Abolishing Size Limits

 Just thought I'd mention something that is going on at the moment at Fisheries.

There is a series of proposals on size limit changes which are quite interesting IMO.  For example they are proposing to abolish max size limit for estuary and malabar cod (divers wont be happy) abolishing minimum size limit for blue groper, black arse, baldchin, all mackerel, samsons, yellowtail kings and amberjack and removing the "no more than 2 black bream above 40cm" rule.  I think some of these changes are rather stupid - some are not.  Pink snapper size reduction to 450mm and 380mm north of lancelin, increase in mulloway min size to 700 mm - anyway comments need to be in before 23rd of december - there is a link to the paper here.  http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/management_papers/fmp280.pdf 


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 agree with a lot of

Mon, 2016-12-05 19:42

 agree with a lot of them.

 

Bald chin, black ass and cods dont release well, more die than not.

 

Mackies, an unknown i dont think there are that many taken are there?

Pinkies, agree, they are hardy and their numbers have come right back from my perspective, these seem like a sustainable stock at present.

 

I think recent restrictions over the past 5 or 6 years has done wonders for the demersals, really pushing a sustainable recreational fish environment.

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 The no more than 2 40cm

Mon, 2016-12-05 19:46

 The no more than 2 40cm bream in the swan and canning rule is fairly redundant anyway, but not sure why they would remove it, there hasn't exactly been an increase in the number of big bream in Perth waterways

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 450 for pinks would be a no

Mon, 2016-12-05 20:05

 450 for pinks would be a no brainer imo, most are always that smick under 500 so it would relieve a lot of released stressed fish. 

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 Yeah Im not sure about

Mon, 2016-12-05 20:20

 Yeah Im not sure about removing the blue groper limit - and personally i could see a point in having a max of one 40cm in ALL state waters for black bream- they are very old fish - i would hate to see a 35 cm sambo in someones bucket too - thats more a social thing - and the max size on cod - hmmmm not a good look bringing in a big fish like that unless it cant  be helped.  Ohhh and also proposing abolishing max size on sharks. ;-)  The pink snapper - i think a min size of 50cm statewide would be a good thing - if specifically around carnarvon its an issue then allow it to be 380mm - bloody small snapper that is though....:-(

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Hey Jamie

Tue, 2016-12-06 08:56

I agree those cod over 1 metre are a very big fish, flesh is like rubber and are more value to everyone to carry on breeding. I encounter these frequently when fishing north and the only way I have managed to release them is by using my boat anchor with 8m of chain and a string of sinkers, I then tie a sacrificial hook on with a light leader and bust them off on the bottom the floatation on these fish is immense. There isn't a release weight on the market that will come close to working on the big boys and I am happy to go to this effort as I value them as breeding stock but I have come across other fishermen up that way who wont go to the effort and leave them floating for the sharks. Bearing in mind that process takes a while to get them back to the bottom maybe the average fisho isn't interested in going to all that effort to release them in what is hopefully a successful way

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 I think that was the reason

Tue, 2016-12-06 09:26

 I think that was the reason given. Very hard to release when dragged up from deep water. I think most would feel the same way and not want to keep them. I view them as the guardians of the reef. Even sharks usually show them the respect.

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 Mate EXACTLY what I do too -

Tue, 2016-12-06 14:59

 Mate EXACTLY what I do too - and yeah some morons dont give a shit - well lets say they get caught up in the moment and cant be stuffed - it is hard work getting them back down but they are one of the toughest fish in the ocean too - of course it is complicated because ALL cod that size are males - so how much breeding they do is unknown - they are certainly the alpha of the reef though. ;-) And removing max size leaves it open to a peanut cathcing a big cod at a local dive spot.....or else getting more spots locked up from fishing

 

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been there and it's not

Tue, 2016-12-06 15:34

been there and it's not always "other fishermen up that way who wont go to the effort and leave them floating"

I have left them floating. when nothing more I could do.

remember a time near turtle bay spending literally more than an hour trying to get one of the big boys down. tried everything including what you say only to have it pop up over and over 80m out the back eventually dead. If we were allowed we would have kept it and it would have saved some others which went towards our bag that day.

If the rules are changed I would still try to release but more of a waste to see it eaten by a big tiger.

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 The thing is sea kem is that

Mon, 2016-12-05 20:22

 The thing is sea kem is that snapper survive release really really well.  I think 50cm is actually a small fish - and they dont breed until they are bigger (i think) than that on the west and south coast for the most part.

 

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 At 450 I reckon a good fish

Mon, 2016-12-05 20:48

 At 450 I reckon a good fish to keep whole, They are fun for kids to catch and keep as well. I'm aware of the breeding cycles and imo that's been taken well care of with the sound closures. Where we are there are hundreds of them, we've actually been getting them on our whiting gear. 

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 Yeah fair enough point too -

Mon, 2016-12-05 20:52

 Yeah fair enough point too - im a bit divided about it though as to its merits

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 I agree with upping the

Mon, 2016-12-05 21:14

 I agree with upping the mulloway size cause from what I've read they reach maturity or are more like to have bred by that stage in there life 

The debate on minimum size is hard with release death argument, but if you take away the size limit what stops people from killing there bag limit then upgrading and throwing back say a small black arse they caught earlier and  killed to keep a large baldy and continuing like that?

I think no minimum size limit wouldn't be much good in that respect

 

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I agree

Mon, 2016-12-05 21:21

 I agree with Callum there, I would never throw back a dead fish I have kept to upgrade the size but there are shit loads of people who would. The demersals would have a better release rate if people took it easy and didn't wind them up 100 miles an hour

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 Yep - true dat - baldies

Tue, 2016-12-06 15:03

 Yep - true dat - baldies dont release very well no matter what over 25 metres - but black arse and dhuies do if you take it easy and treat them nice

 

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 Enough tag return data to

Tue, 2016-12-06 15:04

 Enough tag return data to show they survive 

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 Others on here would argue

Tue, 2016-12-06 15:24

 Others on here would argue that point.

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 The thing with the snapper

Mon, 2016-12-05 23:05

 The thing with the snapper length is that its gone from 410 to 450 to 500 and now its going back to 450...?  Untold dollars are spent by fisheries to bring in a size limit and now untold $$ will be spent dropping it again.  And removing size limits on other species after so many $$ were spent bringing them in.  And you wonder where our license money goes......  Its actually quite a complicated issue but talk about going around in circles.

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.

Tue, 2016-12-06 07:08

.

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Regarding Blackarse, there's

Tue, 2016-12-06 08:50

Regarding Blackarse, there's not much fish to begin with on a 30cm model and being 1 of your 2 demersals in Metro area I just can't see the point

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 And the thing is you boys

Tue, 2016-12-06 15:01

 And the thing is you boys are all onto it more or less and have valid viewpoints - but the fisheries managers who draw up the paper and many other people who just fish occasionally arent really experienced enough to comment on what is actually a very complicated issue - and it is REALLY complicated once you start digging - and the point is they are trying to simplify it....

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I would prefer to see the

Tue, 2016-12-06 17:15

I would prefer to see the Snapper go to one size limit state wide. I tow my boat anywhere between broome and Albany and it can be tricky to keep up with multiple zones and sizes.

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If your not experienced

Tue, 2016-12-06 19:40

 If your not experienced it can be complicated but at the end of the day where ever your fishing what zone etc there is always an answer from someone. Most the time people play dumb.

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frank prokop

Sat, 2016-12-10 09:09

I was listening to Frank Prokop on the radio this morning, and he made mention of a few valid points regarding this issue, 2 of them being:

1) with regards to professional fishing, smaller size limits will have a detrimental affect to fish stocks in the way that they will need to take a much larger number of fish, to get the same quantity of fillets/weight.

2). he mentioned one of the proposed changes was to remove the 28cm limit for NW snappers (all the smaller variegated emporers, etc), which means scallop and prawn trawlers will now be allowed to keep the small snappers they catch in their nets, of which there would be potentially hundreds of thousands of tonnes.

he sounded very concerned that the changes being proposed were generally (in his opinion) going to benefit the commercial sector a lot more than the recreational sector.

a good example he gave, was that there is a proposal to remove the 1m size limit on barramundi, and that would also apply to the pros. he commented that the localised income generated by a sport fishery for 1m+ barra, would definitely out-weigh 100-fold (his words "maybe even 1000-fold"), the commercial benefit the government/public/etc would get from allowing pros to keep fish that size.

I completed the survey before Jamie posted this up, and did it with good intentions, but after reassessing the above and Frank's comments today, I'm not so sure.

I'm starting to think this is a "wool over eyes" tactics... make us FEEL like they value our opinions or concerns, or that we are making a difference, but dicking us royally behind the closed door. they want our opinions, but they are probably not going to use them anyway.

similar thing going on with the Ningaloo/Gnaraloo/Quobba/Etc coastal land grab.

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Sat, 2016-12-10 10:04

 Yep, your 2000th post Scotto and it's a pretty good one.

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 The bream rule would be bad

Sun, 2016-12-11 21:13

 The bream rule would be bad if removed, although rare to catch more than 2 40cm bream in one day if someone kept more than that it could be disastrous for the swan and canning population. The population isn't great compared to some rivers down south and if we don't fish for the future in 30 years it may not even be worth breaming in the swan.

 

on a completely different note I think that they should make a river like the Blackwood river a trophy fishery for bream. It's a great breaming river and it would be good to keep it that way. I know there is no dwindling in population down there but if we did have it as a trophy fishery, there is no chance of a reduction of fish, in fact the population would grow and it would be the perfect place for a weekend of breaming with a near guarantee of plenty of big fish.

 

thanks,

lachie

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good point Lachie.

Mon, 2016-12-12 06:52

the fisheries/government need to realise these facts. these sport fisheries could be worth so much more than the commercial licencing or fillet weights they benefit from, they just need to open their eyes to other research being presented to them.

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Frank Prokop

Mon, 2016-12-12 11:15

FP on channel 9 news this morning, bringing the attention to this issue that it deserves.

I think this needs to be re-addressed, based on the reasons I've mentioned above. more and more, this looks like it is going to benefit the commercial sector than recs.