Was just reading some posts on another forum. There was a meeting held in Stalbans this week in regards to commercial fishing activities in wp and ppb some of the things I have read are I believe quiet questionable

Commercial fisherman have no TAC (total allowable catch)
- 42 licenses for both bays, however majority focus on western PPB and CB, unregulated and allowed to do what they want, lease licenses to cowboys etc
- With only 7 fisheries officers, they have only conducted checks 64 times in two years and within those two years there has been 25% non compliance.

Great to see that fisheries are right on the heels of rhe commercial fisherman to make sure they are doing rhe right thing!! Not even 1 check a year On average per license

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Was just reading this post on this forum. There was a meeting held in Stalbans this week in regards to commercial fishing activities in ppb some of the things I have read are I believe quiet questionable.

Recreational fisherman have no TAC (total allowable catch) for finfish
- 268,484 recreational fishing licences sold in 2010/11 (plus a whole heap of people fishing above and below the ages that require an RFL), however majority focus on western PPB, is regulated (as is the commercial fishery) and mostly do what they want, cowboys etc
- With only 7 fisheries officers (in Geelong and a lot more around ppb and Victoria), they only conducted checks 30,045 times in one year and within that year there has been 28% non compliance of abalone related checks.

Great to see that fisheries are right on the heels of rhe recreational fisherman to make sure they are doing rhe right thing!! Not even 12% check a year On average per license

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/fisheries/about-fisheries/fishing-grants-program/your-licence-fees-at-work-2010-11/recreational-fishing-licence-trust-account-report-2010-2011

Touché

So we are 64 checks commercial vs 3040 check recreational? My main concern is with the netting not the abalone I understand that a lot of recreational users blatantly disregard the abalone take and have destroyed areas like Altona. It is pretty hard to catch them as u can enter and exit the water just about anywhere, therefore the penalties need to be a lot harsh for the people who decide to rape our waterways.

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Commercial fishermen are the least of the bays problems. They are regulated and have the most to lose.

The huge increase in our cities population is more concerning. The ease for which each person can go fishing with little or no knowlege of their impact to the fishery, let alone the size and bag limits. You only need read any fishing forum to see many can not even accurately identify all their catch. This forum had a fish posted last week where the fish species was not known, but the person took it anyway. I find it concerning that the general population of rec fishermen seem to point the finger at others, when clearly they do more harm than anyone.

[quote="Blacky"]Commercial fishermen are the least of the bays problems. They are regulated and have the most to lose.

The huge increase in our cities population is more concerning. The ease for which each person can go fishing with little or no knowlege of their impact to the fishery, let alone the size and bag limits. You only need read any fishing forum to see many can not even accurately identify all their catch. This forum had a fish posted last week where the fish species was not known, but the person took it anyway. I find it concerning that the general population of rec fishermen seem to point the finger at others, when clearly they do more harm than anyone.[/quote]

How many commercial fisheries in Australia don't have a quota?

Lots.

Sorry but surely 100 people could go out and do the wrong thing in an area take undersize fish and it would be no where near the same impact if the netter comes through. They have free reign over the bay and VIctorians are relying on these people to do the right thing but everyone knows what can happen when u put $ signs in front of people who are suppose do the right thing!
Is their any point releasing undersize fish or releasing over your quota when as soon as you leave they all get scooped up and the undersize are thrown back dead! Could A commercial fisherman work his boat 24 hours a day and run two crews? Working their way around the bay? Doesnt anyone think they need some regulation on catch limits from certain areas etc to sustain the future of the fishery as we the recreational have? I do understand that the recreational peoPle do break the rules but at least there are rules in place policing them is another matter which is lacking

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How is the catch regulated if there isn't a quota?

Input controls and size limits

Possibly. But by Koops numbers there is more than 6000 rec fishers for every commercial license. 6000 x the bag limit = a lot; even more if you count the ones that are 'released'

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I was at the meeting. Lot of drunk blokes yelling crap, bunch of yobbos. Some other educated folk there that had good input. I'd like to see netting gone and changed to a different method. The places I dive in CB are void of life after being netting its so bloody obvious. After time in the water (and diving some of the shitty spots) I found just about every corner they can't net and these areas produce a good feed most of the time.

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There might be 6000 to each commercial but i doubt that even half would go out on a boat or ever reached their bag (the old 10% of fishers catch 90% of the fish) the size limits for recreational is put in place so if they are of legal size they would have spawned at least once which is their for sustainable however nets kill everything! commercial fishers have what has been stated as a moral code if they break this their is no penalty i just feel a penalty needs to be put in place for the ones that do the wrong thing like in the recreational licences and not having designated take areas etc cant be sustainable unless u are communicating with each other on the areas that have been worked over. If they all do the right thing as it is in their best interest why has their been a 25% non compliance issued on the limited number of checks having occured?

i am with you surfcoastspearo the nets need to go in the bays and they can turn their hand to commercial tourism (fishing charters etc which i have been told in other areas has been more lucitive and a lot less destructive) its only a matter of time before the governmnet realises their is more revenue from the recreational side than the commercial netting.

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Sorry dude. Whiting don't breed in Ppb, even if its caught by a recreational fisher. They growth up in the bay thenbmove out and head way west. Check out he trevally size limit and length at maturity. Not even close.

They have penalties. Check the regulations.

Of course guys hat have been working in the same industry all their year can just change jobs like that. Easy! Not! Do you really think there is enough demand for fishing charter or other Eco tourism type jobs?

Sorry dude. Whiting don't breed in Ppb, even if its caught by a recreational fisher. They growth up in the bay thenbmove out and head way west.

So the bay is a nursery? The very place you net? How do you sort the bigger ones (that are due to head west) from the smaller ones that still have to grow?

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Yep, the bay is a nursery. My point is that the size limit in VIC is not set based on letting whiting spawn once before they are caught.

How do I sought the big ones from the small ones? I look at them and try to spear them if I think they are big enough. I try not to let the big ones go, they are the ones I want.