Increased netting of Salmon

[kurtisjohnthomas]

I will let you read this for yourself.

I am so angry about this. This is bad news for all of us. As soon as we see stocks increasing, they decided to increase netting.

This is setting a scary precedent

[CarlRak]

Anyone know what the limits were before?

[royts]

This is bs. It's an absolute travesty that they can harvest such a great sportsfish for the sake of a cat's dinner.

[kurtisjohnthomas]

This is bs. It's an absolute travesty that they can harvest such a great sportsfish for the sake of a cat's dinner.

Well in this case, just bait

[spizza]

I will let you read this for yourself.

I am so angry about this. This is bad news for all of us. As soon as we see stocks increasing, they decided to increase netting.

This is setting a scary precedent

Damn shame, just when it was becoming enjoyable going out on the beaches and estuaries in winter and getting into some awesome sportsfishing action....let's see, lot's of Kingies around lately....what's next do you think?

S.

[JimT]

This is for North of Barrenjoey only. At least there is hope for us south of there....at this stage anyway. Give your local member of parliament a call.....they will be on Summer recess from Canberra so give them some work to do !!!

[chewie]

Yes i agree this is a very sad decision.

The sign of a healthy ecosystem is the presents of mega fauna( ie large predators) in the system. From someone you fishes the Sydney region frequently, i am enjoying the rebirth of a system ( since the buy out of commercial fisherman since dioxins and the ban of kingfish traps).

This year at Sydney Heads we have constantly seen the amazing scene of dolphins herding and smashing bait balls (of salmon- to the dismay of us fisherman) , i've seen kingfish in the mouths of dolphins, and the presence of many seals in the harbour which are the signs of a healthy system.

for commercial fisherman the Australian salmon is an easy get. its easy to just trawl an obvious school and thats what will be "bait" for their catch. maybe they should use a little of their dead "by catch" and recycle that as bait... living in a major world city, this is pretty depressing... the hawkesbury system is in no way what it once was and i wonder what the value of commercial fishing is compared to the value of what it would be if rec fishing and ecotourism (as it has the ability to be) would be compared.

on a side note. this year i had the privillage of witnessing the sardine run in sth africa. predators everywhere... filming such an awesome event only to return and see similar event in sydney made me proud.

we have something special in the making and its still only early days. Maybe we should just give it a little more time to see what happens. after all apparently it just over bait????

[brickman]

ok i wont rant but lets use out heads and loby the gov to buy out all the pro licences in the hawks.sydney harbour is starting to shine and the hawks chould be the jewel off nsw if the pros were locked out

i think we should stop exporting our seafood over seas stop rapping a resorse for pure profit as australians we own it we should all get a say in how it used

end off rant pissed off gary

[kurtisjohnthomas]

3 Tonnes more like 224 tonnes

[mrelxr6]

we pay for these clowns to allow this!!!

some body in the dpi must be getting a back hander to allow this !!!!

[Converted 2]

Hi Mate , Yet again a bad decision that will impact the recreational fisherman.

[Black Bandit]

The government is closing the Fisheries Centre at Cronulla.

The message this action sends is that they do not care for fisheries research or the sustainability of fish stocks in NSW.

This reallocation of salmon stocks is just the start.

Prepare yourselves to be boarded!

Black bandit

[Mr Squidy]

This is total rubbish, after all the gains that have been made with the buyout of commercial fishermen and all the positive results it has brought and now this Government wants to increase catches again because the system has shown signs of recovery?!? Best of all they want to target a premier sports fish soely to use as bait!! Love to know who the rec fisho's they liased with supposedly were

Rich

[fryboy]

What annoys me is the "spin" in this press release. Note:

When the stock is in such a strong position, it makes clear economic and environmental sense to allow fishers to catch a portion as it swims past their front door, rather than requiring fish to be caught south of Sydney and transported hundreds of kilometres by road

Now that sounds to the average schmo that this is a really good idea, they are just moving the catch from South of Barrenjoey to North to save the transporting of the southern catch to the north. Oh, ok, no worries. Lets all go back to sleep and everything is ok....

It also sounds like 'the stock is in a strong position", which is really based on...on.....on....? I remember my education days and having to provide references for that sort of stuff. Governments work to their own rules though...

But those who are awake will realise the truth, this is an increase in catch of 224 tonnes.

And by the way - how on earth do they police the measurement of those 224 tonnes? Anyone know? I'm guessing (but happy to be corrected) that these measurements would be some sort of 'self regulation' where the fisho has to report their catch to DPI. How wrong could that go? (So, if I catch two tonnes per day on three days, thats, um, er, dot 1 carry the 2, thats, um 4 four tonnes?)

Fryboy

[Catchin Jack]

When the stock is in such a strong position, it makes clear economic and environmental sense to allow fishers to catch a portion as it swims past their front door, rather than requiring fish to be caught south of Sydney and transported hundreds of kilometres by road

Does this mean they will be able to fish BOTH locations now? thus covering a hell of a lot more area?

[fryboy]

Exactly Leo, its an increase, not a move of entitlements from south to north..

[spizza]

The problem is, it seems this move was also supported by various rec fishing groups. Whether we like it or not, Salmon are seen as an absolute scourge by many rec fisho's up north, and they would actually be rejoicing at this news.

For those of us like me who see Salmon as an iconic sportsfish, we lose out big time. For those rec fisho's who see Salmon as a scourge who steal baits intended for their 'bread and butter' fish, this is good news. When I was up at the far north coast in Sept this year, the folk in some tackle stores were bemoaning and cursing the large presence of salmon in the area....kinda ironic given all the kids I saw down at the rockwalls were having a lot of fun hooking up with the Salmon & have a guess where they were buying their bait from...!?

Edited November 29, 2011 by spizza

[Catchin Jack]

The issue I have with it is the bi-catch, I have no problem with them fishing for salmon but its everything else that gets caught up in their nets, they just rape and pillage the oceans and waste so much.

[Jewhunter]

The problem is, it seems this move was also supported by various rec fishing groups. Whether we like it or not, Salmon are seen as an absolute scourge by many rec fisho's up north, and they would actually be rejoicing at this news.

For those of us like me who see Salmon as an iconic sportsfish, we lose out big time. For those rec fisho's who see Salmon as a scourge who steal baits intended for their 'bread and butter' fish, this is good news. When I was up at the far north coast in Sept this year, the folk in some tackle stores were bemoaning and cursing the large presence of salmon in the area....kinda ironic given all the kids I saw down at the rockwalls were having a lot of fun hooking up with the Salmon & have a guess where they were buying their bait from...!?

Spot on there spizza.

If you read the fishing mags up here there has been a huge push to eradicate salmon from this area.

There has been a massive increase in salmon numbers up here & the die hard beach fishos have seen a big decline in their most popular species being tailor & jew. Their belief is that salmon devour the bait schools before any other predators can get into them.

They have a fair point & a reasonable argument. The problem that I have with their reasoning is that they believe that it will keep happening & don't even consider this event could just be a cycle of mother nature that could well change in the future.

Around here there is a huge group of old school anglers that fish for food only. I wonder what their opinion would be if salmon tasted like a snapper?

I don't mind pros netting some salmon. What I don't like is that their will be no one to enforce their quota & it will be done in a way that will have no regard to the damage caused to 'desirable' stocks by killing juvenile species as by catch.

Done properly it could be sustainable. When is anything the government proposes ever done properly though?!

Cheers,

Grant.

[bombora]

It was a couple of rec fishing individuals on the north coast who supported this. Particularly one person who's been on about it for donkeys. ACORF met DPI/Fisheries and stridently opposed this. ACORF was totally ignored. It is minister Katrina Hodgkinson's decision. Remember she did not consult one rec fisho or rec fisho group before closing Cronulla.

[benny81]

Hello fishos,

Firstly, I have to say i enjoy salmon heaps. The catching, how good can they carry on. And the eating...but i won't be tryin to convince anyone to eat them, just keep putting them back in the water boys and girls. Don't ask me for recipe...

So this topic caught my attention. And, as a tie in, so did the closure of Cronulla fisheries centre.

Like a good fella I pay my license fee and wonder why there are no inspectors at The Entrance ever when the hordes are there, but rarely think about fisheries, being a rock/beach fisho round the Central Coast.

So, when i read the media release about the salmon I delve a bit deeper, and send an email to the fisheries info line requesting the research referred to in the media release.

What a pleasure to receive three emails from various staff members THE SAME DAY with links to the research, the species info pages and other stuff.

Now, i am up to page 60 odd of a 250odd page report on the salmon research. It is complex. It is carried out with at least some of our coin too.

I best cut to my points which are -

The support for keeping the Cronulla facility in this website has been pathetic. There is international outcry over this decision, and yet a whimper on this site. And yet we are supposed to be fisherman. Bah.

There is more science than the average (or more than average or less than average) fisho can imagine going on at that facility and up and down the coast. Including the humble salmon. I am not yet pro or anti commercial bag limit, i have not read the science.

Respect the science, or, at least read it. Do not respect the politics.

I am struggling to get thru the science behind the catch limits imposed, and haven't seen a salmon off my rocks for 3 months (when usually they'd chew the yakka well before the targets came in). But, that is seasons, water etc. It is fishin, not catchin.

I reckon because i eat these beautiful fish, i feel more strongly than the rest, but if you care, read the report here, and enjoy informed debate?

here is a link to an overview of the species:

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/375879/Eastern-Australian-Salmon.pdf

here is a link to the research document:

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/systems-research/wild-fisheries/outputs/2011/1827

Read the report if you feel strongly enough and lets engage with the scientific community, because (as a punter fisho) their weak link is information on what is caught everyday: how big, what sex, what stage of roe/milt, and caught when and where.

I also cannot say strongly enough REC FISHOS SUPPORT YOUR SCIENTISTS.

have a great summer.

[finin]

As has been said, the TOTAL Daily Allowable Catch is 3 Ton, Yearly 244 ton, How is this policed you ask, firstly fisheries have observers, who as the title sugests they observe the catch whilst on board the vessel, secondly what is put on the market floor is weighed and totaled. Any pro fisho can gauge how much fish is in the hold and fisheries are extremely strict in dealing out punishment to those who flout the law and will not hesitate in fines and or confiscation.

As to by catch, it depends on what license they carry and what fish they are allowed to fish for and what area they are allowed to fish and what type of fishing they will be doing how much quota they have and what type of net is to be used to limit the by catch etc etc. Also no trawling, netting etc is allowed within three nautical miles of the coast or 5.5km.

Yes salmon are applenty and as far as i can remember always have been, but have increased in their numbers. Most commercial trap fisherman use approx 10-16 salmon/trip, that may increase or decrease depending on how many traps are pulled in a day, sometimes 2 salmon may be used in certain traps as well as a double bait bag eg a leatherjacket trap may have 2 salmon and 2 bait bags or just 1 and 1, one bag may also contain chicken gut. Average days spend on bait would amount from $150-250/ day. Most boats work a 4 day week depending on conditions.

Agree that they are a fun fish to catch but thats about it, most get released anyway. Cant see any harm it will do to the population as it will be managed extremely well by fisheries.

Edited December 19, 2011 by finin

[tunastrike]

yer lets look after commercial fisherman and when fish numbers get low we will put tough bag limits on the recreational fisherman all to do with money but im still to see money bring back fish numbers.

[nigelr]

Living on the mid north coast I will say that hereabouts and further north salmon have increased from a rarely-seen species to one that is almost in plague proportions from late May to early December. It's not only the baitfish they eat but juveniles of other species; the sheer numbers of these salmon have to be seen to be believed and being an active species the total food intake would be phenomenal. Personally I don't have a problem with a certain amount being taken commercially, however this issue will be the methodology applied, the by-catch and whether or not salmon remain the actual target.

I can remember seeing my first aus salmon caught at DY beach one night back in the late 70's; none of us local lads had ever seen one. Fortunately a couple of the boys were from the 'Gong and knew what it was straight away. Salmon have certainly come on strong since then.