Bottom Trawling Rottnest
Hi all , been a long time for me on here but you can all relax , I'm back 
So , my first question for this return is , "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH FISHERIES ALLOWING DESTRUCTIVE TRAWLING OF THE BOTTOM FOR SCALLOPS OVE NEAR ROTTNEST ? "
Havent we learned anything from our past ?
Remember , these boats drag very heavy chains and boards over the bottom , it is probably the most destructive form of commercial fishing there is and fisheries have decided that it is ok to do off the metro coast agin . those with long memories will remember trawling was banned around the metro years ago because among other reasons it is just to destructive .
I wonder how MG Kailis , the company that is doing the trawling , was able to convince fisheries that they should be allowed to do this ?
TBH , I'm gobsmacked that there has been no outrage from rec anglers or environmental groups on this .
Come on fishers get active , trawling chains over our seabed , especially metro is NOT ok .
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Have you got a link for
Have you got a link for information of what’s apparently going on ?
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
https://www.facebook.com/ama
www.facebook.com/amanda.daley.92/videos/1268378043261470/
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Not working for me Sorry,
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Nah , cant get a facebook
Nah , cant get a facebook link to work .
Trust me its happening right now . The Scallops are being exported live , not for the local market.
reece
Posts: 522
Date Joined: 10/07/08
Mg kailis is now 100% owned
Mg kailis is now 100% owned by the Japanese! They sold up a year or so ago for $30m fleet, license, quota, restaurants ect.
Trawling was never 100% banned in the metro area they just cut the license. One small boat has been trawling rotto scallops every year for the last 6/7 years.
I'm not saying I'm in favour of it. Geograph bay has only just started to properly recover from scallop trawling 15 years ago but they had a free run on the place! No zones no regs on tickle chains ect. but now it's a pretty heverly regulated fishery in regards to zones you can fish, quota ect they can't keep any fish or bycatch only scallops!
Every time we bought a fish trawler to freo for a re fit once we were done we could have a test shot off city beach to make sure everything worked properly before steaming 6/7 days back up the coast. Every time we did we had fisheries on board and couldn't tie the cod end so any thing Thad did go in would get spat out the back. When I asked the fisheries bloke he told me we were on the scallop beds so it was fine to do so cause sum boats still work it
Any one free to help me pull my drum lines tomorrow?
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
MG Kailis was sold last
MG Kailis was sold to Legend holdings last year;
https://thewest.com.au/business/finance/legend-seafood-deal-for-kailis-bros-ng-ya-102627
Legend Holdings is a Chinese State Owned Enterprise.
A communist party private company.
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Reece that sea trial area
Reece that sea trial area you speak of is just offshore city beach .
Where they are trawling now is in the 40s north sdie of Rotto .
The only boat doing scallops at rotto in recent times is MGK doing feasability work on live export .
It matters not who owns the company , Scallop dredging in the metro is not good enough imho .
Look at the way the beach fishing in Comet bay is recovering now that there are no trawlers working there .
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
I agree that it's bullshit
However it may very well matter who owns MG Kailis.
Anyone who does business in the part of the world the new owners of this company come from might understand why.
A) MG Kailis gets sold to the Chinese Government last year & soon after resumes a highly damaging and unpopular method of fishing
B) The Chinese government is becoming increasingly active in this country in the corridors of power to get the outcomes that it wants, with our national security agencies warning strongly about the influence Chinese money is having on Australian political decisions.
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-05/asio-china-spy-raid/8589094?pfmredir=sm
Does A + B = Corrup....
I don't know enough about the rules the industry operates under but is it possible that there is something more fishy than just scollaps at work here?
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
I hear you MT , but i'm more
I hear you MT , but i'm more interested in the damage being done to the seabed locally than I am in Chinese influence in Aus pollitics , maybe another thread to cover that if you like ?
I find it odd that if someone catches and releases a tiger shark off a local beach there is much media coverage and social media outrage from the green fringe , but when something as damaging as scallop dredging is OK'd by our government there is barely a whimper .
uncle
Posts: 9504
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Agreed
Swoffer
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
It seems you guys are not
It seems you guys are not exactly picking up on what I'm putting down here so I'll lay it all out a bit more explicitly..
That boat, the trawler (or trawlers) that are currently shredding the sea floor out by rotto are now owned by the Chinese government.
If it helps you to process that concept better think of them having Chinese flags on them or something as the go about doing what they're doing.
Now the product they are catching is being exported out of WA and sold directly into live markets in China. Most likely in the high end restaurant trade.
The profits for the activity less the costs (Labor, fuel etc..) are also likely flowing directly back to China.
Now why would a government made up of Australian citizens agree to allow the destruction of our prized seabed so that the Chinese government may come here catch our natural resources and sell them to its own citizens leaving us with the resulting destruction?
That's the critical question here.
Take some time to think about that.
The decision to allow this was quite possibly made at the political level if licences were not in operation prior, and as I said above not knowing the details of the industry I have no idea if they were or not.
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Again MT , I'll lay it out a
Again MT , I'll lay it out a bit more explicitly for you .
I dont care where they are going or what they are doing with them when they get there , it doent matter if they are going to China , Japan or Mukinbudin . My concern and the reason for this thread is the lack of local noise about the destruction . This may well be because folks just dont know about it , hense my raising it here .
On a side not the link you posted MT is in regard to a story about the sale of Kailis brothers , this was/is a completely different company to MG Kailis , but thats by the by , the destruction is on going despite who owns what .
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
Think you may find that MT's
Think you may find that MT's response is relevant to the "lack of local noise about the destruction" if you take the time to think about it.
Not sure why you would write the above when someone is just trying to add weight to your argument !
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
From the first paragraph of
From the first paragraph of the article;
'The family-owned Kailis Bros has sold 90 per cent of its seafood processing, wholesale and export business to a Chinese conglomerate best known for owning the world’s biggest personal computer maker, Lenovo, and the Motorola mobile business.'
Now the catching may still be done by an aussie kailis owned boat ,the answer to that I don't know. Although it would seem improbable given the price tag for the sale of the business. But the processing and export is absolutely now being to done by the Chinese to service Chinese buyers in China.
It's the demand from the buyers in China that is driving this.
Follow the money my friend, it's the path most likely to lead back to the answers.
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
Personally I'd prefer that
Personally I'd prefer that the activity just cease completely immediately rather than just hearing the noise of a whole bunch of people getting an emotional release by screaming aimlessly into the wind.
Or worse, just ranting on the internet's via Facebook.
Hence I'm trying to dicipher the factors influencing the issue.
I'm pretty sure your first preference would be to have it solved also no?
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Yes fair enough , the problem
Yes fair enough , the problem is there is no facebook outrage , ranting or any other discussion about it except for here .
Hopefully a few wiill get on board now .
I to think it should stop immediatly but if its not even being talked about then its no chance .
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
A suggestion might be to
A suggestion might be to first find out whether the boat doing the trawling is in fact owned by the remaining Oz based Kailis family co or the Chinese conglomerate if you think the Kailis family still have a hand in the fishing part (It's my understanding that they only kept the retail and restaurant business).
If it's the latter doing the trawling then it won't be too hard to whip up some outrage from the masses I'd imagine.
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
MG Kailis and Kailis Bros
MG Kailis and Kailis Bros are totaly seperate entities , long lost cousins but seperate none he less .
Anyway , it seems not to matter MT as its just you and I that are talking about it .
Maybe metro trawling is ok
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
unc
beat me to it.
would maybe be best to find out the facts and get a response from ....fisheries/minister etc
uncle
Posts: 9504
Date Joined: 10/02/07
I agree it should be stopped ASAP
and I think you both want the same thing,where to next
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
A quick search finds MG
A quick search finds MG Kailis (who are doing the scallops) are a locally owned company still , owned by the MG Kailis group and headed by Alex Kailis .
bsir
Posts: 574
Date Joined: 24/04/11
Regardless
Regardless of who owns it, its shithouse to be doing it here, or really anywhere else for that matter.....but then i think that about all commercial fishing so generally stay out of these topics asi am definetely biased.
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Being biased is OK ,
Being biased is OK , everyone is entitled to their own opinion .
I dont have any problems with commercial fishing in general ( I might be biased
because I have a long background in commercial fishing) .
I am however completely opposed to trawling everywhere , but especially metro .
MT
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 19/08/11
According to this fisheries
According to this fisheries website only one boat operates now in the south west scallop trawl fishery encompasing Rottnest and Geographe bay
http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Species/Scallop/Pages/Scallop-Commercial-Fishing.aspx
And these guys, who dont seem to have any association with Kailis seem to be the ones that have the licence
http://www.onesea.com.au/about_us/our_story.phtml
So what is a Kailis boat doing trawling for them around Rotto?
Are you certain it's an MG Kailis trawler working out there?
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
"Are you certain it's an MG
"Are you certain it's an MG Kailis trawler working out there?"
Yep
y
OOH YEH
Posts: 400
Date Joined: 16/06/15
Also if I may !!!!
Was it doing sea trials in the area .... We were allowed when fitting a new engine to drop our gear to make sure it preformed !!!
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
No they are working , not
No they are working , not sea trials , the sea trial area is close to the coast on a sandy bottom where the fisheries can observe from the land if they want .
They are fishing full on now , they got 700kg their first night out a couple of nights ago .
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8156
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Scallops are going to be a
Scallops are going to be a very hard sell to fire up the Facebook slacktivism machine aka Perthnow and I can't see Sea Shepherd or Greenpeace being able to angle this to winkle donations out of the public so can't see them being interested.
Get onto Tim Barlow from Tim's Tackle Plus and he'll plaster it all over Facebook and get all the rec fishos fired up at least.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Jim
Posts: 1340
Date Joined: 05/05/06
Seems a abit suss, big money
Seems a abit suss, big money involved for sure!
Bend over
beachsoul
Posts: 215
Date Joined: 14/06/12
We should boycott
Kallis will never see a cent of my money...........not that i ever bought fish.
I know thr trawlers are crewed by Aussies but it pisses me off that the Chinese are buying everything here.
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Quote "I know thr trawlers
Quote "I know thr trawlers are crewed by Aussies but it pisses me off that the Chinese are buying everything here."
Some are , some are crewed by 457s
reece
Posts: 522
Date Joined: 10/07/08
Iv now seen 3 places you can
Iv now seen 3 places you can buy "Rottnest island scallops "
Any one free to help me pull my drum lines tomorrow?
sphere
Posts: 101
Date Joined: 07/01/15
Scallops
OneSea is or was the operator to fish for scallops of the metro and geographe coast(s)
Scallops can be very tranisent and fluctuating from year to yesr in terms of numbers and wherw they are caught.
MG Kailis collaborated with OneSea over the local scallop industry some years back. Initally MG Kailis leased both the boat and licence to. Im not sure what the current status of who owns the boat 'George Michael' nor the licence.
With the trend of restaurants and rise of during last decade they had began selling live scallops to the local Perth market as well as Sydney and Melbourne. They also shucked the scallops to be sold aswell.
Around the time they started there was no fishing for scallops in the Shark Bay and Abrohlos fisheries.
In terms of how they are fished for in WA and most of Australia with the exception of some parts of Bass Strait scallops are caught using nets similar to prawn trawling. They are not dredged up. Saucer scallops do swim somewhat.
The owner/director of OneSea had looked into the feasibility of diving for scallops in the Geographe region. In part this was due to the proposed the proposed large marine park system around Australia.
Some vessels have people from overseas working on them, crab boat of Carnarvon, some cray boats, odd longliner etc
In terms of bycatch sand whiting can be common and king prawns in the metro area.
At the turn of last century and for years after there were 2 scallop trawlers operating off the perth coast. There were also 2 small fish trawlers, 1 operating deeper than most rec fishers would go bottom bouncing. The latter targeting John, Mirror and Silver Dory as well as deepwater flathead.
From an environmental perspective I would be more worried about another chemical spill into Cockburn Sound, the continual "Farmer's Gift" given to the Swan/Canning from runoff and agal blooms (previous government limited fertilisers for domestic use but not commercial), the many vessels fishing the same ground west of Rottnest when the weather is good or from a marine vessel view a tanker/clinker/fertiliser ship running aground.
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
This one in Exmouth doesn’t
This one in Exmouth doesn’t look too environmentally friendly ..
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
sphere
Posts: 101
Date Joined: 07/01/15
Exmouth UK
That footage looks like from Exmouth UK. Very similar/same gear to some of the scallop trawl fisheries over there.
Whilst their fisheries, oceanography, geography etc may or is different, it dont look to enviro friendly. The only positives in terms of their gear id the rollers on the beam.
As with some fisheries around the world sometimes the age, condition and maintenance of vessels used can be an indicator of health and financial return of the fishery. New boats business confidence in seeking a return. Old boats poorly maintained poor catches and poor cash flow
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Sorry my bad .. upon further
Sorry my bad .. upon further review they sound like they're from Exmouth UK as well
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
swoffer
Posts: 83
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Sphere its got nothing to do
Sphere its got nothing to do with the vessel "George Michael"
MG Kailis are the company doing the trawling and the vessel they are using is their own called "Amanda Verne K.
Its true they are not using European style dredges but are infact using Prawn style gear , with tickler chains . Its also a fact that this type of gear scrapes the bottom with 2 chains on each net and the shoes of each of the 4 otter boards which weigh around 500kg each .
But hey , outa sight outa mind I suppose .
sphere
Posts: 101
Date Joined: 07/01/15
Tickler Chains
I wonder if OneSea is then leasing the licence and vessel?
Im not denying what the gear is doing in terms of bottom contact/scraping but I wouldnt necessarily say its dredging.
It would be interesting to see bycatch caught as well as areas fished, polish on boards, size nets as well as scallop catch rate.
I vaguely remember some quote about not them fishing when the scallops are in their spawning period.
I also dare say its too deep to go diving for them feasibly from a recreational view