FISH IN CRAY POTS RESULTS
Now first up please no swiping at commercial fishos cos its a job just like anyone elses!
I kept this log from the 15th march opening day at the abrohlos to 25th may 2008, the day our pots came out of the water. The result are from fish which were caught in our pots and due to a ruling by fisheries were to be thrown back as it was illegal to keep fish on a crayboat regardless of how it was caught! Now the results are pretty concerning and affected me pretty damn greatly not only because of the wastage but because of the concern that we have for fish stocks and throwing away fish dead or alive because as a professional fisherman you may not keep fish on a commercial crayfishing boat. My skipper was gutted, he free dives for his fish and only kills 1 or 2 fish for a feed, throwing these fish back made us and mind you 2 friends who are fisheries officers working the abrohlos islands pretty pissed off and a no confidence from even them on the ruling. Anyhow the results for this time and keep in mind this is from one boat with a quota of 112 pots.
TOTAL DEAD OR DYING FISH THROWN BACK DUE TO BIOTRAUMA AND EXHAUSTION 68
SPECIES INCLUDE DHUIS,BALDIES(HEAPS),PINKIES,NW SNAPPER,SPANGLEDIES,CHINAMAN COD
TOTAL FISH SURVIVED WHEN THROWN BACK AND SEEN SWIM AWAY 10 MAJORITY WERE NW SNAPPER AND PINKIES
THE DEPTHS VARIED FROM 4FATHOM TO 60 FATHOM.
I know this will have varying comments but please remember this about the wastage of fish and not a commercial thing. Imagine this times all the other boats that would have abided by the rule, which is unknown to me. IT is pretty disturbing amount of fish due to a ruling. Your constructive comments are definately appreciated.
This result is going to be given to adam as requested for fisheries to ponder over whether the ruling was a just or knee jerk reaction from fishing industry groups. thanks tangles
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
Interesting
Interesting info Tangles for sure.
If the ban was not in place would any of these fish have gone back? Just interested.
** Rockingham Offshore Fishing Club **
poddyfish
Posts: 986
Date Joined: 01/05/07
Waste
yeah tangles i totally agree with the waste that the fish pulled up in pots is for sure... i too did some work at the abrolhos helping a fella out for 2 months and seen some beautiful fish come up in the pots and had to watch as the sharks got them as they float off suffering baurotrauma... it is a crying shame especially when they are quality fish....
Fear The Spear............!
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
bag limit
i know most wont agree but when we were allowed our amateur bag limit there was never any hassle, fair enough no fishing gear on the boat, you get caught w a hook and your gone for 25 grand first up no buts. fish in pots well our bag limit would at least remove most of the carnage that had to be done. im for restrictions in my industry cos there a a heap of rednecks that need to go but we abide by the rules govend by the industry. it was pretty sad to throw back good fish. And yeah if there was no ban we would keep our quota and throw the rest well the honest ones would cant say about the rest of em. I think NoWorries that any more compromise to the sleds would have a major adverse affect on cray catches, funnily i did keep a notice of the pots that had sleds in them only had small fish in them the ones without had the larger species including wobbygongs up to 4ft in length! if they can get in anything can get in. The neck size on the finger necks has been reduced over the years i think its more the round plastice necks that are more of a concern for me.
FISH FOR THE FUTURE NOT THE FREEZER!
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
Thought So
Thought that might be the case Tangles. Personally Id prefer to see it eaten rather than just thrown over as shark food.
As for the honest ones doing the right thing as allways its the few who decide not to follow the rules that stuff it for everyone.
** Rockingham Offshore Fishing Club **
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
very true
very true tim, we had a old fella who still has a camp at nth isl fly over a week b4 we left he went out in a tinny w his m8 and caught 14 dhuies and jumped back on the plane in the arvo and flew back to gero, pitty i knew his name and dobbed him into fisheries!
FISH FOR THE FUTURE NOT THE FREEZER!
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Double up
Cheers
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
agree
agree totally andy, i think it does depend on where the pots are set and what type of ground they are set on. Also i think the type of bait that is put in the pots also makes a diff. oily bait that breaks down quick and leaves a big burley trail attracts more fish as you see when you drop a line near a pot the fish go off and as you drift off the lump w a pot and the fish activity usually decreases. I know its not many fish but when you have double headers coming up and they go back floating its pretty sad. it would be interesting if a log was kept by all fishermen to see what the exact amount of fish in pots would be, not that that will happen but i think the amount would be quite staggering. I know when i fished out of kalbarri most of the fish in the pots were out on the coral in the 24-50-60fthm range which is quite a fair range in depth and most were nw snapper. bloody pests cos once they are in you get no crays! I know the ratio of fish to pots isnt much but thats one boat w that amount of pots, add 10 boats w an average of 160 pots per boat which is the norm now and the figures would be different. Anyhow im not fishing anymore weve converted our boat for charters(not fishing) so im a bit more neutral now than what i was b4.
thanks tangles
FISH FOR THE FUTURE NOT THE FREEZER!
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15652
Date Joined: 29/11/05
tangles
Hey Rob,
How detailed did you keep the log? If you've got a list of each individual fish, or even measurements of how long they are, then ratios can be calculated as to how much fish in kg's might be wasted per year from a sampled number of boats in a particular area. Could be an interesting stat???
Cheers,
Adam
Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
yeah ads
yeah ads ive got the log on me lappy, just didnt know how to upoad the whole sheet so just got the relevent info and typed it up. send me your email add and ill send the whole sheet to ya. youll be interested in it thats for sure. tks m8. tangles
FISH FOR THE FUTURE NOT THE FREEZER!
ody
Posts: 581
Date Joined: 30/12/06
Hi Ya, Tangles, how many of
Hi Ya,
Tangles, how many of the fish were actually dead? I would have thought that the dead ones would not be any good for anything as you wouldn't know how long they had been dead, or could you use them for cray bait? But certainly you should be able to keep the ones that were alive. I'd go so far as to say you should be able to sell them.
Cheers.
***** Proud RECFISHWEST member ****