New Rules are in

Demersal fishing will now be banned:

1 Feb- 31 March

1 Aug to start of Term 3 school holidays

Start of school Term 4 to Dec 15

 

Only 4 demersals per boat will be allowed and looks like a voluntary buyback of commercial licences will be offered

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon


little johnny's picture

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Read it again

Tue, 2022-12-06 21:41

You are correct . Boat limit taken away 2 per person . Max 4 cat 1 . Unreal .

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Date Joined: 19/06/14

Glad I’m in Qld these days

Wed, 2022-12-07 05:18

No fishing license required.

Only a couple of spawning closures each year for the reef.

Two three week periods of no take on Spaniards, one Spaniard per person, two per boat. One is more than enough for multiple feeds.

Combined possession limit of 20 in total for all coral reef fin fish applies.

18nm from my local ramp to the reef, ten miles past the reef then we're at the continental shelf.....:) 

Only thing I can't get my head around is XXXX, Great Northern beer, mullet haircuts and inbreeding.

Apart from that it's the best place I've ever lived.

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 My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....

 

sea-kem's picture

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 Ha ha succinctly put mate. 

Wed, 2022-12-07 06:31

 Ha ha succinctly put mate. 

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Date Joined: 16/05/09

 And the further north you go

Wed, 2022-12-07 05:49

 And the further north you go the more you can see the inbreeding. As for xxxx it should be banned at the border

Faulkner Family's picture

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Date Joined: 11/03/08

They only put xxxx on their

Wed, 2022-12-07 07:04

They only put xxxx on their cans as they can't spell shit .

As far as boat possession limits go does that mean a solo fisherman can take 4 fish  

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

Oldbull's picture

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Date Joined: 21/09/15

 Still only 2 for solo.  4 is

Wed, 2022-12-07 07:15

 Still only 2 for solo.  4 is boat limit.

Oldbull's picture

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 Still only 2 for solo.  4 is

Wed, 2022-12-07 09:00

double post sorry

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Date Joined: 16/05/09

 No Russ 1 angler 2 fish more

Wed, 2022-12-07 10:04

 No Russ 1 angler 2 fish more than 2 on boat 4 fish max.

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Date Joined: 18/01/12

 Just like you cant go

Fri, 2022-12-09 23:08

 Just like you cant go pulling pots solo and take 24 crays. How hard is it?

 

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

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 Waiting to see what the rest

Wed, 2022-12-07 10:07

 Waiting to see what the rest of the state cops. Ayone travelling can still only be in possession of 10 kgs.

little johnny's picture

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It’s not a bad

Wed, 2022-12-07 11:25

Outcome. Could have gone totally different

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Date Joined: 04/08/22

 It will be very interesting

Wed, 2022-12-07 13:08

 It will be very interesting to see what the Dhu stocks will be like in a couple of years.My own thoughts are they will be fucked !! Mr dhu has pretty much had a bounty placed on him.The pros will clean out the shallower grounds for easy pickns,less miles for bigger profit margins.Then the trailer boats come through in open season and pick off anything that's left.Sure some change was needed but I feel they've put profit above the people as usual.Just my little rant and I'm in the southern region 

Oldbull's picture

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Date Joined: 21/09/15

 Lancelin to Mandurah remains

Wed, 2022-12-07 15:57

 Lancelin to Mandurah remains closed and there is a buyback scheme to reduce pros.

Faulkner Family's picture

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The charters will be

Wed, 2022-12-07 16:03

The charters will be targeting the known dhuie grounds .

Certainly wasn't the smartest move for the dhuies

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

Pete F's picture

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Date Joined: 07/01/18

 And so will the pro's when

Thu, 2022-12-08 06:14

 And so will the pro's when they go to quota next year as will the rec boats especially the bigger boats limited to 4 fish with more anglers on board. As it was well said earlier it is like they have put a bounty on the dhu's head. Hunt them all down till none are left. 

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 Cheers

Posts: 294

Date Joined: 27/05/11

Easter 2024 will be

Wed, 2022-12-07 16:09

Easter 2024 will be interesting, well frustrating for many of us. Good Friday is March 29, so 4 days off, (normally) good weather window, no fishing for 3 of the days...

marble's picture

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Date Joined: 03/09/09

 Am I the only person that

Wed, 2022-12-07 19:42

 Am I the only person that eats other fish apart from Dhuie and enjoys being on the water no matter what Im doing ?

 

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PMY 25 Centre Console DF300 Suzuki

sea-kem's picture

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Date Joined: 30/11/09

 I'm actually looking forward

Wed, 2022-12-07 21:26

 I'm actually looking forward to some inshore Whiting bashes up where we are, they get very fat. I guess it's all about the hunt at the end of the day, comparing swords etc lol

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 Funny you mention that.I've

Thu, 2022-12-08 06:54

 Funny you mention that.I've got a deposit down on a new boat build and as soon as talk of more restrictions I was gob smacked the amount of people that asked if I was canceling or selling straight away.I'm with you,plenty to keep me and family amused on the water

Jackfrost80's picture

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I am just as happy going out

Thu, 2022-12-08 07:14

I am just as happy going out for a whiting bash or a swim at Little Island but some cawks like Marineperson think fishing is more akin to a dick measuring contest.

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon

Posts: 25

Date Joined: 15/05/13

NEWSFLASH

Thu, 2022-12-08 06:50

 NEWS FLASH  NEWS FLASH 

 We are going to create a new app too its called Don its a great, the APP is full of new technology the biggest break through in this App is it now tells you when school holidays are for the year, this is truly remarkable. 

 The App is going to cost $10m to create, and it will track you and collect your data to understand better your habits, to get this app is $13.99 per month. roughly the same amount as a current fishing licence 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seaquest's picture

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Date Joined: 22/10/09

 Be aware new limits etc come

Thu, 2022-12-08 06:04

 Be aware new limits etc come in on the 1st of February 2023. 

Personally can't understand these new rules. I will now be catching twice as many dhuys to previous years. 

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 Catching or keeping?

Thu, 2022-12-08 08:02

 Catching or keeping?

Seaquest's picture

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Date Joined: 22/10/09

 Both. You have to catch the

Thu, 2022-12-08 08:41

 Both. You have to catch the fish to keep it.

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Date Joined: 07/08/13

classic

Thu, 2022-12-08 15:47

 thats how I see it as well Seaquest, they have halved my fishing effort for more dhuies

Oldbull's picture

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Date Joined: 21/09/15

 Current rules

Thu, 2022-12-08 08:35

 Current rules ...........catch 3 undersize and one size dhu= 1 in the ice box and 3 floating away = 4 dead fish

next year...................catch 2 undersize or 1 u/s and 1 size.  = both go in the ice box = 2 dead fish.

 

makes sense to me unless the angler is an upgrader and hopefully many of us are not.

Seaquest's picture

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Date Joined: 22/10/09

 If your three undersize fish

Thu, 2022-12-08 08:49

 If your three undersize fish are floating away you aren't handling them very well.

I would see 1 in 25 not swim down on their own accord if brought up slowly and allowed to have a stop just before surfacing.

sea-kem's picture

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Date Joined: 30/11/09

You're assuming they all

Thu, 2022-12-08 11:16

You're assuming they all don't survive.

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uncle's picture

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Date Joined: 10/02/07

On the money there

Thu, 2022-12-08 09:00

 Going to be a lot of dead upgrades floating around, what's the point of a 30 cm dhu??? Hardly worth it and you can have all my whiting 

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all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs

BlueKiaser's picture

Posts: 422

Date Joined: 22/04/15

Is it science ... it sure isn't maths

Thu, 2022-12-08 13:00

The WA Fisheries reports for more than a decade have been showing that Dhufish accounts for about 42-54% of the total tonnage of the annual demersal catch for recreational fishers (boat based not including charter) in the West Coast Bioregion (most recent reports show 53%, ie. 123 Dhufish tonnes of 213 total demersal tonnes).

So these new restrictions which are supposed to reduce our total demersal recreational catch by 50% are doing the following;

- reduced allowable demersal fish days from what I understand for 2023 calculates out to be 184 days, down from 302 (for 2022).

- which is about a 39% reduction in demersal fishable days in 2023.

- Allowable Dhufish catch limits have been doubled for those fishable days (previously 1 for solo, now 2 and 2 for boat now 4).

- size limits have been removed, further increasing the number of Dhufish that will be retained.
A previously caught and released 49cm Dhufish will now likely be retained in preference to another demersal <50cm.

- the peak demersal fishing days, ie. school holidays have not been impacted by demersal bans, so we are unlikely to see anything close to a 39% reduction in demersal fishing trips/effort by the recreational fishers in 2023.

- given Dhufish offer the West Coast fisher the greatest expected yield of demersal fillet when fishing, it is reasonable to expect that they will continue/become the primary target of demersal fishers ... to the point where I fully expect a large number of fishers will now attempt to upgrade/upsize where possible to retain the 4 biggest Dhufish caught during a days fishing. This will also provide those fishers with good quality freezable fillets for those periods of demersal bans.

So given all those points, can anybody explain to me how our Fisheries scientists expect to see a 50% reduction in catch by the recreational fishers in the West Coast Bioregion with the implementation of these new restrictions???

I personally believe there will be an increase in Dhufish tonnage caught and a small reduction in other demersals.
The reduction of other demersals can really only come from the expected 25-35% reduction in fish effort and for those boats that used to regularly fish with 3+ RFBL fishers permitting them to return to shore with 6+ demersals. But even here, I expect there will be many more people now upgrading/upsizing and killing and returning other demersals when they attempt to catch 4 large Dhufish.

Faulkner Family's picture

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They talk about tonnage   but

Thu, 2022-12-08 19:16

They talk about tonnage   but they don't mention to get that tonnage you need less dhuies as they are generally a lot heavier than most other demersal.  So in my thaughts on this lot of tonnage stat's is a pack of crap

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

NORUN NOFUN's picture

Posts: 1035

Date Joined: 15/08/11

This is just my opinion, the

Thu, 2022-12-08 13:29

This is just my opinion, the problem you have BK is that you are relying on unreliable information from fisheries, no amount of research will give you reliable data as reliable data has never actually been captured by an organisation that has run on mismanagement for decades.

Geez - Half hearted phone surveys, questionnaires, bloody fisheries have obtained more catch data from facebook for christ sakes.

I believe there is a blurred truth in what the commercial sector has reported/captured in regards to tonnage over the years as well but there are more well informed fishers on this site in regards to the pro's who may well counteract what I have said.

Unfortunately for you BK, the cold hard facts are just not there and I can see your OCD going through the roof atm.

I still need to digest this whole shambles 

BlueKiaser's picture

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Date Joined: 22/04/15

Yep, poor data in poor data out

Thu, 2022-12-08 19:59

Yes ... reliable data is our problem.
I simply try to present the data that they tell us is being used for these decisions and obviously the data and their decisions rarely marry up.

sea-kem's picture

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Date Joined: 30/11/09

 I know the upgrade argument

Thu, 2022-12-08 13:35

 I know the upgrade argument keeps popping it's head up. But how many times have you guys caught a just size or over Dhubanger early in the day  and released it thinking you'll get a bigger one, and haven't.

Has happened to me a few times when we've headed out and nailed fish straight of the bat, thinking we have plenty of time to get a bigger one and had diddley for the rest of the day. 

Knowing now we have a 4 fish bag we can potentially catch I'll be keeping (as per the new law :P ) smaller good size Bangers knowing we have fish on board and still chase the bigger models. I do think the mentality will change. 

If you think metro most blokes battle to get one banger on board.

Bird in the hand boys! 

 

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 You raise some good points

Thu, 2022-12-08 13:51

 You raise some good points and it will be interesting to see how we rec fishers act when these new rules are implemented. My current thinking is that to do the right thing I will keep the 1st 4 demersals caught regardless of their size (unless they continue to have a min size like snapper). However, as you allude to, others will look to put back the smaller dhu's etc. and also feel they are doing the right thing.

Both approaches comply with the new rules and both positions can be argued to be doing the right thing for the future.

Maybe this will be captured in the educational campaign, but some guidance to help us all make informed decisions about how we 'fish for the future' would be handy, rather than just a set of rules to comply with.

Pete F's picture

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Date Joined: 07/01/18

 I saw one person with a dhu

Thu, 2022-12-08 14:50

 I saw one person with a dhu picture on the bait board in the background was a dhu fillet. Also fisheries checked my lines recently asked what the fish was on my hooks, it was mullet. I asked if he was looking for demersals being used as bait and he said yes. They had busted several people in recent times caught out using demersals as bait when they pulled them up in the boat at sea. I also saw a pic on FB blokes holding up two due, one in the back ground obviously dead too, before it was deleted. 

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 Cheers

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 This sounds quite typical of

Fri, 2022-12-09 19:22

 This sounds quite typical of what I would often experience. If the dhu were size, I would keep it as would usually have another person on board in case we did hook another. My only concern with the new rules is that I don't understand how these rules are going to reduce the take of dhufish. To me it seems like I will actually be in a position to keep quite a few more rhan

i would otherwise. I'm not fussed about the shorter fishing year etc, I don't only target dhues and I am one of those lucky ones that is happy just being o the water, but I am very concerned that these new rules may actually have a negative effect on the dhu stocks, and the whole point of all these reviews and changes is that they need more protection. 

 

 

Curndog's picture

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 Why didn't they just keep

Thu, 2022-12-08 18:54

 Why didn't they just keep the same size / bag limits and make the 6 month ban?? Pisses me off this shit is so dumb. 

little johnny's picture

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Date Joined: 04/12/11

95 percent of fisherman

Thu, 2022-12-08 20:41

I fish with know what they hook up on . If it’s big take it easy . If it’s small and unsure take it easy .It’s about education . I thought size limits were in place for breeding purposes . So release lead load of shit ? Wrong move in my books . But science wins . If you have inboard mandatory to have fire extinguisher on board ( in date) if you have outboard motor and ( for safety reasons ) decide to carry one . And if out of date they can book you . Maybe the jab has stuffed everyone . Common sense gone out the window

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 I agree. Typically if you

Fri, 2022-12-09 19:28

 I agree. Typically if you are looking for dhufish, on ground Likely to hold dhufish and you catch what feels like a dhufish, then it probably is. Why is it that skull dragging with heavy gear seems to be such a big thing? 
the last few years I have been going very easy if I know I have a small fish, doing the decomprsssionstops etc and I can say it's very rare that the fish don't swim off well. I agree I have no idea how long they survive, but initial indications would be promising. 

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All the small Dhuys

Thu, 2022-12-08 21:19

will be slaughtered close to shore so the holiday makers can fill their freezers.......Typical of this government and our useless fisheries minister who has shown arrogance throughout during parlimentry meetings..........All this is to suit the Pro's and the Charter operators.

little johnny's picture

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By people

Fri, 2022-12-09 17:47

Who do not know better . Hard one . Will it save them ( no way ) . I love new rules . Xtra big hooks . No chance of double hook up . 1 on 1, normaly 1 gets droped on double . We can not argue with science .

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Date Joined: 04/08/22

 I don't like the freezer

Sat, 2022-12-10 08:28

 I don't like the freezer fillers when they come down and flog my patch either but you shouldn't just shit can the holidaymakers/tourists.A lot come from the bush and might only have a few fishing days a year. There are plenty of locals that live a stones throw from the ramp and get out whenever they get an opportunity, sometimes multiple times a week and they to give it a fair hiding also.

Lastchance's picture

Posts: 1273

Date Joined: 02/02/09

How's Daddy McGowan going for

Fri, 2022-12-09 15:36

How's Daddy McGowan going for you now fellas? Our way of life is going to be a distant memory in 5 years. We haven't even seen the tip of the ice burg yet I don't think. Sorry for the negativity, but unfortunately, it'll most likely be the truth. I hope Im wrong.

uncle's picture

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Date Joined: 10/02/07

I fish and I vote stickers

Fri, 2022-12-09 15:44

 Need one for nurse's Forrest workers, homeless, covid businesses, police, justice system crikey for just about everything,  wa is a shambles.

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all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs

sea-kem's picture

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Date Joined: 30/11/09

 The economy's fine Unc, ol

Fri, 2022-12-09 15:54

 The economy's fine Unc, ol Marky just has no social skills lol

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Love the West!