SHOULD COMMERCIAL FISHERS BE BANNED FROM NETTING / MESHING THE ESTUARIES & BEACH

[CEO]

22/2/09: Should commercial fishers br banned from netting / meshing the estuaries and beaches? Why?
             Your reasons for doing so, are as important as your decision. Post them here

[Open Oyster]

   NO!!!! they are an important producer in our food chain. However I would encourage greater controls over estuary netting. Instead introduce quotas that are sustainable and a breeding season restriction of perhaps a month corresponding with area breeding seasons.
   I would like to see a buyout of some professional licences to make professional fishing a more economical viable primary industry.
   Estuaries being the nursery of a lot of fish species this seems to be the area of most concern to over exploitation and harvesting.

[billfisher]

I don't think that an arbitrary ban like that is a god idea, as we might find it being applied to rec fishing as well! If the justification is that so rec fishermenn can have the resource all to ourselves then I think it's a bit thin. The rec take equals or exceeds the commercial take for a lot of eaturine species already. Prof Keaney said he doesn't think that our estuary fish are under any threat and they appear to have a lot of natural resistance to fishing pressure. A lot of species of commercial interest are only found in estuaries, so such a ban will put more pressure on deepwater stocks or mean even more imports.   

[CEO]

    ECOfishers hear a lot of whinges from recreational fishers out there, concerning the alleged activities of some commercial fishers and their operations. The most recent came from the mid north coast concerning Mulloway being netted in the Macleay estuary. A lot of the complaints we receive, are like Chinese whispers! Someone in a pub somewhere says he heard the pro's netted 90 kg of Yellow Fin Bream on such and such a beach. By the time we hear it, it has become 90 tonnes and they were netted on a rocky headland somewhere!
   So folks, here is your space and your opportunity to get it all off your chests. SHOULD COMMERCIAL FISHERS BE BANNED FROM NETTING/MESHING, THE ESTUARIES AND BEACHES - WHY?

[whoppa]

No.. We are told there is no species of inshore fish under threat after decades of unlimited fishing.
However I do believe that commercial fishers should be restricted to their own "patch".
Having every pro chasing a "run" of a species up every beach along the coast only serves to lower the price at market because of glut supplies and it doesn't look good to the uninformed to see dozens of pro boats pulling several tonnes of fish off your local beach.
Do your best in your own local area and let the next bloke up the line have a go and if some get away then that might mean more for next year.]

[CEO]

          Do the pro boat crews work the beaches after dark? The fish continue to run all night and on rough days when the beach crews can't work.

[kingpro]

Obviously I don?t support the notion of closing all estuaries / beaches to meshing and hauling. Meshing in particular is already regulated to a ridiculous level.
                   With the success of the 2 quota fisheries in NSW Lobster and Abalone as examples I and most other astute observers believe this is the way for the future of fisheries in NSW. 
                    As many of you are aware, currently during the breeding seasons (ocean run) of mullet, bream and blackfish large amounts of fish are taken in a very short period resulting in a market glut & significantly smaller return per kilo to the fisher.
                      Quotas would discourage this practice as operators would see the obvious advantage of spreading effort and catching product at a time when the return is much higher. Not only would this allow more fish to spawn but it alters the mentality of catching fish simply because the opportunity is there even though the return is negligible - as is so often the case with hauling mullet.
                      Quotas may allow for a lower level of regulation particularly for meshing as the output is already set.
                    Once a quota is reached the fisher can no longer take that particular specie which of course allows more brood stock to spawn and as everyone in the fishery has an allocated share it reduces conflict and allows the resource to be shared and more precisely managed... This has proved very successful in many fisheries in Australia ? SA King Prawn, WA lobster, Tas Lobster, Abalone etc and makes complete sense.

          P.S.           Beach hauling is not allowed at night

          P.P.S.        Beach hauling and estuary fishing is zoned i.e.  a fisher cannot work outside his zone unless he obtains (buys) an entitlement for that zone. The vast majority of fishers have access to one zone only.

                          To ban net fishing in estuaries would almost certainly lead the greens to the obvious next step - to ban all fishing in estuaries.

'knpro

[opal]

you really are radical all you people. thank goodness there are not many of you. all fishing should be banned. its cruel and unnecessary. how would you people like to be dragged ashore or aboard tangled in a net and left to suffocate? horrible and inhumane. get rid of the fishers and the world will be a more joyful planet. peace and love to all mother earths creatures.

[CEO]

         Bait! Has anyone considered the bait issue? If commercial meshing and netting were to be banned in our estuaries and beaches, where would recreational fishing families get their fresh bait? Or is that too, destined to be imported from overseas, packed in plastic bags and distributed from supermarket shelves? Fresh is best!