Waldo's Bycatch Photos

[rando]

There must be a less wasteful way of tapping the resource than dragging a net for miles .
These days with gps etc the prawn industry must have a reasonable idea where to find the prawns.
Perhaps its time to switch methods and develop prawn traps that will meet the commercial demand but not rape the environment
Just trying to think outside the box here. why waste time & money sticking with and trying to improve a fishing practice that is fundamentally flawed.
Lets get back to the drawing board.

What is another method?
How can it be made commercially viable.?
What alternative practices do other cultures use and can these be adapted to our seafood industry needs.
etc etc

[szopen]

What alternative practices do other cultures use and can these be adapted to our seafood industry needs.
etc etc



Farming them.

[bo_sawyer]

best prawns ive ever eaten where farmed prawns... bright in colour and nice n salty.... beautiful

[dinga1]

Environment Australia has set a 40% reduction target for bycatch for the east coast trawl fishery. This has been partly met by a reduction in effort of 33% hence you would assume a reduction in bycatch of 33%. This only leaves 7% to go to satisfy one of the federal governments sustainability requirements for the fishery. The effort reduction has been in actual boat nights not latent effort. With observers now coming into force in the fishery data is available to monitor the bycatch levels into the future. With gear technology and research developing, the best teds and brds have been identified for the fishery and their compulsory use has been legislated for. Square mesh codends have the capability of reducing bycatch in the scallop and deepwater ekp by 77% and 34% respectively (mainly due to the target being so much bigger than the bycatch) however the shallow water ekp has not met with as much success across the board however the radial escape sections have been proven to reduce stout whiting bycatch by 65% but this resulted in a loss of prawns (20%) as well so not ideal for the fishermen who run to to tight break even point. Environment Australia are happy to see these results. work will continue to be done on devices and fishing techniques. Effort distribution in the fishery each year is gradually becoming more concentrated in specific areas rather than spread across the fishery areas as many people suggest. this further reduces large scale effects and allows populations outside of trawl grounds to easily compensate for the impacts on their populations within trawl grounds 9if at all these impacts are significant) does anyone have any real knowledge of whether the bycatch populations are impacted by trawling. maybe they are fecund and have short lifecycles traits which ecologists suggests are suitable for disturbed environments and that is why they are bycatch species because they can survive in thes areas.....just something for us all to consider and think a little more thoroughly about rather than viewing bycatch as a doomed resource. it probably isnt an ideal situation but possibly it is not the doomsday forecast most here are predicting. fishermen would love nothing more to pull nets up full of only prawn their costs would diminish significantly and the profits would skyrocket, they dont go out of their way to catch bycatch and most do their very best to avoid it

[rando]

Dinga1
In a previous post Gazza said "waste is waste", you can't put a "spin " on it and expect others to accept it. You are still substantially interfereing with the food chain, you are continually destroying either juveniles of desired catch species or the food they rely on to support their populations.
You dont seem to grasp the fact that the larger population of people, not just rec fishers strenuosly object to the practice.

Your efforts to reduce bycatch are to be commended. That is not to say that "a few hundred kilos" per shot of bycatch is acceptable and that you are all good blokes for only destroying "some" of our "remnant" populations of fish.

Would you expect us to accept Saddam Hussien's actions were OK because they were not as extreme as Adolf Hitlers ( extreme example I know but illustrates my point).

Yes we all want prawns but NOT at the current cost to the environment

rando

[GBC]

Rando,

I think you're taking inshore trawling, which is not exactly representative of the industry catch wise. Juvenile and most "target" species known to rec fishers are generally not caught in great numbers. Having said that the whole whiting debarcle isn't really going to help me here. It would be more common to catch goat fish etc, which aren't targetted by anyone but the viets....
I'll try to dig up some data from - about 1990? CSIRO shut Princess Charlotte Bay for a year, and their research vessel was the only one allowed to work the area. Basically prawn numbers didn't change very much, catfish and goatfish numbers increased and not a lot else changed apart from the ring netters having a bumper year because the mackeral decided to stay rather than migrate(just kidding).
The prawns breed elsewhere and have bigger issues such as rainfall/intertidal seagrass beds etc determining stock levels.

[rando]

GBC
Most definately talking Inshore, and I think most people accept that deep water trawl is "cleaner"( even offshore I cant condone the overall level of damage) But trawling in bays and rivers is just crazy.
I think of all that wasted fish,each shot, then when I get a day to myself to wet a line, guess what??, no fish!!!
Now Im the first to admit I am a crap fisherman.
But I use the best gear I can afford, and employ the best techniques (mostly learned here on this site) that I know, and the freshest bait I can get.
It frustrates me that while I cant even get a couple of fresh fish to feed my family,commercial operators are killing it BY THE TON!!!
Rando

[dinga1]

Rando,
are you of the opinion pepole object to the catch rates of bycatch or its fate once caught. would people prefer to see bycatch utilised or not taken at all.

The catch of recreationally important species in the bycatch are quite low. It is when trawlers get off normal trawl tracks(on the edge of reefs) that they start catching juvenile reef species, this is associated with the habitat types that do not permit trawling. sand/soft bottoms are the favoured habitat for prawns.

if the populations of bycatch species are demonstrated as being sustainable does this change your opinion?? remember that populations outside of the small trawled area may easily support the population overall and be able to compensate the loss of individuals from trawl grounds.

the loss of biodiversity that is perceived from trawling is just as evident on farmlands and areas developed for cattle feedlots, other primary producers that we enjoy the fruits of. remember that crusteceans and other hard bodied taxa survive this process quite well given the shallow sites they are fishing

[nulla]

Dinga1

Please don't compare trawl fishing to land based primary production on either leasehold or freehold land.

Farmers have paid for exclusive use of the resource and manage it to be sustainable as it is the only resource they have.

Trawling is really using a public resource, even though you may pay a licence to do so. It is really up to the public to decide what is the best use of that public resource. While the trawl industry (at least some within the industry) is commended for realising there is a problem with bycatch, and having made ground I think all agree there is still much to be done.

Should bycatch be retained or returned to the sea? I am open to suggestions, but doubt that the economic return from bycatch makes it worthwhile and prevention of bycatch is probably the best way to go. I welcom you thoughts on this

[propeller_girl]

i think it is time we accept that our comercial fisheries in queensland are managed and if things need to change they will. good on the fisherman for having a go at reducing their bycatch, and they are still working on it. i cant wait to tuck in to my next lot of queensland prawns, not the imported stuff in super markets.

[rando]

Dinga1
I cant answer your question as I have not got enough information on bycatch make-up to answer meaningfully.
In an Ideal world I would say not taken at all, but I am not so one eyed as to suggest this is achievable .
you say,(" the loss of biodiversity percieved by trawling") Do YOU really think that it is a question of perception and not actually happening???.
Given the level of denial the commercial sector displays on the level of harm their activities actually do , forgive me if I reserve my judgement .

Logic will tell you that you cannot continue to take tens of thousands of tonnes of product out of an ecosystem and at the same time physically alter that same ecosystem without doing harm.

Thats what trawling has been doing for decades.
Too late even the trawlermen have realised " Hey there seems to be a lot less fish to catch "
It seems that you blokes are the only ones who can't see what happened to them. You suggest any other cause except your own activity.

You can point to all the improvements you like, unfortuately, it is TOO LITTLE & TOO LATE.
The big populations of fish have already been caught and dumped over the side,, BYCATCH >.
"Plenty more where that came from"
"We only trawl a little bit of ocean."

But thats OK, You blokes are doing a good job.

Ill go fishing again next chance I get....I wonder If Ill actually catch a fish!!!!!

rando

[Lobster48]

I think you all have very valid points.

One thing not talked about from what I can see is the value of Aquaculture. On one hand we have a need for the product nad a group who are willing, within the laws of the country, to provide it. On the other we have the consumer whi is generally disgusted about how the product is caught and the damage it does...bit is still willing to throw Kilos of the stuff down their mouth and get it for the lowest possible price.

There is a major problem wild stocks and we must ack soon to fix the problem. The only real answer is to ocnduct a drawn out, controled by back of pro-licenses, place more money into viable aquaculture production, increae tariffs and controls of cheap imported seafood, and increase surveillance of our territorial seas against poachers. If we do not do this we will continue our downward spiral.

I think it is lame to fight between the commercial and the recreational fisherman...it just does not make sense. Working together to acheive the goal is much more appropriate.

Whilst we can minimise bycatch with net sizes etc, the only true way the alleviate bycatch is the grow the stuff outselves. We have the technology and tghe resources, all we need is the will to do it on a grand scale.

Something to think about perhaps!

Lobster

[Lobster48]

By the way Waldo,

I reckon your right...the amount of damage caused by our insatiable desire to live on / near the coast is one of the greatest factors effecting the marine environment.

It is a lot easier to blame you guys though because we can see what you pull out of the water as opposed to putting our finger on the true costs of the increased marine developments, new suburbs along the coastal fringe, increased traffic (including watercraft), use of fertilisers and poisons on agricultural lands adjacent to the reef.

It is the fight between progress and environment. The more we progress the more we effect the environment.

Living in Darwin I am constantly amazed when I head south at the constant expansion of cities and the number of boats on the water, cars on the streets, people in the shops.

I think I will stay here and listen to all of the gripes from a distance and hope like hell you all sort it out before it truely affects my little piece of paradise.

Good luck to you al and please hurry...it won't be long now.

Lobster

[White_Steenbras]

Looks like a tasty feed.

[spuderico]

Went fishing just at the mouth of the river and thought I might wet a line where the Pelicans were fishing! I was right at the mouth of a dirty big plumbing pipe.. Ummm what delicacies would have been offered for those poor creatures?? Im glad to say that I left empty handed!