Sailfish netted?

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:53 am

I have heard a disturbing report, as yet unverified, that a commercial net boat hit Fog Bay recently and took a load of sailfish.

I trolled out there last Sunday and Monday with an experienced crew fishing everywhere from Long Lost to Blaze Wide and Sail City and over two days did not raise a sail and did not see any likely suspects on the sounder. Yes, they could have moved or gone off the bite, but I thought it was a bit odd.

If true, I'm sure this net story could be verified with the sources of FFF looking into it. If you have info, eg saw a pro boat out there recently - send me a PM or email [email protected]

Either way, sailfish should be a no-take fish in the NT. The resource is too valuable as a sportfishery to end up in nets, and would be of minor importance to commercial fishermen.

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:44 am

Just had this sent to me by someone who fishes Dundee a lot ...

"Just read your blog on sailfish netted. The pro boat was out there 2 weeks ago and was running close to a 1km of net out near Dundee Wide, he was there for at least two days, I don’t know how many sails he caught but the mackerel went quiet after this."

harmsey · Post by **harmsey** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:48 pm

that is just not cricket

is that even legal????

2rods · Post by **2rods** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:48 am

I spoke to a dundee local at the markets on friday ...he said that the pro's were out at long lost way...netting

never seen them out there before..

all the mac fishos I know use lines NOT nets

I will ask some Q.s around the place

balou · Post by **balou** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:14 pm

My mate has a mac and shark license and both of his boats use netts and not lines. He usually fishes around ashmore reef and beyond.

I asked him if he knew who was working long lost but that industry is so bl..dy secretive no one knows. He said long lost is too close to rec fisherman and is simply asking for trouble.

I fish long lost afair bit so lucky for him both boat have been in dock for the last 4 week under repairs.

Balou

Out Blue · Post by **Out Blue** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:26 pm

Very sad to hear.

I've fished out Dundee constantly since 1997 and i can say in the years i have seen pro fishing boats and have seen them moving in closer.

IMO from experience, as soon as i see a commercial boat it is usually just dead out there. Couldnt tell u if they have been long liners trawlers or netters but imo the fishing has tapered off over the years. But it is still good.......I kow we see big goldies, trickies, reds and trout out there still but 10 years ago these big fish were an everyday occurance.

I have only just started to get into the Billfishing side of things so i cannot vouch for any increase in numbers or decrease in numbers and TBH this would be a relatively new recreational fishery to study. Years ago i never saw anyone out there chasing sails to the numbers we see today.

Serious consideration has to be put into closing the fog bay area to commercial fishing or at least heavily regulating the area. I used to fly for coastwatch and we surveilled the inshore areas (30nm from shore) pretty well however now the main focus has turned to offshore surveillance for illegal boat people again rather then fisheries, thanks you Mr Rudd u spud for that. Anyway i think that reporting these issues via media like this is a good idea to keep more eyes on the water and as we know recreational fisherman have the numbers on the water.

You just have to watch a program like they aired on Nat Geo tonight called SUPERFISH - FASTEST PREDATOR about sailfish and billfish industries and rec fishing around the world to realise just how delicate these fisheries are. Awesome show and if you have AUSTAR make an effort to catch it again sometime this month as some of the underwater footage was great. Ranging from juvenile saild around5cm long free swimming to 1000lb blacks smacking baits.

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:29 pm

You would think that given the publicity over Fog Bay recently that pros would steer clear of that big mob of sailfish out there. Maybe the sailfish are worth a buck or two on the meat market. Anyone know? Interesting if there is no market for sailfish and they are worthless. Would they be discarded? If not, where are they sold? Worth looking into.

balou · Post by **balou** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:40 pm

Matt, the commercial fisherman can only keep what he is licensed to sell. If these guys are chasing macs, every thing else goes over the side.

This rule is stupid because so much by-catch just get wasted so to speak. Amongst the macs that were harvested at long lost, I would say a fair percentage of sails, reefies and sharks were also caught. All would have been dumped over the side and left to rot.

If you get caught with any by-catch on board you can loose you license.

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:09 pm

Still chasing this one. Anyone who knows anything can send me a PM.

Has anyone been out there lately chasing sails? Any luck?

2rods · Post by **2rods** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:10 pm

Matt Flynn wrote:Still chasing this one. Anyone who knows anything can send me a PM.

Has anyone been out there lately chasing sails? Any luck?

Matt I did some asking around and found out the following:

The netters out at longlost way are SHARK fisherman...they are allowed grey macs as bycatch...and a very small amount of spanish macs.

They don't hang around if there are sails in the area as they are a pain in the bum..and they can't sell them.....

They net at night for the sharks and grey macs...so most of the times we see them they are asleep....

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:30 pm

Good stuff Paul, I've put a couple of questions to fisheries as well, hope to get some answers soon

BarraBase · Post by **BarraBase** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:39 pm

The netters out at longlost way are SHARK fisherman...they are allowed grey macs as bycatch...and a very small amount of spanish macs.

They don't hang around if there are sails in the area as they are a pain in the bum..and they can't sell them.....

They net at night for the sharks and grey macs...so most of the times we see them they are asleep....

_________________

How come the deckie's ect are spruking about, netting tons of them and the big heaps that were swimming up to their lights at night then,,

might be a case of "Oops should'nt have done that better make up a story to cover it up"

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:02 pm

Just got this reply from fisheries ...

"Sailfish are prohibited from being taken as bycatch by all NT commercial licensees under NT fisheries regulations. Therefore they can not be netted and sold by NT shark, mackerel or any other NT fishery."

So there you go, they can't take them using any commercial method.

But they aren't supposed to take sawfish either and look what happened.

Still concerned about this report, just because they can't sell them doesn't mean a whole lot of them didn't get stuck in a 1km shark net. The fact they are a nuisance however makes it unlikely that they were targeted - who would want to be pulling sails out of a net all night?.

scottmac · Post by **scottmac** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 5:38 pm

Whether they were targeted or not isn't really the point. Its just another example of the damage done with this random and unsustainable way of fishing (nets).

Between the barra netters, the shark netters and whoever else, one of the best fishing grounds close to a capital city you could ask for is getting decimated.

Keep sending those emails people!!!!

Post by **Matt Flynn** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:50 pm

Remember however that this sailfish report is still unverified and I am still trying to collate facts. At the moment we have only circumstantial evidence