AFANT releases NT election policy document

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Matt Flynn
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AFANT releases NT election policy document

Post by Matt Flynn »

**************

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate publication 23 July 2008

RECREATIONAL FISHING PLAN AN ELECTION MUST


The Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the NT (AFANT) has called on both the Territory Labor Party and the Country Liberals to commit to the urgent development of a comprehensive recreational fishing industry development plan as part of their platforms for the upcoming Territory elections.
“Recreational fishing employs more than 320 people and has an annual turnover of more than $90 million making it a very significant industry in the Northern Territory. It’s also one of our most important lifestyle activities with more than 44,000 people fishing each year â€â€


bandit

Post by bandit »

wow! :o that sure is alot of demands! wouldnt it be great if either party commited to this! they'd sure get my vote :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

one question someone might be able to explain for me?

why is it they want to "4. Removal of the recreational barra fishing seasonal closures on the Daly and Mary Rivers. AFANT wants these closures to be lifted immediately and wants an unequivocal commitment from the next NT Government to do so. "

i mean it would be great cause we could fish these places during the latter months, but is there any reason why afant want it done so badly? :-?

:drinking1:
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2rods
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Post by 2rods »

CB it goes back to why they were put in place to begine with......

They were put in place as part of a deal to remove some net licences (as far as I know) maybe 7" costal net???

There is no science behind the closure :shock: so we would like them removed...

This would allow the fishing pressure to spread out a bit more too... :mrgreen:
:cheers:

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Post by Coutta »

Gday 2rods

forgive my ignorance but from your post I get the impression that you are involved in AFANT (good on ya by the way) :mrgreen: and good on AFANT - we wouldnt have the quality of fishing we have today without them :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

So assuming you have some influence over what goes on I have a couple of questions:

Re Black Jew - I personally dont have a big issue with a bag limit of 2 good sized jewies but I do have an issue (and I imagine there are plenty that would agree with me) with the fact that black jew dont always come in 10kg+ models so limiting a person to 2 x (say) 3kg schoolies seems a bit restrictive - has there been any consideration of a bag limit such as SA use for their Snapper where the limit is higher for smaller fish and lower for fish over a certain size? I'm told that system works extremely well and has helped in bringing their snapper fishery back to a healthy & sustainable one.

Re commercial fishing pressure - I think that AFANT have missed an opportunity to also have the 'other' commercial fishery - that is commercial charter operations - included in the plan - in my opioion they are NOT recreational fishos. We all know there are more and more operators fishing the same areas amateur rec fishos do and I know for a fact that some of the operators themselves have concerns about the pressure they are putting on the resource. What do you think? Although the same bag limits would apply to the charters - will we see bigger and bigger boats heading out further and further with dozens of people on board to make running the trip worthwhile?
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Post by 2rods »

Coutta, yes mate I am 1 of the 12 odd committee members :mrgreen:

I am not sure on how the SA size bit works BUT I will pass that and your views on charter operators onto Chris Makepiece (the ED) for discussion.

I to am worried about what the charter boys remove... if you think about it there are what 10-15 BIG charter boats in Darwin now... 12 per boat .. so say maybe 150 people fishing on charters.. and they can legaly take 5 jewies each... that in theory is 750 jewies gone a day,,

Now I know that most boats have a limit that they only allow 2 ber person but it's not law....so when you add the other species it is a lot of fish removed.

I remember going on a charter with the MV Drumbeat..about 15 years ago... out to the bus stop (fenton patches) took nearly 3 hours to get there.. got a few jewies and came home... now days they go out to flat top :shock:
:cheers:

2RODS


Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

If I can't be a good example, then I will just have to serve as a horrible warning...

As John Wayne once said:

"Life's tough......It's even tougher if you're stupid."
.........
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Post by scottmac »

How about looking at banning cherabin(sp?) pots on the Daly? The river is getting raped more and more! :evil:

I'm sure the nomads could learn to use lures, after all they do get 3 or 4 months out there to practice!

Policing these laws is another issue to worry about, but it would at least stop some people doing the wrong thing, if they knew it was illegal. :uhh:
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Post by Coutta »

Thanks 2rods would appreciate that - it just doesnt make sense that a sector that does put big (and getting bigger) pressure on the resource isnt included....

I imagine the charter operaters do have their own unofficial code of conduct but at the end of the day once our reefs are fished out they can find another way to make a living but the point is all the efforts of AFANT will be for naught....

I have a personal story too re my once favourite (and secret) jewie lump just out from Larakeyah - up until 4 or 5 years ago I could go there and be confident of picking up a couple of good jewies but around the same time a certain harbour charter that shall remain nameless (suffice to say that there is one tour that floats and another that has 4 wheels) came close pushed a button & started regularly fishing it - nowadays I dont even bother trying... :x

I heard on the grapevine that some of the charter operators got together about 12 mths or so ago to discuss the issue of the decreasing resource - is AFANT aware of this? I wonder what the result of the discussion was?

I also wonder whether the charter sector is controlled in any way - can any man or his dog with enough cash set up and start operating or is there some sort of control already in place?

Again I am concerned that all the hard work AFANT is doing can easily be undermined.....

By the way I have been a fairly silent (maybe that has been a mistake) member of AFANT for about 8 years or so - I reckon we (as in FFFers and all rec fishos) should be too.
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Post by Coutta »

Sorry - re AFANT members - I meant we all should be members but not necessarily silent! :mrgreen:
If we all focussed on the important things in life there would always be a long queue at the ramp!
noundz

Post by noundz »

scottmac wrote,
How about looking at banning cherabin(sp?) pots on the Daly? The river is getting raped more and more! Evil or Very Mad
While we are at it how 'bout cast nets, alcohol, big boats, camp fires, firearms, get permits to fish and fun. :roll:

i am not a nomad (Territory borne), seriously, how much damage does a ( or many) prawn pot/s do :roll: after reading coroboreebandit's reports and others, just as many barra can be caught on lures as live bait, it is just a method of fishing :mrgreen:

This is not a attack at you scottmac :mrgreen: , just a fisherman tired of over regulation :evil:

P.S. I fish with lures and livebait.......whatever works :mrgreen:
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Post by meter_seeker »

Some well worth promises there, im happy to support it. Closure to pros in chambers bay has to be the big one though forget the buy backs kick the buggers out. Why not make them travel further they have the vessels to do so. Access to aboriginal land to even fishing pressure would be a great plus, though i dont see that happeing to soon waving a big fat cheque aint gonna cut it. Possesion limits seem fair and im glad to see limits on the freshwater crustaceans.
Im all for it :mrgreen:
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noundz

Post by noundz »

I agree with the AFANT requests :mrgreen: including the posession limits on cherabin :mrgreen: But to ban cherabin pots is akin to baning crab pots :-(
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Post by scottmac »

Point taken Nounds. Maybe I'm a bit of a hypocrite as I've been known to do a bit of livebaiting myself :roll:

Never been one for too many rules either, :twisted: I just wish more people could learn to self regulate what they keep. Saying that, it is the minority as usual wrecking it for us good guys :angel:
noundz

Post by noundz »

You got it scottmac :mrgreen: I my self have morals and only take what is needed :angel:

I got to admit, it is a bit hard deciding between eating the prawn or turning it into a barra :twisted:
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