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View Full Version : Where is the logic in this



jaymart
03-06-2013, 07:35 PM
Their are 2 large dams with in an hours drive of Caboolture where I live, both have large populations of Tilapia in them and if you catch any, by law you are not allowed to eat them. but must instead dispose of them at the dam either by putting them in the rubbish bins supplied or by burying away from the water.
Yet today while walking pass a OLA convenience store in Caboolture on a blackboard out the front they had Tilapia advertised.
What I fail to see the logic in is how we have to dump perfectly good fresh healthy fish by law ,then you can go and buy the same thing from a convenience store which is who knows how old and from an unknown origin.

Cheers Martin

MudRiverDan
03-06-2013, 07:43 PM
Yeah the convenience store was probably imported ones from Thailand.
Personally as myself have eaten Yellas, cod, and eel tails, I rate them as a decent fresh water fish to eat.

I'm not sure why you cant eat them?
The Brisbane waterways are chokka with them, so its not as if they are going to "spread".

I agree its a strange law.

Dan

Luc
03-06-2013, 07:51 PM
Fisheries does not want to promote Tilapia in any way as to do so will encourage people to spread them more.

For those who think that promoting catching and eating them will control their numbers, research by fisheries has found that it simply is not so.
All that does is encourage the spreading of them.

MudRiverDan
03-06-2013, 08:02 PM
Fisheries does not want to promote Tilapia in any way as to do so will encourage people to spread them more.

For those who think that promoting catching and eating them will control their numbers, research by fisheries has found that it simply is not so.
All that does is encourage the spreading of them.

Yeah but all the waterways around Brisbane are full of them and they are full of them in the dams?
Fisheries need to realise that their waterways are chokka with Tilapia?

I bet the research never included eating them...

Dan

Feral
03-06-2013, 08:50 PM
Fisheries in NSW have seen some sense, but I'm afraid Qld is a long way off.
It is a waste, but the law is the law.

PS the caboolture weir is full of big ones as well.

jaymart
03-06-2013, 08:56 PM
Wouldn't allowing the the exact same fish to be imported and sold here be considered promoting it,
I bet the certain people that gather and fish off the bridge at the top end of the dam and who have a complete disrespect for size and bag limits of yellow belly and bass don't bury one tailapa.

Triple
03-06-2013, 10:24 PM
fixed..


Yet today while walking pass a OLA convenience store in Caboolture on a blackboard out the front they had Tilapia illegally advertised.
What I fail to see the logic in is how we have to dump perfectly good fresh healthy fish by law ,then you can go and buy the same thing from a convenience store which is who knows how old and from an unknown origin.

Cheers Martin


they are not allowed to.. They are not allowed to sell or import whole fish or fillets unless with a permit and selling to another permit holder.

Tilapia are only in 17 (and increasing) of qlds 76 waterways and a blanket ban seems the best way to minimize the threat of humans spreading them.


old post with logic -

Had a long chat with fisheries officer regarding tilapia today, lovely lady called Dani. Clarified that possession is "any part of the fish" whole fish/frame/eye/skin/fillets etc. You may only have a noxious species in possession awaiting disposal , example: Caught from a boat, knocked on the head and waiting to return to shore for burial or bin (she stated that if it is on ice in an esky it may have the officers asking more questions so it's better to chuck em in a bucket in the sun).

She agreed that they are here to stay as they are now in 17 of qld's 76 waterways (first found in the 1970's) and they know they cannot get rid of them (unless poisoning the whole waterway) but can only try to stop them spreading and due to their limited budget they are relying on public knowledge and awareness (and a bit of common sense). Blanket rule for NO possession is the only way to do this as once their is a price on them (ie:fillets, personal consumption or otherwise) people will place them in their own dams or local creeks and it will increase chance of spreading. Northern QLD has tried using bass/barra but it only slows the breeding cycle down."

Has been noted that fishing pressure will hardly even dent the population of established Tilapia affected areas.

rayken1938
04-06-2013, 07:29 AM
Imported fillets quite often on sale at Seafood house at Capalaba.
This is from June edition of CATCH the newsletter put out by fisheries.
Pest fish to be tracked by its DNA

One of North Queensland's most invasive species of pest fish may be tracked by its own DNA in a new collaborative project between researchers from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and James Cook University.

Tilapia, which are declared noxious in Queensland, are freshwater fish that inhabit shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Tilapia are a highly aggressive and invasive fish species originating from Africa, are becoming particularly prevalent in warm water habitats throughout North Queensland and are threatening to invade streams and rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria. This species has been shown to harass and prey on native aquatic fauna.

The eDNA as a Surveillance Tool for Tilapia project will help to track the species' movements. Environmental DNA, or eDNA, is the material that is floating around in the aquatic environment in the form of free-cells shed or excreted from aquatic organisms. For example, individual cells sloughed from the skins, faecal material or mucus.

DNA technology has become so powerful over recent years that it is now possible to use eDNA as a detection and water body monitoring tool for a number of fish species, including invasive species.

The project will see researchers collect two-litre water samples from bodies of water and filter it to concentrate cells. DNA will then be extracted and the sample tested against tilapia species-specific DNA probes which will indicate whether or not DNA from the target organism is present in the sample or not. If the test is positive, it shows that the target organism inhabits the water body.

The work will take place in a range of North Queensland eastern streams, as well as potential invasion sites in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Sampling and development of the test will occur over the next two years.

The use of eDNA as a surveillance tool for tilapia and other pest fish species will enable new outbreaks to be detected much earlier than by using traditional methods, and potentially at a stage where the populations are geographically contained and not well established. The DNA technology will reduce the requirements to use previous labour-intensive sampling approaches such as electrofishing or netting, which are relatively expensive and often ineffective at detecting fish with low abundance.

The project will eventually aim to develop a quick, effective DNA-based test that could be used to routinely monitor water bodies where tilapia were not currently present. This will allow for the rapid detection of new water bodies where tilapia have invaded, allowing a quick response that may help eradication efforts before the fish populations reached a level where eradication becomes impossible.

Cheers
Ray

kingcray
04-06-2013, 08:01 AM
fixed..

Tilapia are only in 17 (and increasing) of qlds 76 waterways and a blanket ban seems the best way to minimize the threat of humans spreading them.


Speaking of Tilapia , i took the kids to feed the ducks in the lagoon at redcliffe behind the main esplanade and there were some dead tilapia lying on the banks. If you look down into the water from the little bridge you can see them swimming in there and they are big. How the hell could they get in there with no real major lake or creek nearby other than the ocean?

Triple
04-06-2013, 08:09 AM
Every flood we have spreads them further and further. They can travel river mouths via the ocean.. And as they are mouth brooders it only takes a bird to drop one fish, or as stated humans spreading them for their own purpose..

Another old post -

I've been informed by the fisheries officer in charge of noxious species that they have been caught "in the bay".. probably dont see many out there due being lower down the food chain compared to the creeks!

"As tilapia can thrive in fresh, brackish and salt water, it is thought that infestation in one river can lead to infestation of neighbouring rivers by the fish swimming from the mouth of one to the other through the sea."

Triple
04-06-2013, 08:22 AM
The only thing that really stops them (besides mass poisoning) is they can't handle the cold and die off in colder areas during winter. (Apparently 17'c water temp is around the lowest the Mozambique can handle) But I am thinking some may of started breeding in a tolerance (or there re now a lot of hybrids) cause i have noticed spots where they died off a few winters ago but now the larger ones are surviving in water temps i thought would go below that.

Edit -
Other problem is they may not even be mozambiques and are another species and hybrids - http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?183217-On-a-mission/page2&highlight=Tilapia+colour

Triple
04-06-2013, 08:55 AM
This is from 2004 -
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1252349.htm
(We think they may now be in the upper reach of the burdekin)

From 2012 -
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2012/01/07/295991_news.html
(Tilapia along the length of the 732km burdekin)