North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

nomad wrote:
Every state has strange laws - WA still require you have a ‘release weight’ hook to return fish affected by barotrauma - even though it has been proven that they just die when released.

Not quite right Nomad, Yo-yo and plenty of other fish were testimony to that not being correct. They tagged released fish to demonstrate one way or another if the release weights worked and the evidence was that they do. It goes without saying the better you look after the fish prior to release the better chance of survival, even from deeper than 30 metres from memory. I can easily get some stats if you're interested. Having said that, they were working with different species of fish to what we have up here.

btw Yo-yo was a snapper that got caught and released with a weight numerous times, so often the name seemed quite appropriate.

You may have a point nomad, but would they actually listen to the majority of fishos or just make decisions on behalf of them, I don't know how they speak on my behalf as I've never been consulted or asked so really they are just a organization looking after there own best interests and creating a job for themselves. Don't understand some of the new changes, some make sense but the closures are a joke, why close emu reefs? Who the hell fishes there regularly other then charters? Lorna and Charles point wide are also aimed straight at charters in my opinion making it harder and more expensive then it already is for the charter operators which will only effect tourism and cause more businesses to go under.
AFANT are out of touch with what people want and nothing as far as I'm concerned is based on scientific research
Maybe we should start our own lobby group and rival AFANT, give the government a alternative to listening to them

Don't know if that would work up here though dick, can a fish suck it's air bladder back down into place after it's up in their mouth if put back to a certain depth? I'm not saying they can't just didn't think it would be possible

Shaggs- Fisheries released a paper that said that a 1m barra is only a 50 % chance of being female so it is unlikely that it would already be passed its prime breeding time. In many cases a barra around 105cm still wasn't a female yet.

And Jewies do grow really quickly but are relativly localised in range. This means they are too easy to target and the massive schools that used to be are getting wiped out. There is also evidence from other places such as cape York and India (to name a couple) that once a local area is wiped out they never recover due to the fish being as localised as they are and not travelling to other areas. A closure of charles point is the best thing to happen for that area to the west in my eyes as far as Jewfish are concerned. that area around charles is 90% jew grounds and it really wont effect snapper fisherman in my view I disagree with a complete closure of Lorna but that's another story. We don't have huge grounds to fish near Darwin and the pressure now will be huge on the remaining grounds. Green zones in QLD are all good but they have a huge reef system and area to fish compared to Darwin surrounds. I would have gone for seasonal closures in that area.

I can see where your at cuddles
The biggest concern for me is history has told us that once a limit or a ban on something is brought in it is very hard to get it changed and there should be stipulations for it to be reviewed after a certain time
Take for instance the scrub turkey,ban came into effect in the 60's and there's that many of them around now but still no lift of the ban and bag limit put in place
I haven't researched fish closures but I'm pretty sure if I did none or very few would have been reopened to the public
Look I'm all for looking after our fisheries so long as when things go right for them they are handed back to the public and better bag limits are given back
IMO greed has more to do with money than someone catching a feed and that being said the black market on fish and some of those making a living out of it probably needs to be addressed a bit more than it is
Have alook at crusteacens up here,it wasn't long ago you could get a good feed of redclaw or cherrabin quite easily and then all of a sudden there was a market for farming them and the whole scene of freshwater shellfish went pear shaped ,I know of people who were taking up to 200 litres a night,every night while they were running before the bag limits came in
You cant tell me they were eating them all
The other thing that has farked things are fishing and hunting mags,before the big numbers of them were around it was only people who had word of mouth or had done the hard yards that use to catch decent fish on a regular basis and now they can buy a mag,couple it's imformation up with modern technology and bingo they're on a winner every time
Does the mag owner care that he/she has helped contribute to the decline in fish /or game?Not in your nelly,it's all about money ,greed

now they can buy a mag,couple it's imformation up with modern technology and bingo they're on a winner every time

I think you should blame Captain Cook, he started it.

The FISH FINDER TM book just improved on his work

I could never understand why we didn't protect the breeders, not that the meterys have to worry about me. I remember completing a survey a couple of years ago and being asked about bag limits and closures my response then as now is "show me the science". If the science is there then do it, but would appreciate some flexibility with the closures, seasonal perhaps.

With regards to AFANT, I haven't been a member for some years but I do understand the govt,s need to speak to a peak body. It's easier than having to contact the 6000 plus members of this forum, the poor old pub servant would be around the twist in the first week. If you are not a member and Not getting involved then what right would we have to bag them and their efforts. I want this sport to be here for the kids and their kids and not have it stuffed up cause some selfish old pr..ks couldn't see passed their current needs. How many times have you seen fishos bringing back fish that you know should have stayed in the water, and why because they were there and didn't have any self control and don't get me started on the shamatuers. Maybe we could send them to Bali.

Have a good day

Gagey

I am with most members views on this subject, poorly thought out and impractical.
While I accept bag and size limits are necessary some of the ones put forward will cause more problems than help.
having close seasons may be a better option.
The rule of having to remove rigs from rods when traveling through the closed areas will be a bit of a pain.
The remote areas will not be a problem but how many will get pinged coming back through the closed ares near charles point.
This is the only area that can effectively be policed for this rule.
What will the penalty be for an offence like that be, good revenue raiser this one.

Hemi wrote:

ghound wrote:AFANT and CLP are the same thing

Hands up all the people that are members of AFANT that agree with the changes or more to the point had any say in them?

My only hope is when Gilsey and co get the arse they run the cleaners through AFANT first point of call[/



Id rather donate to ISIS than AFANT....

Are you for real Hemi? What kind of fwit would donate to isis??

Scottie5.3 wrote:Don't know if that would work up here though dick, can a fish suck it's air bladder back down into place after it's up in their mouth if put back to a certain depth? I'm not saying they can't just didn't think it would be possible

Yeah there was evidence of fish's stomachs ending back on the right side of the fish (the inside) and even eye bulge fish surviving. They took data on the fish's condition prior to release. However as I said different species. Some work I saw done by NT Fisheries indicated pretty strongly that for our jewie the rapid expansion of the bladder knocked the fishes guts around too much and they died regardless from (can''t remember exactly the 90% mortality depth) somewhere around 8-10 metres.

If you are not a member and Not getting involved then what right would we have to bag them and their efforts.

Your kidding aren't you???
They claim to be speaking on behalf of amateur fisherman yet I still haven't found anyone that is a member. They were elected by a minority to represent the majority. I don't agree with dog fighting either but I am not about to join the National dog fighters association to try and change them from within.

AFANT has run its race sooner they run the cleaners through it the better

Quote:
If you are not a member and Not getting involved then what right would we have to bag them and their efforts.
[/quote]

You're right of course - its like people who don't vote in the election but whinge about what the govt is doing

we want the govt to do certain things but if we dont tell them, they can only go on what info they i are given



I joined up a few years ago (just so i could get access to shady mouth out of season for that survey they did).

i do remember fisheries giving several talks and discussions at a fishing club. they were there to get our opinions and they got them. .

I suppose im as guilty as everyone else that was too lazy to make a submission - we got a decision that we may not agree with

Like it or not, it looks like the govt only acts on what they are told by afant.

Like any democracy, we do have a voice - use it before the govt makes any more decisions.

Are we meant to be expecting anyone to police these new rules????

So ! what is it?you can only have a say in the decisions on fishings future if you join a club or association
What a load of poop
That's why I don't join clubs or associations any more,they are all politicly motivated or full of bush lawyers
I went through that 30+ years ago in fishing clubs
Everyone is on the net these days if they want a true or better idea of what's wanted why don't they put it out there for people to get involved with.
That way most get to have a say without having to join some club/ass. or trying to get there on a night
FFS people could even log on at work and do it
It will never happen .

Bring it on - I am sure that Hemi was speaking literally. (I hope). AFANT AGM next Sunday.