By-Catch Reduction/ Trawling

[fisher28]

might i say that the recent kill as you call it was not the doing of a beam trawler from either the pine or the logan river,our t5 endorsment doesnt cover us to work there that would be poaching,the brd used in those photots was a fish eye,do you not believe me when i say that prawns and fish run in different depths?good on webby for sticking his head out,had he known that there would have been so many knockers maybe he wouldnt have,i dont know.

[bidkev]

might i say that the recent kill as you call it was not the doing of a beam trawler from either the pine or the logan river,our t5 endorsment doesnt cover us to work there that would be poaching,the brd used in those photots was a fish eye,do you not believe me when i say that prawns and fish run in different depths?good on webby for sticking his head out,had he known that there would have been so many knockers maybe he wouldnt have,i dont know.

I can't disbelieve you when I haven't seen you say that and I haven't for one moment intimated that that t5 licences were involved.

Yes, I know that praewns and fish run indiffering depths but that is a simplificaton. beam trawlers yield a higher percentage of by catch in inshore waters that than otter trawlers fishing in depths over 50 metres but that is not the issue here. The issue is simply is the best being done to reduce by-catch in beam trawling in estuarine waters, and if not, should there be legislation to impose the most effective method of by-catch reducation.

Based on the best of my current knowledge of the fish eye brd, I would have to assume that it was a day time trawl and also based on my current knowledge, the fish eye may be the most convenient brd for the fisher, but not neccessarily the most competent at reducing by-catch. I based my guess on the brd as being a sqyuare mesh cod-end on the limited by-catch. I must admit, at the time of viewing webby's pics that I was more interested in the sorting trays and didn't even look to see if the nets were illustrated as at that time, I wasn't as involved as I am now. My experiences/knowledge to date would indicate that the pics shown are not ruly representative of an average trawl with a birds eye un;ess exceptional circumstances other than the brd limited the by catch.

I am not going to get involved in lengthy discussions regarding particular circumstances but merely present facts as supplied by research in the public domain and anecdotal evidence produced both by pro fishers and the DPI&F.

Hope this clears up any misconceptions that you may have.

kev

[fisher28]

well based on my knowledge(13 years of beam trawling)i must say that i use the fish eye because it is the most effective brd in terms of fish released and prawns kept.prawns escape from these too.you gave no reference to the t5 fishery but i think that a major problem for both your argument and mine is that sometimes different fisheries get covered in the same post or reply.we dont use square mesh codends because we catch bait prawns,they would escape if we did,maybe we do catch them for the not so often fishers and younger fishers but wont they grow up into good responsable fishers like yourself?maybe were doing both of us a favour.and i thought that in a previous response it was mentioned that there was not a lot of data available for beam trawling?as we both agree,prawns and fish run in different depths so why would i want to stand at the tray all night throwing fish off and catching no prawns,a lot of work and waste for nothing.and mighht i add that there was no exceptional circumstances,if we catch fish like the majority of people here seem to think(not everyone thank heavens),why would i waste an afternoons diesel?i shoot straight.Q if i wanted to lye,why would i come on here and risk being caught?
A because i tell the truth.

[choppa]

if we catch fish like the majority of people here seem to think(not everyone thank heavens),why would i waste an afternoons diesel?i shoot straight.Q if i wanted to lye,why would i come on here and risk being caught?
A because i tell the truth.

fisher28,,,i dont think anyone would continually utilise a method that to them wasn't the most productive,,and i think (apologies if i'm wrong) kev isn't creating that picture either,,,,its simply what is the best or most effective way of reducing by catch,,,which as i see it would reduce wasted man hours on your behalf at the sorting table,,,,and reduce the uproar from the "uneducated" consensus,,,,whether a fish eye or cod end method is employed,,,,which works better and can it or they be improved to work more efficiently,,,,,,,and if they cant,,,,do we sit back and continually witness the waste that ""seems"" to come from such measures,,,,,

a person of your experience of 13 years in the industry can add some valuable input here,, and not just to a select few,,,and i feel that this is where some of the problem lies,,,,the general consensus really dont know what you guys get up to,,,as i posted earlier,,,we remember the ugly issues and forget about the good

judging by the responses in this and other posts,, not all share the same Q & A book on this topic,,and this is were i congratulate kev on getting up and finding out for himself by gaining first hand knowledge and reporting this back to us,,,,,,the UNEDUCATED,,,,

i for one will be sticking around more,,,,,and i think a hell of a lot of others will be watcing too

choppa,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Derek_Bullock]

Kev

I think you have started a really good topic here as I believe there are pros and cons on both sides.

Perhaps, to enhance your research and to give a better balance, one of our online pro fishers should offer you a few trips out in the different areas so that you can see first hand if what they say they are doing, they actually do and then report back to us.

What do you say pro fishers, anyone out there willing to take Kev out for a few days/nights purely for research purposes.

Regards.


Derek

[flipper]

Well done Kev and indeed those pros willing to reply. Your efforts are recognised! A little bit more education will hopefully go a long(er) way.
'Recreational versus Pros' .... this isn't the case. Heck, we're all on the same side. Sustainable harvesting from the oceans both for income, sport and a good feed. Keep the communication happening.

[bidkev]

OK, we'll start with a general description of the fishery



The River and Inshore (Beam) Trawl Fishery (RITF) is a relatively small yet important component of the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery (QECTF) harvesting 5% of QECTF’s total catch.

Trawling occurs in rivers and inshore waters of the Queensland east coast between the Townsville region (19[ch1048689]S) and Moreton Bay (27[ch1048689] 30’S) producing an average annual catch of approximately 400 tonnes of prawns and approximately 10 tonnes of by-product. The fishery is defined by the use of beam trawl gear within prescribed geographic boundaries. Boats used in the fishery in 2003 are set up as day boats. They vary between small (<6m) timber boats powered by small inboard engines with no winch capacity, to 9m vessels fitted with high speed diesel engines and hydraulic winches. Many of the boats in the fishery have been adapted from small (<7m) aluminium pleasure boats fitted with high speed outboards and electric winches. These vessels can be transported on conventional boat trailers, and moved from one fishing area to another quickly. The vessels are usually operated by one fisher who is generally the owner. The RITF is effectively confined to an estuarine and inshore operation involving vessels under the length of 9m. These vessels are entitled to work in specified areas, towing a single 5m headrope trawl made of mesh no smaller than 28mm in rivers and creeks, and, typically, a maximum combined net length of 10m, with mesh size no less than 38mm and no greater than 60mm is specified for use on inshore fishing grounds.

The fishery is managed by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries under the provisions of the Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Management Plan 1999 and its amendments (the Trawl Plan). There have been problems in the past of reporting catch and effort data in the RITF. This was due to fishers reporting in the mixed fishery logbook up until 1992 when they commenced reporting in the OT06 trawl logbook. When reporting catch in the mixed fishery logbooks, the fishers did not specify what equipment they were using and therefore it is now very difficult to interpret long-term catch trends for the RITF. Recent changes to management arrangements for the QECTF and consequently the RITF have significantly improved progress toward achieving ecological sustainability objectives of the fishery and have reduced impacts of trawling activity on the environment. Measures have been implemented by the Queensland Government to reduce the area fished.

The number of licences endorsed to fish in the River and Inshore (beam) Trawl Fishery (RITF) has been reduced from 222 in 1996 to 157 in 2003. Each licence is endorsed to fish in certain areas with specified gear through fishery symbols. The T5 fishery symbol (Moreton Bay area) has traditionally had the largest fisher participation while the T7 symbol had the smallest . Reductions in numbers of vessels generally occurred prior to the Plan being introduced with negligible
reductions since. The largest reduction in the number of fishery symbols issued occurred in 1997-1998 when 57 fishery symbols were removed from the RITF. Effort in the RITF is restricted through weekend and seasonal closures.

[bidkev]

This just in: The Fishing Party's Policy Draft


i.) It is the policy of The Fishing Party that inshore beam & otter trawling are the single most destructive and wasteful methods of commercial fishing and are not sustainable. The Fishing Party, recognising the current levels of investment and human resources involved in this industry will work towards a 10-year plan for the complete fazing out of inshore beam & otter trawling. There is no point in fisheries officers searching a few anglers boats for undersize fish when offshore trawlers are dumping countless thousands of juvenile fish as by-catch everyday.


ii.) The Fishing Party with due environmental consideration supports the use of aquaculture techniques to progress within the timeline of the wild trawl closures to meet domestic demand for this fishery.


http://www.thefishingparty.info/wst_page6.html

kev

Even in a pile of manure, a flower will grow.

[fisher28]

well there ya go.

[choppa]

what date has been set kev as the expected """fazing out""" period to mature?????????

chop

[bidkev]

No idea choppa. It is only a draft policy statement.

I think the sentence regarding fisheries officers is a bit ill-thought IMHO. It sounds antagonistic and it gives the impression (to me) that this particular policy has been drafted in a knee-jerk manner with the primary motivation being to eliminate by-catch and for the fisheries to focus on pro and not rec anglers. IMHO it should be based on maintaining a sustainable domestic fishery and adequate policing of both pro and rec fishing.

fisher 28. That policy isn't as ridiculous or as unfair as it seems. The UK trawler fleet was decimated on entry into the Common Market and many a pro fisher was eventually satisfied with that. It's a hard, hard life working those cold waters but it was all they knew or even had the opportunity to do. The Gov't not only bought their licences, their boats and gear, but also reckoned in the cost of potential earnings lost over a certain period. Within that period, the gov't re-trained those pros who wanted it, set up business opportunities for them. They also offered grants to other businesses who would set up shop in the now closed fishing ports in order to create more employment opportunities for the deckies. The vast majority were well satisfied with the deal.

kev

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

[fisher28]

if the govt will buy my licence,boat and gear all for a fair price then im all for it,if they want to accept that ive lost a lot of money due to the importation of prawns then great,ill have some of that too.as long as its all fair and not one sided,but in complete honesty i still dont think beam trawlers do as much damage as youse think,but hey,im in the brissie river so i dont really know bout pine and others but it shouldnt be much different.anyway good research,it can be really hard to find stuff on the puter when its meant to be so easy!!!!

[bidkev]

if the govt will buy my licence,boat and gear all for a fair price then im all for it,if they want to accept that ive lost a lot of money due to the importation of prawns then great,ill have some of that too.as long as its all fair and not one sided,but in complete honesty i still dont think beam trawlers do as much damage as youse think,but hey,im in the brissie river so i dont really know bout pine and others but it shouldnt be much different.anyway good research,it can be really hard to find stuff on the puter when its meant to be so easy!!!!

As I said mate, I wasn't going to go off half-cocked and start pointing the finger. It's not just a matter of by-catch and depleting stocks. There's other issues such as the stirring of the sediment to consider. I still mantain that run-off is the most important issue but despite legislation there seems to be little enforcement. They are building all around me and every wet there's heaps of crap going down the stormwater. They sand bag the drains outside the sites and the crap simply bypasses that drain and gets washed into one further down the street. Even the council itself is as much to blame as they never clean up after they mow the nature strips. They let the grass go to knee high before they cut it and it all ends up down the drain but that's another issue that is too broad in scope to cover here.

All I'm trying to do is paint a picture of the industry so that others can arrive at an informed decision as to whether more pressure is needed to further enhance what fisheries have achieved. I think some of the pros need to start seeing the fisheries as an ally more than the opposition. there's a lot of good research going on and implementation of policies that can only serve to protect all fisheries.

I have some figures for the Pine(1997) that I will publish later, and even I can see that it's doubtful that those figures bear any resemblance to (official) current figures that I haven't yet been able to obtain. If they are catching now as they say they did in '97, then someone's keeping quiet about it.

kev

A lack of leadership is no substitute for inaction.

[bidkev]

Principal target species of the RITF are penaeid prawns, consisting mainly of greasyback prawns (Metapenaeus bennettae), school prawns (M. macleayi) andbanana prawns (Penaeus merguiensis) (Robins & Courtney 1998). These three species make up around 90% of the total prawn catch (Reid & Campbell 1998) with the remaining being smaller catches of tiger and endeavour prawns. Otter trawlers working in deeper estuarine and offshore waters also take these species. Beam
trawlers typically, but not invariably, take juveniles, while otter trawlers are more likely to take adult prawns.

Based on 2002 catch data, total harvest for the RITF was approximately 410t; the estimated total prawn catch in 2002 was 400t (96% of the total harvest); squid and blue swimmer crabs each make up approximately 1% of the total catch; bugs, octopus and scallops make up a very minor part of the catch.

Annual reported landings from the fishery between 1988 and 2002 have varied between 247t and 541t. Effort in the RITF showed a steady increase from 4214 days in 1988 to 8479 days in 1998 before decreasing again between 1998 and 2002. These figures and other catch and effort data presented in this report are derived from logbook data collected by DPI&F from the CFISH database.

Target species taken in the RITF are short-lived, one-year life cycle penaeid prawns. The fishery is not managed to take a set proportion of the potential catch as estimates of potential average productivity may mean little in a year-to-year sense. However, it is managed to optimise sustainable productivity using a variety of input controls (e.g. effort reduction, gear modification and area closures). Due to the life cycle of the target species, the input controls and the small size of the fishery, the potential for localised stock depletion is low.

By-product species are those caught while fishing for target species that have some value to the commercial fisher and are retained for sale. Blue swimmer crabs, squid, bugs, scallops and octopus are by-product in the RITF. Various other vertebrates and invertebrates are taken as bycatch, however by law they cannot be retained and are returned to water

School Prawns (Metapenaeus macleayi)

School prawns are endemic to waters off the east coast of Australia. They are found in coastal regions from southeast Victoria up to the central Queensland coast (Walker 1975). Postlarval to juvenile school prawns inhabit estuaries. Adult school prawns can also be found in estuaries but are found predominantly in oceanic waters (Coles & Greenwood 1986). Juvenile school prawns prefer to live in seagrass areas within estuaries, although they are also present on bare substrates of fine to moderately coarse sand. Adult school prawns are most abundant in turbid marine waters arising from estuarine discharge after heavy rainfall or river floods. School prawns spawn between February and May in the sea off New South Wales and southern Queensland in waters of about 40-55 metres depth (Racek 1959 cited in Walker 1975). School prawns live for about 12-18 months. Research has shown that they may be migratory, moving along the coast in a northerly direction. Thelongest single recorded migration by these prawns is 120km (Walker 1975).

Greasyback Prawns (Metapenaeus bennettae)

Metapenaeus bennettae is commonly known as the greentail or greasyback prawn (Salini & Moore 1985). They are found on the east coast from northern Victoria to Cooktown in northern Queensland. Greasyback prawns spawn between late October and May in depths of about 14m (Salini & Moore 1985). This species is unusual in that its life cycle is spent almost entirely in estuaries or coastal lakes, whereas other penaeid species move offshore to spawn (Morris Bennett 1952 as cited in Walker 1975) but will migrate to the sea if possible (Walker 1975). This migration occurs during the summer months. Greasyback prawns reach a maximum size of approximately 25mm carapace length (CL). Juveniles have been found in salinities ranging from freshwater to that of the open sea (Walker 1975).

Banana Prawns (Penaeus merguiensis)
Banana prawns are found in the Indo-Pacific region between 67[ch1048689] E. and 166[ch1048689] E. longitude and from 25[ch1048689] N. to 29[ch1048689] S. latitude (Walker 1975) and occur in all Queensland inshore waters. Mating season occurs during autumn and spring with two generations per year in some locations (Dredge, M. DPI&F pers.comm. 2004). Banana prawns usually spawn in open waters, although are known to spawn in estuarine areas in the southern part of their Queensland distribution (e.g. Moreton Bay) (Dredge 1984). Over several weeks they develop through four larval stages, and gradually migrate toward the river estuaries (Munro 1975). These nursery areas provide the juvenile prawns a protected environment with an abundant food supply (Munro 1975). Adolescents and adults then migrate seaward to complete their life cycles.

Fishery Sectors

The RITF is effectively zoned into five distinct areas (see figure 1.1), each zone being associated with a distinct fishery symbol (T5 – T9). These symbols represent a licence endorsement that entitles the licensed fisher and vessel to harvest in the specified area. There are currently a total of 157 licensed beam trawlers in the Queensland RITF (as of November 2003), of which only one does not have endorsements entitling it to work in other fisheries indicating that RITF operators supplement their incomes through participation in other fisheries. The areas in which beam trawl fishers can harvest are further constrained by an extensive series of fishery closuresthat restrict any form of trawl operations in specified areas

The Trawl Plan
The objectives of the Trawl Plan are to:
*manage the fishery in a way that gives optimal, but sustainable, community benefit;
*ensure fisheries resources taken in the fishery are taken in an ecologically sustainable way;
*ensure the sustainability of the fishery’s ecological systems;
*provide for an economically viable, but ecologically sustainable, trawl fishery; and
*ensure fair access to fisheries resources taken in the fishery, on a sustainable basis, among the following groups and persons in the groups – commercial fishers; recreational fishers; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fishers and other users of the fisheries resources.

The Trawl Plan defines principal species that may be targeted and permitted species that may be taken by trawling and held in possession, and the possession and size limits of these species.
Major sustainability initiatives specific to the RITF supported by the Trawl Plan
include:
*llimits on fishing gear and maximum engine power of fishing vessels;
*capping and reducing fishing effort;
*a complex array of closures to protect habitats and/or juvenile target species;
*mandatory use of bycatch reduction and turtle exclusion devices on all nets;
*introduction of bycatch and by-product recording in logbooks;
*spatially defined fishery areas for each of the 5 beam trawl fishery symbols;
*a reduction in the number of boats under each beam trawling symbol
*a 10% reduction in total fishing effort;
*possession limits on several by-product species; and
*provisions for licence suspension for serious fisheries offences.

The Plan is available on the internet at:
www.legislation.qld.gov.au

[bidkev]

Fishing Method

Beam trawling is a fishing technique widely used around the world both in artisinal and significant industrial fisheries. A beam trawl is different from the more prevalent otter trawl in that the mouth of the net is held open by a rigid frame or beam rather than by the action of the water shearing forces against otter boards as in otter trawls (Reid & Campbell 1998). The net, attached to the beam, is lowered over the stern of the vessel, with the main towing wire or warp paid out as the vessel moves off. The configuration of the net (skid height and point of attachment of the warp to the beam) can be modified to suit particular bottom types or target species In the RITF beam trawls use a single 5m headrope trawl made of mesh no smaller than 28mm in rivers and creeks, and, typically, a maximum combined net length of 10m, with mesh size no less than 38mm and no greater than 60mm is specified for use on inshore fishing grounds. This method is generally used to target greasyback, school and banana prawns. The method has been widely used in Queensland
waters, particularly in the river systems of Moreton Bay (QFMA 1996).