North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Im with Lats on boat limits of about those numbers,never taken more than 2 jewies or Barra (couldnt be stuffed to fillet more than 2)

By looking at the responses on the site ,there seems to be no reason for government concern as most of the people on here seem to have self imposed bag limits so there really should be no shortage in fish unless it is the pros who are decimating the stocks
I believe there is nothing wrong with the limits as they are
If fisheries put a man at every boat ramp for two weeks in the prime tides and moon phases who counted the fish taken on each boat as they came in or got the owner to number off a list before they left the ramp it would be money well spent with a more realistic account of what amatures are actually taking
Then compare that to the charters and pro boats ,trap boats and see where the damage is actually being done and by whom
Once again it will never happen
Polatics,never let the truth get in the way of a potential policy

After many years of trying to catch jewfish, finally worked out how to catch the big ones regularly, but don't fish much for them anymore. There are far better eating fish in the sea. Jewfish flesh shrinks a lot and becomes tough when cooked. Jewfish sizes have decreased over the years, just talk to people who used to catch them from harbour wrecks many years ago, even around places like point blaze the average size has decreased. Bag limit of two is generous, one large jewfish is more than enough. Golden snapper are great eating, catching heaps lately only problem is they're so small they would swim through a gill net, (and maybe they did), and every one of them was returned to the water. Bag limit of 5 golden snapper per person seems a bit low, for boats doing long range trips it hardly seems worthwhile, especially if they are only pan size. Maybe a more intelligent bag limit taking into account size range and numbers would be more appropriate.

I blame Jeffish and Olfart for the reduction in Golden Snapper stocks! Should also bring in limits on lemon sharks.

Earlier this year we caught more goldies than we had ever caught at Chambers Bay jew patches....most drops we got a couple , and it was good to see.Don't know how the older fellas on the site went in places like that or even in the harbour for goldies, hope you could tell us how many, what size, how regularly etc....we hardly ever got more than one or two goldies on those marks, having to travel past Pt Stuart wide to get better goldies ....as an aside , a pro jew mate told me he always got painted cray on those grounds, but since another pro with a much bigger boat , and using steel anchor chain and a much bigger anchor, moved in and started moving around that area, he hardly ever sees a cray....
About 6-8 years back I fished Charlesie with a pro who told me he got 108 jewies there in a night....I never fish close to town, but those sort of catches would have to have some impact, although they always maintain we catch more than the pros....one thing is for sure, there is already too many boats fishing too small an area, it is insane how much coast is locked up - we would rather save and do a 4-5 day extended run and catch bigger fish than half a dozen town runs catchin little red fish and small goldies, flag etc.....

shaggs wrote:

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 got that bit it was the
"Government,mega big buisness, and
money "bit that made no sense.

Trier wrote:I blame Jeffish and Olfart for the reduction in Golden Snapper stocks! Should also bring in limits on lemon sharks.

yeah we do OK Ash ,But far too many trips with no results as well ,and we do obey the bag limits ,but never have I allowed
30 fish per person to be taken on my boat ,thats just insane and needs to be dropped to maybe 10.

With the expected added pressure on the system over the next couple of years(impex) were gonna see more and more boats hitting the offshore grounds ,,so bite the bullet now I say.

Why drop amateur bag limits when we have pros catching 1000x more fish stocks than what the amateur would take all year
Look at those big drift nets that were being used out off Dundee they only target a few species but they catch everything and I mean everything and anything they catch that is by catch and the law states they can't keep it so its all thrown back over dead how much of a waste is that and it happens with all types of licences they have there species they are only allowed to catch and keep on board and everything else is thrown over board to be wasted

AM are you cop?
Are you really that thick

shaggs wrote:AM are you cop?
Are you really that thick

No and No
Thanks for explaining your position.

Whilst I agree that 30 fish per person is too many, is seems retarded to lower rec Fishermans bag limit without sorting out the pro's. Rec fisherman will take maybe a few fish per location, so regardless of how many boats are on the water, they are not taking whole schools because the boats are spread out over many locations and only taking a few fish. Pro's on the other hand are flogging the same spots over and over, this to me is not sustainable.

AM wrote: Thanks for explaining your position.

Here is the perfect example of us being in a position to do something NOW to protect fish stocks before they are buggered like everywhere else in the world
.
it wont happen, we will just keep flogging the guts out of local areas and be forced to move further away to get a feed.
everyone realises that stocks are down but we do nothing as a group to stop it.
wait a few years and we will whinge when big restrictions are push down our throat.

Q : Are Darwin snapper and jewfish stocks down?
A : I would say YES - more and more people are fishing around Darwin, the technology/knowledge to target fish is better, thats why catch rates are up - why not set a amauture bag limit to 2-3 per person on Jewies Goldies and Barra no confusion, the government should also be looking at Pro catch rates in the Darwin Area they do pillage when the fish are on and their licence allows them to do so..... I know I want my son to be able to go out and catch a goldie jewie or barra when he has kids of his own.... The time to do something is now not 5 years down the track and people complaining that they cant catch a fish in the harbour these days.

Q : Are Darwin snapper and jewfish stocks down?
A : I would say YES - more and more people are fishing around Darwin, the technology/knowledge to target fish is better, thats why catch rates are up - why not set a amauture bag limit to 2-3 per person on Jewies Goldies and Barra no confusion, the government should also be looking at Pro catch rates in the Darwin Area they do pillage when the fish are on and their licence allows them to do so..... I know I want my son to be able to go out and catch a goldie jewie or barra when he has kids of his own.... The time to do something is now not 5 years down the track and people complaining that they cant catch a fish in the harbour these days.

Totally agree Glenn. Especially the bit about "The time to do something about it is now."

This issue will show our true colours as a recreational fishermen and women. Firstly we have to stop quibbling over details and get real about the future of fishing in this harbour.

Do we need to discuss whether Jewfish and Golden Snapper numbers are falling?
No. Its bleeding obvious they are.

Do we need to discuss whether the pros or recos are responsible?
No. That debate achieves nothing. They both have a role and they both have a personal responsibility to respond in a way that protects these awesome fish.

Do we need to discuss bag limits?
Heres the thing. Bag limits are everywhere. Have you ever seen them go back up because the imposed limit allowed stocks to recover? I havent. Every bag limit set for jew has seen their numbers continue to fall until another bag limit is set....and the numbers continue to fall. We seem to assume that there is a team of crack scientists on the case and all we have to do is wait for them to set a limit and it will solve the problem. It wont. It never does because its not the researchers who set the limits......its politicians. And they set limits within acceptable voter parameters. Those parameters drop as the stocks of fish fall but they will always be above the levels required for sustainability. The pattern is the same globally. The only bag limits that I have heard of that turned fish stocks around were zero ones and they only came about once the population was effectively decimated.

So what do we need to discuss?
Two things.
1 What we....recreational fishermen.....can do as a community that cares about this disappearing resource.
2 What we....recreational fishermen.....can do as individuals who love fishing and want to see fishing for jewfish and golden snapper continue into the future.

My suggestion as to what we can do as a community.
FFF is an effective voice. It reaches a lot more people than we know. Look at the views v comments data. How effective has the grounswell of discontent from this community over necking meteries been? Awesome I would say. I think its common knowledge (if not universal practice) that meteries are to be returned. That limit was never imposed. It grew out of community dissent with a particular practice. As did the concept of pre-release fish care. The ethics that emerge from the actual fishermen are in my view the most powerful and long lasting of all. And how healthy are our barra stocks? I think that as a community we ought to set our own limits and not wait for the government to shift its lugubrious arse.
I think that anyone who takes more than One Jew and more than Two Snapper per trip....when stocks are so obviously disappearing....should be vigorously encouraged on this and other forums to consider the prospect of a soon to be enforced zero bag limit.

My suggestion as to what we can do as individuals.
Dont wait for the government to save the day. They wont. Its our responsibility to limit our catch to the right numbers......not a number that will continue the decline. Take control.....set your own boat limit.....and leave when you have that limit.

Dont wait for an answer from the Pros or the government.....they have their own decisions to make over this....what we can control is what we do and what we do will set the example for the others to follow.

mud think your missing the point where quite a few recreational fisherman actually go fishing to put food on the table !!!!! so lowering limits will hurt these people alot...
with your 1 jew and 2 snapper theory hows that going to work?? people throw back dead fish through baratrauma or throw back a dead fish when they upgrade ?
and chambers bay bag limit went up from 2 barra to 3 this year