they are allowed a rec fishing licence for both crays and fish like everyone else.

Cannot carry any fishing gear aboard other than their pro gear and cannot catch or carry any rec caught fish aboard.

From memory they are allowed to keep a couple of fish that are caught in the pots and thats all.

Pretty harsh in the smaller picture but thats the way the rules are these days.

I say that because most of the cray fishermen I know well are 3rd generation or more, and its difficult to introduce a love of the ocean to a kid without tying in some fun bits. As a trucky may take his son to work, or a farmer etc.

To bring any fish back that has been caught at the islands from dinghy or beach etc, it must be put in an esky and towed in a dinghy behind the boat back to the mainland.

 To bring any fish back that has been caught at the islands from dinghy or beach etc, it must be put in an esky and towed in a dinghy behind the boat back to the mainland.

or am I just a gulible prick!!!

They are on a quota system now, that's why they can fish all year, the rec fishers got an extra month and started on the 15th of October instead of November.

Much the same laws as the shark fishermen have to abide by, caught lots of crays in the nets but not allowed to keep them, back in the water as soon as you untangle them.

 Determined by their licence. An amount of quota per pot I believe. 

yeah thats right. Fisheries determine a TAC (total allowable catch) of which 5% is allocated to rec and the rest divided on a per pot basis.

Hence why rec limits increased last year etc to bring it up to the 5%

Important maybe to remember that the TAC at the moment is about half of what the average total yearly catch for the last 20-30 years (5000 tonnes as oppsed to 9000-12000 tonnes)

Reviewed every year.

But no longer can as it is now completely illegal to do so - I even thought catch and release might be allowed but it isn't, no rec gear at all permitted on cray boats 

I even believe fish pulled up in pots have to be chucked back - only exception appears to be that Occy can be kept

recs in general are now experiencing some of the best fishing of the wa coast due to the major changes that took place dating back to 2008 onwards

while i agree some of the rules may seem contrary they are fair and reasonable to all particiapnts in the fisherys imho

the blokes now catching lots of fish in the close inshore metro etc are doing so due largely to the reductions in bag limits for recs, and the removal of scale fish take from the rocklobster boats ,and banned demersal gill net [shark nett ]

the quota system for rock lobster was widely critised by the commerical guys , but now look at the benefits many are getting , recs are the same , who can remember better rec rock lobster seasons with more access than you have now with up to 6 pots per boat, longer season , increased bag limits etc etc ??

given recs are not allowed to take commercial catches from our boats , it is very reasonable to legislate that people who own commercial licences cannot use there vessels to take recreational catches

this does not stop them from getting a rec size boat and the rec licences and fishing for their familys etc .it needs to be that way , or the debate could be put that recs sell a few crays from your six pots catch , this logic could be applied to abalone , scale fish , etc etc ?? how do you think that idea would fly with WAFIC ??

the rock lobster fishery was not well self regulated under the old gear restriction management , the quota is the best method by far for a sustainable biomass into the future imo

hezzy

And we see it every day, good metro dhuies, snapper from literally everywhere, gummy sharks returning - yes at times the changes appear "over the top" but it avoids all of the grey areas that might otherwise prevail. 

Fully support your comments Hezzy !   

Hezzy you are quite correct there, no dispute.

The opposition to quota was more to do with initial allocation that anything else.

Getting the mix of either a flat amount per pot, or an amount on the past history of catch per pot.

The quota allocation process was a contentious one as the over riding mandate is to "avoid a reallocation of capital/value" but you have, say two different fisherman with 100 pots ($3M) each.

One is 60yrs and slowing down, the other 25yrs and going hard. If its only on the pot, the young bloke is going to be short paying his bills, the old bloke says "but we have the same value invested"

We went thru the same thing with tuna/swords, 2 years of meetings, negotiations and so forth. And at the absolute last minute-a legal challenge by one fisherman investor of the 100 odd owners made AFMA crap themselves and drop the whole lot in the bin.

My comment regarding fishing onboard was more to do with the family aspect of it re-getting the next generation of young blokes interested.

Plus the oddity of me having to give fish to a commercial fisherman rather than VV as it was always in the past.

we need to check if they are allowed to keep any fish caught in pots.

I thought they had to let them float away dead. cheers Pete.

 Definately aloud to keep fish in pots.. Was a year or so we had to throw them back but now we can keep them..

Belly

[My comment regarding fishing onboard was more to do with the family aspect of it re-getting the next generation of young blokes interested.]

yeh I understand your thoughts rob , the whole concept of keeping it in the family is good if the next generation wants to take it on

it is the same in many family businesses ,
lots of young farmers,fishos etc have walked away from family expectations on their futures , quite sad sometimes , but the next generation have that choice I suppose

for me , I would not have needed to wet a line for scale fish to know id have jumped at the chance to take over a family cray boat if we had of had one

thing is though many young ones get introduced to the family business at such a young age , by the time their 25-30 they have had enough of it , and want to move on to something else , others just love it regardless its in their blood

hezzy