Coral Reef Fin Fish bag limit.

[Noelm]

I just typed out a reply and it vanished, anyway...I agree with you, let's look at it in a different way, sometimes I go out and struggle to catch enough fish for a feed, but then, there are times I have had to leave a hot Snapper bite because I have my limit, some have suggested that perhaps there should be times when your bag limit should be increased to make up for previous dud trips! I can't say I agree with that, let alone how to police it, kind of like some sort of season limit? I certainly don't claim to be a green tree hugger, I like to eat fish, crabs and whatever else, but, this is a big issue that affects every fisherman both pro and rec, freshwater and salt, boat and shore based.

[NAGG]

I guess kind of, the Bluefin have made a comeback from the brink due to very strict limits on Pros and recs alike, it was pretty rare to catch one for years, and now they have recovered its catch as many as you are allowed, I have heard of stories of "upgrading" that is catching one each, and continue fishing, keeping bigger and bigger ones, and simply tossing the smaller ones over the side, I know this is kind of drifting off topic, but in a way, it relates to the topic too, laws are a necessity, and how those laws are determined can be in our hands.

sadly there are plenty of anglers who do this ...... and it’s so disappointing to hear these stories which are no doubt true. There are a few photos on Facebook with 4 or 5 fish with just 3 anglers or 1 angler with two bluefin ...... . This is where boat limits need to come into play..

sorry but fishoes are are often not very good at keeping to regulations ..... knowingly or through ignorance. .... me included.

Chris

[Noelm]

Boat limits were introduced here for our deep water species, with the advent of electric reels and GPS, better boats and so on, species like Blue Eye, Hapuka and Gemfish became readily available to most people (these were almost entirely the professionals domain) and bag limit numbers were pretty scarce, simply because no one caught them, but in the early days, boxes of Gemfish were common, people cleaned them at the ramp until they got tired of it, then gave away the smaller ones, or simply tossed them away, then a limit of certain species were introduced, and a boat of (say) 4 anglers still had a box of fish, but kept upgrading until only big ones were in the kill box, to counteract this, strict boat limits were set, (for multiple species combined) so, regardless of 2 or 6 people or more, the boat limit prevented wanton kill numbers, everyone carried on about it, but in a way, we did it to ourselves, now we just accept the limits because we have got used to it.

[The Silver Unicorn]

Boat limits make no sense at all. Why should a boat with 6 people on it only keep the same amount of fish as a boat with 3 people in it? Its a ridiculous arguement on all levels


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[The Silver Unicorn]

Pros and the semi pros that have no bag or size limits are the ones that are killing the industry, not only for themselves but also for recs


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[Aussie123]

Pros and the semi pros that have no bag or size limits are the ones that are killing the industry, not only for themselves but also for recs


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Pros have the same size limits as recs and many pros are restricted to certain species only.
They also have to buy quota to be able to catch certain species.
Last year there was a total of 379 commercial line fishing licences in QLD who caught a combined total of 2,285 tonne of fish which is bugger all compared to over 700,000 rec fishos.
No one can blame just the small number of pros out there, especially when a lot of recs are out there fishing for a living and black marketing their fish.

[The Silver Unicorn]

Pros have the same size limits as recs and many pros are restricted to certain species only.
They also have to buy quota to be able to catch certain species.
Last year there was a total of 379 commercial line fishing licences in QLD who caught a combined total of 2,285 tonne of fish which is bugger all compared to over 700,000 rec fishos.
No one can blame just the small number of pros out there, especially when a lot of recs are out there fishing for a living and black marketing their fish.

Do the pros have a limit of over 70cm snapper? Or are us recs just releasing our 70+cm for the pros to profit from?

I have no problems with 2nd and 3rd generation professional fisherman who farm the ocean and look after the stocks. It the rogue semi pros that find a school of fish and decimate it till theres nothing left


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[Noelm]

Read post #51, it's how all these threads end up going before they get locked or deleted.

[Dignity]

Sorry if im hoing over old ground but been out of action for 2 months. I don't know the answer but there are a few rec fishers who take more than legal limits who ring their mates to meet them at the ramp to take off the excess, even know a couple who then go back out again to get more. All I know is limits have to have some impact. I went to a meeting once at Lutwyche held by a tackle store there, now moved. Palermo gave his talk on targeting larger fish, then followed by another presenter who targeted the legal, at that time 27cm squire. He claimed to take up to 300 a night. Was that sustainability. The issue is very complex, made even more so by the qld govt,e.g. black/gold spot cod are under Tidal and other fishes category yet are included in the total cod species including Coral Fin fish catches. Should deep water fish have their own category over and above other species, probably so but quite a few are difficult to identify and I'm sure the govt has no idea what's down there.

[Noelm]

I guess the answer is, there is no answer, so, a wild stab in the dark bag limit is imposed, right or wrong, it's better than nothing, leaving open slather like it was back in the dark ages.

[The Silver Unicorn]

I went deep dropping for the first time today. After bringing up 200kg of barcod in the first drop, there should definately be harsher restrictions for pro’s and tighter bag limits for recs. Id like to see these fish still be around for for my kids and grandkids.


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[NAGG]

Boat limits make no sense at all. Why should a boat with 6 people on it only keep the same amount of fish as a boat with 3 people in it? Its a ridiculous arguement on all levels


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Boat limits are done in conjunction with bag limits ........ & btw you probably have inadvertently answered why there should be boat limits .

answer this for me ...... if you are fishing with a couple of mates & you get your personal bag limit ( the other's can't catch a cold) , do you stop fishing or targeting those fish - or like keep landing fish because there are 3 of you ?


Chris

[Noelm]

Boat limits are contentious, just like bag limits, and as I mentioned, these came in when deep dropping became common, big numbers of large fish were possible, not everyone caught fish of course, but plenty did, so strict boat limits were set, a couple of hundred KG of fish was deemed plenty for (say) 6 anglers. Don't you have a hook number used limit?

[berniek]

I know this is an "old" thread but I have been away.
What no one seems to have suggested (though there are a couple of hints is what is the actual purpose of these limits. I like quite a few others are skeptical of "preserving the stocks". I think these limits are a blantant political move to achieve 3 aims.
1 Placate the "greenies", many of whom don't and have never fished. The eco movement is a multi million dollar industry.

2 Be able to justify imposing limits & quotas for commercial fishermen and the attendant fees that go with it.

3 Make it not attractive to the "amateur pros" (those that fish and sell their catch without a commercial licence).
I have friends who would fill up all their eskies because they could sell all they could catch to their local club or cafe. It paid for their fishing, gave them something to do, and pocket money into the bargain. I think this is a major reason for limits. When the mackeral were on, they would literally catch tons.

Now with boat & species limits, AND the points method of fines, If you are caught well over the limits you can lose gear, boat & cars. (Second "big" offences might put you in jail) It has made it pretty risky. The risk/return profile was no longer favourable.
The fines produce a sizeable income to the authorities.
I adhere to the limits just because it is law. I do upgrade fish when I can. I try to keep my catch alive to do that, but thatis not always possible

There are arguments for preserving fish stocks but I think these are secondary considerations compared to the others.
Just remember, for commercial fishermen, the price of fish and the capture restrictions must align for them to make a living. Widespread wholesale amateur catches being sold interfere with that price. If the authorities wish to have control of commercial fishing (and the fees & whole enforcement & research industry that goes with it) they must ensure commercial fishermen can flourish.

I suspect, that the reason we are having this discussion is that 5% of fisherman catch 95% of fish. The whole fishing industry (boats, gear bait, fuel, enforcement etc) must have a reason they present to new customers when they complain that there brand new boat/reel/lure/tide chart/charter didn't give them lots of fish.

The 95% of us fisherman who don't catch much need to justify ourselves so we complain to the pollies and we get limits.