Here we go again, Snapper over fished......

[Axl]

Interesting reading from the Courier Mail this afternoon http://www.couriermail.com.au/questn...-1226663151672

[Just one of the Boys]

`Snapper ... was again classified as overfished," he said. ``Commercial and recreational catches of snapper remain low by historical standards "

I don't know about commercial catches, but certainly recreational catches are lower than historical standards. ?

My theory is... historically, there were no bag limits years ago so fishers were catching 20 or more Snapper in a session. Now, we have a 4 in possession bag limit, so if the records show average catch per angler in 1980 was 20 and in 2011/12 it was 4.... that to me, does NOT say the catch records are low.

We also have many more fishers catching Snapper, so we need to assess the tonnage / numbers caught by rec fishers now and then to get an idea of the " fishery " and if it is actually " over-fished ".

Historically how was the rec fisher take accounted for... guess work ? I do believe there were kreel surveys and phone surveys, but do these methods translate into real figures for data input and calculation ?

The commercial catch can be qualified with accurate ( mostly, except for the kgs going into the black market / cash sales ) figures, but again is the data collected as a numbers per fisher, over-all tonnage over a period ( year or more ) or quota compilant kgs.

I have spoken to few people with more than a passing interest in this and they tell me even very significant things like climate ( floods and drought ) were not used as tools or data when making assumptions about Snapper stocks. There are definate corrolations between drought and floods and seasonal catch rates. Also not taken into account is the population desities and habitat destruction.

Hope Minister McVeigh takes more interest in the fishery than he has in his first 15 months in the job. Been a poor response from him and his department in regard to anything to do with Recreational Fishing and also, I am lead to believe, the LNP have dismantled the Recreational Fishing Department ......... WTF !




.

[Moonlighter]

I also saw that they are thinking that sand crabs might be under pressure! WTF!!! The last 2 seasons the have been bumper sand crab catches. Seafood shops that I know have had them coming out of their ears! We were catching 10 in a pot overnight in summer, they were thick. For months. Still lots around too.

Crikey, sometimes there seems to be a huge disconnect with what lots of us see on the water and what the fisheries people are saying. It is just hard to fathom how this happens....... I wish they could explain it to me.

[timddo]

they are probably taking data from the lazy Joe blow who crabs at the wrong tide for 30minutes and complains, it's over crabbed.

[Mark Robinson MP]

I also saw that they are thinking that sand crabs might be under pressure! WTF!!! The last 2 seasons the have been bumper sand crab catches. Seafood shops that I know have had them coming out of their ears! We were catching 10 in a pot overnight in summer, they were thick. For months. Still lots around too.

Crikey, sometimes there seems to be a huge disconnect with what lots of us see on the water and what the fisheries people are saying. It is just hard to fathom how this happens....... I wish they could explain it to me.

Grant
I wouldn't take Brian William's (Courier Mail) seriously. He is practically owned by Green groups and anything he has ever written has been very biased against rec fishers. He quotes Simon Baltais, an extreme Greenie, and as usual attacks and misrepresents me as I am pro-rec fishing. He is the same guy who pushed the Wilderness Preservation Society's story against rec fishers - in which the WPS provided a photo of a platypus caught in a crab net. It turned out to be a fraud - WPS faked the photo - so there is no credibility there.
Mark

[Macks forever]

Grant
I wouldn't take Brian William's (Courier Mail) seriously. He is practically owned by Green groups and anything he has ever written has been very biased against rec fishers. He quotes Simon Baltais, an extreme Greenie, and as usual attacks and misrepresents me as I am pro-rec fishing. He is the same guy who pushed the Wilderness Preservation Society's story against rec fishers - in which the WPS provided a photo of a platypus caught in a crab net. It turned out to be a fraud - WPS faked the photo - so there is no credibility there.
Mark

Totally agree with Mark on this one.

Williams has always been a dark greenie joke as far as I am concerned. I will not credit him with the term journalist. Apparently he does have some tertiary qualifications but that gives nobody the right to present grossly biased and one-eyed opinions.

He also pretends to be a political journo at times - again peddling his deep green bias. Watch out for this come election time.

Wanna bet he does NOT live in a totally eco friendly house that uses no coal fired electricity, and rides a bike everywhere, and only eats green vegetables?

[Macks forever]

But maybe Mark can answer these questions:

1. Why can commercial fishers take unlimited snapper over 70 cm but rec fishers can only take one?

And

2. "While the recreational possession limit of snapper was reduced in late 2011, the long-lived nature of the species means it will take significant time before the effect of the management changes are realised,'' Mr McVeigh said.
I know McVeigh and yourself did not introduce these restrictions, but:
Do you believe it is right, fair, or has any basis in sustainable management, to allow one group to take unlimited amounts and at large size, while another sector suffers further cutbacks?