Bag limits

drifter · Post by **drifter** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:45 pm

I just downloaded the following from a NT Fisheries paper that puts a slightly different slant on the Rec v's Pro's & catch rates. (and possibly worth thinking about??)

The central issue in the barramundi fishery today is whether to continue restricting commercial fishing in favor of recreational fishing development. This political and economic issue cannot be clarified by any simple calculation of relative benefits to the people of the
Territory from allocating catch to one type of fishing or the other, as indicated by the following discussion. A common argument is that recreational fishing should be allowed to take over from commercial fishing because each fish in the recreational catch is much more
Ã¢â‚¬Å“valuableÃ¢â‚¬Â

ghound · Post by **ghound** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:10 pm

Good post Drifter

makes a lot of sense and that is what I am saying when I say that we have to fix our own nest before attacking the pro's. By introducing more stringent bag limits the arguement can then be made that each fish is more valuble to the economy because in essence some fish may be able to be caught more than once.

Ghound

jack · Post by **jack** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:24 pm

I agree with the 5 per person bag limit for Barra if your land based. But I think they should change the limit if you fishing from a boat. If you have four or five people in a boat 20 to 25 fish seems a bit much. Maybe limit boats with more than three people in them to 10 Barra. Just a thought Im sure many would disagree but Im generally happy taking two or three and letting the rest go. My freezer doesn't hold much more anyway.

Jack

thetimsons · Post by **thetimsons** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:42 pm

I have a point to put in here. What happens if the bag limit for jewies goes down?? what will happen to people like us who go great distances to catch jewies to only be aloud to keep 1 or 2 each??

we go out and catch the bag limit sometimes but we might not go out fishing for another few months while we eat these fish. it would be a hell of a waste of money to go out to theses places to only be able to keep 1-2 jewies.How many people are gounna travel that far for fish anyways.

as for barra i would go for that bag limit of a couple of fish

. 50-80cm or something like that. As for goldies i like that idea but again we travel long distances to catch fish like that just for a small bag limit doesnt justify it.... like the idea of a max size limit.say 70cm

. we have a 7.4 meter and it is verry expensive to fuel up for a trip. I can see that in the popular places the bag limits should be reduced but not out remote where we have to pay a million dollars for fuel just to get there.

The camp stove might have to be taken along.

Eddie

Kevin Kevinson · Post by **Kevin Kevinson** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:40 am

fact ; pros do unbelievable damage that rec fisherman could never match. when you hear of barra netters getting up to 3 TONNES PER NIGHT of barra from chambers bay...give me a break

Pros have got to go.

rather than change current bag limits, lets just enforce them! more people on the ground at ramps I say...have a blitz over a 6 month period. I have been up here 4 years and never have been checked...and i am one of the people doing the right thing, so imagine how many are doing the wrong thing and getting away with it.

the only changes to the bag limits for me is Jewies. it should be 2 per person, 6 per boat.

as far as barra go, i dont keep runoff fish, but I would be dirty if i couldnt keep more than 2 salties in the buildup...i still reckon 5 per person is OK, but a boat limit of 10 should come in.

Faulksy · Post by **Faulksy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:35 pm

Bag limits are too generous for mine,

3 barra per day per person is heaps, say max of five per boat. Jewies who needs more than one per angler per day. If we are serious about fishing for the future we must practice what we preach. There should be more enforcement to stop the mongrel rec anglers who on sell there catch, I know it is only a few but they still need to be stopped they can check my boat as often as they like.

Pete

max · Post by **max** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:53 pm

But what about the pros. Faulksy are they allowed to go on their merry way their catches are going to increase and to the people who are in it just for the tucker you will never be happy and its only going to get harder.

slug · Post by **slug** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:41 pm

Yeah - spot on Max.

Anyone who thinks that pi$$anting around with "5 to 2" or "10 per boat to 5 per boat" legislative changes is going have any impact (while commercial fishing continues at it's current rate) is EXTREMELY NAIVE

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:33 am

Having worked on many pro boats I can vouch for how efffective the square hooks are.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:04 am

Having worked on a few pro boats ( straight out of school) I can vouch for how effective the square hooks ( nets) are. Not just Barra we caught hundreds of threadies and queenfish, and a few dugongs, crocs and dolphins

Gave me bad Karma for a while and would never do it again. I believe that as far as barra fishing goes rec fishermen do far less damage to fish stocks than the pros and current bag limits and management are fine. Reef fishing is different altogether as I have seen firsthand how quickly a good patch of reef can be cleaned out by rec fishermen. Bag limits for jewies (at least) should be changed and more enforcement of bag limits on the bluewater. In 25years fishing never been pulled up on the bluewater- other than to check saftey gear- but been checked barra fishing many times.

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:38 am

Spot on Slayer.

Simple fact is that we must not accept tighter barramundi limits unless there is a corresponding restriction on professional gill net fishing. If there is no restriction on gill net fishing then barra bag limits for recreational fishermen are both a waste of time and a bit of a con - it's just shifting the resource over to the pros.

Perhaps we should have a Field and Game Commission like New Zealand. Our fisheries department has done some great work for us but it is largely geared up for pro fishing and most of their jobs rely on pro fishing.

It's clear we need barra gill nets removed from certain areas for a variety of reasons, but don't expect to see it happen until there is a different political climate in Darwin. If it was going to happen under Labor it would have by now.

Faulksy · Post by **Faulksy** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:11 pm

max wrote:But what about the pros. Faulksy are they allowed to go on their merry way their catches are going to increase and to the people who are in it just for the tucker you will never be happy and its only going to get harder.

Yep no argument there the pros have to be regulated as well, we have all seen the damage that they do.

Pete

Faulksy · Post by **Faulksy** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:23 pm

Dont get me wrong I am all for removing the nets i despise them, I recently spent days and $$$$ trolling for Marlin with not so much as a strike. While at the same time watching 6 purse seiners rape the oceans, not only do they have all the good electronic gear, they have spotter choppers as well. The allocation issue has gone to court in NZ the amature fishos have taken out a legal action against the government over allocation of Kahwai (Salmon) the amatures won the first court case and now its gone to appeal, they have had to raise serious money to fight it. Its all good to say lets loose the nets but what is being done about it.
What would happen if they said we will buy back the licenses from the pros but you will have to pay a license fee as a recreational fisho to fund the buy back?

Pete

2rods · Post by **2rods** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:34 am

I must say that it irks me when the Barramundi Fishermans association told the NTG they have too many nets and they should only have 10 (full units of 1000mtrs each) an the NTG have done nothing.

They promised to buy back licences and yet they have sat on there hands... there are a number of pro barra fisherman who want to sell up...BUT they want a fair price...so why doesn't the NTG do it

maybe the money has all been used in the stupid new wave pool that we just had to have

They braught back some costal net licences this year....BUT wht they failed to tell anyone was that out of the 9 odd licences they brought 7 of them were not in use (so I was told by a good source).. They put some good spin on it for the news though

Faulksy.... I would pay a fee each year if the money was used to buy back licences and after that improve infrastructure. I think it is the only way we will be able to prove we are commited and willing to help protect our fish stocks

Who wants to make a bet that the NTG anounces that they have brought back 1 licence (barra) just before the next ellection.....

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:21 pm

[quote]The central issue in the barramundi fishery today is whether to continue restricting commercial fishing in favor of recreational fishing development. This political and economic issue cannot be clarified by any simple calculation of relative benefits to the people of the
Territory from allocating catch to one type of fishing or the other, as indicated by the following discussion. A common argument is that recreational fishing should be allowed to take over from commercial fishing because each fish in the recreational catch is much more
Ã¢â‚¬Å“valuableÃ¢â‚¬Â

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Bag limits

Do you think bag limits are too high for managed species?

Bag Limits

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