North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

A pro reef fisherman I know took between 50 and 60 jewfish a night for 4 nights off Charles point patches grounds!! this was a couple of years ago now but he still does it..he is only one of who knows how many that are hitting the area during spawning times !! And there worried about amateurs knocking the fish stocks around not likely !

DOUG wrote:A pro reef fisherman I know took between 50 and 60 jewfish a night for 4 nights off Charles point patches grounds!! this was a couple of years ago now but he still does it..he is only one of who knows how many that are hitting the area during spawning times !! And there worried about amateurs knocking the fish stocks around not likely !

Yep the young bloke was doing it every trip out
They have a right to earn a living
The government has a right to the people to limit the licenses to an amount where it supp;ies local only and still enough catch for pros to earn a decent living
Money is involved and mega big companies so this will never happen
Business will always take first place over people

DOUG wrote:A pro reef fisherman I know took between 50 and 60 jewfish a night for 4 nights off Charles point patches grounds!! this was a couple of years ago now but he still does it..he is only one of who knows how many that are hitting the area during spawning times !! And there worried about amateurs knocking the fish stocks around not likely !

interesting stats there..
so based on that, that 4 day period is equivilent to 50 trips for your average good rec. fisherman (200jewfish/2fish PP/2 persons per boat).
Given that 10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish ....

50 trips catching fish would end up being like what, 500 actual trips for your everyday rec. fisho?

How could fish stocks not go down? Undeniable pressure of 7 billion people on the earth.

I'd hate to see size limits come in on some of these fish though, number limits are much smarter. Imagine if like in Perth you need to catch 50cm ones (not hard here but still). You'd have people catching 50 snapper @ 45cm out of 10m + and trying to get one over 45 and throwing 50 back with burst guts. Just silly. Same would go for jew.

I think allowing people 30 fish is way over the top. Maybe limits on a boats catches too? Like if you take 5 people out you can't take 150 fish. The people who do the wrong thing now will still be the people who break the rules when they come in, might just limit them a bit I'd guess. Maybe a puplic info campaign to let people know about catch and release, old age of snapper, barotrauma. Everyone on this site knows, but do all the less keen fisho's? What about the remote mob do they have the info they need to protect fish?

passenger279 wrote:How could fish stocks not go down? Undeniable pressure of 7 billion people on the earth.

I'd hate to see size limits come in on some of these fish though, number limits are much smarter. Imagine if like in Perth you need to catch 50cm ones (not hard here but still). You'd have people catching 50 snapper @ 45cm out of 10m + and trying to get one over 45 and throwing 50 back with burst guts. Just silly. Same would go for jew.

I think allowing people 30 fish is way over the top. Maybe limits on a boats catches too? Like if you take 5 people out you can't take 150 fish. The people who do the wrong thing now will still be the people who break the rules when they come in, might just limit them a bit I'd guess. Maybe a puplic info campaign to let people know about catch and release, old age of snapper, barotrauma. Everyone on this site knows, but do all the less keen fisho's? What about the remote mob do they have the info they need to protect fish?

I dont think it will matter to the remote mob as they are a law to themselves!

i do agree that 30 fish per person is too high!

The other regs i think are currently fair!

The show "Reel Territory " on channel 7 is currently showing the effects of Barratruama on reef fish so it is advertised. There are also information booklets at the tackle stores on the barratrauma effects and ways to avoid it!

I too dont want to see size limits on snapper as it is a waist of time in my veiw!

And on another note got checked by fisheries officers at Buff creek just gone so the pressence is around and good to see! they went through every thing on the boat for the first time in ages. Usually they just ask for the safty equipement but they actually checked my catch late on a Sunday.

They had Warren de With on Tales From The Tinny first thing Saturday talking about this. From what was said, I think it was more likely that localised areas will be closed to allow stocks to recover.

From what was said, I think it was more likely that localised areas will be closed to allow stocks to recover.

Not a good look after all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over proposed marine parks

I guess East Point reef will be closed then - it was probably covered in stonker goldies 200 years ago. Today, not so much.

NathanL wrote:

DOUG wrote:A pro reef fisherman I know took between 50 and 60 jewfish a night for 4 nights off Charles point patches grounds!! this was a couple of years ago now but he still does it..he is only one of who knows how many that are hitting the area during spawning times !! And there worried about amateurs knocking the fish stocks around not likely !

interesting stats there..
so based on that, that 4 day period is equivilent to 50 trips for your average good rec. fisherman (200jewfish/2fish PP/2 persons per boat).
Given that 10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish ....

50 trips catching fish would end up being like what, 500 actual trips for your everyday rec. fisho?

My point exactly ! Starting with the rec fishing is a waste of time !

The reference to $8,000 per kilo was roughly amount of money i've spent going fishing (quite a bit) divided by an estimate of the number of kilograms of jewfish I've caught (two fifths of f**k all).
Not through lack of trying though.

shaggs wrote: Yep the young bloke was doing it every trip out
They have a right to earn a living
The government has a right to the people to limit the licenses to an amount where it supp;ies local only and still enough catch for pros to earn a decent living
Money is involved and mega big companies so this will never happen
Business will always take first place over people

Can you explain that a bit more I am not sure what your meaning is there

Closed areas would be helpfull yes but very difficult to police. How can you tell where a fish was caught, it can landed (brought ashore) at a area not closed to taking a speiceis or for fish in general. Closure areas are able to be policed more easily where arial surveys can moniter the area but up here how dow you identify the culpret from the air.. unless we have rego numbers.

NathanL wrote:

DOUG wrote:A pro reef fisherman I know took between 50 and 60 jewfish a night for 4 nights off Charles point patches grounds!! this was a couple of years ago now but he still does it..he is only one of who knows how many that are hitting the area during spawning times !! And there worried about amateurs knocking the fish stocks around not likely !

interesting stats there..
so based on that, that 4 day period is equivilent to 50 trips for your average good rec. fisherman (200jewfish/2fish PP/2 persons per boat).
Given that 10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish ....

50 trips catching fish would end up being like what, 500 actual trips for your everyday rec. fisho?

I agree. Solely blaming the rec fishermen for the depletion is a bit rich.
On top of the pro fishermen pressure, the charter boat operators fairly flog the place too. They're out there day in day out, some with 12+ punters onboard. They know where the aggregations of fish are and go back to those spots until there gone. Even by their own admission they're having to go further and further to find fish. To be fare most are reasonably responsible. However on one trip to Dundee recently I was cleaning fish at the tables and one charter operator was filleting 30cm red emperors for his punters. Hmm responsible? I think not.

AM wrote:

shaggs wrote: Yep the young bloke was doing it every trip out
They have a right to earn a living
The government has a right to the people to limit the licenses to an amount where it supp;ies local only and still enough catch for pros to earn a decent living
Money is involved and mega big companies so this will never happen
Business will always take first place over people

Can you explain that a bit more I am not sure what your meaning is there

He was working a pro boat that caught mainly Jewfish and Snapper
60 jewies a night was not uncommon

I would like to see a boat limit on both species. i.e. 10 goldies and 3 jew per boat for 2 or more people.... or something similar

Not under threat from me either- never fished for jewies and only accidentally catch goldies!