Jewie Size Limit

[gje]

Some very good comments to increase the size & lower bag limits. Unless we take some positive action this sport will be taken away from us.I can't understand why anyone wants to keep jew at 45 cm anyway. Same as the legal size for bream, not worth keeping. Perhaps we should put together a bag limit & legal size for all Fishraiders to adhere to & be a bit more proactive.

Cheers,

Scoop

[Stippy]

I'd be interested to know how the NSW size and bag limits compare around the country. A brief search reveals that the Qld size limit for Mulloway is 75cm and a 2 fish limit. I'd fully support an increase in the size limits and restricted bag limits but in the meantime I'm proactive and impose my own limits and encourage others to do likewise. Anything less than 75cm won't feed my family anyway

Cheers,

Adam.

[Jewhunter]

O.K. I'll give my personal opinion.

I believe the limits should be 3 fish at a minimum of 70cm's up to 90cm's.

Still keep the 2 fish upper size limit.

I don't believe that anyone should be offended or offer their negative opinion on previous posts about jew captures that have complied with current regulations.

We have site rule to address this.

We also give our members the option of conducting a poll on a topic.

Cheers,

Grant.

[eagle ray]

With regards to the rec take figures. Those figures are nothing more than a guess and i would take them with a very large pinch of salt. The sample was quite small. The pro catch however was weighed.

Here is a little info on breeding of jewies in NSW. In my opinion even 75 cm is 2 small. 80 or even 85 cm and we will see a massive increase in catch.

A synopsis of biological, fisheries and aquaculture-related information on mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus (Pisces: Sciaenidae), with particular reference to Australia.

Silberschneider V and Gray CA (2008) A synopsis of biological, fisheries and aquaculture-related information on mulloway Argyrosomus japonicus (Pisces: Sciaenidae), with particular reference to Australia. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 24: 7–17.

Summary

For some time there has been concern over the population of mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) in NSW. This concern has been driven by continuing declines over the past two decades in reported commercial catches, recreational fishers reporting reduced catches and fewer large fish, and large numbers of juveniles being discarded as by-catch from estuarine and coastal prawn trawlers.

Mulloway are distributed in estuarine and nearshore Pacific and Indian Ocean waters surrounding Australia, Africa, India, Pakistan, China, Korea and Japan. They are commercially and recreationally fished throughout their distribution and form the basis of a growing aquaculture industry in Australia. A review of the published scientific literature on mulloway indicated a dearth of information concerning their biology and fisheries, except for southern Africa where the biology of mulloway is relatively well studied. In South Africa, mulloway is a fast-growing fish that can live to a relatively old age (42+ years) and large size (> 175 cm TL). In South Africa, mulloway is considered recruitment overfished.

This current study in NSW identified that, like in South Africa, mulloway grow fast, reaching, on average, nearly 40 cm TL in 1 year and 95 cm TL in 5 years. Mulloway in NSW reach sexual maturity at a size of approximately 68 and 51 cm TL for females and males respectively and at an age of 2+ to 3+ years. These lengths and ages are significantly smaller and younger than for mulloway in South Africa, highlighting the need for local data to fully understand the biological characteristics of a species for management considerations. Mulloway appear to predominantly spawn in ocean waters between November and March in NSW.

In NSW, mulloway are primarily caught using mesh (gill) nets in estuaries and by line in ocean waters. Analyses of the statistics of commercial fisheries of mulloway in NSW showed that reported catches have been declining in both the oceanic and estuarine sectors. However, reported fishing effort has also declined which may explain observed declines in total landings. Sampling of catches for length and age composition showed that most (approximately 80%) mulloway were within 15 cm of the minimum legal length (MLL = 45 cm TL) and that very few large (> 70 cm TL) fish contributed to commercial catches. Furthermore, commercial catches were dominated (> 70%) by fish aged 2 years. These data are of concern given that these fish can potentially grow to > 175 cm TL and reach ages of 40+ years. Estimates of total mortality based on catch-curve-analyses were relatively high (0.45 – 0.7) and yield-per-recruit analyses identified that the minimum legal length of mulloway should be increased greatly (to at least 70 cm TL) for optimal harvesting of the species. The data presented are indicative of a species that is growth-overfished.

Changes in the management arrangements for mulloway in NSW are required for their effective conservation and sustainable harvesting. Greater protection to the spawning population and to juveniles in estuaries from capture in prawn trawl fisheries is also required. Implementation of by-catch reduction devices in the estuarine prawn trawl fleet should help with the latter, but a significant increase in minimum legal length and possible seasonal and spatial closures to fishing may be required to protect the spawning population.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...7.00913.x/full full report

[Mr Squidy]

From my knowledge of these fish it would be a strange move if they did change it to this. Jew are similar to Dusky Flathead in that the bigger models are the breeding females, so in some ways taking fish in the current 45-70cm size range has less impact than taking of the larger fish. This is the reason for the current restriction of only two over 70cm.

I target these fish regularly and would also like to see the limits tightened to improve stocks. I would think though something like minimum size of 55cm with 3 or 4 fish in total and only 1 over 70cm would work better than a system that would see more of the breeding females targeted.

R

[eagle ray]

From my knowledge of these fish it would be a strange move if they did change it to this. Jew are similar to Dusky Flathead in that the bigger models are the breeding females, so in some ways taking fish in the current 45-70cm size range has less impact than taking of the larger fish. This is the reason for the current restriction of only two over 70cm.

R

I assumed this until i read shadowing the ghost of the estuary. There is a photo of a male jew caught in the haweksbury that would weigh around 35kg and was 23 years old (page 20). By not allowing the smaller fish to reach sexual maturity we are trully shooting ourselvevs in the foot.