Dumped Coral Trout

[Neale]

The informative article by Courier Mail journalist Michael Madigan ( page 16) about the dumping of one of Australians best fish, Coral Trout, in the Cairns dump highlights the growing problem of fisheries being put under intense pressure by export markets.



This issue is about Government policy and economic rationalism gone mad. We should not have to stand back while our best seafood is sold to the highest bidder and Australian consumers are forced to buy vastly inferior imports.



The Fishing Party looks forward to working with the commercial sector, when a Senator is elected, to see that fresh fish for everyone, includes everyone in Australia.



Thank you





Kevin Collins

Senate Candidate

The Fishing Party (Qld)

[nictim]

Hi Kevin
My son and I are still undersided with our senate vote. We agree with a lot of your policies in relation to fishing but we still have strong concerns with environmental matters living here at Currumbin it is always on our doorstep we just can’t hide under a rock
And all I seem to hear is greenie bashing a balance would be nice

Cheers Steve ( swinging voter )

[megafish71]

What a waste of resource, and if my understanding of the fishery act is correct, that pile of fish wont be counted in this commercial fishermans quoter, thus enabling him to catch this amount again before it counts on his quoter. This is not the first time this has happened and I bet it wont be the last. Its waste like this that has seen the bag limits reduced and now the new moon closures on the GBR. Why is it that Australia's fish needs to feed the rest of the world?

NOT IMPRESSED >:( >:( >:(

Ron

[Lucky_Phill]

The Fishing Party is calling for a 40% quota of Commercial harvest to remain in Australia, Apparently the Pro fishers are in agreeance ( is that a word ? ).

Australia has a very ' lienient' regulation in regard to Imported Fish, which is a far cry from the Stringent Rules applied to OUR exports. mmmmmm WHY ?

The ' live ' fish industry has blossomed over the last few years, and the commercial guys are saying that they have to diversify into this area to remain viable. Crap, there is always the option of taking the Moral Highground, and supplying the Australian market. OK< so you don't get $30kg and maybe get $12-15, but, jeez, wouldn't it make you sleep better at night, knowing that the best seafood in the world, that you are catching , is staying in the best country in the world, which in turn, creates, jobs, economic viability for the region and a controoled sustainable fishery ?

Just a thought !

Phill

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm just flabergasted that this can happen? :o

What .... couldn't even be made into fish meal, fertilizer, cat food or something of some use at least?

Anyone know why this happened and how often?
Looked for the article in the on line courier mail, but coudn't find it.

Well there is another big fat arrow in the quiver of anyone against fishing!

Cheers
Jeff
PS Phil, think its agreement and lenient. ;)
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/

[ssbayguide]

Disgraceful!

[gif]

Hi Kevin
My son and I are still undersided #with our senate vote. We agree with a lot of your policies in relation to fishing but we still have strong concerns with environmental matters living here at Currumbin it is always on our doorstep we just can’t hide under a rock
And all I seem to hear is greenie bashing a balance would be nice

Cheers Steve ( swinging voter )


Steve




KC will be at Southport Saturday at 1 30 at the Flathead classic. I will try to get him on a PC before that to answer you.

And I agree - thee is lots of greenie bashing, but I did look up the Policies: sustainable is a key word used. EG 3. It is the policy of TFP to ensure the protection, sustainability and sanctity of this nation’s fisheries through legal due processes against any exploitation, mismanagement or fraud

KC will fill you in better than I can

[The_Walrus]

The dumping is an absolute disgrase.

The person who did this should be fined and have his quota permanently reduced by the amount dumped.

The fine should be the commercial $$ value times 100.

Luc

[agnes_jack]

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Tony >:(

[ssbayguide]

I agree that there i simply no room for this wastage of the Resource. It puts all who use the water to shame.

The value of the resource is not simply measured in what can be exported.

[gif]

Hi Kevin
My son and I are still undersided #with our senate vote. We agree with a lot of your policies in relation to fishing but we still have strong concerns with environmental matters living here at Currumbin it is always on our doorstep we just can’t hide under a rock
And all I seem to hear is greenie bashing a balance would be nice

Cheers Steve ( swinging voter )


Hi Steve KC here using Gary's PC

As I have seen posted by Nulla....we care about the environment too but the greens have gone too far. Our policies are most ceratinly not anti environment....to the contraty and when \i am back home if you \PM me I will be happy to send you a copy. This debate has raged on and off for some time on Ausfish and elsewhere and unfortunately the word Greeny....has become an insult. In fact the original intent of the greens was totally honourable and worthy of support, it is just that they have gone overboard and seem to be far and away the most radical force in Australian politics and recreational fishing is one of the many targets in their collective sights.

Just as a snapshot, we support bag limits, we support some breeding seaon closures (best thing that ever happened to barra) We support max/min size limits, we support fish stocking, we support sustainable fishing and sustainable coastal development.

We don't support destructive fisheries practises, we don't support destructive mainland impacts on the fisheries and marine environment and we certainly DON'T SUPPORT the current direction of green politics. That is why they are last on our senate ticket and if you read the post here-abouts listing some of the green parties policies you will understand why.

Regards

KC

[maggot_drowner]

That photo makes you sick. >:(

But on the green-bashing front, yes some of the green party polcies seem a bit extreme, but i reckon you can have green views without supporting the party of the same name.

I think most fishos would be instinctively in favour of conservation measures that would let future generations enjoy the hobby, and I reckon that would include making some areas off limits and enforcing bag limits. :-X

The real enemy is overfishing and pollution, not a handful of misguided idealists running on the green platform

And yes, I hate it when I go fishing and have to pick up a load of bait packets and fishing line left behind by other fishos
:-/

ben

[CFisher]

Hey folks,

Firstly I whole-hearted agree, that photo is quite disturbing.

I would have liked the opportunity to read the penned article before putting my thoughts forward however I am only in port for a few hours, and then back to sea this evening.

Just quickly though, the quota system and reporting requirements implemented for the reef fishery by the QFS in July this year is particularly robust.

A vessel returning to port carrying reef fish must notify the QFS of the number of each species of reef fish on board and estimated (aggregate) weights 3 hours before the vessel ties up at the dock. This gives the QFS officers plenty of notice to attend the unloading of the fish at the dock. As soon as the weight of fish is determined, and this must be done at the dock on certified scales, these weights are immediately reported to the QFS quota system. As soon as that phone call takes place, that weight of fish is deducted from the quota assigned to that licence/vessel.

May I suggest a simple explanation for the dumping of these trout? Disease - unfortunately, an occasional problem when holding live animals. I would hazard a guess that the wholesalers who had purchased these trout either had a disease outbreak or had a significant problem with the water in their holding tanks. Result – a whole bunch of dead trout. In such a case it is more respectable to dump the dead fish rather than fillet them for attempted sale (fillet fetches around $20 per kilo for the wholesaler).

Either way, rest assured the weight of the trout dumped would have been deducted from somebody’s quota. Hope that made sense.

Cheers
Andy

[maggot_drowner]

Having read my previous post, can I just apologise for coming across like a whining, preaching pr*ck ;D

Chop me up and use me as bait if i do it again.

PS good post, Andy, good explanation

Ben

[dfox]

Just so everyone knows the STARTING price to purchase the mininium quota of coral trout, (800kg a year) is 50 000 dollars. At that price its hard to justify selling trout to the australian public for 11-12 dollars a kilo when live fish "can" reach close to 100 dollars a kilo. Do the figures 15 dollars dead or 8 times that? Still a bloody waste that!...foxy

[Daintreeboy]

I thought it was 24 hours? Ran into a mate on the reef Sunday and he said he had only just contacted the authorities so couldn't come in until today?

[Thunderbird]

Could this load of dumped trout be due to the fact that some live exporter lost power over the weekend and had to dump the rotten fish come Monday??
Terrible waste no matter what the circumstances!!

My morals are, if you don't eat what you catch, you should put it back!!

[megafish71]

If this waste was caused by a power supply problem, then why doesn't the government introduce regulations to stop this from happening. Things like back up power supply or back up filtration systems etc. Things like these have been introduced to other industries dealing with live or fresh produce. I believe that it is called Quality Assurance. If people want to profit from such a valuable resource, then they should do all than can to ensure that the produce doesn't go to waste.

Ron

[mudguard]

theres to many live trout boats to start with

[Glug]

Worst case would be if some one had dumped just to keep prices high. It happens in lots of industries but no good jumping up and down with out facts, some one must know why it happened. The media does not always tell the truth this could just be a space filler. Some times garbage is printed to fill up space on a page if no boby can find the facts this is possibly why.

[Glug]

Here is the only thing I found, if you want it you have to buy it
Fishermen angling for domestic quota
Courier Mail , 01-10-2004 , Ed: 1 - First with the news , Pg: 016 , 497 words , NEWS
QUEENSLAND fishermen want part of Australia's catch earmarked for domestic consumption to counter the growing appetite of export markets. The calls follow revelations that prime fish were dumped at a suburban rubbish tip after a live export operation...

[kc]

This article was/is an attack on Government fisheries management, not on the pros. It was released by TFPQ and printed by The Courier Mail with comment by the commercial sector so it was balanced.

The issues as we see them are.

too much of our seafood is exported.
Insufficent local seafood is directed to domestic consumption.
Government policy of export or perish and the costs now associated with buying live trout quota (tax) means the pros have no real economic option but to export, export, export.
This is not a problem just for trout..tried to buy abalone lately??
The dead/dumped trout are a symptom..not really the problem but it was such a powerful image it managed to gain the attention of the press and was raised (with me) on several talkback radio programs next day...all making the point that it was an attack, by The Fishing Party on government policy and fisheries management.

To the best of my knowledge.

The trout died overnight in a live trout holding tank and were deemed to be a unfit for filleting....our isssue really is...why are they all destined for live fish exports in the first bloody place.

Hope this clears this up to some degree.

KC

[Glug]

Thanks KC, why are they all exported; supply and demand every one including the government makes big money out of them because the Asian market wants to see live fish not frozen. It also keeps prices up in the domestic market which brings in more GST. Not being funny on this, it is capitalism pure and simple. exploit and profit.

[kc]

Economic rationalism at its best and most destructive!!

We know why, but just don't agree with it which is why we ae looking for a split quota, some for export and some for domestic.

The way we look at it the government don't own our fish, neither do the Japanese, the Chineses or the commercials fishers..they belong to "us" and I for 1 are sick to death of just about everything in the fish shop window being "imported & thawed for your convenience".

This issue has been run up the flag pole before and while the economic rationalists, even those on the Ausfish site preach that "protectionism" is wrong, I can say from the straw polls we have done aand feedback received the vast majority of people, both fishers and non fishers, agree with us.

Billfish is a classic example. If billfish were not exported the market would be virtually zero and as such the catch virtually zero

Regards

KC

[Glug]

This may seem a strange thing to say but both side of politics in Australia have neo-conservatives in their ranks, while these "profesional politicians" who are no different from a lot of "profesional students" run and advise the running of the the country nothing will improve. A level playing field and free trade only takes away from the goverment control of the economy, leaving it under the whims of international capitalism. The domestic economy gives control of economics to the countries government and acts as a buffer against international economic swings. This is why you are complaining the Australia's local economy has been destroyed so no one looks to its economic benifits any more but relies on international trade. so must rape resources to compete. The answer lies in rebuilding local economies which would have a strong effect on the issues you are looking at.