totally wild

[bigbrian47]

did anyone see this kid's show today apparently a bloke
being interviewed at a melbourne aquarium blamed
professional & recreational fishing NETS as being part of
the plight of the greynurse shark
cheers brian

[dasher]

Yeah, don't ya just hate it when ya keep getting Grey Nurses in your castnet. ??? ::) ;D

[kc]

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story....particularly if you are telling kids

KC

[NeMo84]

recreational fishing nets? thats the biggest load of bollocks i've heard in a while, castnet aside cos thats just ridiculous, if one "somehow" got caught in my dragnet i reckon itd swim to the back of the net, bust through and keep going, its amazing how someone who is supposed to be so educated can at the same time be so stupid or just a complete blow ass, id like to see him try to catch a grey nurse shark in a recreational fishing net, im talking about standard fishing nets, not custom made extra strength, super big nets which are or should be illegal, they dont count...

[Mick]

I think the bloke is right. Rec fishers and pro fishers have killed quite a few grey nurse sharks because of netting. Of course its not the case today, but once apon a time it was. Pro netters and rec netters did kill grey nurse sharks along with a number of other foul human practices, which makes them a "part" of the plight of the grey nurse shark. There's no two ways about it.

[straddie]

I found an easy way around that Dasher, 1 1/4 metre mesh to let all but the biggest buggers swim through. ;D Makes it a bit hard to get bait though.

I honestly think if anyone really wants to lay the blame at anyones feet for the decline in GNS then 3 names should bare the brunt. Ben Cropp, Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor.

Their actions with and publicity they gave to using powerheads on GNS was like running a chainsaw through a tree just short of it toppling, then the blame gets laid on the poor bugger that leaned on it some time later and caused it to fall.

I don't think the damage done by pros, recs and shark nets combined would even come close to the massive thrill kill they initiated.

One thing I will say is they are at least trying to help save them now and make up for past wrongs in "the good old days" when catching and killing everything and anything you could was the measure of a man. As against these days when he who owns the most toys wins. ::) and regardless of how you handle it so long as it gets back into the water it will live to fight another day ::)

[bigbrian47]

mick where did rec fishers net nurse sharks i have'nt heard
that before

[dasher]

I think the bloke is right. Rec fishers and pro fishers have killed quite a few grey nurse sharks because of netting. Of course its not the case today, but once apon a time it was. Pro netters and rec netters did kill grey nurse sharks along with a number of other foul human practices, which makes them a "part" of the plight of the grey nurse shark. There's no two ways about it.

Mick, with all due respect mate, I'm unaware of any legal rec netting that caught GNS. ??? ??? ???

[Mick]

mick where did rec fishers net nurse sharks i have'nt heard
that before

As i said, it's not the case today. Recreational fisherman used all types of nets in the middle part of the 20th centry. A range of home made nets were used and experimented with by inexperienced fisherman, some worked and others didn't. Unfortunately some of the nets that didn't work, were discarded or simply tore up and were left to sink to the bottom and roll around on the sea floor in currents and tides for decades. The government referrs to this as ghost netting. Most ghost nets are the handy work of our northern neighbours in Indonesia but some are from the hand of an australian.
I know the initial reasoning behind this thread was to emphisise that rec fisherman have been cruely misjudged as to be classified with pro fisherman in the same breath as netting and the decline of the grey nurse, and i agree. There were far more outragous fishing practises that caused the diminish of the grey nurse then a rec fishermans net, but it is ignorant to try and clear the rec fishermans name altogether.

Mick

PS (Just for the record) The Australian government has pledged a few million dollars into the research of ghost nets and the clean up of discarded netting in the Gulf.

[Dug]

Ben Cropp, Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor spawned a culture where REAL MEN killed dangerous sharks Vic Hislop was of the same mould.

[agnes_jack]

I'd like to see where and how a rec fisho can place a net that would be a danger to grey nurse sharks??????

Regards, Tony ;)

[basserman]

i think he means in the old old days tony
in the early 50's and before when anything was the go on the water and as said before when a man was seen as a big man after he shot a shark in the side with a power head >:(
thankfully those days are well and truly a thing of the past

[Mick]

Why does everyone find it so hard to believe that a rec fisho can design and engineer a net to capture and kill grey nurse sharks. My old neighbour has a home made net, similar to a beach shark net but only smaller (i didn't see the net unwound but i think he said it was about 150 meters long), still in his back shed, that him and his mates used from Moreton Bay to Ballina in the 50's. At the time he didn't know the error of his ways but him and his mates used to do it for a kick.
Now, beach nets have captured and killed 363 grey nurse sharks since they have been protected in the 50's. If a net of similar design was used 50-60 years ago in the same area, how many sharks do you think may have been captured and killed?

If someone wants to claim that NO recreational fisherman has EVER used a net to capture a grey nurse shark, you probably still believe in the tooth fairy.

[Mick]

Oh, yeah, I did basserman. I can probably eat some of my words now. Wasn't all power heads and pro netters....

[agnes_jack]

Anyone doing that sort of netting is not a rec fisherman,
A pro without a liscence would be a better description for someone netting commercialy, illegaly. Rec fishos, in my book anyway, stop being rec fisho's when they start commercial practices. I still don't believe that nets on the beach have very much at all to do with the demise of the grey nurse. The odd one may cruise the beaches but that is not thier hang out grounds. Sure a heap may get caught in beach nets, not enough to be a major contributer the demise of the species though.
Perhaps a better description would have been, pro netters and criminals.

Regards, Tony

[NeMo84]

certain clowns armed with drum lines may also have had played a big part too ;)

[Mick]

Anyone doing that sort of netting is not a rec fisherman,
A pro without a liscence would be a better description for someone netting commercialy, illegaly. Rec fishos, in my book anyway, stop being rec fisho's when they start commercial practices. I still don't believe that nets on the beach have very much at all to do with the demise of the grey nurse. The odd one may cruise the beaches but that is not thier hang out grounds. Sure a heap may get caught in beach nets, not enough to be a major contributer the demise of the species though.
Perhaps a better description would have been, pro netters and criminals.

Regards, Tony

You are dead right Tony, its not recreational fishing seen through the eyes of today (cos we more edumacated ;) ), but noone blinked an eye lid back then.

The Grey Nurse frequently visits beaches. The Grey Nurse habitat ranges from the surf zone to about 60 meters of water (has been recorded in 190 meters of water).

2 pregnant female grey nurse sharks were found dead in shark nets off sydney last year.