I'll be watching THAT!!! 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

So; who watched Stateline last night and what are your thoughts/impressions/comments?

Overall, great to see coverage, but trying to cover things from a research, RFW and professional (charter) perspective in such a short time was, I think, just tooo much, but guess they were trying to cover it from as many angles as they could.

Good to see Kane on, where was Frank Terry?

The underwater cameras ARE a good idea, but it depends where you put them and how, from one years positioning can you draw the conclusion that there is a scarcity. I'm not saying there isn't, just where's the comparative data? I think you need the cameras in the same spots each year for a number of years, before you can draw any conclusions.

Just my thoughts.  

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Always hope to get broadcast on a quiet day to get a reasonable amount of time.

The release of the Climate Change report, etc was obviously seen as much more important.

West Coast fishing topic was given just over 7 minutes - and that time isn't enough to include or cover some of the issues.

Lots more detail is often given in the recorded interviews which never gets into the final broadcast.

The transcript will be on http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/default.htm some time next week, then people can dissect exactly what was said, coz....

Repeated Sat 12 noon on  ABC1

TerryF
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Beavering away in the background.......

Yes, having been interviewd myself, I know what you mean. What is chopped and aired is a very small subset and often important points and context is removed. Thousands of fisherman, hundreds of retail outlets, millions of dollars, hansards of commentaries etc - all boiled down to 7 minutes

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

The transcript of the Stateline segment has been posted http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/content/2006/s2296478.htm

TerryF
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Beavering away in the background.......

First of all Terry, thankyou for taking the time to post this....

REBECCA CARMODY, PRESENTER: This summer, recreational fishers will face the toughest restrictions yet with some popular species off limits altogether. The drastic cuts are already facing a backlash with critics acknowledging the need for conservation but questioning the scientific justification. So, to prove the point, researchers at the University of WA have spent the past two years placing underwater cameras at key vantage points along the WA coast. As James Bennett reports, it's the most detailed study of fish stocks yet and the results are startling.

Hmmm, 'scientific justification' - almost an oxymoron in this circumstance if I refer to your excelent post ' Bioregional Marine Planning Workshop. 31st August 2004. Small Group Discussion' elsewhere Terry!

the past two years placing underwater cameras at key vantage points along the WA coast. As James Bennett reports, it's the most detailed study of fish stocks yet and the results are startling.

Um, sorry, two years and detailed yet.....opportunistic journalism at it's worst and startling is hardly objective. Talk about promulgating a conclusion!

JAMES BENNETT, REPORTER: This underwater vision comes from more than 700 hours of footage taken near Rottnest, the Abrolhos Islands, and the Leeuwin and Naturaliste Capes. The cameras are mounted on cages with a bait bag in front of them and they've captured some remarkable scenes.

But what they haven't witnessed is a lot of fish, specifically those classed as demersal species which includes some of WA's most popular varieties; Dhufish, Pink and Red Snappers and Baldchin Groper.

JESSICA MEEUWIG, UWA MARINE FUTURES PROJECT: I think what was probably the biggest surprise was how few of some of these key species there are actually out there. For instance, we have 750 hours of footage from the Abrolhos to Cape Naturalist and we saw 43 dhufish in 750 hours.

Ok! 700 hours over 2 years in (broadly) 4 locations, hardly conclusive. 'Remarkable', there is that coloured sensational journalism phraseology again! 2 years is hardly conclusive. I refer back to Bioregion ...foundation for accepted credulity.

JAMES BENNETT: Researchers with the marine futures program at the University of Western Australia say there is a clear link between higher recreational fishing pressures on the west coast and vastly depleted fish stocks.

Um, sorry! I don't want statements, I want facts! Lets lose the emotional nomenclative conjecture!

JESSICA MEEUWIG: We do see that the further you get away from population centres the more abundant species are, the more common and they tend to be bigger particularly along the South Coast.

Yeah well, that's not rocket science! Just don't draw conclusions from a flawed process and a coloured interpretation!

JAMES BENNETT: While some might suggest alternative explanations for the disappearing prized species, the science is backed by government studies which have found overfishing is to blame.

'Some', nice term that one, infers a distained minority' (handy that!). Science? Government studies? Is that an oxymoron? Back to those 17 points Terry, where is the scientific credulity?

Research from the Department of Fisheries conducted last year was damning, finding that fish stocks in the Indian Ocean from Augusta to Kalbarri have been severely depleted. The Department recommended immediately halving captures of what it called the vulnerable five species.

Ah yes! V5, a lovelly collective emotive snappy term! Lots of subjective adjectives there!

A hugley important issue, 7 minutues, sensationalist journalism, subjective analysis (was 'the person' given an objective?(nice double entendre there if you like!) and a (greater) gullible non fishing public.

How functional!

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Not much science involved in looking at over 700 hrs of footage, there could be many different factors why they didnt see too many of those species, i dont blame the majority of fisherman questioning the scientific justification.

Cheers mate! , Sorry, but I'm VERY passionate about:

Fish sustainability.

Scientific analysis.

Creditable process.

Maximum fair opportunity for fish AND anglers! 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

I've emailed my post to Stateline.... 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)