What would you do as Fisheries Minister to sustain our fisheries?

[castlemaine]

Had a discussion with some friends on this subject over Easter.

My take is mark out zones ie. A, B, C, D, etc. Estuaries and outside.

Close one or two of them off (no take zones) for 1-3years then close the next for 1-3years, keep commercial fishers out of the zones. Charter boats fish the same as recreation fishing.

So how do we keep commercial fishers going ... buy out their licences or give them a huge monitory and training incentives to go towards fish farming.

Am I being too simplisitic or does this sound reasonable.8-)

Cheers8-)

[castamasta]

Sounds ok to me,I have also wondered about catch and release zones.Maybe that would work in some instances.
Just my two bobs worth:D
Cheers,Gav.

[fisher28]

if i was the fisheries minister i would.

push very heavily to have the importation of prawns stopped or severly limited.

ban the use of cat nets.

allow trawlers to catch keep and sell fish,keeping in lines with rec bag limits and sizes.

push for funds to buy out ALL LATENT EFFORT from all commercial fisheries.

fine rec and commercial crabbers who crab in channels and around wharves.

raise the fines and make it much harder to remove mangroves.

do my best to get camera surveillance at boat ramps and jetties.

jeez i could go on all night!!

i would leave all the size limits and apparatus and zones as they are for now.if research showed all was good id love to put the snapper limit back to 5 fish.

[PinHead]

First and only step at this stage..serious research as to current state of the fisheries...then after that is done and peer reviewed..make decisions as necessary.

I am not in favour of any closures or alterations to current bag/size limits without any serious research being done.

[TheRealAndy]

Does not matter what he does, it will always be wrong. Seems peer reviewed study has not been accepted by AF in the past Pinhead, so what would make it any different now?

Plus, just a few posts in and we already have people contradicting each other.

Tough ask I say.

[nigelr]

Absolutely. First class independently obtained data to avoid the garbage in garbage out syndrome.
I like fisher28's comment re latent effort.
Big subject, need some knowledgable folk giving input from first-hand experience.
Improved market strategies for our own products.
Encourage husbandry rather than exploitation of the the fishery.
Most of all though, an honest desire by all stakeholders to succeed in delivering an effective medium to long term strategy based on consensual rather than arbitrary decisions.........::)

[Lucky_Phill]

My thoughts are well known Ivan.

" as fisheries minister I would assert my responsibilities and place in the pecking order , put DEEDI, DERM and QPWS on notice that I am in charge of the biggest recreational activity Queensland holds, which also funnels Billions of dollars into the economy and thus, THEIR pay packets. I would push ( real hard ) for FQ to be open and acsessible to the recreational fishing public and to strive for a better understanding and relationship between rec fishos and FQ. My goal is to have Qld sit atop of the Recreational Fishing destination for all Australian and overseas fishos through aggresive management methods ( based on sound science etc ) , public relations and well thought-out and popular rules. In association with that goal is to have the most extensive range of multi and specific purpose artifical reefs in the southern hemisphere. "

" If I were Fisheries minister for Queensland, more people would be fishing instead of worrying about rules, regulations, fish stocks, green zones, pollution etc ".

" If I were Fisheries Minister, recreational fishing and the benefits thereof, would be in the school ciriculum ".

" If I were Fisheries Minister, I would ban Tangles form buying any more fishing tackle :) "

Just a touch on my thoughts.............



LP

[Louis]

Offer to buy out as many of the Pro's as possible.


Louis

[Mossy247]

Battle my arse of to get some kind of budget from treasury would be a good start. No money - no KPI's!
Raise the profile of my department, if that fails then tell people I am a tahitian prince and steal 14million from Qld Govt, then buy mud island and set up a Base Camp. he he he he.
Raise the profile of my portfolio, get funding and get results. Easier said than done.

[killitfillit]

Ban nets of all kind.

[BigE]

Call a protracted long term tender to purchase and maintain the nessersary equipment to reposition the said minsters head from the said minsters sphinter.

feather the minsters own nest

dis-reguard any feed back from rec fishermen

not to hard really the instructions would be in the fisheries minsters manual in the bottem of the desk.

He could try and set a bio mass tonnage that would indicate stainable use and allow and increase in bag limits when reached.

I think the 2nd and 3rd are the most likely.

BigE

[rando]

I would manage the fishery on the premise that it would be in a better state when I left it, than what it was in when i acquired the ministry.
I would ban the use of the term "sustainable" management and insist on a management paradigm that had restorative management as its goal.
I think my views on how to achieve this are well known.
I would move the commercial sector away from an extractive industry footing, to a sea farming footing( put & take).
In the process create hundreds, perhaps thousands of jobs in the fish production industry, so that all commercial operators had a more secure industry to plan their futures in.
Under my ministry there will be more fish and more fishing ,,,, for everybody


DID I GET THE JOB????;D;)

[Yellowjack]

Formally change monday to a day strictly for fishing, making it illegal to do anything else.

# Vote Jack 2012

[bluefin59]

I would make a 10 km exclusion zone around around mud and employ someone I know to be a permanent fisheries officer to keep the baddies at bay and then I personally move my office to Hervey bay !!!😜😜😜😜😜😜 I hope this idea sits well with everyone thanks Matt

[Horse]

I would make the entire east coast a green zone and employ myself and a few mates to do extensive research into fish populations by going fishing a lot. I would purchase Greg Normans vessel "Aussie Rules" to use as my research base and mobile headquarters. I would only "attend" cabinet via conference calls and probably only in the case of bad weather or needing a break from the research side of things
Anyone willing to be a research assistant?

Seriously I would:-
1. place a sunset clause on all inshore fishing licences and start buying back commercial licences that have a high impact on the total fishery
2. combine Marine Parks, Water Police, Boating and Fisheries and a State run Coastguard and operate them out of the same bases
3. invest heavily in research into fish populations and investigate farming and other techniques to increase biomas of preferred species
4. build more artificial reefs along the coast

[Lucky Loz]

Ban catching fish during their spawning season where possible for at least 5 years . Import more prawns or farm them. Increase funds for re-stocking programs and agree with a lot more artificial reefs.

[ovakil]

Create lot more artificial wrecks like Tangalooma & Curtin

[bluefin59]

[QUOTE=Horse;1371773]I would make the entire east coast a green zone and employ myself and a few mates to do extensive research into fish populations by going fishing a lot. I would purchase Greg Normans vessel "Aussie Rules" to use as my research base and mobile headquarters. I would only "attend" cabinet via conference calls and probably only in the case of bad weather or needing a break from the research side of things
Anyone willing to be a research assistant?


Research assistant is fine with me if I can't be the minister , even the deckie job on Aussie Rules would do thanks Matt ;;D;D;D;D;D

PS I thought this was the serious part thanks again

[tunaticer]

I would start by increasing all minimum size limits except crustaceans by 5cm. In two or so years the average sizes will catch up to a better meal sized fish.
Secondly I would employ heaps of fisheries inspectors and spread them out right across the state and have them in force, week in and week out. Make the penalties apply to demand respect to size and bag limits.

I do not see any way of realistically assessing our fishery to an accurate degree that everyone will be happy with so I would rather up the size limit and enforce it better.

The pro's should be encouraged into farming practices at specified areas.

I would put an imediate stop to all export and import of fish and fish products to and from Australia. The Australian fishery should cater for Australian markets, not reap it dry to satisfy the overseas markets. Stopping imports will stop the potential importation of diseases and pests via that avenue. If a person wants to be a commercial fisher in Australia they will do so to supply the Australian market only. This would probably protect Australian fisheries more than any other means.

[charleville]

There are all sorts of good tactical suggestions here.

Whilst they are under discussion, I would employ a reputable firm of economic consultants to estimate the economic value of all aspects of the fishing industry, comprising amateur, professional, retail, tourism and industrial elements on the state's GDP so as to get a firm view of the scale of the leverage that the industry should have in setting government priorities.



.

[MudRiverDan]

I would remove all stroppy sullen bastards with a chip on their shoulder from the boat ramps and make them launch off the beach.

Cheers

Dan

[charleville]

i would remove all stroppy sullen bastards with a chip on their shoulder from the boat ramps and make them launch off the beach.




lol!


;D;D;D

[kingcray]

For SEQ, i suggest...!

MORE ARTIFICIAL REEFS (give us some around the northern end huh)
MORE FISHERIES OFFICERS (HUGE penalties to offenders - could do with more of these guys around home)
NO NETS AT ALL - inc cast nets - for rec fishers (that hurts a bit)
1 JENNY CRAB - all species - P/P (non egg-bearing)
&
As Jack said, agree with increasing size limits
Thanks
Deano

[Lovey80]

1. Walk into the EPA ministers office and remind him/her that the ALL management of fish stocks was my responsibly and demand a review of every individual zone within all state marine parks. Make the minister justify how each and every zone required to be zoned as such for habitat protection purposes(EPA responsibility). Any zone such as a green zone that could not be justified on habitat protection grounds would be removed completely or rezoned to reflect such outcomes.

2. Outline blocks of coastline to be bought out and changed into Recreational Fishing havens (RFH). Offer to employ commercial fishermen that were bought out in that area in each RFH as part of the area salt water restocking group.

3. Fight the Premier for a guaranteed 70% of the revenue from boat and trailer registrations and 100% of the revenue of all fishing related fines.

4. Increased fisheries patrols in all regions and fund a Volunteer Fisheries Inspector (VFI) program. The VFI's would have to meet certain criteria before attending a training and accreditation course. VFI's would then have the power to inspect fishing catches of other Recreational Anglers and issue standard on the spot fines (kind of like the Army Reserve for Fisheries Inspectors).

5. Outline a set percentage of annual revenue to constructing artificial reefs up and down the QLD coast line (for both Rec and Commercial Fishermen). With a view to create reef groups in groups of 3 individual artificial reefs. At any one time one of the reefs will be fishing free for a year at a time on a rotational basis so you have 2 fishable at any one time and the third being spelled for 1 year. Divers would be allowed to dive the the spelled reef for that year.

6. Every time a fisheries regulation changed, details of that change and the whole bag and size limit regulation would have to be sent out to every registered boat owner.

7. Change the fisheries QLD charter to researching possible outcomes to "Increase the Sustainable Yield" of both Recreational and Commercial fishermen.

8. If a species of fish was deemed to be "Under Threat" and that species happened to be an export species. The first restriction that species would have applied to it before any other measures is the banning of the export of that species. If QLD does not export internationally (but do so to other states)that species but other states do, the interstate selling of that species would then become restricted.

9. Steps would be made to encourage aquaculture of any species that is exported to relieve pressure on wild resources.

10. Bring the states boat ramp facilities up to a standard befitting the amount of taxes Anglers have paid to sustain such facilities.

11. Work heavily in conjunction with the tourism minister to promote fishing (nationally and internationally)in the areas that have been created as RFH's.


Just the start............

[webby]

Put someone in charge of Fisheries, that actually knows what they are doing and passing judgement on.
By that i mean someone who actually fishes and knows what going on out there.

[tunaticer]

Put someone in charge of Fisheries, that actually knows what they are doing and passing judgement on.
By that i mean someone who actually fishes and knows what going on out there.
A rec or a pro fisher Webby???

A poisoned chalice for whoever takes the position from one side or the other.

[nathank]

Buy all licences back off the pro's, invest into sustainable aqua culture. Also set the bag limits so that ppl are taking only enough fish to eat for that or the next day (easier said than done)
Mostly though have our taxes and fines and rego's actually go back to our specific infrastructure.. now that would be different.

[Feral]

1. Get rid of all green zones.
2. Employ another couple of dozen compliance officers.
3. Allow small amounts of undersize plentiful traditional bait fish like NSW does.(IE poddy mullet)
4. Remove all commercial licences for traditional recreational species (including bycatch), eg Whiting, flathead, bream, snapper, tailor,
5. Allow salt water stocking (and provide funds to stocking groups)
6. Ban netting in any areas that hold stocking permits.
7. Make commercial fishing charters catch photo and release.
8. Remove max size limits on shark fishing.
9. Increase Possession limits for stocked fish in impoundments, maybe for salt stocked areas as well.
10. Allow tourists areas to self declare as no commercial fishing zones
11. Require farmed fish used for commercial fish food production to be minimum legal size and set up a new compliance role for checking fish in commercial suppliers etc for both breed truth and minimum size
12. Allow stocking of breeds out of native range, EG Barra south of Maryborough, Yella's and silvers on east coast (New permits they wont give them) Perhaps use of Eastern Cod in southern Qld dams as we cant get Mary Cod. Even Murray Cod outside the Mary system.

[Lucky Loz]

Not to happy about number 7 there old son. I pay good money to go fishing on a charter every year and love recouping some back with beautifull reef fillets. Recreational fisherman cannot go out anywhere near this far and the catch seems to be sustainable from my experience of 12 years. Also I think Some green areas are a good idea and have proven to increase fishing stocks already. Also from previous posts; I cannot see how cast netting for a bit of bait is doing too much harm. Just my opinions. Liked some of your ideas.

[Shawn 66]

1. Get rid of all green zones.
2. Employ another couple of dozen compliance officers.
3. Allow small amounts of undersize plentiful traditional bait fish like NSW does.(IE poddy mullet)
4. Remove all commercial licences for traditional recreational species (including bycatch), eg Whiting, flathead, bream, snapper, tailor,
5. Allow salt water stocking (and provide funds to stocking groups)
6. Ban netting in any areas that hold stocking permits.
7. Make commercial fishing charters catch photo and release.
8. Remove max size limits on shark fishing.
9. Increase Possession limits for stocked fish in impoundments, maybe for salt stocked areas as well.
10. Allow tourists areas to self declare as no commercial fishing zones
11. Require farmed fish used for commercial fish food production to be minimum legal size and set up a new compliance role for checking fish in commercial suppliers etc for both breed truth and minimum size
12. Allow stocking of breeds out of native range, EG Barra south of Maryborough, Yella's and silvers on east coast (New permits they wont give them) Perhaps use of Eastern Cod in southern Qld dams as we cant get Mary Cod. Even Murray Cod outside the Mary system.

WHY /
Shawn

[Shawn 66]

Ban catching fish during their spawning season where possible for at least 5 years . Import more prawns or farm them. Increase funds for re-stocking programs and agree with a lot more artificial reefs.

No , no ,no,no.
Shawn

[samson]

Commercial fishery is capped in numbers and quota so effort doesn't and won't increase but recs aren't, the only solution is to somehow cap the rec fishery don't know how but it's been growing so much that the fishery isn't coping and unfortunatlely it will get to the stage where recs will have a licence and a quota like Canada to take a small nominal amount of fish each year if the pressure isn't capped sooner or later.

[Qlder1]

Commercial fishery is capped in numbers and quota so effort doesn't and won't increase but recs aren't, the only solution is to somehow cap the rec fishery don't know how but it's been growing so much that the fishery isn't coping and unfortunatlely it will get to the stage where recs will have a licence and a quota like Canada to take a small nominal amount of fish each year if the pressure isn't capped sooner or later.

I guess this depends on where you are... Up here in CQ when I go out to the Fern area it is nothing to zig zag through 15-20 trawlers , then see maybe 1 or 2 rec boats out wide all day. Of course there are dozens of rec boats around the Keppels catching bugger all.. I would say that commercial effort in my region would be a huge amount more than rec...

Then I read about hundreds of recs boats down south lining up for Snapper season, that sort of thing just seems impossible here. Maybe any sort of quota needs to take into account regional pressures.

[samson]

The problem is definitely recs down south trawlers aren't effecting the line caught species generally around the gold coast and northern nsw you could count the pros on one hand and they are part time mostly but the recs are in abundence some days in their thousands and even if they aren't keeping much they are definitely throwing a lot of dead fish back which is stuffing the fishery it's getting to the point where if it was't for the seasonal pelagic fishery the recs have nearly decimated hundreds of kilometers of coast line and when the pelagics show you're jostling for a spot amongst the hundreds of rec boats and any given area that spread ten or so kilometers apart.

[Qlder1]

OK you mention rec bycatch stuffing the fishery....are you kidding 1 trawlers bycatch would be more in any given day than those 1000 rec fishers. If there is only a handfull of line fishing pros that are part timers as you say sounds like they are not the problem. Remember a major percentage of those rec fishers will catch next to nothing and most of their impact on a fishery would be bait used which was caught by pros and who made money out of it.

[danryan75]

To all those going on about rec bycatch have you ever been on a trawler fishing with bottom gear? This style of twawling produces an enormous amount of bycatch. I had the pleasure of stepping onto a moreton bay prawn trawler recently and saw them pull a shot in between mud and st helena. Now there is no question he did catch a majority of prawn, but, the bycatch was amazing. Hundreds of good size whiting, flathead, small nannigai, cod, threadys, jew, squid. All these bycatch fish were all dead after being towed around for 40 minutes and as his license is only for prawn he can only keep upto his rec bag limit of bycatch so most is just thrown overboard. (not wasted, we were being tailed by about 20 dolphins) if his licence allowed him to sell this bycatch would we not be able to remove a commercial whiting licencefrom another operator? and a commercial jew licence? it just seems to me that all these licences cater specifically to one species and all bycatch is to be thrown away?

[fisher28]

the trouble as far as i see it is when a recco fisher sees a trawler unload some diver whiting,everyone gets on the band wagon.how can we let this happen,ban trawlers,no wonder theres no fish left and on and on and on.so then after pressure we are not allowed to keep fish anymore.
we do our best not to catch them but it is impossable not to get some,and we have to throw it over the side dead.i think we should be able to keep some fish and sell them,but there will always be an operater or 2 that will abuse the rules
thats why id like cast nets banned,the average joe gets some bait or a feed of prawns,but there are always people who will abuse the rights.
the huge line ups at ramps for easter showed the amount of effort that the rec fishery can produce,and im sure some of the people would catch bugger all,but with the magazines and tv shows,modern electronics and fishing gear,id reckon it'd be getting harder to come home empty handed.

[wayno60]

It seems to be the consensus that buying out the pro netters is the go, and im not a big fan of them either but they must be filling a market somewhere and without them = no pillies, no squid and and no prawns that are probable the three most used baits.
A ban on cast nets = no poddy mullet, no herring and ol mate cant go get a feed of prawns for the family.
but there are always people who will abuse the rightsfisher28 what rights??

With an increase in size limits we have all seen the impact on the amount of jews caught. I think this is a good idea.


To all those going on about rec bycatch have you ever been on a trawler fishing with bottom gear? This style of twawling produces an enormous amount of bycatch. I had the pleasure of stepping onto a moreton bay prawn trawler recently and saw them pull a shot in between mud and st helena. Now there is no question he did catch a majority of prawn, but, the bycatch was amazing. Hundreds of good size whiting, flathead, small nannigai, cod, threadys, jew, squid. All these bycatch fish were all dead after being towed around for 40 minutes and as his license is only for prawn he can only keep upto his rec bag limit of bycatch so most is just thrown overboard. (not wasted, we were being tailed by about 20 dolphins) if his licence allowed him to sell this bycatch would we not be able to remove a commercial whiting licencefrom another operator? and a commercial jew licence? it just seems to me that all these licences cater specifically to one species and all bycatch is to be thrown away?

Tricky situation this one, keep letting them waste the by catch or let them sell it and do away with other licences......mmmmmmm but there are always people who will abuse the rights.

We must have more officers patroling, land based and on the water, get serious with the fines and educate the weekend worriors to bag and size limits.

Better lighting and facilities at boat ramps.

[johncar]

Trawlers and any form of commercial netting would be absolutely gone out of out creeks rivers and bays. Everyone knows or should know the masses of trawler bycatch has stuffed the fishery almost single handedly.
It would be illegal to sell wild prawns caught from any of these regions
Change the whole culture of commercial fishing away from plundering wild fish and prawns to sustainable farming by offering financial assistance in the way of loans to those who wish to take it up.

It's annoying and ridiculous to make an example of rec fishers getting out in mass on one day of the year like Easter Monday, Come on most of us haven't got out for months and you make out there is thousands of rec fishers out there every day, Just Crap!! Anyone I spoke to who got out that day caught bugger all because ther is bugger all out there any more..

And why should anyone have to be compensated? every other industry that becomes unviable for any reason just goes down the gurgler with no big fat payouts. If anything the trawling operators should be compensating us for all the damage they have done and continue to do.

So yeah that would be my first project and there would be a massive public awareness campaign to educate the public about the trawling industry and their impact on the fish and local environment. I would no doubt probably end up with a bullet in my head though for my efforts, hence probably the reason nobody will stand up and take it on.

[fisher28]

wayno,what i mean by abusing the rights is people like the the cast netters who use cast nets because they are legal,but keep above there allowable 1 bucket limit,i believe that is why we(the trawlers)are not allowed to keep a small amount of fish,because a minority of operators would abuse the limit and keep a larger number of fish them allowable.

johncar,the commercial guys have to try to create awareness about the rec effort because IT IS THERE,i realise that this is a rec forum and the commercial operaters will always be disliked but it is important for a few of us to get on here and voice our opinion.many have been and gone and i have come close to leaving myself,but keep coming back.

removing commercial fishing from rivers creeks and bays is simply a selfish act for you to feather your own nest,you want to catch more so everyone else get outta my way,i cannot believe how ignorant that is.

[finga]

I reckon I'd have a BBQ and invite a few people from each interest group around and have a bit of a chinwag whilst munching a snag, a prawn and whole snapper or a boiled lintel and soggy lettuce. We'd talk about the true state of affairs.
I'd ask what each group would like to achieve and then ask the other group as to how can we achieve their goals.
They've all done their research. They all know what's the go (apparently).
It's all about compromising. Not everyone is ever going to be happy so.....if I make everyone equally peeved when they leave then job's done. A nice balance has been reached.

And then I'd do my own personal research from the research vessel 'Junior'.

Too simplistic?? ::)

Oh yeah. The only way you'd be able to import prawns is if they're in a nice curry. If not then forget about it.

Cheers Bert.

[johncar]

wayno,what i mean by abusing the rights is people like the the cast netters who use cast nets because they are legal,but keep above there allowable 1 bucket limit,i believe that is why we(the trawlers)are not allowed to keep a small amount of fish,because a minority of operators would abuse the limit and keep a larger number of fish them allowable.

johncar,the commercial guys have to try to create awareness about the rec effort because IT IS THERE,i realise that this is a rec forum and the commercial operaters will always be disliked but it is important for a few of us to get on here and voice our opinion.many have been and gone and i have come close to leaving myself,but keep coming back.

removing commercial fishing from rivers creeks and bays is simply a selfish act for you to feather your own nest,you want to catch more so everyone else get outta my way,i cannot believe how ignorant that is.

Hey no I am far from ignorant, I have fished and lived in the Moreton Bay area for over 50 years and my father before me. I have seen it all, trust me and I am not trying to feather mine or anyones nest. I just want some fish left in the sea for their sakes plus everyone and the future.
Please don't misquote me fisher28, I was talking the highly destructive methods of Prawn trawling and some other forms of netting, not commercial fishing as a whole. Commercial fishers other than prawn trawler fishers should also be very concerned about it and doing more to get this stopped or severely limited as to where it can be done.
In my very short career 2 nights working on a trawler even my Skipper said he hated the unavoidable carnage in the bycatch and wished there were another way and that was over 20 years ago. Hundreds if not thousands of juvenile dead or dying fish of all types including many reef species each pull plus all the other sea life and bottom habitat trashed with boards and chains. Much more carnage down there you don't see as well. If I never fished another day in my life recreationally, I will still campaign to stop this every chance I get.
This type of carnage would never be allowed on land where everyone could see it and it has only survived this long because it is hidden below the waves and carried out by a very tight knit trawling community when most people sleep.

The rec effort is not a blip on the radar compared to the harm done by trawlers. All this propaganda from the commercial sector of thousands of rec boats going out day after day and coming home with huge hauls of fish is just plain rubbish. The truth is that most of us get out a handful of times a year due to so many restrictions with time and weather and if we catch a feed we are doing well. Meanwhile we put massive amounts of cash into the Australian economy just the same. On the other hand the trawlers are out there night after night killing tonnes and tonnes of everything.
Rec and some forms of commercial fishing are sustainable, humans have been doing it for thousands of years, it is only with the invention of deadlier and efficient ways of scouring everything out there over the last 100 years with huge boats and nets and thousands of them that the fish stocks are in deep shite everywhere around the planet.
I hope enough people wake up.

One trawler owner said to me once many years back the bycatch is just a pain in the arse, the sooner we get rid of it all (meaning kill it off) the better. I guess for him the prawns may always be there he doesn't really care much about the rest and in fact the prawn catch may increase without the fish so there may be something in that. I believe that the bycatch of juvenile fish is definitely less these days too not so much due to better methods as they try and tell us but there is just less of it to catch IMHO.
Anyway I just drive past the fresh local prawns outlets these days as much as I like a nice prawn for dinner, I will only buy farmed prawns which by the way are quite good too..
I have no problems with people making a living from fishing but I do have a problem with destructive and indescriminant methods and the lack of regulation not to mention the whole issue of exporting our local fish, what is left of them and prawns to other countries. The taking of wild local prawns and killing more fish from our struggling fishery and exporting it seems just stupid and sickening to me. If someone wants to do this, invest something, build a fish and prawn farm, grow it yourself and you can send it wherever you want.
Nobody owns our wild fish like some of our commercial operators think they do or have the right to destroy them.

So you asked the question and I am just telling you what I would do just for starters .
First off a public awareness campaign and expose on bycatch in trawler nets and seabed damage. Then a phasing out or at least a severe limitation on the operating areas of prawn trawlers and max catch rate per area. Breach of these restrictions would mean heavy fines and immediate cancellation of licence and impoundment of trawlers.
Wild caught seafood would only be sold to the local Australian market within a limited zone from where it was caught.
Create incentives for a sustainable and eco friendly local seafood industry and campign to change the culture we now have.
Review economies from both the Rec and Commercial fishing sectors, try and create balance and prioritise accordingly and invest where the income is actually coming from.
Can I dream on some more??

[fisher28]

i can only talk for my particular fishery,but it has some things in common with other local trawl fisheries.there is no hidden agenda to fish at night so everyone cant see you,that would just happen to be when the prawns are most active and more plentiful i think.lol.the electronics and net designs on boats 20 years ago would be way outdated now,allowing us to be more selective and more productive,we also use fish excluders and turtle/jellyfish excluders.we dont want to kill or sort the bycatch,so we try not to catch it.we have maximum tickler chain sizes as well.and the ticklers get dragged over a muddy bottom that often gets dredged so i doubt were adding much to the damage there.

we suffer limitations on our area by not being able to work over the weekend,and few of us bother to go out on public holidays because there is simply too much boating traffic.add to this rough weather,floods and rough bottom.my product does not go overseas for sale that i am aware of,some of it does get sent overseas to get processed and then returned for sale here in packets,how that is cheaper than processing here i dont know ,its not me.

neither myself or any fisher i have spoken to has any urge to go out and kill everything so we dont have to catch it anymore,that is out of this world,he might be related to the rec fisher that told me the jenny mud crabs taste the same as the bucks:o.i have not commercially fished for 10 weeks now,but i like you am passionate about something i believe in,so here we are.

i thought your post said removing trawlers and commercial fishing,my bad but i even read it a couple of times beforehand to make sure.mustve been seeing things.i also didnt ask a question.i added to the rec blip this morning,left from manly and headed to green,removed 2 nice morwong and a moses perch,i was one of about 8 boats but i didnt see any trawlers.

dream away,ill be having a power nap soon before work myself!!!!!

[woodchopper]

I'd try to reduce the green wash that is infecting this country.

[Feral]

9. Increase Possession limits for stocked fish in impoundments, maybe for salt stocked areas as well.
WHY /
Shawn
Why not? If it is a put and take fisheries, taking more fish wont cause any issues. Already have different size limits (max size for barra in Qld and Bass in NSW) and exemptions in closed seasons for stocked dams with no real issues.
Encourage more anglers away from wild stocks of fish.

[Lucky Loz]

Got to agree with joncarr 1000%. Prawn trawlers have decimated fishing NURSERIES,you know where the fish breed and growup. Any other story is bullshite! I love a prawn like the next bloke but I reckon we should only have them seasonally ,like stonefruit. Pay a bit more sure ! But when you commercially hunt anything Fish,Buffalo, Bison, Deer Beaver etc the end is always the same. Always!!! Read about the decimation of the Halibut and Cod offThe Grand Banks off Canada by the hugh Trawlers or the wild oyster beds in the southern state of U.S.A. Farming is the only sensible solution. These are Wild fish and noone has the right to decimate the populations. Yes fishing is in some peoples blood and they love doing it for a living , just as some people liked shooting Bison and white Rhinos. BUT, Comes a time when it is no longer Sustainable. And you have to get a new career. That time has already passed, I believe, and many others believe by what I read.

[samson]

Most of the areas in south east queensland and northern nsw that are over fished don't even get fished by trawlers they work a lot deeper and wider,so to blame them for these area's is a bit harsh so when you see hundreds of recs out in any weather daily flogging these areas to the point where commercial line guys can't compete vialbly in the same waters it doesn't take rocket science too conclude where the pressure is coming from,but always pro's are the easy scapegoat. It only takes a small percentage of recs fishing as commercials illegally to totally out fish the commercial line fleet in the south let alone the law abiding recs as was just seen by the guy with flathead fillets that just got busted. Just for an example on the tweed heads just say i'm out working and got 50 kg of fish the bare miniumum to cover costs and put a days pay in my pocket and on the average day there is around twenty rec boats in pelagic season all putting the same in there boat which they can and do at the end of the week I've taken 350kg but the recs have 7000kg yet the pro's get the blame this doesn't add up to me as the pro's being the problem and the figures get worse at reefs like palm beach when the spotties are on the recs take is obliteration compared to the pro's.

[death_ship]

gotta agree, the trawler bycatch is a major problem, have seen a kill of juvenile snapper stretching for about 15kms off the goldy, must have been thousands of snapper

[fisher28]

i dont catch halibut,wild oysters,buffalo or deer.dont go to the grand banks for cod.also stopped chasing beaver since i got married.i have paused chasing prawns for a while because im directly flood affected.you know in my opinion if the nurseries where decimated then noone would be catching anything,anything else i hear i take as crud.