By-Catch Reduction/ Trawling

[rando]

Kev
A terrrific job of research and way beyond my meagre capabilities. The conclusion you reach I fully agree . When all is said and done empirical studies are only ever initiated to prove/disprove common sence and anecdotal evidence.
Common sence says you cant take the food chain away and not cause changes.

Prawns and bycatch species combined ARE the building blocks of the bays biodiversity. That does not require a Rhodes scholar to understand.

Thanks for a great read and well done.
cheers
rando

[blaze]

Admire your efforts Kev, you always seemed to take an unbais approach to the research you carried out, not looking to lay blame, only to find answers.
Cheers
Blaze

[bidkev]

Thanks for the compliments fellers and I really did fully intend to follow this through with as much zeal as i could muster because I think that estuarine fishing is of major importance, moreso than other fisheries because of it's limited size and nursery grounds.

I'll finish with a copy of a response I made on another thread because I am so fired up with whatt myself, the wife and kids saw the other day, that no amount of researching will convince me that irrepairable damage is not being done

"

data is scant on bycatch species but that doesnt mean they are in danger of being overfished. Until i see some more work done on bycatch species (difficult due to high numbers, where to start) i am not willing to suggest that the species caught in the bycatch are unsustainable as i am not convinced that the area impacted by trawlers doesnt allow populations elsewhere to support the fishing mortality of populations of species in the trawl grounds.

the survival of non fish bycatch eg crustaceans, echinoderms, sea snakes etc would be pretty good i would imagine

Mate, my gripe is with the fishing of nursery grounds and small fisheries like the Pine and Logan that cannot be replenished by natural means via "return to spawn".

If we take the juveniles from the nurseries, then they don't mature to come back and begat more juveniles. If we have 3 trawlers, simultaneously working a small area such as the Pine (as they frequently do, day after day) then something has got to give.

As I said on my closing of the by-catch/trawling thread, I intended to remain impartial until such time as I had gathered enough data to reach a sound conclusion. This was getting more and more difficult due to one lot of data being based on previous data....based on previous data blah blah. The inital data from the previous years is highly suspect to say the least and current data seems to constantly refer back to previous (sus) data. Yes, more observers are now on the water and we are all becoming more conscious/aware of the issues that are of great concern, but that isn't good enough for me to sit on my bum and wait till some data with *real, sound*base is published.

Seeing is believing, and any fool who'd never looked at a piece of research in his bloody life wouldn't need a text book to convince him of the reality of the carnage that was the Pine the other day. Anyone who doubts as to the sustainability of small fisheries such as the Pine need only compare recreational catches from 10 yrs ago to todays or simply take a walk down to deepwater bend on any day that those "pros" are working............mate, it's bloody appalling.

kev

It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years that count.

[choppa]

well done on ya efforts kev,,,,(told ya i would be keepin an eye on ya),,, you have done a bloody admirable job mate

kev,, in hindsight i USE to travel from b/island to aspley, 6 days a week for 5 yrs,,, it was only just before xmas 2005 that i changed direction and now head north to caloundra,,,

passing over tha pine river bridge each and every morning is one of the reasons i stopped going there for a fish,,, we use to haunt deepwaterbend and also below the bridge off the bank,,,,,

trawlers going past each trip with a flotilla of birds chasing the wash for a feed
made me change and fish elsewhere,,,,,

i know what ya mean mate,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,choppa

[bidkev]

Just some clarification.

It is/was not my intention to advocate a total(unequitable) ban on trawling. The likely socio-economic impact on the pro fishers and their families is not something that I would wish to be involved in, or even at this stage, consider to be *totally* justified.

My gripe lies with the trawling of estuarine waters that I consider to be too small to sustain the constant impact that trawling inflicts in confined spaces. I advocate their removal *only* if there is an equitable buy back of their licence.

I base this decision not on the fact that I consider the DPI&F inadequate in their policies or policing. Nor do I think that the vast majority of pros are not concerned with working towards a sustainable fishery In fact, I consider the DPI&F to be doing all that they can with the funding/research available to them.

I base my decision to oppose trawling in estuarine waters on my own witnessing of certain events, as I have found the research on estuarine fisheries to be inconclusive/flawed.

Hope this clears things up.

kev

[i]Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.[/i