Was down there early morning a week before Xmas and absolutely heartbreaking to see the stuff being bought off the netting boats! I will admit that the sizes did appear all legal but the crate after crate off whiting, flatty and even gar was evidence off where the fish are going! No part of the Bay can withstand that pressure. The same pro netter also stakes his nets around the Eprapah Creek area at night and I guess this is for mullet or anything else that moves. Sigh....................
You cant blame a man for trying to earn a living for him and his family the best way he knows how, -- provided of course he isn't doing anything illegal.
A lot of little old ladies wouldn't be able to taste a bit of fresh local fish now and again when they can afford it if pro fishing was banned altogether.
You know mullet are in slow decline each year (despite the fact there are still lots around). Most mullet are caught when they make their annual spawning run. And the mullet themselves are only a by-catch as they are mostly caught for their roe which fetches good money over seas. A DIP guy told me about 4 years ago they dumped 300 tons of rowed out mullet.
I think it is time for the government to start using some of the huge levels of revenue raised from the recreational angler to buy out commercial fisherman in metropolitan areas.
Louis
Do you know that about 90% of aussie caught seafood is exported and only 10% is available to local markets? Cutbacks in local pro fishing would have little effect on the price of seafood IMHO.Originally Posted by Panda
Jeremy
"The underlying spirit of angling is that the skill of the angler is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish and the latter is entitled to an even chance for it's life."
(Quotation from the rules of the Tuna Club Avalon, Santa Catalina, U.S.A.)
Apathy is the enemy
Australias seafood exports consist almost totally of high-value species such as lobsters, prawns, crabs, abalone, tuna and salmon and some whiting.
Your bread and butter low- value species like flathead, bream and estuary caught mullet are sold on the domestic market. And these species are getting harder to find and more expensive in your suburban fish shops.
buy out should work in the bay it certainly has made a differance in the pumicestone passage(most pros probably bought bait shops making a fortune) seen the pros netting the pin a few years back couldnt believe it.got to make a living but rec fishers support a lot more jobs.slim picking in the bay areas know compared to 20 years ago (what of the next 20).sold my big boats 18ft and 36ft (bay cruiser ) some one lost out werent me.Still fishing catching more costing less.no fish i went elsewhere others will follow.stocked impoundments in 11`6 stessel got to make a living to.no pros on the impoundments fishstocks not only growing but sustainable.do miss me salt but every trip back convinces me more that something has to be done to stop the onslaught the bay and pin are mere shadows(fish wise) to what they were.off me soap box ..cheers
It would be interesting to have pro only areas and rec only areas and see what ones were better maintained and held better fish stocks after a few years!!
I cannot see why we / the government. cannot breed and release fingerling sized fish of commercial species to supplement the attrition of breeding sized fish.
To replace what is taken would seem to make sense to me[smiley=disappointed.gif]
dug..money and no vision.they dont usually act until the horse has bolted,pros are only a part of the cause,foreshore development is a major factor,can remember crabbing mangroves at Cleveland i think those mangroves are called RABY BAY.progress got to make a living.
I used to own a bait and tackle store at Capalaba back in the 90's and my fresh supplier told me the asians buy tons of mullet just for the onion in the gut and the melts in the male fish and discard the rest. Apparently getting $150 a kilo for the onion as it's a delicasy o/seas, fishy taste with chewing gum texture.
that explains why my mullet gut bait has got no onion in it,boy am i still in the dark ages.
Yeah i used to buy the mullet whole & sell the fillets for bait, frames for crabbing & i used to leave the onion inthe gut and sell it as well, fisho's lining up for the gut/onion. oh yeah, then i'd grind up any leftovers for frozen slow release burley bombs. No waste from the humble mullet!!that explains why my mullet gut bait has got no onion in it,boy am i still in the dark ages.
I did a little work for one of those pro netters out of Victoria Point about 10 years ago and what a damn discrace.
You think the amount of fish they unloaded was amazing then you should see the amount of fish that is undersize and left on a dry bank dead. Only about 1/5 to 2/5 of the total catch is kept while the rest is dead waiting for the tide to cover them up.
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Greg
www.wickedfishing.com.au The place for wicked fish pics, articles and DVD's. Your ultimate reef fishing DVD "Double Island Point & Beyond" on sale now.
G'day Reefmaster,
I have been told that the average little net boat dropping 3 kilometres of net is able to catch btw 2tons and 7 tons of fish per day.
Does this sound right to you?
Louis
Interesting topic and some insightfull responses.
Lived in Caloundra when the pros where bought out and whilst this should improve fish stocks long term a better result could have been achieved with the rec fishers and other users of the passage bearing some of the pain.
What value removing the pros when bait nets and cast nets are still in use, in some cases as the primary means of fishing?
The mud banks around the mouth of Bells creek that once held massive stocks of hermit crabs ( the number 1 whiting bait in the passage) are barren. The result of rec fishers over gathering a bait resource?
What about all the luscious green lawns around Golden Beach achieved with copious amounts of nitrogen based fertiilzers and endosulphan based pesticides. Wonder where the run off goes???
Would any of these "green thumbs" be willing to have a lesser lawn for a healthier passage???
Yes, inshore netting must be reduced but the rest of the community must chip in also.
I took my kids fishing down at Cabbage Tree creek where all the trawlers tie up the other day. My 4 year old fires off a million questions an hour most of the time and he was very interested in these big boats with their big nets. I explained that they caught fish for their job and sold them to the shops for people to buy. He decided on his own that those big nets must catch too many fish because we often get nothing. If a 4 year old can work it out then why can't everyone else.
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