Rock hopping for crays

[Chopper Taylor]

went for a quick dive off Catherine Hill Bay to check a spot which regularly holds crays.

water was a cool 15 degrees, viz was still a bit stirred up from the big seas last week. Didn't take the guns with us.

there were a few crays in the crack, but they made a quick retreat out of reach.

We did manage to get our bag limit of abalone (2 each). so i'll have a nice feed of abs at least.

[bondy99]

went for a quick dive off Catherine Hill Bay to check a spot which regularly holds crays.

water was a cool 15 degrees, viz was still a bit stirred up from the big seas last week. Didn't take the guns with us.

there were a few crays in the crack, but they made a quick retreat out of reach.

We did manage to get our bag limit of abalone (2 each). so i'll have a nice feed of abs at least.

G'day Chopper Taylor
I'd thought Catherine Hill would hold some.

Abalone...hmmm, nice to know they are around. no thanks to our poachers there is now a 2 abs per person per day limit....aholes.

Has the restrictions on Abs been lifted? Last I heard the abs had some type of gut disease that was wiping out the wildstock....I don't know if that is true or scare mongering.

Peter

[Dutchie]

Gday Buddy

I understand that Catherine Hill bay makes up part of the no-take zone for Abalone. You should refer to the fisheries website which detailed all the exclusion area's for abalone and familiarise yourselves with the zones so as to avoid a potential penalty if caught.

As a point of reference, you should also refer to the USFA Spearfishing Handbook. This provides some fairly valuable knowledge. A hard copy can be picked up in most fishing or diving stores.

http://www.usfa.com.au/node/42

Mark

[Chopper Taylor]

G'day Chopper Taylor
I'd thought Catherine Hill would hold some.

Abalone...hmmm, nice to know they are around. no thanks to our poachers there is now a 2 abs per person per day limit....aholes.

Has the restrictions on Abs been lifted? Last I heard the abs had some type of gut disease that was wiping out the wildstock....I don't know if that is true or scare mongering.

Peter

I understand the ban is due to be lifted in November. But they'll probably extend it.

I dived dudley this morning for 2 crays each, saw heaps of plate sized abs there. Also saw them off the bogey hole in good numbers during teh week.

they are definately making a good comeback. where i got the abs the other day was loaded with small abs the size of a tea cup.

[bondy99]

good to hear, would be nice to get a couple of whoppers hey

[Chopper Taylor]

bondy, the abs i saw today were big. It is disappointing that greedy black market profiteers have forced fisheries hand into dropping the bag limit to 2. But when you slice them up nice and thin, 2 good size abs makes for a good feed. I only have it as an appertiser, and 2 abs in plenty for that purpose.

The crays i got this morning were only average, none more than 10mm over legal. Lot's of kittens about.

It is strange that the crays come in up Nelson Bay earlier than down here, and also are better size. I can only imagine the reef systems that they follow in from the shelf must run into the port stephens area more so than they do further south.

I'd be interested to talk to those in the know about their migration habits. It would surprise me if the undersize crays I see now have migrated in from the shelf. Judging by the barnacles and stuff growing on even the small crays, they have been around for a while, so perhaps they do.

[bondy99]

Chopper Taylor,

Yes it is a mongrel act by those greedy bastards. My limit in the past was 5, abs I normally had where 130mm, cooked up with vegies and brown rice as the base.

If you know what species of crays they are then that can be easily answered.

I know Nelson Bay very well, ususally find some around Fishermans Bay, there were kittens around and a few bigger ones...I have noticed one thing with crayfish....they are self surviving, the adults would willingly sacrifice a kitten to be taken than themselves...long story...all I seen were adults uder a ledge mixed in with sea urchins , put my hand in the grab one then all of a sudden there was a kitten...released it...adults are self preservationists.