I'll be watching THAT!!! 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

So; who watched Stateline last night and what are your thoughts/impressions/comments?

Overall, great to see coverage, but trying to cover things from a research, RFW and professional (charter) perspective in such a short time was, I think, just tooo much, but guess they were trying to cover it from as many angles as they could.

Good to see Kane on, where was Frank Terry?

The underwater cameras ARE a good idea, but it depends where you put them and how, from one years positioning can you draw the conclusion that there is a scarcity. I'm not saying there isn't, just where's the comparative data? I think you need the cameras in the same spots each year for a number of years, before you can draw any conclusions.

Just my thoughts.  

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Always hope to get broadcast on a quiet day to get a reasonable amount of time.

The release of the Climate Change report, etc was obviously seen as much more important.

West Coast fishing topic was given just over 7 minutes - and that time isn't enough to include or cover some of the issues.

Lots more detail is often given in the recorded interviews which never gets into the final broadcast.

The transcript will be on http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/default.htm some time next week, then people can dissect exactly what was said, coz....

Repeated Sat 12 noon on  ABC1

TerryF
=====
Beavering away in the background.......

Yes, having been interviewd myself, I know what you mean. What is chopped and aired is a very small subset and often important points and context is removed. Thousands of fisherman, hundreds of retail outlets, millions of dollars, hansards of commentaries etc - all boiled down to 7 minutes

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

The transcript of the Stateline segment has been posted http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/content/2006/s2296478.htm

TerryF
=====
Beavering away in the background.......

First of all Terry, thankyou for taking the time to post this....

REBECCA CARMODY, PRESENTER: This summer, recreational fishers will face
the toughest restrictions yet with some popular species off limits
altogether. The drastic cuts are already facing a backlash with critics
acknowledging the need for conservation but questioning the scientific
justification. So, to prove the point, researchers at the University of
WA have spent the past two years placing underwater cameras at key
vantage points along the WA coast. As James Bennett reports, it's the
most detailed study of fish stocks yet and the results are startling.

Hmmm, 'scientific justification' - almost an oxymoron in this circumstance if I refer to your excelent post '
Bioregional Marine Planning Workshop. 31st August 2004. Small Group Discussion' elsewhere Terry!

the past two years placing underwater cameras at key vantage points
along the WA coast. As James Bennett reports, it's the most detailed
study of fish stocks yet and the results are startling.

Um, sorry, two years and detailed yet.....opportunistic journalism at it's worst and startling is hardly objective. Talk about promulgating a conclusion!

JAMES BENNETT, REPORTER: This underwater vision comes from more than
700 hours of footage taken near Rottnest, the Abrolhos Islands, and the
Leeuwin and Naturaliste Capes. The cameras are mounted on cages with a
bait bag in front of them and they've captured some remarkable scenes.

But what they haven't witnessed is a lot of fish, specifically those
classed as demersal species which includes some of WA's most popular
varieties; Dhufish, Pink and Red Snappers and Baldchin Groper.

JESSICA MEEUWIG, UWA MARINE FUTURES PROJECT: I think what was probably
the biggest surprise was how few of some of these key species there are
actually out there. For instance, we have 750 hours of footage from the
Abrolhos to Cape Naturalist and we saw 43 dhufish in 750 hours.

Ok! 700 hours over 2 years in (broadly) 4 locations, hardly conclusive. 'Remarkable', there is that coloured sensational journalism phraseology again! 2 years is hardly conclusive. I refer back to Bioregion ...foundation for accepted credulity.

JAMES BENNETT: Researchers with the marine futures program at the
University of Western Australia say there is a clear link between
higher recreational fishing pressures on the west coast and vastly
depleted fish stocks.

Um, sorry! I don't want statements, I want facts! Lets lose the emotional nomenclative conjecture!

JESSICA MEEUWIG: We do see that the further you get away from
population centres the more abundant species are, the more common and
they tend to be bigger particularly along the South Coast.

Yeah well, that's not rocket science! Just don't draw conclusions from a flawed process and a coloured interpretation!

JAMES BENNETT: While some might suggest alternative explanations for
the disappearing prized species, the science is backed by government
studies which have found overfishing is to blame.

'Some', nice term that one, infers a distained minority' (handy that!). Science? Government studies? Is that an oxymoron? Back to those 17 points Terry, where is the scientific credulity?

Research from the Department of Fisheries conducted last year was
damning, finding that fish stocks in the Indian Ocean from Augusta to
Kalbarri have been severely depleted. The Department recommended
immediately halving captures of what it called the vulnerable five
species.

Ah yes! V5, a lovelly collective emotive snappy term! Lots of subjective adjectives there!

A hugley important issue, 7 minutues, sensationalist journalism, subjective analysis (was 'the person' given an objective?(nice double entendre there if you like!) and a (greater) gullible non fishing public.

How functional!

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

i reckon they need to let rutar set the cameras up... they will see several hundred a year!!! maybe they need to learn some stuff from us dopey fisho's??? like where the fish hang out....

Not much science involved in looking at over 700 hrs of footage, there could be many different factors why they didnt see too many of those species, i dont blame the majority of fisherman questioning the scientific justification.

 Funny you should say that as I offered Mike from fisheries research the opportunity to film some of my marks and nothing came of it!

I have copies of the reasearch discs if you want to put them up Adam? Not sure if there is a legal issue but its great to see some of the footage!

IF IT SMELLS LIKE FISH IT MUST BE GOOD FOR YOU!

Maybe the 'objective, 'scientific'  'long term'  'field' 'analysis' would have been more favourable! 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Cheers mate! , Sorry, but I'm VERY passionate about:

Fish sustainability.

Scientific analysis.

Creditable process.

Maximum fair opportunity for fish AND anglers! 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Tommo I will see if Adam can put them up.

IF IT SMELLS LIKE FISH IT MUST BE GOOD FOR YOU!

I've emailed my post to Stateline.... 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)