Abag limit is a bag limit ,it all depends on what you wont out of a trip up there ,more and more of us go for the photos and the fun in volved not to just fill the frizer like many years ago,the 20kg is now the last thing on my list to get out of a trip north ,but we all like a good feed of fish

jeff

Yes there not breaking the rules they are taking what they are aloud. I think for some its just to big note themsevles Look at me look at all our fish ,now who wants it.It is about time they halved the limits to ten kg per person.im with deepwater for me its the trip away, and a picture is as good as a fish.There was more busted at the ramp the other day some with dhuies 300mm ,you are not going to educate these people they are all for themselves and f&^$#$^ the rest of you .

People catch fish and have this urge to throw it in the bucket and take it home as a trophy and then perhaps toss it in the freezer for god knows how long. I'll bring home what I feel I can consume fresh or share with my workers. The rest go back in the water after a photo shot if the fish is worth it. Fair enough, demersals keep well and are pretty expensive to catch so nothing wrong with going to quota there.

IMO the bag limits are OK. It's just the people who are the problem at times.

some people think its too high, others think its too low. You wont please everybody.

But as the rules stand, they are entitled to catch and keep (within size and daily bag limits) a quota of 20kg of fish fillets.

But to put it into perspective, you can catch one decent spanish mack and have 10kg+ of fillets from just that one fish.

as far as i am concerned they have done nothing wrong. yes its a lot of fish but how long will it last a family that eats fish on a regular basis and only go away for a trip 1 time a year..... we do tend to bring a fair bit of fish home from our once a year trip that then lasts for a while after we share with my family that dont have the oppertunity to get away let alone catch this type of fish that others take for granted....... 20kg of fillets sounds like a lot but when you break it down to a family of 4 might eat 1 kg of fish p/meal twice a week , that gives you 10 weeks of food......... if you treat your fish right from the start it will last a long time so there is no wastage

BAG LIMIT IS FINE MATE any smaller n it aint worth the trip

Maybe that's the whole point. Someone who calls themselves DuBoi is unlilkely to agree with smaller limits.

But I think 20kg is fine.

I grew up when there was no limit so have seen the old time freezer fillers at work. 200kg per person was not uncommon....When they brought in the 20kg limit everyone was up in arms complaining that the trip just wasnt worth it any more. I though is was a reasonable limit then and I still do today. I allows you to bring home enough fish for the average family to enjoy for 3 to 6 months.

Im not a freezer filler generally and enjoyed many trips to the quobba coast only keeping one fish a day for dinner and a few on the last day to bring home. I now however fish offshore on my trips North more and will bring home my allowance of tasty red demersals. Everything else gets let go.

I tend to think, similar to many above, that it is very hard to call.

I personally have gone with one or two friends and taken my 20kg of fillets each, when doing it I didnt see the problem, as said before you only need a few decent fish and your limit is done.

However I think family groups going, for example a family of 5, thats 100kg of fillets. Put simply this quantity of fish will most likely be either 1) given away or 2) not all consumed (wastage). I dont think it is ethically correct to do this,the question is how to effectivley stop it though...maybe a vehicle limit similar to boat limits?

I dont think the answer is cutting our individual limits to 10kg, we have all caught fish bigger then 10kg....Honestly though, a lot of the time changing the rules isnt going to fix the problem it is the people that dont care that do the damage to our fish stocks.

Dayly I see photos of hauls that make me think, do they really need all of that?

Just my honest opinion

wadray total think thats right. i had my boat with 4 ppl i could have gone out an caught 4 bag limits cause we have to have boat limit. why haven't they go car limits or group limits. If i was to go with bag limit each in boat i would have cleaned anyone outta the rocks in 2 days but i didn't. thankis for insite on how ppl feel about it.

Pretty sure it won't be long before its 10kg per person.

things will change as the presure increases........

simple law with ever expanding populations and associated presures.......

the individual holds the power.....

I reckon the bag limits are good as they are, as huggyb said a decent mack is 10kg on its own in fillets.

The other thing to consider guys espeacially when refering to STEEP Point, and mackies, is that mackrel get really big really quick ( a 10kg mack is ~3yrs old). Given that 20kg limit per person or 200kg of fillets consists of mainly mackrel then in my opinion its not a problem as there a big fish for one, and theres a fair few about (thats negotiable i no, but fact is a shitload of mackrel get caught there every year).

I talked to a retired pro mackrel fisherman, whilst camping up north and they would be getting up to 500kg a day in fillets, (with a lower average). Now days not as much. so if 250kg(probly less over the year) of mackrel fillets is being caught every week on average at a popular spot like steep point, thats up to half of what one pro boat will catch per day. (obviuosly this is just figures im throwing around but im just putting it into perspective)

My opinion is keep the rec limit the same and start restricting the pro's more. I think rec's collectivly do a lot more damage then professionals when it comes to inshore waters (less then 20mile out) and species like dhu,snap, cods etc.(fairly well restricted already). Having said that mackrel are a pelagic species that travel the coast so if u kill a population in one place your destroying stocks thousands of kiliometers away.

I'm all for tightening the bag limit etc- but if there is a reduction in the quantity that people can keep it will discourage them from keeping the 'wings' of the larger quality fish (dhuie, pinkie, cod, baldies etc), this can be some of the tastiest flesh on a decent fish- yet evryone will throw it away!!!

Fishing localy in rockingham i usally only keep a couple of fish to eat. When i head north on my annual trip i like to keep a few more fillets for the freezer. Saying that i have never kept 20 kilos of fish. I usally keep around 10kg, and that is enough fish for my family of four for a good 6 months.
I dont think that 20kg is to high because like others have said you could get 10 kilo of one good fish. JMO