watched this on Catalyst last Thursday night regarding shark 'finning' and its impact.  The video is 6 minutes long and the transcript below is from the video.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3185178.htm

TRANSCRIPT

Narration:  Something very disturbing is happening in our oceans...the world's sharks are under threat..and it's all because of their big, beautiful fins.

Dr Vic Peddemors:  Sharks are quite unique in the fish world because they are long lived but they are slow growing and age very slowly to sexual maturity.  These are the issues that make it very susceptible for them to be overfished.

Narration:  Since the early 1990s we've been removing more than 700 million kilograms of shark from the world's oceans every year.

Dr Vic Peddemors:  It's an awful, massive number of fish.  And the large percentage of that would be primarily for the fin.

Ruben Meerman:  Shark fin is a delicacy in East Asia where it's used for consumption mainly in shark fin shoup.

Narration:  But here's the really shocking part:  shark fins are pure cartilage, so they have no flavour and virtually no nutritional value.

Dr Vic Peddemors:   Historically only the wealthy could afford to have shark fin.  That's obviously now changed with the burgeoning middle classes in china and the ability to now afford shark fin has actually driven a lot of this increase that we've seen.

Ruben Meerman:  The main market for shark fins is Hong Kong but it's also widely available here in restaurants and on the shelf.

Narration:  And it's the astronomical price tag that's driving this frenzy.

Ruben Meerman:  I've just bought some shark fins.  This packet of little ones, $4.20, this large single fin $118 and I was assured, it's a product of Australia but there were even bigger ones in the shop that were $400 a kilo.  So the message is clear; the bigger the fin the higher the price and that's a recipe for disaster. 

Dr Vic Peddemors:  Sharks are critical in the marine ecosystem as the apex marine predator.  So removing sharks actually has a massive domino knock-on effect on the whole ecosystem.

Narration:  The very high prices that fins fetch can lead to the practice called "finning".  At its most extreme, the fins are cut off while the shark is still alive.  It's then dumped overboard...and left to drown.  But the less cruel method of killing the shark first, then removing the fins and discarding the carcass is still horrendously wasteful.

Ruben Meerman:  Taking the fins and not the carcass is illegal in Australia but it does happen.  It's up to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and state bodies like NSW Fisheries to stop this activity.

Narration:  Tony Chen is a fisheries officer who works for both organisations.

Ruben Meerman:  So what's your direct experience with illegal shark fishing?

Tony Chen:  Well, I had one matter where we seized 87 fins from a tuna long lining vessel.  It had been fishing for a couple of days between Sydney and the south coast of NSW and we found the fins concealed in a bait freezer on board.

Narration:  Tony's search of the boat revealed only the shark fins, not the bodies.

Tony Chen:  Shark fins are worth a lot of money, and the actual bodies of the shark, the meat, is very low value and it's just not worth their while to retain the body when you can easily take the valuable part of the shark off.  We took the 87 shark fins to the Australian Museum for DNA analysis.

Narration:  Hidden behind the prehistoric dinosaur skeletons there's a state of the art DNA laboratory run by Dr Rebecca Johnson.

Dr Rebecca Johnson:  DNA was really important in this case because once the fins have been removed from the body, to make an identification on morphology, the external characters, is very difficult with shark fins.

Narration:  Since the fins were found without the carcasses, in order to prosecute the case the AFMA needed to prove that the fins did indeed come from sharks.

Dr Rebecca Johnson:  Once I got the DNA sequences from the specimens, I went looking for the closest match from a known reference sample. And this is where our fish collection is invaluable. It's, it's kind of analogous to matching fingerprints and we were able to find specimens and take DNA from them, and then make a definitive identification using our known fish collection. In the 87 shark fins case we found they actually were equivalent to coming from 22 individuals. They included spinner shark, dusky whaler, tiger shark, short fin mako and blue shark. It's very important to establish if you're dealing with a protected species or not. So the DNA evidence can not only be used to establish that it's a shark, it then may be able to establish that it's from a protected species and this obviously can draw much higher fines and penalties.

Tony Chen:  The outcome was that there was two people convicted, ah they were both first-time offenders, and they got a total then of $23,000 in fines. Ah, it was a really excellent result

Narration:  It's good to know that the laws protecting sharks are being enforced. But is this enough?

Dr Vic Peddemors:  It's all very well trying to stop the end where it's the fishers but if we don't stop the users from using the product, we're probably not going to be very successful.

 anyone kno if the fish are biting atm? thinking of going there tonight to wet the line!

Hey all.

I've been fishing the river for squid quite a few times in the last week or two and only getting one every 2 sessions so not to bad but not great. Any way went down to the river last night to have another go and was casting around and got one within half an hour of being there it was a 21cm hood and i was happy thinking i would get more. Around 11ish i cast out and got my evergreen jig the one that ive got my squid on snagged and lost it.. Not to happy any way tie on a yamashita naory range hunter 2.2 on and have a few casts got snagged again damm.. Lost that jig to and i was gonna call it a night and started windig in my line. The end of the leader was on the stiper guide when i looked over the end of the jetty and sore a decent squid floating around i was no i dont have a jig ready. pulled the line through all the quides ( not easy in the wind) look back down and theres a BIG one sitting right behind it. I finally got my jig on but lost sight of them :( called it a night not long after.

On a side note ive seen quite a few people keeping little tailor say 15cm and use them for bait not a good sight.

went squidding again last night (10/4/11) i got a squid around the 18cm hooded squid and not much else, nice night out a little bit cold and wet but all good fun wind died and the water was so flat. missed another squid i was teaching my sister to squid and she pulled the jig out of the way of it lol.

Hi all,

Second time at trying to post this question, I will be picking my new boat up in a week or two and was wanting a few ideas on good fishing spots and places to try, I will be launching mainly south of the river Rockingham Woodmans pnt ect, any help would be great.

 So what are the target fish for WA this year? Any members going to give it a crack tomorrow? Unfortunately i only heard about it the other day, so missed out on registering.

Good luck to any members competing this year!

Hi all

Bait fish and herring are everywhere at trigg at the moment, They are rippling and whilst I was surfing I stepped on a herring (it spiked me)

good chance for a tailor, salmon or mulla there in the next few weeks

cheers

Tommyqueenfish

 check out the west australian the fishing section! good to see someone saying that us as fishermen are doing a good job with the fish stocks!! saying that we have accepted tight bag limits and closed seasons and its doing the job! i havent got the paper so i cant scan and post it!

Hi all deciding to take the boat down to Dunsborough on the Easter holidays.

Wondering if someone can point me in the right direction to what is the best petrol station and boat ramp people use to launch large boats. Also what is the busiest part of the day at the ramp.

I haven't fish Dunsborough before and wondering if there any channels that you have to follow out or any reefs to watch out for. I will be looking at the charts before heading out.

Lastly what areas or depths do people fish at to catch their Dhuis and snapper if you don't mind sharing.

Cheers

Frank

Hey guys, just got a new inflatable boat about 3.2m long and apparently no one at bcf knows what weight anchor i will need.

Could anyone help me?? will just be for the river, or close to the beach for fishing.

Thanks,

Mitch

 hey, today im going fishing but dont no where to go and i've heard that ocean reef marina is a good place, its windy and im wondering if thats a sheltered place or try sumwhere else

Most of my fishing these days is with soft plastics. With Jig heads at $3 a pop , Ive decided to make my own. I got this lot for $100, and can make Jig heads of 1,  1.5,  2,  2.5  and  3 oz. Shipping time from the US was 8 days. cheers Pete

Ok guy's sneak through the cupboard find the right size tupperware for your leader spools drill and mark holes as required and away you go.

Tidy up the tackle box a bit......cheers POC

Hi all

saw this and I had to share

http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/84892/Fishing_at_its_best.aspx?ky&p=%2FForum%2FDefault.aspx%3Fpn%3D1

its about silver carp

Hey guys,

Ive been up in shark bay since sunday and had 3 days of good weather and have had some average luck finding fish out on the boat, but am keen to get into some of the larger size pinkies and blackies, but have only been been able to catch smaller fish, about 30cm.

Does anyone have tips to finding these fish in the bay, or better still any fish in the bay. I was thinking of launching at monkey mia on sunday and heading up to point peron to try around there, is this good fishing? Or a waste of time and fuel? Im up here with the family for another week and hope to start consistantley finding some decent fish. Any help will be much appreciated.

cheers rob

Finally got one guys, a 2008 3LT turbo diesel nissan patrol walkabout, here it is! Thanks for all your help.

Has any 1 caught much sharks after midnight and lately??

check out the front page and pages 4 and six!! its really starting to be a joke they report all this one sided crap!! they say they have a picture of a knife strapped to a blokes hip! but its a mobile phone!! its about time the herald smartend up and told both sides of the story!! 

 I bought a Lowrance HDS-5 for the ski but I have a bit of a dillema. As I dont use the ski just for fishing, but also for skiing and surfing, I want to be able to make the actual sounder monitor and transducer removable without too much hassle for when im using the ski for activities other than fishing. Another problem i have is where to attatch the trasducer bracket as I dont realy want to have anything drilled into the back end of the ski.

I'm thinking i might be able to attatch something to the back of the rod holder frame that goes into the water and the transducer bracket can connect to that.

Does anyone have any ideas on how im going to go about this and or somehwere that can install it for me as I'd rather have it done correctly the frst time. I would like to present a bunch of ideas to a fitter and see where we can go from there.. 

I will post up a picture soon of the back end of the jetski just to give you an idea as to what it looks like.

Thanks guys,

Beau

not bad for only 150 metres from the shore in a little hire rowboat ,gotta love geographe bay!

Just wondering what woodmans point has been like lately! 

Havent been there for while - whats biting?

 have 5 days at flinders bay. not sure if to take the boat, as i have no idea if its worth it. if weathner holds up, has anyone got some {vague] idea of where i should head?? and is it worth taking boat? Mum not keen on open water, but still like some local idaas.  maybe also somewhere calm for a bit to take the kids as well. cheers.

ay fellas looking at geting of of the reels dont really know what to go for

they seem very similiar but are ther differnt parts componetnts etc. that make on better from the other ?

is thee Exist the best in daiwas Range of  small spinning ? cheers

Hi all I have been out of the water for a while (long sad story) but heading to home town Busso.

How is the fishing going at the moment? I will be on the water every day for 9 days around easter,

Soooo! looking forward to puting my very dry boat out at 12 mile.

Any reports appreciated.

Cheers Clewesy

ENJOY

Mate caught this in 250 metres near the shelf some kind of leahther jacket? released OK

What brand jigheads do you guys use for demersal and up north? I've been using TT extra heavy jigheads but have found some Nitro's which are a lot cheaper.. How strong are Nitro's?? any one had problems  with them straightening?

cheers

What is the best hardbody lure for tailor in the swan river around fremantle?

was wondering if anyone had been to new zealand and fished the three kings if so what would be a good time of year to go weather wise.

I have to catch a few of those XOS 30kg+ kingies

hey guys

Heading up to exmouth easter long weekend with the mrs , minus the boat this time  due to a trailer that needs more attention and time that i can give it at the moment so ive choosen not to take the risk and save any dramas on the long drive up from perth , but would love to get out for a fish on a boat if anyone has room for one that would be awersome will chip in for gas , bait , beer, help clean boat etc i have all my own gear and would be more that happy to fish any style, troll etc

thanks jimmy

ps even a landbased session and some brews would be wicked

Gday folks! Me and about 8 or 9 mates will be heading up north and staying at Warroora Station during, and 1 week after the Easter break. I was just wondering if anyone new what the wind conditions are usually like around that time of year?

A couple of lads and myself will have our kayaks with us, and we've also hired a 4.45 meter tinny for the duration of the holiday, so i was wondering if anyone has had success fishing from a kayak or a small tinny up there.

Also if anyone has stayed at Warroora (pronounced Warra) before, i'd love to know what you throught of the place.

Cheers

Ryan