i.e. relative abundance of different sized fish) is of the catch. This is valuable information as it can, for example, be used to help estimate the relative abundance of different aged fish (called age structure). Age structure is one of the critical bits of information if you want to assess the status of fish stocks.

And i for 1 don't have a problem with letting them check so i voted yes

[devocean]

My two cents. The last boat ramp poll I took part in made up my mind. Couple of marine biologists asking people how many parrot fish they caught. I had been spear fishing some trout but had been filming big school of napolean and other parrot all day. When they told us we had been spering they said they were not interested in our catch because we werent fishing?????
Second when I explained that parrot in NQ are rarely caught on line because they eat mostly eat coral they didnt care. I then asked if they wanted to see the pics of schools of parrot I had filmed ll day they said they were not interested.

These guys only take what they want to see- typical data crunchers. No bloody idea

[TheRealAndy]

I will happily give them data. I have met some of the scientists, and its not the conspiracy theory that most think it is.

[Si]

I will happily give them data. I have met some of the scientists, and its not the conspiracy theory that most think it is.

yep, couldnt agree more. most are hard working, honest dedicated people and are genuinely interested in gaining more knowledge to better understand our fisheries.

[Camhawk88]

My two cents. The last boat ramp poll I took part in made up my mind. Couple of marine biologists asking people how many parrot fish they caught. I had been spear fishing some trout but had been filming big school of napolean and other parrot all day. When they told us we had been spering they said they were not interested in our catch because we werent fishing?????
Second when I explained that parrot in NQ are rarely caught on line because they eat mostly eat coral they didnt care. I then asked if they wanted to see the pics of schools of parrot I had filmed ll day they said they were not interested.

These guys only take what they want to see- typical data crunchers. No bloody idea

If the study concerned the effects of line fishing on parrot (which by the sounds of it , it was) then the information you had to offer was irrelevant. I'm sure if they wanted data on the numbers of parrot etc, then they would be performing a visual transect rather than surveying fishermen.

[Noelm]

It may also be very possible that they have done (or are going to do) a seperate survey on the population by diving and so on, although to be ignored is propbaly not going to give you a good impression of them.

[devocean]

I was told they were collecting data on the no of take species of parrot fish. Id say that would include divers and fishermen. Second, when I asked them how many they had counted they said none for the day and they went on to say that they must be in short supply or limited in population. I then went on to say that I had easily seen over a hundred parrot for the day.
These crap studies were the same ones done by those fools who did the Grey Nurse Numbers which was the biggest joke. Check out the great shark count data and you will see why?