New restrictions still fail vulnerable fish: experts
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuId=77&ContentID=152876
One of WA’s most prominent scientists and a former Department of Fisheries researcher say the new fishing restrictions will not protect WA’s vulnerable fish species properly.
Professor Jessica Meeuwig, director of the University of WA Centre for Marine Futures, said new fees for recreational fishermen on boats to pay up to $180 a year were a “big positive” given a past general resistance to the management of recreational fishing.
But she said Fisheries Minister Norman Moore should have created marine sanctuaries, arguing big “no-take” areas were the only way to protect dwindling fish stocks.
At the very least, the Government should have proceeded with former minister Jon Ford’s planned summer ban on taking demersal scalefish.
Instead, the Government has banned fishing for these species from October 15 to December 15 from Kalbarri to Augusta.
It is aimed to halve the catch of popular species such as dhufish, pink snapper and baldchin groper.
“The seasonal closures are unlikely to protect the big, old, fat females,” Professor Meeuwig said. “It has probably not gone far enough. We really need to face the fact that those bans are going to be required.”
Her concerns were shared by Jill St John, co-author of the Department of Fisheries research paper the previous government used to introduce summer bans on high-risk fish.
Dr St John said protected sanctuaries were essential and Mr Moore’s October-December closure missed the critical dhufish spawning season.
Mr Moore delaying the bans for two independent studies was likely to have led to dhufish stocks being plundered over the past year, she said.
Mr Ford said a $30 annual licence fee for anyone using a boat to fish recreationally was a grab for revenue.
He said he was told 18 months ago the fishery could collapse and Mr Moore was now being forced to “play catch-up” because of delays in halving the recreational catch.
Mr Moore said all money raised from licences would go into a recreational fishing trust fund and be spent
on managing recreational fishing.
Australian Anglers Association WA president Pat Shinnick said yesterday recreational fishers were stunned by the new demersal scalefish licences, which cost $20 for a day, $60 for a fortnight or $150 a year.
An annual demersal scalefish licence of $45 should have been introduced. “It is victimising those who are able to afford to go fishing,” he said.
Mr Shinnick said the timing of the two-month ban was political given it would miss the spawning period.
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Blackbetty-50
Posts: 96
Date Joined: 17/08/07
FISHING BANS
These new rules will be a complete waste of time unless there is a complete blanket ban for these two months 15th of October to the 15th of December. The ban must include the Professionals with their MURDERING NETS and long lines, Charter Boat Operators as well as the Recreational sector.
If the fishery is in such a bad way and this Government is genuine in their endeavour to rescue our very special fishery then the Professionals and Charter Boat Operators have to stop their plunder during this peak spawning period as well or the whole set up is just a joke and nothing other than a TAX GRAB by Norman Moore and his ILLUSTRIOUS Liberal mates.
roberta
Posts: 2773
Date Joined: 08/07/08
Totally agree Blackbetty
all professionals should be banned. also charter boats as their catch goes on our so called 400 tonne caught by amatuers, compared too with just over 100 tonnes (so they say) the pros catch. Where do they get these stats frm?????
Ginger Tablets Rock
BlueJuice
Posts: 12
Date Joined: 16/07/09
commercial vs chsrters vs amatuers
To answer your question on where the data comes from –
commercial fisherman and charter operators have been for many years now required to complete daily fish returns to the department of fisheries. So the commercial and charter data is pretty accurate.
The biggest question is how accurate the recreational data is. If you read the reports on the government fisheries website all the info is there.
Why punish the commercial sector further, the commercial fisherman have been undergoing changes for a couple years with licence buy cack schemes, they have already reduced and now capped the number of days they are allowed to fish, banned them from the metro area for high risk species. They also have VMS fitted so the authorities know exactly where they are at all times and for how long in real time, they are constantly monitored through Canberra.
Charter operators are also employers, yes we have a part to play and we are awaiting our fate like everyone else, the charter industry represents less than 4% of the amateur catch probably less than 3% if you believe the independent review of the stat data.
The charter industry and the commercials provide fisheries with constant real time research data on the stocks.
Amateur data was collected at random from various boat ramps along the west coast. They are also relying on the honesty of the fisherman. If they interviewed 20 boat loads at the ramp, and there were 100 trailers at the ramp then they multiplied the data from 20 by 5
The report also says they missed a lot of people due to the hours they were at ramps etc. they estimate the real amateur catch could be double the fisheries estimate.
allrounder
Posts: 1853
Date Joined: 10/11/08
i think that rec log books
should be law and if you are caught out fudging figures the the fine should be enough for it to be a wake up call.The skipper should enter all data as it comes to hand.It is the only way to gauge the true impact we have.
So tell me have you got your info from years on the water or hours on the internet?
BlueJuice
Posts: 12
Date Joined: 16/07/09
nets have been banned form
nets have been banned form the metro area for a number of years, you really need to read the info on the new laws
Buz
Posts: 1555
Date Joined: 28/08/07
Professional catch vs Amatuer catch.
One thing that has always intrigued me aswell is the catch of amatuer to professional fisherman in regards to Dhuis for example. I mean i know over my past 15 years fishing i have caught 8 Dhuis(i'm not the best nor luckiest bottom fisher!). But i know from working one summer with a professional wetlinner as an 'assistant deckhand' i myself caught 18 Dhuis in 4 weeks. I cannot remeber how many the skipper and the main deckie got but i think over that summer we must have pulled over 100+ Dhuis, with a majority of them being over 8kg. Makes me wonder because there were 4 other wetlinners operating out of the same anchorage. I REALLY wonder if the numbers for the Professional catch to Amatuer catch that fishewries state is true? And if they really want to argue the point i took plenty of photos, that i will say i am not really proud to show people now, of hundreds of fish and sharks caught in the net over winter, with alot of waste being thrown back over board too, to heaps of the V5 strewn accross the deck when wetlinning in summer. Bit more educated now and am quiet frankly a bit disgusted what i used to be a part of.
But i DEFINITLY AGREE any ban should apply to all, amatuer, charter and professional. Beacuse when i last spoke to this wetlinner i worked the summer with(yes we are still friends, as long as we dont debate politics!), he was saying he was looking forward to it, as i meant more fish for him and no amatuers to compete with/to ping his spots.
scottywiper
Posts: 247
Date Joined: 09/03/08
I wish people would stop
I wish people would stop quoting Jill St John...her research has been widely canned, including by others in Fisheries.
She is irrelevant to the debate.
Buz
Posts: 1555
Date Joined: 28/08/07
Bluejuice "nets have been
Bluejuice
"nets have been banned form the metro area for a number of years, you really need to read the info on the new laws"
I think everyone knows that nets have been banned in Metro water for a few of years, but the 'metro area' only makes up some of the west coast bio region. And there are still a few shark netters in out from Bunbury to Augusta, and believe me those nets are just as effective a catching scalefish as sharks.
And though you are probably right in stating that the recreational sector takes the 'most fish', i just think its defeating the purpose of 'saving' these fish when you still allow pro's to fish for them when banning the recreational sector.
I mean seriously whats the most amount of Dhuis anyone has ever heard of being caught in one day? Charter boat or in a competition for example? Every day i went out on a professional wet linner we came back with no less than 5 Dhuis. Averaged 8-12 a trip. Best day ever we came back with 33 Dhui's. Thats right 33 for ONE boat.
train
Posts: 102
Date Joined: 09/03/09
most ive seen was 86 Dhuies
most ive seen was 86 Dhuies brought in by a cray fisherman out of cray season, out of lancelin about 6 years ago. Someone on the jetty abused him and so he said cause of that i'll go and do the same thing tomorrow. Thank god those days are over!
fishfinger
Posts: 64
Date Joined: 08/09/07
fish ban + licences
I have just read the posts give me a break the forestry industry plants trees do they blame the people with home fires for the loss of trees the pro fishermen have had a free rain. do they put in to research or nurseries? the pros do not Own the fish or the right to fish! they pay a tax on their income that is why the libs are looking after them !it is not about looking after the stocks its about tax tax tax .86 dhuies sh*t i have not seen 86 dhuie if these fish are endangered then band them for everybody for x amount of years its not going to happen! its about tax is the price of gold or petrol due to weaken prospectors i don't think so !the gov is using any thing to make this not their fault. they are paying for back room deals. put your hand in your pockets it needs to be deep .the government relies on your comfort zone and lack of memory to get these things in if you don't react or say much we will yet again in this state be forced into paying for the fat cats to do as they wish have a voice we fish we vote we think we have an opinion you are a public officer not a self proclaimed boss. listen to the people you are put in to govern not rule over as you like
Buz
Posts: 1555
Date Joined: 28/08/07
86 is Unbelievable
Holy cow, Train
86 Dhuis brought in by that crayfisherman out of Lancelin is an absolute disgrace. And here i was thinking the 33 we got the day i was out with a pro was disgusting. I even gave my brother a call who was a deckie on a pro wetlinner (the one i did summer work for) for 4 years and he said the best they ever did while he was deckie was 56 Dhui's. But still that is not even close to 86!!!!!!!!!
train
Posts: 102
Date Joined: 09/03/09
yeah, i dunno if how long
yeah, i dunno if how long they were out there for but i know they went north and up towards wedge and working in close.
It was incredible to think what they were doing was legal and it was allowed to go on 4 so long. used to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
lbfisho
Posts: 3
Date Joined: 25/06/09
Guys you really have to open
Guys you really have to open your eyes up and get your facts straight!
The cray guys can still fish for the demersal species if they have a licence to do so.
Chances are the same boat who caught 80 odd dhuies will still be doing it and the more pressure put on the cray guys will result in the Commercial guys diversifying to wetlining.
Fish still has to be put on tables around the country and this is what the commercial fisherman provides.Would you prefer to eat Indonesian fish or farmed fish?
Like it or not there is a market for this fish and fishing will not stop!
80 dhuies may have been taken on that day but how long were the fisherman out for?20-30hrs with a crew plus running costs.
Keep your eyes open guys as this is business with jobs being created and taxes paid!
flangies
Posts: 2540
Date Joined: 11/05/08
Hi welcome to the site
Hi welcome to the site
train
Posts: 102
Date Joined: 09/03/09
but this was common practice
but this was common practice in the area and most the boats were doing it, over 40
i dont think it was a sustainable practice especially just outside the metro area!
Im not blaming the commercial sector, they were allowed to go out fishing
I realise we dont want to import rubbish from indo, but it has to be sustainable and my personal opinion is that the multiplier effect thru the economy of recreational fishing and the income generated is worth much more than the commercial sector fishing in the metro area.
I felt frustated because we were told how under threat tDhus are and would feel guilty keeping a couple of Dhus, but when u see boats coming in frequently with so many supposed 'at risk ' species, it made me wonder what the policy makers and research people are thinking when they allow this to occur.
I think it was poor management and was unregulated. It was a free for all.
none of the boats up there are allowed to do it anymore. they are within the exclusion zone.
lbfisho
Posts: 3
Date Joined: 25/06/09
Train, North of the town of
Train, North of the town of Lano is still a fishing zone and is in fact the start!
Dont worry about 80 fish mate when the truth is thats not that high a number!
On some trips over a tonne can be taken so 80 would be average!
Dont forget the boats who cray fish know where the fish are as at the end of the season the fish for red crays on the lumps and this is where they come across dhuies in numbers!
Its been going on for years but keep in mind it is now a managed fishery so the fisheries know how many boats are fishing,where they are fishing and can moniter their catch as log books must be kept.
This is the benefit of a true managed fishery as all facts are known.
Buz
Posts: 1555
Date Joined: 28/08/07
I see your point lbfisho,
I see your point lbfisho, they are business and do have to run to be viable for a market that yes is in demand. I agree about alot of people not wanting to eat imported asian fish(not all of which is crappy though.
But on the other side i have no problem eating farmed fish as long as it is farmed in a safe and clean manner. I mean i grow barramundi in my backyard fishtank and they taste great. Likewise i have eaten farmed barramundi in Darwin, still taste great. I personally would love to see a more increased fish resource for public consumption coming from farmed fish rather than wild ones. Though the runing costs for farms is higher than fishing boats, there is alot of money put into the local communities and jobs in the areas where fish farms have been established(Only know this for the Barra farms in the N.T). I mean look at the Abalone farm down in Bremer, from my tour of the establishment it seems to be a real success(other than the fact the locals complain that it sucks alot of the towns power!)
Like i said my friend is still a pro wetlinner down south and i dont want to see him lose his livelyhood. Just that if there is to be a closed seaosn so these fish can 'spawn' shouldnt everyone be banned so this fish can fornicate????
I guess we will never know for exactly how long the Pro that got those 86 Dhuis was out for, but i know the day i was out and we got 33 we were only out for four hours including travel time. And the average time spent on the water wetlinning for my brother when he was a deckie was from 5am to 2pm. Only doing day trips.
I think the term 'managed' and 'regulated fisheries' are often very loose. Just from me and my brothers experiences with commercial wetlinners/shark netters in the South West region though.
And mate i honestly believe that your quote
"Dont worry about 80 fish mate when the truth is thats not that high a number!"
is somewhat strange, as i feel that ANY non commercial fisherman would find it is something to worry about considering these species are "on the brink of collapse".
Like the old saying mate 'Ignorance is bliss'.