Historic Fishery Management Plan For Reef Conserva

[jaybee]

Premier & Trade, Peter Beattie

08/09/03

The Queensland Government will safeguard the Great Barrier Reef's rich biodiversity through the reef's first comprehensive fish management plan.

Premier Peter Beattie and Minister for Primary Industries Henry Palaszczuk said the Coral Reef Fin Fish Management Plan includes a ban on the catch of seven fish species.

"The plan goes a long way to conserving the Great Barrier Reef's unique biodiversity," Mr Beattie said.

"It strikes a sensible balance between conserving the environment, and enabling fishing to continue at sustainable levels.

"More than 1260 people and organisations made formal submissions on a draft released by the government in October 2002, and many of their suggestions are reflected in the final plan.

"The submissions showed Queenslanders are passionately committed to sustainable management of the reef fishery, with the vast majority agreeing we need to improve management of the resource to ensure a sustainable future.

"As part of our response to submissions, we have added to the "no take" list four species of fish that were not listed in our draft plan.

"Queensland grouper, Red bass, Chinaman fish and Paddletail will be protected from fishing, along with the three species proposed in the draft - Humphead Maori wrasse, Barramundi cod, and Potato cod.

"These fish are as much a part of the Great Barrier Reef as the colourful corals, and protecting them is an important step in Reef conservation," Mr Beattie said.

Other effects of the plan include:
- Three nine-day closures to protect fish during the crucial spawning season;

- Reducing the number of Reef finfish licences from 1700 to less than 400. The commercial catch will be allocated as Individual Transferable Quotas to operators who can demonstrate they have a history in the fishery;

- New size and possession (bag) limits for a range of species as well as fishing gear restrictions and catch recording;

- Capping commercial catches at the pre-1997 investment warning level. The total commercial catch will be reduced from the 2001 level of 4830 tonnes to 3061 tonnes.

Mr Palaszcuk said: "We heard a range of views about closing the fishery during the spawning season, following a suggestion of a three month closure in a Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Report.

"The scientifically sound outcome is three nine-day closures during the sensitive spawning season.

"The commercial catch of reef fish has increased by more than half over the last five years. That occurred in spite of an investment warning in 1997 from the then Queensland Fisheries Management Authority," Mr Palaszczuk said.

Mr Palaszczuk said the management plan would be phased in over the next 13 months, beginning late this year.

"The spawning season closures and new minimum size limits will assist greatly in ensuring the sustainability of fish stocks.

"The size limits have been chosen to allow at least 50% of the fish to reach maturity and spawn at least once before being able to be caught," Mr Palaszczuk said.

The plan is subject to Executive Council approval.

It is available from www.dpi.qld.gov.au and the DPI Call Centre 13 25 23.
A summary of main points in the plan is attached.

[jaybee]

Media contact: Kirby Anderson (Mr Palaszczuk's office) 3239 3000


Coral Reef Fin Fish Management Plan

Species covered by the plan include:
- Cods and trout;
- Tropical snapper and sea perch;
- Emperors;
- Wrasses;
- Sweetlips;
- Parrot fish, surgeon fish, fusiliers and banana fish.

The plan will be implemented over three stages:
December 2003 (measures taking effect)
- Size and bag limits;
- Limited licensing of the commercial sector;
- Bans on filleting of fish;
- Marking of recreationally-caught fish;
- No-take species;
- Changes to fishing apparatus; and
- Arrangements for licensed aquarium fishers.

July 2004 (measures taking effect)
- Commercial fishing quotas;
- Commercial fishing tagging; and
- New catch reporting obligations.

October 2004 (measures taking effect)
- Spawning season closures.

Size and possession (bag) limits

The size limits have been chosen to allow at least 50% of the fish to reach maturity and spawn at least once before being able to be taken.

The size and bag limits will vary between fish species; however, the combined total recreational bag limit reduces from 30 to 20 reef fish per individual except for extended charter trips.

Recreational anglers on extended charter fishing trips (more than 72 hours) are to continue to be able to take twice the individual species limit and total limit; and on trips greater than seven days, a total of 60 fish.

Cods (size and bag limits)

- A total combined bag limit of five excluding the no take species;
- The minimum size for the following cods will be 38 centimetres - Redmouth rockcod, White-lined rockcod, Peacock rockcod, White-spotted rockcod, Coral cod, Six-spot rockcod, Tomato rockcod, Brown-barred rockcod, Flagtail rockcod, Areolate rockcod, Blue-spotted rockcod (or Bommie cod), Blue Maori, Trout cod, Chinaman rockcod, Speckled-finned rockcod, Black-tipped rockcod, Black Saddle rockcod, Snub nosed rockcod, Strawberry rockcod, Dothead rockcod, Blue-lined rockcod, Leopard rockcod, Speckled grouper, Comet grouper, Eight bar grouper, Oblique-banded grouper, Hexagon rockcod, Four-saddle rockcod, Coral rockcod, Six bar rockcod, Bar rockcod, Thinspine rockcod and Hapuku.
- Flowery cod and Camouflage rock cod will have minimum and maximum size limits of 50cm and 100cm respectively.
- Maori cod will have a minimum size limit of 45cm.
- Greasy rockcod will have a minimum size limit of 38cm and maximum size limit of 100cm.
- Potato cod, Barramundi cod and Queensland groper will be no take species.

Coral trout (size and bag limits)

- A combined bag limit for all trout excluding the no take species will be reduced from 10 to seven.
- The minimum size limit for the following coral trout will be 38cm. Trout - Squaretail (or Passionfruit trout), Common (or Leopard), Bar-cheeked, Highfin, Lyretail and Coronation.
- Chinese Footballer (or Blue Spot Trout) will have a minimum and maximum size limit of 50cm and 80cm respectively.

Tropical snapper and seaperch (size and bag limits)

- The minimum size limit for the following species will be 25cm and an individual bag limit of five - Black-spot snapper, Yellow-margined seaperch, Blue-stripe seaperch, Dark-tailed (or Maroon seaperch), Big-eyed seaperch, Black and White seaperch, One-spot seaperch, Five-lined seaperch, Maori seaperch, Brown-stripe seaperch (or Brown Hussar), Midnight seaperch and Sailfin snapper.
- The minimum size limit for the following species will be 38cm and an individual bag limit of five - Small-toothed Jobfish, Ruby Snapper, Flame Snapper, Goldband Snapper, Green Jobfish, Moses perch and Stripey (Spanish Flag).
- The minimum size limit for Red Emperor will be 55cm and the bag limit reduced from 10 to five.
- The minimum size limit for Rosy Jobfish (or King Snapper) and Lavender Jobfish will be 38cm and a total bag limit of eight.
- The minimum size limit for Pink Hussar will be 25cm and a bag limit of 10.
- The minimum size limit for small-mouth Nannygai and large-mouth Nannygai will be 40cm with a total combined bag limit of nine Nannygai.

Emperors (size and bag limits)

- The minimum size limit for the following species will be 25cm and a bag limit of five - Gold-lined sea bream, Collared sea bream, Japanese sea bream, Robinson's sea bream, Spotted sea bream, Yellow-tailed emperor, Yellow-spotted emperor, Lancer, Thumb-print emperor, Pink-eared emperor, Orange-striped emperor, Yellow-striped emperor, Red-eared emperor, Yellowlip emperor, Variegated emperor, Big-eye bream and Mozambique large-eye bream.
- The minimum size and bag limit for Sweetlip emperor/Red-throat emperor will be 38cm and eight fish respectively.
- The minimum size and bag limit for Long-nose emperor will be 38cm and a bag limit of five respectively.
- The minimum size limit for Spangled emperor will be 45cm and a bag limit of five.

Wrasse (size and bag limits)

- The minimum size limit for Hogfish, Red-breasted Maori Wrasse and Triple-tail Maori Wrasse will be 25cm and a bag limit of five per species.
- The minimum size limit for Anchor Tuskfish, Purple Tuskfish, Blackspot Tuskfish, Venus Tuskfish and Blue Tuskfish will be 30cm and a total combined bag limit of six per species.
- Humphead Maori Wrasse will be a no take species.

Parrotfishes, Surgeonfishes and Sweetlips (size and bag limits)

- The minimum size limit for Bumphead parrotfish, Bicolor parrotfish, Miscellaneous parrotfish, Surgeonfishes, Unicornfishes, Slaty Bream (or Painted Sweetlip) and Miscellaneous sweetlips will be 25cm and a bag limit of five.

Limited licensing of the commercial sector

Of the 1550 commercial fishing boats authorized to take coral reef fin fish in Queensland waters, up to 400 boats operated prior to 1997 when the then Queensland Fisheries Management Authority issued an "investment warning" to all operators not to increase their involvement in the fishery.

Those operators who can demonstrate history in the fishery and qualify for continued access to the fishery will be granted a RQ (Reef Quota) Fishery Symbol. The other operators will be limited to the same arrangements set for recreational fishers.

Filleting of fish

- Two fillets equal one fish.
- All fishers, other than commercial fishers holding a RQ (Reef Quota) and fishers on extended charter trips, must retain the fish in a whole form or in accordance with the prescribed fillet size of no less than 40cm.
- Fishers on extended charter trips longer than 48 hours can fillet their fish subject to the current packaging and identification requirements.
- Commercial fishers not restricted by possession limits are required to land their fish in whole of gilled and gutted form. Provisions have been made for a licensed fisher to be granted a permit to fillet their catch as an intermediate step in adjusting their business.
- To maintain the integrity of the maximum size limit of 80cm for Blue Spot Trout, this species not be filleted at sea regardless of who catches this species.

Marking of recreationally-caught fish

Recreational fishers must mark their fish by removing a pectoral fin after capture at sea once the fish has died.

No-take species

- All fishers are prohibited from catching and taking Humphead Maori Wrasse, Barramundi cod, Potato cod and Queensland grouper because they are regarded as rare in nature and iconic to the fishery.
- Similarly, all fishers are prohibited from catching and taking Red Bass, Chinaman fish and Paddletail because large specimens are frequently identified as ciguatoxic.

Changes to fishing apparatus

- Most coral reef fin fish species covered by the management plan are to be only taken by handline or rod and line.
- Recreational fishers only may also use a hand-held spear or spear gun to take coral reef fin fish without the aid of underwater breathing apparatus other than a snorkel.
- A person to the use of a maximum of six hooks in any configuration and use not more than three lines at any times.
- Licensed fishers using multiple hook apparatus in offshore waters beyond the 200 metre depth contour are authorised to continue to do so.

Arrangements for aquarium fishers

Holders of authorities to take fish for display purposes (aquarium fish) can take and possess coral reef fish as ornamental specimens only and under the condition that other requirements are observed, such as size limits. An exemption from the size limit will apply to enable those aquarium fish authority holders to retain fish with size limits listed at 25cm other than Pink Hussar and Stripey.

Commercial fishing quotas

- Those licensed fishers granted with a RQ symbol will be granted an individual transferable quota (ITQ) based on their weighted average catch over specified past years 1994 to 2001, as a proportion of total allowable catch of 3061 tonnes, the pre-investment warning catch level.
- ITQs will be in three categories - coral trout, red throat emperor and other reef fish, each based on their relative proportions of the catch for the eight-year period.
- A minimum quota allocation of each category is provided to mitigate the effects of the plan on smaller operators.

Commercial fishing tagging/catch reporting

A notification scheme will apply to commercial fishers.

The scheme will consist of a prior landing notice (prior notice), actual landing notice (landed fish notice) and a buyer return. Where catch is carried by a mother ship, a transshipment notice has been included.

All fish landed will be tagged, or if live, accompanied by a tag. The operational detail of the scheme will be developed with industry for introduction in mid-2004.

Spawning season closures
- Three nine-day periods in October, November and December each year around the 'new moon' period will be closed seasons to the taking of coral reef fish.
- The first closed season commences in October 2004.

[Gazza]

??? ???
The plan is subject to Executive Council approval.

----------------------------------------------------------
So "things" may change ??? between "now" and then ?

[Kerry]

Change? nah appears they think they are on a roll and all out to make this snow ball affect grow even bigger.

Won't take much longer for the remaining logical fish managers to be overun by this apparent new generation of university educated, programmed tree huggers.

Doesn't take much to get an impression of the future, does it.


But one comment on Red Emperor. The difference between a 45cm and 55cm emperor is quite substantial as after the average emperor matures, growth appears more in the shoulders and body depth.


Cheers, Kerry.

[Gazza]

Ahhhh Kerry , "logical fish m-a-n-a-g-e-r-s" ,it that a p-p-paradox?


Once 'they' work out which colour they SHOULD be ,all will be well..

AND IT AINT GREEN ,maybe small 'S' yellow ,lotsa BLUE sounds "PRETTY" good to me

Gazza

[Kerry]

Gazza, don't forget the "brown zones"

Cheers, Kerry.

[Simon_Goldsmith]

As one of the so eloquently put "university educated fish managers" i find many of the changes quite desirable.

The move from input controls too output controls when it comes to managing the harvested yield is just one example.

And in many cases the changes being proposed are the same as those put forward on websites just like this one, and bandied about at tackle stores, fishing clubs and other environments where fisheries management it discussed by stakeholders.

Simon.

[jaybee]

simon

As one of the so eloquently put "university educated fish managers" i find

I work in welfare, quite often we get university educated people put into postions, where, they have no life experience and cause a lot of problems because this is in the book, this is how it should be, do you think this may be the case with educated fish managers, hey, we are talking 24 yr old out of uni if they are that old, how much life experience do they have, and what dollars are they being paid, to make such assumptions. Be like asking a 16 yr old to do a paper on his experiences in moreton bay. On the other hand i am all for lower bag limits and greater size limits within perspective.
cheers
Joe.

[Simon_Goldsmith]

You're taring them with all the same brush. Which is a bad mistake to fall into because if you "assume", you make an "ass" out of you and "me".

While i agree there may be some uni graduates that fall into the category you describe, they're not all devoid of life and practical experience.

In fact getting into resource management isn't as easy as some might believe, and simply having a degree or some form of qualification isn't enough to get you a job.

Increasingly graduates are becoming a dime a dozen and you'll need a lot more than purely a piece of paper to get the management keys of a resource agency thrown at you.

Simon.

[jaybee]

Simon I don't tar anyone with the same brush as you say, we can't afford to put everybody in the same box so to speak, yet, i have not found anyone in fisheries with the so called experience to justify some of the releases that have been, I work in resource management, albeit it might be social welfare but it still stands the same, we cannot assume, and it appears you have contradicted yourself on a few points eh! or did i read wrong
cheers

[Finnie]

Hi Jaybee,

Nice info in the post (it's good to have easy access to changes in the system) but you made no real comment on where you think the strengths and weaknesses of it are?! Being a stupid southerner (N. NSW) I think I'd find figuring out the rules when I went fishing in a new place a little complicated! Given that a lot of recreational fishers are in it for a little relaxation and fun (including the 50 billion holiday makers that head up your way) and don't have time to pour over and summarise the fine print, do you think the rules can be condensed into something that will allow these people to avoid inadvertantly breaking the rules?

As far as the "young uni graduate having no life experience" discussion goes......yup, there are a few of those out there, but life experience doesn't just come from sitting around getting old! I mean geez Kerry, I'd hate to think that because I've been to uni I'm suddenly a tree hugging hippy who has no understanding of "real" life! If an education made my working class fishing/hunting/footy playing/Army etc. practical experience go up in smoke I want my money back! Let's just say that I hope all the work I put in at Uni adds to my life experience instead of taking away from it.....

Cheers,
Finnie

[jaybee]

Hi Finnie, sorry for the delay, but for some unkown reason I dont recieve notifications even after ticking the little box.
I dare say Fishweb will update the
size and limits as well as put out a flyer at all tackle and bait outlets.
Here is a more detailed version of the release Fishweb I'm getting more confused by the size and bag limits and now closed seasons, which someone told me today will be state wide not just up along the GBR, trying to confirm this. ?? still wading through the legislation

Yep we don't get life experience by sitting around got to agree there. anyway back to the legislation and e-mails and see if anyone can confirm the proposed closures will indeed be statwide.
cheers
Joe.

[jaybee]

here is the latest Finnie, just recieved this e-mail sorry cant divulge the source however, it speaks for itself have sent a e-mail of to fisheries and am anticipating a reply by Tuesday: The Coral Reef Plan initiatives are state wide Joe. The legislation is not posted yet as far as I am aware but as a ReefMAC member, I had a briefing on Wednesday and the point was emphasised. What that means is that you will not be allowed to be in possession of species listed in the coral reef plan anywhere in Queensland during the 9 day closures in Oct, Nov & Dec. Also includes Gulf of Carpentaria. You can still fish but you will be required to return any species listed in the plan to the water immediately.
What really pisses us off is that although there has been sound scientific evidence that diving can interfere with spawning aggregations, there is no restriction on diving. Same old story. There is evidence I have read in the last few days that reduced water quality resulted in fishery collapses in the New York region of the USA last century but we do not look at external impacts. In Australia and particularly Queensland, we are too stupid to learn even from our own mistakes let alone those of others from the other side of the planet. I am also told Coral Trout don't breed the same time sth of Fraser Island.
Hope this helps
Joe.

[Kerry]

Fish management ??? really is starting to leave a lot to be desired, the actual reasons well who the hell knows but some might say it's common sense gone mad.

The recent case in Victoria where a fisherman ended up in court for not having released a "toad fish" in a more timely manner as per the opinion of the fishery officers.

Now the Qld DPI has taken a pensioner to court for feeding a pelican. Mind you catch and release fanatics apparently don't have a problem with releasing gut hooked fish, which is having an increasing tenancy to kill pelicans yet fisheries drag a lonely old pensioner through court for feeding one, what an absolute miss management of power and any common sense [smiley=thumbsdown.gif].

Common sense gone completely mad, maybe a sign of the next generation

Cheers, Kerry.

[Finnie]

Hi Jaybee,

Thanks for the update mate. I guess a State-wide ruling will cause less confusion than one restricted to specific areas.......but if the spawning season is different in an area it seems counterproductive to have a closed season at the wrong time!

As far as Kerry's comments go.....it sounds to me like the lawyer's mindset is infiltrating everthing these days! The number of times I've seen stupid intiatives followed simply because people in who may be in the firing line of lawsuits are so scared of losing everything to a frivilous case against them that they go beyond logical steps to protect themselves is amazing. To me this isn't the manager's fault, rather the idiots who think they can make a quick buck by grabbing a lawyer and sticking it to someone who probably doesn't deserve it!

And fining a pensioner for feeding a pelican......I didn't even realise it was illegal - unless of course he was feeding them bricks from 20m away or something! I agree, the world is going crazy in some cases.....I think the trick is to not go with it!

Cheers,
Finnie