Support a spawning closure of snapper?

[bazzaman]

Im sure this would benefit snapper fishing within moreton bay!! What is everyones thoughts about this idea?

[Big_Kev]

I'm not so sure that would have any effect.
As there never seems to be ant shortage of juvenile squire, so to me this would mean they are breeding OK.
I think that the upsize recently to 35cm will allow even more of them to breed, as at about 30cm they reach sexual maturity.
Cheers Kev.

[Jeremy]

sorry Bazzaman,

couldn't suppport this idea. The bag limit of 5 and the minimum size of 35 cm which were introduced recently should have a significant effect on the snapper stocks. As Kev said, there always seem to be plenty of juveniles. Maybe if the bag and size limits were better policed, more would grow to maturity?

Jeremy

[agnes_jack]

Bazzaman
I am with jeremy and kev on that one. A bag of 5 and size of 35cm should be showing benefits in the near future and I dont believe that current stocks show enough signs of being in trouble to warrant it. We are about to have 3 nine day closures to reef fish imposed on us very soon, and that combined with green zones, reduced bag limits, size limits and gns closures and other protected zone proposals, is going to see a hell of a lot of protection from overfishing soon anyway. Also reduced pro liscenses, we have to stop somewhere. Unless some very serious scientific evidence is produced, a definate NO,NO!

Regards, Tony :( :(

[straddie]

Heya Bazzaman,

Need more information, why, during what months, and where?

Playing god with some species is a lot easier than others, I think snapper are probably the wrong type of fish for closures to be truly effective as against other measures.

[Duncs]

I agree with Tony,

The 35cm/ 5 bag limit hasnt had time to show effect yet. I think we need to see what happens over the next year or two.

I am more concerned about the effects of the removal of large snapper from the breeding population. I think a maximum size limit should be imposed. Having only small fish breeding (30-35cm) is not healthy for the population in the long term. It favours the fish that grow the slowest or are able to breed at the smallest possible size - natural selection for pygmys. I would rather be catching plenty of big fish that had to be released than a squillion 35cm fish.

[dasher]

I'd definately support a slot limit. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[agnes_jack]

Dasher and Duncs
I would prefer that to a closure, but would need to know more about what size they start to breed and what size they cease breeding.
Tony

[dasher]

Tony some have been reportedly mature at 20cm but the average is between 27 - 30. Personally I reckon if u have to cut them to fit into the oven there too big. hehe Get a bit tough and dry when they're too big. I wonder if they're like us and get too bloody old to do it. ??? Slot size would have to be based on scientific facts not hysteria, but I think there is great potential using slot limits for lots of fish (salt and fresh) Might try and catch ya on the fone today mate.

P.S. are u partial to the odd scotch ??? :P ;D

[agnes_jack]

Dasher
I might just come down to baffle and join ya for your holiday!
ice cold beer, scotch and some quality jack fishing!
mate what more could a bloke ask for? ??? ;D ;D ;D ;D

Tony

[agnes_jack]

Oh yeah
FRESH PRAWNS!

[JB]

Tough one that, not sure if closure is good idea. Have to see all stats first.

[Lucky_Phill]

Against the idea.

The 35 & 5 limits in place now, need to have time to show their worth.

There is lots of info on Snapper from Southern Fisheries, bit from memory, Snapper have had 2 breeding seasons by the 35cms length. Snapper produce around 3 million eggs each, Yes, each ! Would love to see a 50% maturity rate from those stats.

Closure to trawlling in Moreton Bay will increase the Snapper Fishery by several zillion. That's NOT an exageration >:(

Phill

[dasher]

A bit hard on the fishos in Moreton too. There are reports of spawning May to Sept. which is a long closure. But there is a peak, not sure when it is though. ???

[bazzaman]

Well i sought of disagree with you all,.....Why have barra had a closure of season?? Theres plenty of juvenile barra as well, but to even more substanciate the stocks they have a closed season on breeding! South east Queensland barra are snapper and you cant tell me that you can particulary target this species and come home with your bag limit(in moreton bay)! Ive fished in the bay before and caught the odd 8kg fish but most are throw backs! I do beleive stopping trawling in the bay will highly benefit this species but a closure from july through till sept would be even more beneficial for the species!! I beleive if this occured for ten years a snapper of four or five kilo would be easily caught in the bay! You have to realise this is one of the slowest growng fish in the ocean and a ten kilo species is beleived to be twenty years old!! Food for thought......I love snapper fishing and would hope theres enough stocks for the future in MORETON BAY not outside some 100kms to catch a legal snapper! The north queensland folk are always a step ahead of us in seq you only have to look at the fishing up there to ours down here...Its about time we opened our eyes and take notice of whats going on up there! In some parts of the teritory 1, thats right 1 barra per person per day is the bag limit! Now we are able to take 5 snapper and how many fisher folk are down here compared to the teritory prolly ten or twenty times the amount!.....I want a great fishery not an average one like we have now! Yes bag limits will increase numbers but how many more could we produce if we let all the snapper breed not just most of them!!

[Daintreeboy]

I'm all for a closure, they sound like they're breeding all over the place and we need to stop them ;D ;D ;D

[Daintreeboy]

On a more serious note....
The Barra gather to spawn in the salt reaches of the rivers and out along the beaches. This makes them an easy target, especially for gill netters. If a net were put out in the closed season, a pro would rape the population easily. It didn't take long for this to be seen so a closed season was introduced and it's a great idea. I'm not sure whether snapper congregate anywhere when they spawn or simply become more active.
Cheers, Mark.

[bazzaman]

Snapper seem to always congregate on inshore reefs while spawning this leaves them more volatile to netters and the rec fishermen!! Had some good points there daintree!

[snappa]

Giday

My two bobs worth.

Weather plays a great part in the preservation of the snappa and make sure QLD. Does not get TRAPS.
I may be a novice at 15 years catching snappa on the outside reefs such as deep tempest but the weather and the distant to get there limits a lot of fisherman and then we have to put up with the current that runs south at 4/5 knots which restricts the ability of most fishos and then you have the depth which takes its toll on some.

Plus

Certain months and the moon phase all have to correspond with the weather to have any chance to catch a snappa.

I have keep the records of a fishing club for some 10 years and I can ensure you that NO member ever reached the bag limit of 30 (then) and only a certain few ever got more than 10 snappa on any trip…..
In fact very RARE.
The fishing club concerned increased the size to 35 cm 3 years before it came legal.

Offshore fisherman got a raw deal with the present bag limits, I supported a reduced bag limit but 5 is f##** ridiculous
It’s getting late and I have to go to work but the size/bag limits should be sufficient to sustain the snappa for years to come and also the closure of some prime bleeding grounds of snappa for the grey nurse sharks

Cheers

[dasher]

Woops sorry I've missed something here. Thought we were only talking rec fishos. Netting is another thing altogether. O.K. firstly no closed season for rec fishos just a slot limit. As for netters I am unfamiliar with Moreton bay netters but I would assume snapper are a target. O.K. we close down snapper netting for 6 months - won't make a bees dick difference, cos they'll fish for something else and claim the snapper as by-catch.

[straddie]

Bazzaman, whether it is during the spawn or any other time of year if you close any fishery for 3 months it is going to help the numbers.

Slot limits and reduced bag limits at certain times would be a better propositon and still have a very simlar effect with little or no impact on the majority of fishermen.

[rainbear]

That closure does that stand for the pro's as well ? if not u know what should be your first plan of attack. Not the amateurs!!!!!!!

[bazzaman]

No it would definately be for the pros aswell as amatures!...good to see some good points being and raised and some almost pushing my opinion in the other direction!...Slot limits not too sure, what do you mean about that??

[agnes_jack]

Bazzaman
Slot limits meaning minimum and maximum size limits.
In some ways this could have a similar effect to a closure by allowing big breeding fish to keep reproducing, thereby increasing the population without having to close the fishery for periods of time. I am sure a species like snapper has already been studied enough to work out what size limits would have the best effect.

Regards, Tony

[Gazza]

Bazzaman , I ticked the "no strongly disagree".......

Mate ,as the other guys have mentioned ,they do spawn 1~3? times before the "new 35cms" regs recently announced for Rec/Pro , and a RECFISHO baglimit of 5.

so think about it , tonnage kept legally by Recfishos under 35cms

......is....... ZERO i.e. NIL.....

Now ponder this, NSW is 30cms. VIC is 27cms. , so it should be ILLEGAL to supply those LARGE markets FROM Q'ld waters ,shouldn't it ??

IF a slot-limit/MAX size is ever considered to cover Rec AND Pro. , of say 60cms. ??? during winter (line caught) , those fish (above 60cms ??? )ALSO shouldn't be available for southern markets either.

Further option is a Pro. TAC of 'X' #??? placed on the spawning season ,which is designed to limit the amount of 'spawners' allowed to be SOLD FOR PROFIT!! #>:(

Anyways ,i ticked "NO" ,and that's why # ;) #8) :D :D

Regards
Gazza

[bazzaman]

Im not really talking about us versus the pros......This would be a total closed season for everyone not just recs!! That would make a difference not only to snapper populations but other species also!.....I can totally see where everyone is coming from though! I understand!! ;D :D :D

[basserman]

i belive that there should be slot size limits for almost all fish!(both new south wales and qld) i'm sick of seeing at cleaning tables and in magasines VERY big flathead or very BIG snapper and heaps of other spices!
we should all try to let the big mummys go after all who wants a filthy muddy 80-90cm flattiy???
i would like to think my son can come fishing with me and out show me by catching a big snapper taking it's picture and releasing it again :D

[straddie]

Wish I had time to go into this a little more.

agnes_jack explained slots well. But even this can have weaknesses with a species like snapper because of the depth of water they are sometimes pulled from. Throwing back a tuckered out trophy fish for a shark to munch on doesn't help the species.

A just mature snapper produces about 250 000 eggs as against a large mature female that can produce upto 5 million eggs, (20 times the spawn) So giving more protection to bigger fish in theory can be more productive than small ones. (assumes equal numbers)

A sliding slot size limiting the take of large snapper eg 1 or 2 fish Xcm and above so people can still keep an O/S fish and whatever number of slot size fish.

The above done right could have a similar effect without closing the fishery down for 3 months and limiting the impact on fishermen.

Pro's should have their tonnage reduced to reflect a similar impact on them as rec's.

[basserman]

one thing i do think that all fisherys should be doing is running senimars or haveing booklet made that shows the right way to release fish and in perticular (not sure how it is in qld) how to deflate a fishes swim bladder i know there is no publication what so ever in nsw that shows how to do this and wasn't untill i asked a blokle in the know that i learnt i have been doing it wrong for some years and that the chances of the fish i was releasing surving were low :-[
but now i hope more of the fish i relese live longer and happier

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Basserman,
The march fishing world just arrived here and there is an article in the news section saying that a 4year $2.2million study is about to get under way in Qld studying handling and chances of survival of key tropical reef species. Article was written by a John Newberry. No mention of who is funding it, or what info is going to be provided to the public after the study is completed.
I'm surprised this info wasn't posted here by DPI or whomever is doing the study. I'm yet to check out their website to see if it is there.
But there was also the study by NSW fisheries posted recently, so sounds like they are finally getting on to it. Lets hope they pass on some useful info to Joe Public.
Cheers
Jeff

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Found it on DPI. Old news, sept last year.
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/news/NewsReleases/13599.html

[straddie]

Gorilla, if that is an honest study it will shock a lot of people if and when it's released. If salt water fish are anything like fresh and tropical fish, the handling they receive during catch during catch and release will have a very high mortality rate.

Any animal that takes damage to an organ or flesh is suseptable to disease, they might swim off fine, might even be ok for a couple days, till infection bites.

There are a lot people thinking if you catch and release 40 fish today there will be 40 there next week. I would think a mortality of 15 to 25% would be accurate with "normal" handling. eg large fish gaffed in mouth to be brought aboard and unhooked, smaller fish grabbed in the mouth with pliers or dry rag or hand to release.

Deep hooked fish and those caught on very light lines where they are totally exhausted would be even higher, maybe as high as 50%. My opinion, hopefully I am proved very wrong.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Straddie,
Yeah, I'll be very interested in the results.
Seems to be a lot of guesswork or assumptions surrounding the survival of released fish. Hopefully soon there will be some facts.
Cheers
Jeff

[Dan_H]

my 2 bobs worth.. slot limits would have to be good for any species. as would a closed breeding period... but really the damage that pros (and i include charter boat operaters here) and the trawlers that rip the guts out of the biodiversity of a system far outweigh the 5 fish per person amateurs are allowed... and Snappa, how many fish can you eat?! 5 snapper is a lot of dinners there...
regarding low mortality fish relaeasing - David Green wrote a great piece 2 years ago. some points i remember were thumb lifting of fish over 30cm will often lead to dislocated jaws and/or ripped gill structure, dry rags and hot boat bottoms damage the skin and protective slime (wet rags should be used) dropper weights (the WA invention) are generally better than puncturing the swim bladder (apparently it takes some practice and precision to get this right) .. after the early bass comps apparently there were dead fish floating a day or so after the events. the speculation at the time was damage from thumb lifting - don't know about recently ...

[agnes_jack]

Dan
I would have to agree that the dropper weights and perhaps some sort of fish handling courses would have to be the way to go. Any other method of release leads to problems with having to perform some sort of crude surgery that cannot be good for the fish. The other problem that needs to be dealt with is making fishermen want to release the fish safely. Many just dont give a dam about any fish they cant keep. These sort of people wouldnt want to waste the time it would take to carefully handle fish and attach dropper bombs etc. There is alot to deal with before there is any winning for the fish!

Regards, Tony

[bazzaman]

Yep i think slot limits are the go, however theres still no reason why a closed season ONCE a year wouldnt hurt! I agree with dan, how many fish do people wanna take at any one time...I think its more the cost to buy a boat the size that is required to get outside is more the issue! And also the costs of fuel to get out there and only catch five snapper....So what!!! vary your brainwaves and tackle some other species other than snapper....That would be more beneficial to the fisher folk as well...Being able to target not just one species!

The snapper is the most targeted fish in SEQ and i can understand people not wanting to give up on fishing for them in the prime time!! But think about the fishery if any of the above happened how good would OUR fishery be the WHOLE YEAR round not just a couple of months because weve caught the majority of the larger specimens!

Cheers Shane

P.s and all these snapper would prolly rid the over population of GRINNERS!! :o :o ;D ;D

[agnes_jack]

Bazzaman
Would it be that easy to not catch snapper, but still be able to fish rocky reef areas? Further north where the snapper start to thin out a bit it probably wouldnt be such a problem to fish for other species, but in more southern areas where snapper are more prevalent they would be a constant by catch of bottom fishermen no matter what other species you were fishing for, unless you only fished for pelagic species during the snapper closed season. This would be more of a problem on the smaller squire as to consistantly catch the larger ones requires more specific techniques. Then we are back to the problem of being able to have all these fish released safely and not just tossed overboard because "you cant keep them"
Just a thought ??? ??? :-/

[bazzaman]

The same thing occurs in north queensland with barra!!! They are always a by catch and yes i know they are caught in far more shallower water than snapper! But im sure therell always be fatality of snapper but be a hell of a alot less that wont be killed for the table! Fisher folk will learn to target other species which will require maybe a different technique! I throw back a million undersize fish and i still seem to catch a million more undersize fish....So im damn sure that the fatality rate wouldnt as high as everyone would think! ??? ??? ;)

[basserman]

bazzaman i think you would be very suprised at just how high the mortality rate is of the undersized snapper that just get there guts pircedto deflate and thrown back in
it is true that the cause of death is manily of infection
there is a spot just behind the gills where if your pirce the swim bladder with a hollow needle it will release the bulit up gases and also heal the puncture (only because your punchering through the actual fish tissue)
i will say again i was very suprised at how i had been doing it wrong and at how many fish are reported to die from because of the wrong technice

[bazzaman]

Basserman i can understand the technique used and have used it many of times! However not all fish require this, mainly offshore caught fish! Inshore snapper are caught in water less than 40metres and ive caught 8kg snapper in 20 odd metres. The technique ive never had to use in that depth of water! Snapper are going to be outfished in the bay within a few years if nothing is done and i still dont beleive small bag limits are the answer just a meer cover up of whats later to happen down the track! NO LEGAL FISH IN THE BAY!!.....I remember when i was between 10 and 12 years old catching nannygai :o :o :o in :o :o :owhitepatch in pumistone passage!! Thats not heard or even thought of these days catchin nannygai without going a 50kms offshore!!....I dont want the same happening to the snapper population!

Shane

[JB]

It is very true, there are lots of undersize squire in the bay, i'm not sure if this means the system is healthy or not but it would be nice if bigger ones did become more previlent.

[webby]

Where do you blokes come up with these ideas, we've just had the new coral reef fin fish reg's out, and everyone whinged about them, then the GNS area closures, and where still whinging about that.
The new inshore reg's drafts are still in the pipe line, and this will covers snapper so lets wait and see what happens with it.
The new reg's on snapper (35cm and 5) hasnt even been inforce for 12mths, christ give it time before anymore bright ideas are brought up.
There are shit loads of under size squire in the bay, and a great percentage of these move offshore when the time is right.
At least now with the 35cm you might just start getting some reasonable catches , whereas before 30cm and the same as for 25cm bream you needed a magnafying glass to fillet them.
Snapper stocks on the ground easts of moreton are still in healthy stocks.
The same applies to the bay, last season was one of the best recorded catches for many years.
A period closure on snapper, would only instigate a third world war. Lets just leave thing the way they are at present, and give nature time to heal it self.
Just have a look at the mackeral stocks this year, and its not even 6 months since the netting ban was enforced.
regards

[bazzaman]

Some good points raised there webby! And i dont doubt that the new 35cm limit will increase catch rates to the ones in the KNOW!! I believe that exactly what i said in the last words...fishos in the know will be the only ones able to catch a legal snapper where as your average joe blow will catch what theyre currently catching!! Nothing legal!.....I have a few mates that are your average joe blow and theyre forever tellin me theres nothing in the bay especially legal snapper!!.. And thats where my point has come from! I would love everyone to be able to go out and atleast have a chance of catchin a legal snapper!! I do think though we need to give the new regs a go and see how it goes and im hoping it ll pay dividends in the long run!! Fingers crossed for the snapper!! :D :D 8) 8)

[straddie]

Heya Webby,
Threads like this one are good because it gets people thinking. Alternatives are discussed, pulled apart, rethought and a few might even learn something they never knew or thought of along the way.

So when the government comes out and says we are going to do this you have 30days to respond, you already have an opinion on the subject and may be able to make more educated submissions for or against it.

Changes to fisheries regs will continue to come thick and fast as pressures mount, just look at the population estimates for SE QLD over coming years from migration. If only a small number of those are fisherman it will still equate to a lot more pressure on stocks.

Knowledge and being prepared give you a chance to change things if you don't agree with them. Once they are in law it takes a hell of a lot more effort to get things reversed or altered.

[jaybee]

straddie
have a few mates that are your average joe blow and theyre forever tellin me theres nothing in the bay especially legal snapper!!.. gee i am ya average joe blow, and i have been catching squire that average 42 cms in the Brisbane River. oh well
cheers
Joe

[dasher]

Straddie, your right on the money mate. ;D

[agnes_jack]

As straddie says
Top thread heaps of good points raised, I reckon we have all learned a bit here. My final opinion is the same as webbys lets give all the new regs, closures, gns protection zones, green zones Etc Etc a go first, And wait to see what the rocky reef species regs(which are tipped to be coming into play shortly) are all about before cutting our noses off!

Tony

[bazzaman]

And wheres that jaybee any hints as ill be down the brizzy today arvo!!... ::) ::) Any areas ud suggest?? :o :o Straddie you are right on the money ive also learnt alot through some the good points raised from everyone.....Each to their own everyones entitled to their opinion and at the end of the day im gunna voice my opinion and im gunna listen to what others have to say also!.....Thats the beauty of this site everyone seems to be relatively friendly and thats what makes things happen! Common sense at the end of the day will always prevail! 8) 8)

[bazzaman]

VOTE 1 BAZZAMAN FOR P.M!!!! ;D ;D ;D :o :o

[bugman]

Fellas,

Without giving too much away, my inshore Finfish mack meets again in March. As well as going thorugh the washup of the spottie decision we'll be moving on to the future of the snapper fishery.

I'll keep you posted.

Bugman

[SNAFU]

i am for anything to help the fish stocks recover from 200 years of over fishing.i also think the pro blokes have a lot to answer for in this day and age of research and statistics if they keep doing what they are doing. one can only wonder in amazement when you see 6+ traulers line up abreast of each other just of hybers light and start their sweep across bay and back time and time again or around bay islands doing same with flocks of gulls following feeding on BY CATCH until they cant fly anymore.what must be happening below surface would be truely outrageous. ban all netting in bay and areas like it and buy netters licenses out and help them with getting a more sustainable fishing liveleyhood. it is no different than being made REDUNDANT on land based professions and haveing to be retrained and reskilled to keep the dollars comming in.

[Daintreeboy]

Wish I had time to go into this a little more.

agnes_jack explained slots well. But even this can have weaknesses with a species like snapper because of the depth of water they are sometimes pulled from. Throwing back a tuckered out trophy fish for a shark to munch on doesn't help the species.

A just mature snapper produces about 250 000 eggs as against a large mature female that can produce upto 5 million eggs, (20 times the spawn) So giving more protection to bigger fish in theory can be more productive than small ones. (assumes equal numbers)

A sliding slot size limiting the take of large snapper eg 1 or 2 fish Xcm and above so people can still keep an O/S fish and whatever number of slot size fish.

The above done right could have a similar effect without closing the fishery down for 3 months and limiting the impact on fishermen.

Pro's should have their tonnage reduced to reflect a similar impact on them as rec's.

If these figures are true about the fecundity of the fish then I'm not so sure slot limits are a good thing. 20 times more is not that much when you take into account the attrition rates of these fish as they grow. Having a large snapper or two as part of your 5 limit in my opinion will provide the smaller ones a greater chance of breeding, and they have more years ahead of them to do it. It provides you with a decent meal, not having to worry whether you've killed the fish when releasing it, and there are obviously plenty more to take it's place.
I read somewhere else here that a snapper around legal can produce up to 3 million eggs per season, not sure if that's true either but if it is, that's plenty of breeding getting done with the numbers of small snapper I'm hearing about!
Hope this made sense.
Cheers, Mark.

[agnes_jack]

Good point Mark

Tony

[craigie]

Great to see plenty of healthy disscission on a species dear to my heart.
Did you know that across the Tasman in New Zealand they have a legal min size of just 27 cm for their Snapper. If you compare the NZ size against our Queensland Min size (& strict bag limit), the Qld State Government is acting in a very progressive manner to preserve this Icon species.
If we could only reduce the trawl bycatch of the juveniles, things would be heading in a more positive direction for the future.

Accept a few changes now, bite the bullet !!
Let's have Snapper for the future ( I want to catch a big one this year ;D)

Cheers
Craigie.

[Daintreeboy]

I just wish we caught them up here!!!!
I heard a story on pretty good authority that two big ones were caught (over 20 years ago now) and the guy didn't know what they were so threw them back as he thought they had cancer ::)
They were caught off Snapper Island ;D
Cheers, Mark.

[Brissyguy]

LMFAO Mark,

Probably the bump on the head scared him lol.
The snapper in NZ dont have the bump and the bigger ones look a little wierd without it.

I am gonna have to throw my weight (yep all of it) behind the case for giving the recent changes to the Rec fishing rules a chance to take effect.
The new bag limits seem fair without a need for a closed season.
The juvenile nursery in the bay seems also to point to this.
I take the point of releasing deep water fish and the mortality rate of these released fish, but most of our offshore fishos target the bigger fish with larger hooks and bait sizes etc therefore reducing the catch of small ones to some degree.
The smaller juvenile fish caught in the bay come from reasonably shallow water so dont get the fishy bends as a lot of deeper water fish do.
I agree we need to do something better when releasing the smaller ones and we use pliers on the hooks without lifting the fish out of the water.

Cheers,
Rich.

[Daintreeboy]

Here's what I do with our reef trip throwbacks. Lift them in and pin them against my stomach with a small forwards movement to flatten the spines against my stomach. This means the back is touching my shirt and I have hold of the fish in one hand by the underside. Very little slime is lost (the shirt is wet too) and I can get the hook out in no time flat. As long as you make sure you've flattened the spines against yourself, everything is good.
Cheers, Mark.

[rainbear]

Increase the size limits, enforce it and ban pro's from estuaries and you have fishing like the NT. The scary part is listening to pro's talk while on the piss and they think no-one can hear. There are too few decent pro's and too few inspectors to keep the pro's straight.
I know a pro in central qld, who if you tell him he can't legally do something he will go out of his way to do it. Everyone says one of these days he will get caught.I've known him ten years .He hasn't been caught yet. What's going to happen when they do catch him. He'll get a slap on the wrist and thats all.
He's the pro that I know, how many are there that others know about. One days by catch does more damage to fish stocks than I could do in 100 years. Thats not counting the damage those nets make to the bottom of the bay.
Don't sit back and say she'll be right mate, she won't.You can fish and still protect your enviriment.

[Gazza]

Fellas,

Without giving too much away, my inshore Finfish mack meets again in March. As well as going thorugh the washup of the spottie decision we'll be moving on to the future of the snapper fishery.

I'll keep you posted.

Bugman
Hi Bugman, maybe you can relate to less ring-netting #,more spotties ,when "you" #::) decide on snappa #::)

[smiley=2thumbsup.gif]
Regards
Gazza

Here's a non-tip for the honeymoon #;D :D :D :D

[agnes_jack]

Mark
A friend of mine used to do the hold the fish against the body thing until one slipped and latched on to his belly. Left a nice little round smiley! lol ;D

Regards, Tony

[Brissyguy]

Yeah Tony,

I had a decent flatty held against my stomach once,
He did a flip, the gill raker pierced the skin, then he did a 360 on me. :-/
I had to get someone to cut it out of me to release the fish.
Lotsa blood, damn sore gut so bugga it I ate him that day on the barbie lmfao... ;D
You only do silly things once lol...

Cheers,
Rich.