mrmoshe

Agree with your sentiment about finning, BUT, this shark wasn't finned. Seems there has now surfaced some home video of these jokers caught in the act. See it Cheers, Pete.

Failed sale: dead shark left in street July 23, 2009 - 7:07AM The body of a shark was left lying in the middle of a downtown Miami street after two men tried to sell it to several fish markets. The men apparently carried the one-and-a-half metre long shark around on the city's Metromover downtown train, prompting calls to police. News footage on Tuesday night showed the dead animal in the street with police officers and cruisers nearby. Two stations reported that a pair of men had tried to sell the animal to at least three fish markets for around $US10. Rob Orta, an employee at Casablanca Fish Market, told television station WSVN that the men offered his business the shark. "But we don't buy sharks off the street," Orta told the station. Wildlife officials later determined the animal was a nurse shark. The case could result in misdemeanour charges of improper killing and disposal of an animal and selling a shark without a licence. One resident of the area where the shark was dumped said he didn't know what was going on at first. "It was a relief that it was a shark," said Keith Smith. "When I first saw it, I thought it was a body because of all the shootings that have been going on."

Sydney man drowns as dinghy capsizes July 20, 2009 - 11:30AM A Sydney man who drowned after the small boat he was on with family members capsized near Newcastle appears to have not been wearing a life jacket, police say. The rented dinghy tipped over as its occupants tried to disembark at a jetty - near Myall Shores, Bombah Point - about 11.30am yesterday. All five family members on board fell into the water, police said. "It looks like everyone tried to get off once ... it's [an] unusual [incident]," said water police crime manager Glenn Finnis. "There were some witnesses to it, and I believe a few people have gone into the water to assist." While the passers-by managed to rescue four members of the family, the 42-year-old Homebush man "disappeared below the surface", police said. After a search involving water police and the Westpac rescue helicopter, police divers found the man's body near the jetty about 4pm in what water police described as "black water" of poor visibility. Some of the family had been wearing life jackets at the time of the incident, although this apparently did not include the deceased man, Inspector Finnis said. It was not yet if the 42-year-old could swim, or if he had suffered an injury as he fell, he said. The four surviving family members included a 48-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman, and two children aged six and eight. They were flown to John Hunter Hospital and treated for exposure and hypothermia, police said. The family had been holidaying in the area for about a week, Inspector Finnis said. It was likely they had only gone out on the water earlier in the morning that the incident occurred, he said. It was not known if the family had stayed at the nearby Myall Shores Resort. The resort declined to comment yesterday. However conditions were calm yesterday and it was believed the dinghy simply capsized as the passengers disembarked.

Great old pics Glenn. I could have sworn that that first picture is Roberta with the cart. Cheers, Pete.

Fisherman fined $500 for green zone raid July 14, 2009 09:26am A RECREATIONAL fisherman has had an expensive fishing trip after being the first person to be slugged with a $500 fine for dropping a line in a Queensland bay green zone. The man was fishing in the Tripcony Bight green zone in the Pumicestone Passage in south-east Queensland, when he became the first recipient of a fine issued under the new Moreton Bay Marine Park zone plan. Queensland Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones said ignorance was no longer an excuse, as everyone should know where and where not to fish. "This was a recreational fisherman, out on his own, who was spotted with a line in the middle of the green zone," Ms Jones said. "The incident in question involved a clearly deliberate and blatant breach. "Those who flout the new green zones can expect to be fined." Ms Jones thanked the thousands of boaties and fishers who enjoyed the Moreton Bay Marine Park over the school holidays and did not break the law. "Marine Park rangers who inspected 24 zones in the first week of July reported that they had spoken to dozens of people and had no cause to issue any verbal warnings," she said. "We all need to treat the new zones seriously and those who don't will feel the full force of the law." The Moreton Bay zoning plan, introduced earlier this year, protects 16 per cent of the bay as green zones. Fishing is not allowed in the green zones, but is still permitted in 84 per cent of the park.

Nemo and pals take the fish highway south Nick Evershed July 12, 2009 SYDNEY is set for an increase in colourful tropical fish as a changing climate warms our waters. In the film Finding Nemo, one of the scenes depicts the clown fish's father hitching a ride to Sydney on the East Australia Current. Far from fiction, scientists say this is a fairly accurate depiction of the powerful current, which acts as a conveyor belt for fish distribution, sweeping species from the Great Barrier Reef down the continent's east coast. David Booth, a marine ecologist from the University of Technology, Sydney, said that with rises in ocean temperature, and an increase in the strength of the current, more tropical fish species are able to arrive and survive in the waters off Sydney. Professor Booth has been conducting research over the past nine years to track movement of fish via the East Australia Current, and the survival of fish once they reach our cooler waters. "More and more of the fish are surviving winter down here," he said. "So long as the temperature environment is correct, a lot of them will do just fine." Beginning life as a larva spawned on the Great Barrier Reef, species such as butterfly fish and moorish idols are swept thousands of kilometres south along this "fish highway", powered by warm waters from the Coral Sea driving against the continental shelf, forming a strong current that reaches down as far as Tasmania. Dee Why local David Strike, who has been diving off Sydney for more than 30 years, said: "Certainly we are noticing more tropical species." Peter Doherty, director of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said as well as bringing reef fish south, the warming current has also allowed the NSW black sea urchin to take hold in Tasmanian waters. The urchin devastates kelp beds, reducing the sea floor to a barren wasteland. Professor Booth said that the trend towards warmer waters and tropical species in Sydney is indicative of global climate change.

Fishy tale: one man's fight to save tuna July 7, 2009 - 11:01AM Hagen Stehr was at home in Adelaide, on March 12 when his company's chief scientist called with news that their bet of about $60 million on the breeding of southern bluefin tuna in captivity - a feat never accomplished before - might finally pay off. "Big fella, you better come back,'' scientist Morten Deichmann said to the 6-foot-1-inch Stehr. Stehr, chairman of Port Lincoln-based Clean Seas Tuna, rushed more than 500 kilometers to his company's fish hatchery outside Arno Bay in southern Australia. With tears in his eyes, he pushed his Toyota Land Cruiser to its top speed of 180 kilometers an hour as he raced to see the fertilized eggs for himself. As the owner of a fishing fleet during the past four decades, Stehr had helped empty the seas of the bluefin tuna used in sushi restaurants from New York to Tokyo. Now, at age 67, he believed he was on the verge of saving the tuna - and the industry that made him rich - from the threat of extinction. "Everyone thought I was a bloody lunatic,'' says the suntanned Stehr, in jeans and a checked shirt. "Nobody in the world had ever done this. We've created a sustainable fishing industry for years ahead.'' The majestic bluefin, a metallic-blue-and-silver fish, is prized by sushi lovers in Japan, the US and Europe for the rich taste and creamy texture of its meat. In their zeal to feed those palates, fishermen have almost wiped out the two species of bluefin - northern and southern - while also threatening the yellowfin and bigeye tuna. Nothing left to fish The eastern Atlantic bluefin, a northern variety found in the Mediterranean Sea, will probably vanish within 10 years, says a study by marine scientist Brian MacKenzie at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources in Charlottenlund, Denmark. "In a few years, there'll be nothing left for us to fish,'' says Atsushi Sasaki, a Japanese fisherman who's caught bluefin for 20 years. "The collapse of bluefin is just around the corner.'' The Japanese - the biggest consumers of bluefin - devour 80 percent of the world's catch. The fish has been served at restaurants such as Nobu, a chain of at least 18 high-end Japanese eateries. The menu at Nobu London, however, warns that bluefin is a threatened species and asks patrons to order an alternative dish. Failed quotas This is more than another fish story. The saga of the bluefin, a creature that can swim 45,000 miles in 17 months to spawn and feed, shows the difficulties in managing resources across borders - a sign of the challenges ahead as countries confront the more intractable problems of environmental degradation and global warming. At the same time, Stehr's indoor-breeding breakthrough points to the role technology may play in addressing these broader resource issues. Since the early 1980s, countries working through the United Nations have tried - and failed - to set catch quotas tough enough to protect bluefin and other tuna from overfishing. "Where you have politicians arguing for a share of a quota, that quota will inevitably be inflated,'' says Callum Roberts, a marine conservation biologist at the University of York in England. "That kind of decision making guarantees the collapse of a population.'' Stehr and his scientists now must find a way to grow fertilized hatchery eggs into adult tuna. One challenge: The bluefin, a predator, eats its young. $US20,000 tuna "If Hagen Stehr can solve the issues surrounding breeding predacious fish, he'll have a sustainable product that will last forever,'' says Barbara Block, a professor of marine science at Stanford University in California. "The future lies somewhere in what they're doing.'' Clean Seas, which has raised about $US58 million since its initial public offering in December 2005, plans to build more indoor tanks to protect and grow young fingerlings before they're put into the ocean. Stehr aims to produce at least 250,000 bluefin by 2015 - a number that would almost equal the total bluefin catch of Australia's fishermen in a single year. As prices soar for bluefin, which sell for as much as $US20,000 a fish at Tsukiji, the world's largest fish market in Tokyo, Stehr stands to add to his fortune. He's worth about $US135 million, according to the 2009 annual Australian rich list by BRW magazine, owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website. "It's about more than making money,'' Stehr says. "I would like to leave a legacy to the world with bluefin.'' Sky diver Stehr, who's invested millions of his own money in the breeding of southern bluefin, has always been a risk taker. The former owner of a sky-diving school, he once jumped out of an airplane attached to a parachute packed into a shoe box that he held tucked under his arm. "It's more gung-ho-like,'' says Stehr, who has a dragon figure tattooed on his forearm. "You make an exit out of the airplane door; you throw the shoe box in the air and pray to God that the chute comes out.'' Since the 1970s, Stehr has helped build a tuna industry that was worth about $US7.2 billion globally in 2006. The fishermen have thrived on the high seas, particularly in the Mediterranean, where they have exceeded quotas established by regulators. Greenpeace protest The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the UN body that controls the Mediterranean region, set the limit for eastern Atlantic bluefin between 32,000 metric tons and 29,500 metric tons from 1999 to 2007. During that period, even as ICCAT's own scientists pushed unsuccessfully for lower quotas, fishermen blew past the limits. They netted twice as much bluefin tuna as permitted, or up to 60,000 tons a year, according to ICCAT data. In November 2008, ICCAT, composed of agricultural officials from 46 nations, including France, Spain, Italy and Japan, held a meeting in Morocco to set stricter quotas. As the meeting began, activists from the environmental group Greenpeace International dumped 5 tons of bluefin tuna heads in front of France's Agriculture Ministry building in Paris under a banner reading "Bluefin Tuna Massacre.'' The pile of gray-blue heads, each about the size of a basketball, spilled off the sidewalk into the street. Greenpeace activists and several scientists were calling for ICCAT to temporarily ban bluefin fishing. "If the situation doesn't improve, ICCAT will take the blame for managing the collapse of one of the most important and profitable fisheries of our time,'' says Sebastian Losada, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace in Spain. Merchant marine Regulators did lower annual quotas to 18,500 tons of bluefin by 2010 and for the first time required that an ICCAT observer be onboard the larger vessels that use purse seines - crane-operated nets that can capture as much as 100 tons of fish in a day. "If people play by the rules, we'll still have a fishing season next year,'' says Nathalie Charbonneau, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, whose ICCAT members account for 66 per cent of the bluefin quota. Stehr began fishing for tuna in 1961 after he arrived in Australia with little money and no work. A native of Germany, he left home at the age of 12 to become a cadet with the merchant marines and later served as a seaman on cargo ships, bouncing from job to job. When his freighter docked at Port Lincoln, Stehr got off the vessel and never returned. Crazy days After a decade of catching tuna for other operators, he used money he earned diving for abalone to start his own fishing outfit. By the 1980s, the entrepreneur owned several companies that he brought together under the Stehr Group. Today, it boasts a fleet of 21 vessels that range from 30 feet to 100 feet long. Stehr compares the heyday of bluefin fishing in the Great Australian Bight off the country's southern coast to the Battle of Britain during World War II, when waves of German Luftwaffe bombers attacked England. Rival fishing companies flew as many as 12 planes at a time from Port Lincoln to spot schools of fish. "Those days were crazy,'' says Stehr. "It was catch as much as you can, kill as many fish in the shortest possible period of time, make a lot of money, then have the rest of the year off. We raped the industry quite badly.'' While Stehr was on his way to catching tens of thousands of tons of southern bluefin in his fishing career, Australia, Japan and New Zealand moved to slow the destruction. The governments began lowering their quotas for the fish in 1984, dropping them to a total of about 14,000 tons per year a decade later. Fish farming The Australian government stood out for cracking down on quota violators, and in 2006 it accused Japan of exceeding its bluefin limit by a total of about 178,000 tons from 1985 to 2005. Japan acknowledged that some overfishing took place. "You can't even catch three too many or you end up a criminal,'' Stehr says. "We all had our backs against the wall. Most of us were virtually bankrupt.'' To keep his business afloat in the early 1990s, Stehr helped start ocean-based fish farming - now a booming industry that has exacerbated the reduction of bluefin. Before quotas, fishermen chased the largest tuna because those earned the most profit at market. As restrictions cut into Stehr's catch, he kept more of the younger tuna, which weighed less, and transferred them to cages at sea. "We towed large cages in from 300, 400 miles out in the Great Australian Bight all the way to Port Lincoln,'' Stehr says. After feeding tuna in 20 cages for up to 8 months - enlarging them to weights that surpass his annual 400-ton catch limit - Stehr sells them to Japan, Europe and the US. Mediterranean boom About 70 such farms dot the coasts of Spain, Italy, Croatia and Turkey - turning the Mediterranean region into a tuna pantry for Japan. The farms have a total capacity of 57,582 tons, or about three times the total ICCAT quota for the area this year. They hold fish caught in the spring, which is the prime fishing season in the Mediterranean, until the winter, when demand peaks in Japan. "In the beginning, ranching was a sustainable business that made sense; it really controlled the trade flux in bluefin,'' says Roberto Mielgo Bregazzi, a Spaniard who developed the first farms in the Mediterranean. "Then the business matured and resulted in a mushrooming of tuna ranches. In 15 years, we have almost wiped out the entire stock, and I'm very pessimistic we can save it.'' He quit the industry in 2003 and started ATRT Tuna-Ranching Intelligence Unit to expose abuses in the trade. As wild tuna became scarcer, Stehr started Clean Seas in 2000 with the idea of breeding the fish. The hatchery is set on 700 hectares (1,730 acres) surrounded by sheep ranches and grain farms just outside Arno Bay. The concrete breeding tank - about 25 meters in diameter and 7 meters deep - is housed in a plain, white shed that's monitored with security cameras. "We are quite strict who we let into our hatchery,'' Stehr says. To get the bluefin to breed, scientists at Clean Seas designed the tank to simulate conditions in the ocean. Using overhead lights to suggest the sun and moon, saltwater piped in from the ocean, artificial currents and temperature controls, the scientists have tried to re-create the experience of a spawning journey for the fish. Helicopter airlift Stehr hired a former Vietnam War helicopter pilot to airlift 400-pound (180-kilogram) adult tuna one by one from the sea to the tank. The fish were pacified, suspended beneath the helicopter, flown over the top of the shed, which has a removable roof, and lowered into the tank. Scientists were concerned that the effects of stress on the tuna from what Stehr called a "military-style operation'' might prevent them from spawning. "It's like playing cricket with hand grenades,'' Stehr says. "If something goes wrong, it costs you mega dollars.'' Miles Wise, one of about 20 scientists who live at the hatchery for months at a time, watches over the feeding and health of the tuna via a flat-screen monitor. Once a week, he dons a wet suit and enters the tank to get a closer look at the tuna, a fish that will die if it stops swimming. "They are a difficult species to work with, so it's been very trying over the last couple of years,'' Wise says. The fish entered the tank in 2006, and for three years the females didn't produce eggs although the males were making sperm. Stehr's scientists changed almost every variable, including water temperature and the age of the males. Hormone injections Hormone injections, given to females using spearguns, were a key in finally getting the tuna to spawn, says Abigail Elizur, a professor at the University of Sunshine Coast in Queensland, who works with Clean Seas. In March, the females began to lay eggs, setting off a mating ritual that lasted for more than one month. On some days, the tuna generated as many as 2 million fertilized eggs. "Every time you crack a new species, it's always very exciting,'' says Deichmann, the chief scientist who also helped Stehr breed kingfish, a type of amberjack popular for making sushi in Japan. "To everybody that is working in marine hatchery, tuna is the crown. It is probably the most significant thing I have done.'' In 2002, Kinki University's fisheries laboratory in southern Japan first bred northern bluefin in the ocean under the stewardship of marine scientist Yoshifumi Sawada. The problem with ocean breeding is that the tuna don't consistently produce fertilised eggs, and only 2 per cent of them survive to become juveniles due to cannibalism and dietary issues. Sawada says his project is a long way from achieving large-scale commercial production. Preventing cannibalism The university sold 5000 fingerlings last year to commercial farms, equal to only 2.5 per cent of the 200,000 young tuna caught by Japanese fishing companies for farming annually. "It's not enough,'' Sawada says. Stehr may have more success in mass-producing tuna. At Clean Seas, the use of hormones may spur females to spawn more consistently, says Elizur. And scientists can prevent cannibalism by removing the eggs, which float to the surface of the water, from the tanks. "We have over 50 million fertilised eggs and larvae,'' Stehr says. "We have so many we can hold the equivalent of 28 years of quotas for wild southern bluefin in the palm of one hand.'' Stehr still must overcome other obstacles to growing tuna into adults. The fish used to feed captive tuna - primarily mackerel and sardines - are also in short supply in many parts of the world. In attempting to save tuna, breeders have to find a way to avoid wiping out the feeder fish. Clean Seas is developing wheat-based pellets to feed its tuna. General Patton "Within five years, they'll be breeding thousands of young tuna,'' says Stanford's Block, who's served as an unpaid adviser to Clean Seas. "We still have to solve the feed issue, and that's the huge worry out there.'' In looking for inspiration during the tough years when he couldn't get his tuna to spawn, Stehr would open a history book about his hero, George Patton, the four-star US general who helped repel the German offensive at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. "When I feel kind of low, I read General Patton,'' says Stehr, who has the warrior's picture on his office wall. If Stehr's breeding experiment bears fruit, it will change his place in history - from one of the fishermen who endangered the bluefin to the entrepreneur who helped save it. Bloomberg News

Vigil for angler washed off Port Kembla rocks BY LAUREL-LEE RODERICK 7/07/2009 12:05:00 AM Candles and a small tribute to the western Sydney fisherman swept off rocks at Port Kembla on Sunday night sat perched on a rock yesterday, opposite the lone life ring intended to keep fishers safe. The man, who tried in vain to save his friend from the churning sea, was joined by 10 other friends of the man and a Buddhist monk at the scene of the tragedy late yesterday afternoon. The monk led a blessing and prayed with the group for the body of the 28-year-old Hurlstone Park man, who is feared drowned, to float to the surface. Ironically, just metres away and tucked out of sight on another rock shelf below, a keen angler tried his luck at the treacherous but popular fishing spot. The emotional group of friends remained silent, staring out to sea and watching the waves pound the rocks below. One friend spoke briefly to call for signs banning rock-fishing at the dangerous spot. "Even if it doesn't stop people fishing here, it would be a warning," he said. The two men arrived at the popular fishing spot about 4.30pm on Sunday. As the pair were packing up to leave, one of them was swept off the rocks. His friend was unable to help him and phoned triple zero at 9.20pm. "Police arrived a short time later and they believe they saw a person in the water, but the bad surf meant they could not get to him," Sergeant John Klepczarek said. "PolAir was called last night and they also did an extensive search, however the conditions made it very difficult." The search resumed at first light yesterday with assistance from the PolAir police helicopter, Australian Volunteer Coast Guard and Water Police. But just hours later, the search was scaled back and the family were escorted away from the area by police. "The Wollongong rescue vessel was involved with the Water Police this morning and helped search east of the breakwall," Port Kembla Coast Guard's deputy commodore John Aldridge said. "Around 9am we were stood down by police." PolAir and Water Police were also stood down soon after, but uniformed police continued to scour the rocks and the shore for any trace of the man throughout the day. Port Kembla was named among the eight most dangerous rock-fishing locations in the state in a 2003 NSW Government Water Safety Taskforce report. Between 1992 and 2000, 74 people lost their lives along the NSW coastline while participating in the dangerous sport. In March this year, a 71-year-old father from Strathfield drowned while fishing at night at Honeycomb Rocks at Port Kembla. That man, also from Sydney's south-west, was fishing with his son when he was swept into the ocean.

I gave the new finned sinkers a run at Nth Narrabeen Beach this arvo to see how they went with the line twist problem...and bugger me..THEY WORK!! No line twists at all and sure made fishing with the Alvey a lot easier. I seemed to get better casting distance using them as well for some reason..perhaps because they are a little lighter being made of zinc. Fishing was crap...lost one nice fish that the hooks pulled..probably a tailor, one baby flattie that scoffed a pillie almost as big as him...then the crabs moved in making life tough so gave it away. The exercise today was to try out these new sinkers anyway and that was very successful. So one happier beach fisho here now that the dreaded twist is no longer. Cheers, Pete.

Line twist is a right pain in the bum and I've been hitting the beach lately after a long absence from fishing due to personal issues. I've been chasing tailor, salmon and bream mostly either at dawn or dusk and hopefully co-inciding with a high or low tide. Been doing OK but using my Alvey has been giving me line twists, so much so that the other day I had to give it away and go home to walk out my line. Line is 8lb Vanish and small ball swivel above and below a #4 sinker, then Seaguar flouro 10lb leader to whatever hook I'm using. Here's a nice 36cm bream that hit my bait yesterday arvo: Well...I've been on the hunt for a solution and just happenned to switch on the telly on ABC3 and saw an old (2 years old) episode of the New Inventors. One of that episode's inventions was a fellow in Qld who had the same line twist problem using side cast reels and invented a finned sinker that takes the twist out as you retrieve your line. So I contacted him after hunting him down via Google and purchased some #4 and #5 sinkers. They arrived today in the mail (as well as some #6 & #7 samples kindly) and I can't wait to give them a try on the beach later this week. He swears that his finned sinker (made from zinc, not lead for enviro. reasons) works every time and eliminates line twist forever. Here's some pics of the #4's..notice the two fins that spin it in an anti clockwise direction. I won't mention his company or name to comply with FR rules, but I will post the results after I give them a shot off the beach. Cheers, Pete. ps..nice to get back to a bit of fishing!!

Boat crashes near Sydney Harbour entrance June 29, 2009 - 6:23AM Three men have been taken to hospital after the boat they were in crashed near the entrance of Sydney Harbour. The men were returning from a fishing trip with two others when their eight-metre aluminium runabout crashed into a navigational buoy between South and Middle Head. Sydney Water Police took the men to Manly Wharf. Four of the men, aged between 27 and 49, sustained head wounds. Three needed hospital treatment. They were taken to Royal North Shore and Manly hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. The vessel was significantly damaged. Investigators intend to interview all the men who were on board to determine how the crash occurred.

Rare fish pummelled to death[/b UP to 50 rare lungfish were killed when tonnes of water was released from a southeast Queensland dam this week. Water was released from North Pine Dam from Monday morning to Tuesday night as a safety measure, as heavy rain threatened to overfill the dam. Its managers, SEQWater, say up to 100 native fish went with the release, including around 12 lungfish, a species listed as vulnerable. But Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council spokesman Roger Currie said conservationists on the scene had found up to 50 lungfish, either killed or maimed by the force of the water. "Some were found caught in trees yesterday and last night," Mr Currie said. "They've just been pummelled by the sheer force of it." Mr Currie said some of the rare fish were up to 1m long, suggesting they could be 100 years old. The conservation council has lobbied against the Paradise Dam and the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, claiming that both pose serious threats to the lungfish and other species. Mr Currie said his group would document the event and advise federal Environment Peter Garrett, who was now considering the Traveston Dam, proposed for an area near Gympie. SEQWater spokesman Mike Foster said staff were on the scene at every dam release to check for "fish kills". Mr Foster said a handful of lungfish had been rescued from pools, but staff would return on Thursday to see if more could be done. "We are very, very mindful of the ecological importance of the lungfish," he said. Last month, when North Pine's gates were opened for the first time in many years, up to 150 lungfish were rescued and returned to the dam. The Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council has called for a study into lungfish numbers in North Pine Dam, and measures to protect them when water is released.

Man tangled in anchor ropes drowns QUEENSLAND police have found the body of a fisherman entangled in anchor ropes in the state's southeast. A police spokeswoman said it is believed the man, in his 50s, drowned when he become entangled in anchor ropes while fishing on Lake Cootharaba, at Boreen Point, on the Sunshine Coast. His body was discovered around 7pm (AEST) yesterday after a boat hire company contacted police.

MMMmmmmmm....Milk! Nice inker too. Cheers, Pete.

try This thread...also, if you do a search for 'jewels"...there's probably more. Cheers, Pete.

The bad news: get ready for more jellyfish PREDICTED global warming will bring warmer waters to Sydney but those waters could bring some unwelcome hitchhikers - venomous jellyfish in larger numbers. Research by CSIRO scientists has shown the waters off south-eastern Australia will warm faster than any other part of the southern hemisphere. While that will mean more tropical fish - and sharks - coming our way, it also means more box jellyfish and irukandji jellyfish. Box jellyfish - one of the deadliest creatures in the sea - can have as many as 60 tentacles up to 3m long with up to 5000 stinging cells. They have already claimed at least 60 lives in Australian waters in the past 60 years and people can’t swim in the sea off northern Queensland during summer because of them. According to CSIRO scientist Dr Andrew Richardson, overfishing and nutrient and sewage run-off are also boosting jellyfish numbers. “Fish normally keep jellyfish in check through competition and predation but overfishing can destroy that balance,” he says. Dr Richardson says the southward-flowing East Australia Current is strengthening and the waters off south-eastern Australia will warm faster than in any other part of the southern hemisphere. “That will bring tropical fish and jellyfish into sub-tropical waters,” he said.

Fisherman hooks air-to-air guided missile HE thought he'd bagged a big one, but after reeling it in, police said a Florida fisherman found he really did have a live catch on his hands - an air-to-air guided missile. Commercial fisherman Rodney Salomon never panicked, and kept long-line fishing aboard his Bold Venture boat in the Gulf of Mexico for another 10 days before returning to port. True to fisherman form, Mr Salomon had several versions of his tale prepared for various media outlets. "I had it strapped to the roof of my boat as we rode through lightning storms,'' he told Tampa Bay's local 10 Connects News. "I had it secure. I keep it cool,'' he told The Associated Press, adding that he packed it with ice. The bomb squad from a nearby military base that promptly dismantled it upon his return to shore said the heavily corroded eight-foot-long missile "could have exploded at any moment". "I wasn't scared,'' the 37-year-old Salomon said, according to local media reports. "Why should I be scared?'' Eglin Air Force Base later denied the missile was carrying explosives, claiming it was a "telemetry missile" used for evaluation purposes. Mr Salomon, from Saint Petersburg, Florida, was 80km out in the Gulf from Panama City when he caught the military ordnance. The experts said the missile was corroded by its apparent extended stay in saltwater. Mr Salomon asked the bomb squad if he could keep the missile as a souvenir after it was made safe, but the request was denied. Warming to the task, Mr Salomon then told local media it wasn't the first missile he and his three-man crew picked up. Days after the find, he nabbed another, but that one "was beeping", so he decided to let it go. Sure Rodney, but you forgot to tell us how big it was...

Fishermen reeling after court fine Two Sydney men have been fined a total of $2,600 after pleading guilty to fishing within an exclusion zone of the Port Stephens Great Lakes Marine Park. The two men were found in a fishing boat about 15 metres from a large yellow "no fishing" buoy near Fly Point at Nelson Bay. The men were charged with having fishing gear in a sanctuary zone, supplying false names, having undersized fish and not having a fishing licence.

That is amazing.

Ketch to be cut into pieces THE ketch that went aground at Grotto Point last week is beyond salvaging and will have to be cut into pieces and removed. The owner and his friends have been salvaging what they can and cleaning up the mess but have been unable to stop thieves stealing electrical equipment worth thousands of dollars. The 13m ketch Bide a Wee ran aground about 6am last Thursday and the two men on board had to be airlifted to safety by the police helicopter. Polaris Marine operations manager Gavin Manille said an inspection of the stricken yacht showed its condition had deteriorated in the heavy seas that battered the coastline over the weekend. Large holes have been torn in the hull. Mr Manille said the ketch was beyond being patched and refloated, and that it would have to be cut up and removed in pieces, possibly by a helicopter. In the meantime, the owner and friends have been salvaging equipment, rigging and sails from the ketch but thieves have stolen electrical equipment, including a depth sounder, two-way radio, GPS navigation system and solar panel. The ketch was uninsured and the owner says the shipwreck and the subsequent theft of equipment has cost him more than $30,000. Manly Daily.

Looks like the yacht is toast and no news on the police action against those on board. HERE is a link to a photo gallery of the vessel high and dry. With the seas today, she will surely break up... stay tuned for more. Cheers, Pete.

Boat washes up on rocks in Sydney Harbour * May 21, 2009 - 9:11AM Two people have been taken to hospital with minor injuries after their boat washed up on rocks in Sydney Harbour this morning. The nine-metre boat hit the rocks just before 6am at Dobroyd Head, near Balgowlah Heights, a police spokesman said. A police helicopter winched the two on board to safety and they were taken by ambulance to Manly Hospital, an ambulance spokesman said. No other details were available about the injured pair, or the circumstances that led to the boat washing up. EDIT: It seems there's more to this story: 'Drunken sailors' rescued from sinking yacht By Kara Lawrence May 21, 2009 09:00am TWO drunken sailors had to be rescued from their yacht which was stranded high and dry on rocky headland on Sydney's northern beaches this morning. The pair first made a distress call at 5.50am today to say their 10-metre boat had been washed up onto rocks but could not describe exactly where they were, a police spokesman said. He said they were "heavily intoxicated" and that one had suffered a gash to his leg. A water police search was launched but the pair and their yacht were not found until just after 7am, washed up on Grotto Point near Balgowlah. But due to the risk of rescuing them via land or water, the Polair chopper was called in to winch them to safety. An ambulance spokesman said a road ambulance took both men to Manly Hospital but the injuries were minor. The police spokesman said that the while the pair would not be responsible for the cost of search, they would be responsible for the cost of recovering the boat off the rocks.

ABC local radio has a programme called "The Big Fish" which airs at 0500 every Saturday. It's also available on podcast or you can listen online. Have a listen and see what everyone thinks of it. http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/central_coast_...fish/index.html Cheers, Pete.

Massive shark lurks metres from shore at Moreton Island ANGLER Col O'Donnell has seen the arrival of some fierce competition at his favourite fishing spot. But the experienced fisherman is happy to step back and let the latest visitors, a group of whaler sharks, catch their fill, watching in awe as they herd their prey and devour it with ruthless efficiency. Mr O'Donnell's fishing mate Alex Augheros snapped a photo of this terrifying tourist - a five-metre predator identified by experts as a whaler - cruising just metres from shore at Moreton Island, off Queensland's coast. The shark had four hungry buddies with him. The fishing spot is close to Stradbroke Island where bronzed whaler sharks killed a 21-year-old woman in 2006. Mr O'Donnell, 72, says he quickly retreated to higher ground. "We were fishing at Long Point, on the southern end of Moreton Island, when the sharks came in for the bait fish," he said. "It was certainly exciting. I was in knee-deep water and had to take a few steps back, while keeping an eye on the rod and an eye on the sharks. "I've never seen them at that spot before." Mr O'Donnell, who has fished in the area for years, said he was happy to share his fishing spot with the ocean's finest hunters. Fierce competition ... some terrifying tourists found a nice fishing haunt close to Col O'Donnell.

An easy remedy: Frozen Bait Fridge Banana Daiquiri Ingredients * 2 ounces light rum * 1/2-ounce banana liqueur * 2 tablespoons lime juice * 6 frozen bananas from bait freezer, peeled and coarsely chopped * 2 rank pillies stored for 6 months alongside bananas * 1/2 cup crushed ice Directions Combine all ingredients in an electric blender and blend at high speed until smooth. Pour into a large saucer champagne or similar glass. Store in wife's kitchen freezer until needed for next dinner party with Mother in Law. Problem solved...she'll never put bananas in your fridge again!