mrmoshe

Top stuff PJ Cheers,, Pete

New reefs to foster fish stocks THREE giant man-made reefs will be built off the NSW coast to boost fish stocks for recreational fishing. The State Government will today announce it will construct the reefs within three nautical miles of Newcastle, Sydney and the Illawarra. Each reef will be made of four steel or concrete pyramid-like structures up to 11 metres high, anchored together. Similar reefs have been built in South Korea and Japan - two of the world's leaders in the technology. NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said an environmental assessment had been made of the possible biological, biophysical, economic, social and environmental impacts of using artificial reefs. He said, on the basis of the assessment, "skeleton" structures made from steel and with an expected life span of more than 30 years had been selected to form the complex reefs, which would "create an ideal habitat for many fish species". Construction was being paid for by money collected from fishing licences. "Funds raised from the sale of the fishing fee receipt are placed into two trusts, one for saltwater and the other freshwater, and can only be spent to improve recreational fishing in NSW," Mr Macdonald said. He said the proposal was an expansion of the existing reefs program in the Lake Macquarie, Botany Bay and St Georges Basin estuaries. "Scientific monitoring [shows] estuarine artificial reefs have been a success, with almost 40 species of fish identified on the Lake Macquarie artificial reefs, many of them important recreational fishing species including bream, snapper and whiting." The Government will also use the money to increase the size of existing artificial reefs, and to investigate new sites in additional estuaries. Traditionally, artificial reefs were created by scuttling ships, or dumping cars, aircraft or other environmentally unfriendly objects. Nowadays, estuarine artificial reefs use the "reef ball" - a moulded, hollow concrete sphere one metre in diameter. More than 500,000 spheres have been used globally in 3200 projects. When laid together they allow species to thrive, while prompting algae growth. Primary Industries fisheries enhancement manager, Heath Folpp, said the offshore reefs could be deployed by early 2009, pending approval from state authorities. He said site selection had not been finalised but the reefs needed to be located in remote areas away from existing natural reefs, with the potential to double the area covered by man-made units. "We are looking at increasing the habitats and opportunities for recreational fishermen ... as we look to protect other areas," he said.

Superb results there Ross and look at the smiles on dials of the clients. Surely a nice bag of fish and happy campers all round. Cheers, Pete.

Well done fellas...sounds like your day turned out just right with a fin apiece and the albys...nice feed at your place. Looks like things are hotting up outside now. Cheers, Pete.

Good on ya Waynie on the win. That's a substantial fish and the way you won it even funnier. Glad everyone had a good time at the dam. I expect that pic will be in the Manly Daily this week, so you might be famous (or infamous) yet. Bad luck PJ on going for a reccy at just the wrong time I can feel a PJGarn poem coming with some barbs attached. LOL Cheers, Pete.

I think you will find the fish caught in Pittwater would have very low levels of dioxin..if any as the harbour issue all stemmed from the old Union Carbide site at Homebush Bay that was leaching dioxins straight into the harbour west of the Harbour Bridge. Also..testing for dioxins is expensive too...for a very speculative result. Cheers, Pete.

Great Vic reds Smoothaz You have some rich pickings down there for reds and tasty too.. Great effort. Whack the best one in FOTM Cheers, Pete.

I ducked down for a quick session yesterday about 3pm.while had a nap. Went for a wade out to the channel from Lagoon St and the incoming tide across the flats was fairly ripping in. I had trouble standing up at times. The water in the channel was as clear as crystal and running fast. I soaked some fresh peeled H.bry peeled prawns and fresh whitebait right along the channel dropoffs for 2 just legal tailor and one bream about 26..all swam away. (this bream had an old chunk out of his back too) That was disappointing, so packed up and went over to pipeclay point to see if any flatties lurked there. Same result..2 choppers and then the rains began. Packed it in and headed home but at least I felt better for having had a fish. Gee..there's still a lot of that clingy weed amongst the sea grass everywhere. Come on summer. Cheers, Pete.

Re the carp.. Look no more!!! Found this perfect recipe for you Jewgaffer: Recipe For Baked Carp 1¾ hours 5 min prep One pine board. fresh carp, 14 to 20 ",long spices, of choice 1. Scale and rinse fish well. 2. Cut in 1/2 and place on pine board. 3. Add your favorite spices. 4. Bake at 340* for 90 minutes. 5. Remove from oven, throw carp away. 6. Serve board with or without tarter sauce. Sorry to hijack the thread Cath Pete.

Yay Cath..Welcome to the team Cheers, Pete.

Croc jailed after 'having a go' at fishermen A FEISTY crocodile spent the night behind bars at the cop shop in a remote Northern Territory mining town after it "had a go" at some fishermen. The reptile was to be released from its cell today and moved to a crocodile farm near Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula. Local radio had warned residents to be on the lookout for the 2.4-metre crocodile after a run-in with a group of recreational anglers. The fisherman told police they were retrieving their vessel from the boat ramp at the Nhulunbuy Yacht Club when they spotted the crocodile in the water about 4.30pm (CST) yesterday. They said the aggressive animal then "had a go at them". Police and Parks and Wildlife officers found the crocodile in shallow water about 30m from the ramp. They postponed attempts to capture it until after dark, when the reptiles are easier to spot, police said, and yacht club patrons were warned. A boat was launched and, after several failed attempts, the officers succeeded in capturing the croc about 10pm last night. It was put in the Nhulunbuy police station watch house for the night, police said.

Good stuff Jewgaffer. I really enjoy your writing style as well...and 3 cheers for taking a new Raider and getting him on to his first jew. Your'e a champ. Cheers, Pete.

Check out the new VB ad just released called "The Stubby Symphony". Don't we make some excellent ads? V.B. Ad. Cheers Pete.

Happy Birthday Raiders. Hope you all have a great day. Cheers, Pete.

What a top little session eh? Those surprise catches are always more fun. great feed of bream and cephs. Yummo. Cheers, Pete.

The Qld DPI put out an alert in 2006 about this but I don't think any laws were changed because of it. Qld DPI Alert Cheers, Pete.

No..it's not the same one we had about 6 months ago James. This is a LOT worse by the looks. Keep those sunnies on guys..even if it's overcast. Cheers, Pete.

Pacific 'rubbish superhighway' going unnoticed A vast rubbish dump, which covers an area bigger than Australia, is floating in the Pacific Ocean and research shows it is growing bigger. The rubbish collects in one area because of a clockwise trade wind that circulates around the Pacific rim. In his Tasmanian-built research vessel, Captain Charles Moore has just returned from a trip through the plastic stew floating between Hawaii and San Francisco. "Toothbrushes are quite common, plastic bags are quite common, soap bottles are quite common, we've been finding a good many umbrella handles, minus the umbrella," he said. "We find toolboxes, and oddly enough an item that seems to be quite prevalent now is plastic hard hats. I found one upside down with fish living in the upturned helmet." The rubbish patch is extremely remote - it takes a week to reach it in a boat. Captain Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, says the eastern part of what is labelled the "Pacific Garbage Patch" is joined by a rubbish superhighway to a western collection of debris off Japan. "We're talking about an area larger than the continent of Australia," he said. Captain Moore says the marine debris between Hawaii and California contains 40 times more plastic than plankton. "The currents make the identifiable plastic come mostly from Asia, because it arrives rather quickly, whereas the North American debris takes over five years in some cases to get to this garbage patch," he said. "In that period of time it's broken into bits, and we can't see any writing on it, so we can't trace it back to the United States. "It's certainly true that all the countries bordering the Pacific contribute to this garbage patch." Global effort He says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was mounting a clean-up effort to rid the ocean of "extremely destructive" nets. "It's like rolling a giant mesh bowling ball against the coral reef when they hit land, and the waves push them across and it rips out all the coral and tangles the endangered monk seal - the only tropical seal," he added. Dr Holly Bamford is the director of the marine debris program at the NOAA. She says the NOAA is considering flying unmanned aircraft over the oceanic rubbish dump to collect more data. "What these vehicles can do is they can be launched from platforms of vessels, and they can skim pretty close to the surface of the water," she said. "Once it detects an anomaly, which means if it detects something on the ocean surface, it would record that, and then that would come back to the vessel." Because the floating landfill lies in international waters, there is not a lot of political will to attempt a massive clean-up.

Yes.. to the birthdayees and congrats. to Peita and Paul. 21 years here and stopped counting. Cheers, Pete.

You crack me up Cheers, Pete.

Hiramasa is Japanese for Kingfish (Seriola lalandi). I guess you are pulling my leg eh Jewgaffer? Cheers, Pete.

Missing fishermen found Two men at the centre of an air search in the Gulf of Carpentaria have been found, police say. Police launched a search yesterday for the men, aged 65 and 38, who had not been heard from in five days. The men had been on a camping and fishing trip in the Point Parker area, about 15 nautical miles south of Mornington Island. But the search was called off when police were advised late last night the men were safe and well in Burketown.

Thanks for the replies fellas....I'll make sue he knows the info...He doesn't read the forums that often...something I'm working on . He wants to buy another boat that suits him better...maybe a centre console. It came over from W.A. where he lived and was in storage for a while. He's had the engine overhauled and the boat checked for rot and re-carpeted. It could still do with some more tidying up, but I agree..it would make a great inshore boat for the family. Agree too...an E-Tec on the back would make a nice little rig to chase kingies. GoneWishin...that sticker was the dealership in W.A. he originally bought it from. Cheers, Pete.

Good old Wikipedia has THIS on fish hooks and their designs/uses etc. A start anyway. Anyone else have a better resource or more importantly..knowledge.? Cheers, Pete.

Scales tipped against bold fish hooked on bravado THE mix of neurotic and outgoing characters in the hit children's movie Finding Nemo might be closer to real life than anyone could have guessed, research from a scientist at the University of Technology, Sydney, shows. The biologist Peter Biro says fish have personalities, which can have a strong bearing on whether they fall prey to fishermen or other predators. Bold, confident fish are more likely to take risks to get food, while their shy compatriots escape the net or hook. "We accept freely that there are shy and bold individuals among humans but we don't seem to want to believe that it happens in animal populations," Biro said. He studied rainbow trout in a small lake in his native Canada, where he simulated a commercial Gillnet fishing operation on a small scale. "I was able to identify really distinctly that there were some very shy individuals in the population and some very bold individuals … Bold and active individuals tend to be faster growing in a population." But these fishy daredevils only go to prove the rock'n'roll adage about living fast and dying young. "If you are zooming around the environment gathering food, there are lots of benefits but there is a big cost of making yourself visible to predators," Biro said. His work has implications for fisheries. If bold fish get caught at a greater rate, there is a risk of "an evolutionary shift towards slower-growing, shyer individuals".