BigT1 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Went out on Tuesday with a mate and had a beautiful day ruined. There were about 7 trawlers circling around my favourite fishing spots. One came within 15m of us. I was fuming. Have seen one or two previously but this was a swarm of them. So why am I paying for a fishing licence again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonmaxwell Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I'm with you mate. My son-in-law and I were having a ball with a school of nice tailor near Flint and Steel a while back and a trawler just went straight through the middle of the school - no more tailor. They also came within a few metres of us. Get rid of 'em I say and bring the fishing back to the way it should be. Cheers Maxfishing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Guys I once fished in Botany Bay some years ago and had a trawler's nets pick up my whole rig, anchor, rods, everything ! I was told they had priority of use over me during weekdays. They probably did have priority - legally. I need not worry about them anymore though but you blokes would have been less than happy. That's why when you fish weekends and all seems to be OK but there are no fish - we often find out trawlers have been in the area. One day, the trawlers will fish themselves out of existence and the greens will ban ALL fishing. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humesy Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 It would be a cracking recreational fishery without them. The other side of the coin is that the majority of the population who like a piece of fish, need it caught for them by a trawler. They have got to get them from somewhere. I just hope some actual science went on when the pros were asked to leave the harbour and were allocated licences in the Hawkesbury. That might well be wishful thinking aye? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonmaxwell Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 St Georges Basin is a classic example of what can happen when the pros are banned. Fishing like it used to be. Fish farms are the go - there should be more of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOOS Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 St Georges Basin is a classic example of what can happen when the pros are banned. Fishing like it used to be. Fish farms are the go - there should be more of them. thats a long trip from me. how good isit thou, i mean if there is regular hot action, than i will be willing to make the trip. what species are available? boat only? or good/easily fished landbased? if so, same species available land based? cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen801 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 That's why I don't bother fishing the Hawksbury river system any more. Last time I did over a weekend caught nothing and on the last day watched the trawlers whilst catching nothing at Juno. You only have to look at how good the harbor is now for fishing after pros kicked out. The HR and pittwater should all be pro free. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonmaxwell Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Be quicker to tell you what you won't get - never heard of anyone catching a marlin, swordfish or sailfish. That's about it. Fishing is unbelievable. We fish from boats but I've seen huge flathead, bream, luderick, leatherjackets and trevally caught from the shore at Sussex Inlet. Soft plastics work well, as do poppers in the flats. The tailor are huge as well and massive schools just pop up all over the place. Laugh a minute. We put back 90% of what we catch but still eat fish every night and take home an esky full. Makes it very hard to fish the Hawkesbury when we get back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the elk Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 It is indeed a disgrace that the trawlers are still allowed to desecrate the Hawkesbury prawn and fish stocks. The river used to fish very well 20 years ago, however you most well be fishing in a desert. Its not too late though, when they finally ban the trawlers I am sure the system can replenish like the Harbour did within a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 i think there should be a distance that must be kept from any other boats be it a ship or a 7 foot tiny at anchor being so close to a moving trawler draging nets it could easily snag your anchor rope and drag your boat under leaving u swimming im sure that day will come and untill that happens nothing will be done unfortunately i dont think getting rid of the trawlers is the right thing as someone else mentioned people like to eat fish and it has to be caught commercially some how also im sure everyone who has replied in this thread has bought bagged bait from a shop in there fishing time so your supporting trawlers like today i had to buy a bag of bait to catch live bait to catch big fish without commercially bagged bait i would be screwed and banning the trawlers around sydney will only push them further up and down the coast where it will cause the same problem on a smaller scale where there is less population i to have had my fair share of trawlers coming close i was fishing in sydney harbour around 10 years ago anchored near greenwich point when a trawler came by so close it was scary and it was early hours of the morning had something happen we would have been stranded for hours untill day light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tide'n'knots Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 gday guys, I fished south west rocks in july for 4days, a time of the year when we normally do very well on the bream however we struggled to get anything legal between 3 of us. On our last day we were told that there are now 17 trawlers working the macleay river.One guy had traps all up and down the river and we saw him every day we were there racing around checking them. Apparently they were banned from somewhere south of the rocks like port maquarie or somewhere and so they just relocated a bit further north at south west rocks. Not sure what the answer to that problem is but just banning them from an area doesnt seem enough unless some sort of regulations as to how many can fish a given area are put in place. pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testlab Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Guys I once fished in Botany Bay some years ago and had a trawler's nets pick up my whole rig, anchor, rods, everything ! I was told they had priority of use over me during weekdays. They probably did have priority - legally. I need not worry about them anymore though but you blokes would have been less than happy. Tony In any recognized fishing ground, commercial fishing of any means has priority over recreational. I was curious so just went and read the fisheries general regulation of 2010 (clause 62). However that doesn't give them any right to navigate in any manner that is dangerous but since they trawl at less than 10 knots there is no stand off distance from anchored or moored vessels. it's up to the skipper to judge 'safe distance'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 We have had the same problem up here in Tuggerah Lakes. When the pros were banned from Lake Macquarie it seemed many of them came down here. Most are part timers earning a bit of cash on the side. The shallow lakes system is a fish nursery and should be protected from professionals. Moreover, local towns like The Entrance depend on tourism and especially recreational fishing. Some years ago when the idea of protecting the lake from professional fishing first came up, a meeting was called at Ntn Entrance SLSC....cynically it was held on a state of origin footy night. The result was predictable. What I would like to know is what can we do to get the lakes banned from pro netting? KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCount Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 The hoover-ing up the Hawkesbury has seen my last fish in the area. I'll do some research about where the Commercial rigs are sanctioned and post up some maps for us locals..... I found an old series called "Fishing the Hawkesbury" on Youtube and was looking forward to prospecting some of the nicer areas mentioned... Tunks park is only an hour away too, so might be travelling there once cricket breaks for the year.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 didn't they ban trawlers from the hawkesbury accept prawn trawlers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piss'n'Broke Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) I/We have sen alot of pro boats working the reefs outside the harbour for months. Until something is seriously changed we will all suffer the consequences. Fair enough we need to have a sustainable fisheries stock but until a proven and I mean proven study of the results is put forward our fisheries stock will continue to suffer. After all a statistics can prove anything with the right biased based question,,, ie Have you seen lights at night? YES/NO! Yes then it must be a UFO Until a comprehensive study of all our fisheries stock is done over decades not months we will never have a true idea of how much impact we are have on the marine biomass. Without this data all results are completely inaccurate as they cannot be compared to stocks many, many years ago Dan Edited October 23, 2011 by Dan and Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finin Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I think we all agree that over the decades fishing has declined and we have seen recoveries in fish stocks once commercial fishing in those areas has stopped. The great examples for Sydney fishos being the banning of the kingy traps and the stopping of commercial fishing in the harbour. On the other side is we dont get to buy sydney harbour schoolies anymore IMHO the best school prawn in the world next to hawkesbury prawns. Yes they need to stop netting the hawkesbury but then you will get no prawns for bait and that will occur in every system. Dan and Greg are they the trap boats or dropliners you are talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harold Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I spent Thursday trying to fish in the Hawkesbury and i can tell you the trawlers were active, must have been 5 or 6 of them continuously working both sides of the river. Was not worth putting as line down. Went back into the river and the story was quite different. Forget the mouth and go up river a bit, head towards Coal and Candle creek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzlar Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) Fish farming would be the go, I know you cant farm all fish species but we need to do something as some places are nearly fish free around the world because of over fishing & not managed properly. I have fished Sydney harbour before & after the Pros were kicked out, & the place has bounced back with a heap of fish & keeps getting better every year since, so I now only fish the harbour. The Hawksbury would one of the best fishing destinations in Australia if that were to happen in my opinion, I know that is there job & they may have familys to feed but get another job & as for the do gooddin Greens get your facts right & your heads on as we reco fishers take bugger all fish compared to the PROS & do no where near the damage they cause with there trawlers to the marine environment. Just one last thing opinions are like as!h!les everyones got one & thats just my opinion Edited October 24, 2011 by Dazzlar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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