Ethical Fishing

[adkel53]

Firstly, this may be a little controversial and if so I respect the right of administrators to remove it. I am not seeking to deride others here but rather to open up a genuine debate that I feel needs to be had and to possibly have anglers think about their fishing practices, even though they may be legal. However, here goes.

For some weeks now I have been reading about sharks attacking hooked gemfish and other deep water ooglies around Browns Mountain and other deep water locations. There is a common thread to these reports - sharks and/or seals snaffling fish as they are winched from the depths , generally on electric reels. It seems that the anglers concerned fish on in the hope of getting a fish past the sharks/seals with little regard for the fish they lose and seemingly not caring about the fact that many fish are being hauled to a wasteful death. There is a bag limit of 5 gemfish per day. My concern revolves around the ethics of hauling up many more than this number just to bring home a feed when a large number of fish are being wasted in the process. If there are sharks around, should anglers persist in trying to pull fish past their noses or should they direct their attention to the sharks themselves (apparently makos, which most of the sharks are reported to be, are very good eating) or other blue water species such as yellowfin and albacore?

I am also concerned that this practice will fuel the arguments of the anti-fishing lobby, who we all know are becoming more vocal by the day.

Personally, if it were me out there and the sharks had grabbed my first couple of gemmies I'd call it quits and go looking for something else to catch. That is my view - what do others think?

Kel

[GreyNurse]

G'day Kel,

First off let me say that I'm not one of the deep sea fishing fraternity. I'm strictly a flat water fisho these day, mainly LB, but not averse to taking a boat around lake and estuaries when the opportunity presents. However, while I admit that I'm not qualified to speak for or against the deep sea boys, I do believe I can say this;

Your arguments holds a lot of logic and common sense. I rekindled my love of fishing in the last year after a long layoff and, as a result, have been absorbing everything about most topics of fishing like a ravenous bear. The one thing that struck me throughout all my reading and viewing and talking to others, was how much we don't know about our offshore and, in some cases, our inshore fisheries.

What I would like to add to your argument is that we know very little about ooglies like Gemfish, Blue Eye Trevalla and the like. Do we know with any certainty what the populations are off our coast? Do we know the growth rates and breeding cycles of these fish?

In all likelihood, the practice you mention may hardly be making a dent in the offshore fishery at all where these species are concerned. But then again, the deep sea boys in question may, albeit unintentionally, be leading with their collective chins and may one day be confronted with one unholy doughnut. I hope it's the former.

This is a good topic for debate and I'll be watching it closely. It may prove to be informative and educational, if folk far more knowledgeable than me join in. There's certainly nothing wrong, in my opinion, in taking on a potential problem before it actually becomes one.

Cheers,

Nursie

Edited August 15, 2012 by GreyNurse

[boattart]

Let me start by stating I have at times fished the bottom at Browns but haven't lately because it's so hard to get fish past the sharks and seals. That said it's more about the frustration than thinking too many gems will be taken. The Makos and seals out there will eat a huge number of Gemfish regardless of wether they are wound up to them or they have to dive down to get them themselves. I don't beleive more will be eaten just because anglers bring them half way up. As for pressure on Browns own fishstocks you need to put things into perspective. Browns is a pimple in the ocean that receives a larger than normal number of fishermen because off it's location being straight out from Sydney. The population is disproportionally distributed around the country so yes Browns does get more pressure than other areas and as such may be vunerable to overfishing at some times but it's a big ocean and fish have tails to swim with and apart from the Gemfish and Mako numbers that turn up for 1-2 months each year generally fishing effort is spread over a bigger area and as soon as the current starts running bottom fishing is too hard for most so that relieves a lot of the pressure. Just to add to your suggestion of just catch a mako to eat instead it was only a year or so ago that there was an attempt to have them protected so if suddenly more where taken for a feed it may put more pressure on authorities to look again at the protection issue. Anyway i'm off to catch some snapper while the Gemfish are keeping all the Makos away from the close reefs.

[fishmaniac]

First of all, the bag limit for Gemfish is 2 per person (and a boat limit of 10). Not 5.

As already stated, the sharks and seals will take their fair share of gemmies regardless of whether or not they are brought up. There are so many gemfish down there at this time of year and that is why the larger predators are there. Whenever we have been out around this time of year, you hook up almost the instant you hit the bottom, it's like catching little bream off a jetty!

I don't know if others are exaggerating about the nuisance of the shakrs and seals, but to put things in perspective, our last trip out saw us land 4 gemfish with only 1 lost to sharks. That was our bag limit and so we moved on.

With regard to the claim of 'just catch something else' you have to consider several things. One is the fact that boattart already mentioned regarding the potential ban on fishing for makos. A second is that many may prefer to eat gemfish over the shark. Third is that some people may not want 150kg of thrashing shark to deal with along side a boat and fourth they may not want such a large amount of meat (which may go to waste).

The last is with respect to tuna. I don't know about your tuna fishing abilities but there is certainly no gaurantee in getting them from our perspective. If we could go out and just get a couple of tuna I can assure you that would be our first port of call. As this is not the case, we usually pick up a few bottom species for the table and then try for other species. I think you will find that the majority of the guys out there are doing the same thing, not too many go out just to bash the bottom all day.

[bombora]

I think the bigger issue with all deep water fishing is barotrauma.

[Jewhunter]

Firstly Browns is a hell of a long way out & not many make the trip.

Most are out there after tuna & catching a feed of bottom ooglies is just that, to catch a feed while you

are out there whether the pelagics play or not.

Also, how many fish hooked by rec fishos are consumed by sharks compared to a what is taken on a 2000 hook long line?

Ethical fishing I can understand, but it's not like 100 boats are out there every single day targeting these fish

that have a strict bag limit.

I can't imagine anyone burning a minimum of $300.00 in fuel for a couple of gemmies.

Sharks eating fish is all part of a very healthy eco system. It happens all the time up north

& is great to see off Sydney as well.

Not a problem from my perspective.

Cheers,

Grant.

[rjc123]

Firstly Browns is a hell of a long way out & not many make the trip.

Most are out there after tuna & catching a feed of bottom ooglies is just that, to catch a feed while you

are out there whether the pelagics play or not.

Also, how many fish hooked by rec fishos are consumed by sharks compared to a what is taken on a 2000 hook long line?

Ethical fishing I can understand, but it's not like 100 boats are out there every single day targeting these fish

that have a strict bag limit.

I can't imagine anyone burning a minimum of $300.00 in fuel for a couple of gemmies.

Sharks eating fish is all part of a very healthy eco system. It happens all the time up north

& is great to see off Sydney as well.

Not a problem from my perspective.

Cheers,

Grant.

Certainly right Grant! Up north you lose more than you catch for sure! One thing i have witnessed would apply well to this situation. Up north when they fish the reefs for jewies, they catch their bag limit (or however much they need under this regulation) then move on. If people just want a feed then let them catch it.. Doesn't matter if the sharks take a few or not... It's completely natural. As long as people don't hang around pulling them up for the fun of it once they have a feed then i see no problem..

Cheers, Tom