Are Darwin jewfish stocks falling? : Fishing Polls

Matt Flynn

Are Darwin jewfish stocks falling?

cuddlescooper

definatly. 5 years ago I could catch them at will, now struggle to find one near Darwin.

2rods

Yep...for sure............. same as cuddlescooper...once they were everywhere...now not so much and they seem to be all smaller???

I wouldn't say I struggle to find them but it is not as easy as 18+ years ago.

back-cast

well i know the Barra netters net the guts out of them in Fog Bay all along the foreshore of Dundee they even net the Jew reef out the front of Dundee on a spring low to fill up on Jew and they get barra there too but the t the reef off so they catch them no matter which way they are swimming,, and they don't release any i can tell ya....

fishfanatic

Well in four overnighters in Darwin Harbour (two neaps, two king tides), each time sitting on wrecks like the Mauna Loa, Peary and the shipping containers and others I have not had one jewie. Nor have I had a goldie or any other "decent" fish. Just sharks, small redfish, small cod. Darwin Harbour is now a waste of time for reefies.

grumpy

Stocks close to Darwin and some of the other spots that get hammered are definately on the decline.

Used to fish the harbour wrecks (mainly the catalina's and the ones over towrds Tulk Head) on the turn of the tides with good results especially at night. Not any more gave up wasting my time years ago. I blame the introducion of technology for the demise as any dick can find the wrecks now (increasing the pressure on them ) where in the old days we used to line up land marks and watch the old paper fruno sounder.

I know it's supposed to be just close to Darwin but here is another 2 bobs worth.

I remember catching them all along the reefs out off Dundee, not so much now.

Sampan reefs used to be full on with Jew and Snapper in the old days (late 70's-80's). Still some Jew there but not like it used to be and the schools of snapper are definately not like they used to be.

The Jew hole behind Ruby at Cape Hotham is another spot thet gets belted. Still fish there but not like days gone by.

The 2 bag limit is one way to help. Lets face it 2 stonker Jew yields a couple of good slabs of fillet.

Cheers

seano

When a pro catches 40 jew in a night and calls it a shite night and 80 plus a good night I think there might be a problem -and amatuers are only allowed 2 per person?

DOUG

seano wrote:

When a pro catches 40 jew in a night and calls it a shite night and 80 plus a good night I think there might be a problem -and amatuers are only allowed 2 per person?

yep thats true and been my point throughout all these bag limit topics going one
like the limit recreational fisherman will have will help increase the limit
when half of what is released would more than likely die
i have a mate and seen how they fish and its mind blowi ng how well they know the jewies
and when and where they will be
3 nights in a row last year he caught over 60 jewies a night of the charles point grounds
its there lively hood yeah
but its makeing the living for amatuer fisherman harder decreasing bag limits thats for sure

cuddlescooper

So boys and girls, the general concensis is that the Jewfish is in trouble! :shock:

The next question is, How many of you would support the seasonal closure of sporning ground?!

This is a difficult situation because it would shut some easy access groung like Charles point off which is as popular to fishermen in February/March/April as Casuarina is to shoppers at christmas!

Easy to talk but without the general public supporting, the Idea would never go ahead! Might have to give a little to get some back!

What is every ones thoughts? :mrgreen:

seano

Why close it -we are only allowed 2 fish anyway! Close it to the people raping it? Also I have heard reports of guys going out there night after night with eky bins on the deck and deck winches!!! Is that to fit there 2 jewies in????There are alot of poachers out there at night and no one policing it- its a joke.

cuddlescooper

seano wrote:

Why close it -we are only allowed 2 fish anyway! Close it to the people raping it? Also I have heard reports of guys going out there night after night with eky bins on the deck and deck winches!!! Is that to fit there 2 jewies in????There are alot of poachers out there at night and no one policing it- its a joke.

Put a closure on the sporning and it prevents everyone including commercial licences from touching them untill they finish sporning and disperce! Easy to police then! :mrgreen:

Faulksy

Totaly agree that the pros need to be cut back/off to make any closure work and think that some sort of closure during the sporning season is a good idea.
If we as rec fishers dont think we are having an impact we are kidding ourselves. How many boats would take jewiess on any given weekend?
100, 200, 300 I am not sure but there are plenty of boats out there having a go.
Policing is a whole nother can of worms because obviously any closure or bag limit is only as good as its enforcement and I cant say that ive ever been checked by fisheries

If the filet runners could be stopped that would be nice as well!

seano

How about if the pros had a Quota system?

cuddlescooper

seano wrote:

How about if the pros had a Quota system?

still doesnt protect sporning fish. 40 tinnies a day and 3 pros and 6 charter boats would all still anchor up on a sporning school and wipe it out before it has had a chance to do its business.

seano

True. But at least total number of fish caught would be less! Doesnt matter when in the year there caught -once there dead they dont spawn.

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