NSW Fishos`Concern about Juvenile Mulloway

[Gad]

Taken from Mondays Fishing World Email Newsletter

19 Mar 2012

By Fisho staff writers

THE NSW Government will be considering allowing commercial netters to continue to take juvenile mulloway while imposing harsh restrictions on anglers as concerns grow about stock levels of this iconic inshore sportfish.

According to info Fisho received last week, a steering committee dominated by commercial interests will put forward a proposal to allow netters to take mulloway from 45 to 75cm in length.

There is some confusion as to exactly how many mulloway each commercial operator will be allowed each day. Some sources indicate as many as 50 fish, others say 30. Fisho last week contacted the office of NSW Fisheries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson seeking urgent clarification of the proposal. To date we have not received a response.

According to the information Fisho received, recreational anglers would be allowed one mulloway over 75cm long per day.

The current bag limit for anglers is five fish in total with two over 70cm. Fisho understands that commercial operators can take as many fish as they like over 45cm.

There has been significant concern for some years that mulloway stocks in NSW need urgent management action. Scientific data indicates that mulloway reach breeding size at about 70-75cm. The current 45cm size limit means that fish are taken well before they reach maturity, which has obvious implications for the long-term viability and sustainability of the stock.

Juvenile mulloway are known as "soapies" because of their unpleasant taste. Larger fish lose this "soapy" flavour and are highly rated as a food fish.

Fisho understands Minister Hodgkinson will consider the proposal once it is officially submitted to her. There is no indication as yet when this will be.

The Minister has courted controversy in recent times with her decisions to close the Cronulla fisheries offices and to re-allow commercial netting of Australian salmon, previously a rec-only species, for trap bait.

Fisho has been told that the commercial sector will use a "financial hardship" argument to back their push to continue to exploit mulloway stocks.

Angling groups made aware of the mulloway proposal have expressed outrage over the commercial sector's plans to continue targeting juvenile jewfish.

Allan Hansard, the CEO of the Australian Fishing Trade Association, said the proposal was "a significant concern" and "seemed to defy all scientific logic".

"We'll be seeking an urgent meeting with Minister Hodgkinson to put forward as strongly as possible our very grave concerns about this issue. There are serious questions about the long-term sustainability of NSW's mulloway stocks if continued commercial exploitation of juvenile fish is allowed. We need to make the Minister aware that the Australian tackle industry will not condone any decisions that put valuable fish stocks at risk."

Concerned anglers wishing to contact the Minister about this issue can send emails to office@hodgkinson.minister.nsw.gov.au, phone (02) 9228 5210 or fax (02) 9228 5969.

[kmcrosby78]

What a joke!!!!! How do these people get/keep jobs? Thanks Gad.

[ellicat]

Fisho has been told that the commercial sector will use a "financial hardship" argument to back their push to continue to exploit mulloway stocks.

They'll have extra financial hardship if they root the next generations of jew

[chonna]

thats ridiculous but more importantly arent bag limits about "fish in possession" and not a per day take. E.g If I take 1 legal Jew today and put it in the freezer, i can get done for being over my bag limit if i take another home tomorrow whilst fish #1 is still in my possession....

[ellicat]

thats ridiculous but more importantly arent bag limits about "fish in possession" and not a per day take. E.g If I take 1 legal Jew today and put it in the freezer, i can get done for being over my bag limit if i take another home tomorrow whilst fish #1 is still in my possession....

That is correct (at least in Qld) for rec fishers. Not so sure it applies to the commercial fellas :whistle:

[haines490slc]

moses must be on the NSW government fisheries board :whistle:

[JarrydA]

Not so sure it applies to the commercial fellas.

Commercial bag limits are much different, and muuuuch bigger. In most cases as soon as they get back the fish are sold to the co-op etc so they arent in their possession anymore anyway.

[Homer4duff]

Way to go NSW fisheries....charge anglers the privilege of fishing in NSW waters under the guise of "generating revenue to create sustainable fisheries" then go ahead and screw them over by continuing to allow commercial pillaging of immature jewies.

Bizzare!

Has Minister Hodgkinson got her head up her own bot-bot ?

[elops]

There is or was a large amount of Jew stocked in NSW funded mainly by the RFL which make up a most likely fair percent of the juvies taken by the commercial sector.

[ellicat]

Not so sure it applies to the commercial fellas.

Commercial bag limits are much different, and muuuuch bigger. In most cases as soon as they get back the fish are sold to the co-op etc so they arent in their possession anymore anyway.

Tone of expression lost in text. Replay it in your head using a Maxwell Smart talking to Chief kind of tone :side:

[JarrydA]

Not so sure it applies to the commercial fellas.

Commercial bag limits are much different, and muuuuch bigger. In most cases as soon as they get back the fish are sold to the co-op etc so they arent in their possession anymore anyway.

Tone of expression lost in text. Replay it in your head using a Maxwell Smart talking to Chief kind of tone :side:

Ha, My bad.

ps. Love the Maxwell Smart reference, what a crack up dude.

[Gad]

Way to go NSW fisheries....charge anglers the privilege of fishing in NSW waters under the guise of "generating revenue to create sustainable fisheries" then go ahead and screw them over by continuing to allow commercial pillaging of immature jewies.

Bizzare!

Has Minister Hodgkinson got her head up her own bot-bot ?

She has, it`s the result of a fairly recent operation,previously while in opposition she could clearly see NSW fisheries sustainability needs for all.( or so she maintained)

[Gad]

Update on original Post

Taken from Fishing Worlds Email Newsletter Thurs 29 March 12

The Real Facts on Mulloway

29 Mar 2012

By Mick Fletoridis

THE big story here on fishingworld.com.au in recent weeks has been the controversial proposal involving the continuation of commercial netting targeting juvenile mulloway, aka jewfish. Not surprisingly, this issue has got rec fishos hopping mad, as evidenced by the number of readers who voted against the proposal on last week's online poll.

This issue also revealed that pro-fishing interests have been attempting to upload propagandist comments onto the Fisho site by claiming that the practice of catch & release results in big numbers of jewie deaths and that rec anglers are the main "problem" with declining mulloway stocks.

After discussion during the week with independent fisheries scientist (and long-time Fisho writer) Dr Ben Diggles, it has been revealed that scientific data attributes the cause of jewfish declines directly to netting. Research also indicates that catch & release for jewies is pretty effective, which is a poke in the eye to agitators like "Consumer Joe" - whoever you are ...

According to Diggles, the latest scientific data suggests that mulloway are "growth overfished" in NSW, meaning they're under extreme fishing pressure. He also points out that the proposal to allow commercial netting of juvenile 45cm-70cm fish is a good way to see the fishery collapse.

"Female mulloway appear to first mature at around 70cm long and 3-4 years of age, with 100 per cent mature by around 80cm (5 years old), however, in contrast males mature earlier (2-3 years old) and at a smaller size (50-55 cm, 100 per cent mature at 63 cm and 4 years old)," says Diggles.

He told Fisho that aquaculture experience has shown mulloway have "unusual foraging and spawning characteristics". He indicates that it is also unknown whether small just matured fish actually contribute much to recruitment, compared to larger fish.

Diggles said a 70cm minimum size for jewies may not provide enough protection from intense commercial fishing pressure and prevent further stock declines.

"A 75cm minimum up here in QLD has been great for them, and anglers are seeing more mulloway in the 70 + cm size range, and many 70+ cm mulloway are being released, which cannot hurt the fishery at all in the long run."

In contrast, Diggles points out that estuary trawling for prawns has been identified as a major source of mortality for juvenile mulloway and is therefore a long-term threat to the fishery. The Hawkesbury and Clarence rivers are both heavily worked by estuary prawn trawl boats.

Diggles also refutes claims being spouted about by some elements of the commercial fishing industry that catch & release does not work for jewfish. He told Fisho that survival rates of fish caught by anglers are "quite high (around 80 per cent on bait, or even more if lures are used), especially if best practice methods of hooking and handling are used".

Pointing to where he believes fishery management in Australia can improve, Diggles cites an American example: "In the USA, fishery managers eventually bit the bullet and raised minimum sizes to biologically relevant lengths for most important fish species that were under heavy harvest pressure, including sciaenids such as red drum (which are very similar to our mulloway). In some cases, maximum sizes were also instigated, This means that larger spawning sized fish such as 'bull' red drum were protected once they exceed the slot limit.

"Fisheries managers in Australia could certainly learn something from studying how some US states manage their sciaenids," Diggles concluded.

Fisho is currently sourcing a detailed scientifically based article from NSW Fisheries stating all the known facts about mulloway breeding. We'll publish it as soon as it comes to hand. Stay tuned.

[tugger]

This should also concern qld as jewfish move up and down the east coast and don't recognose borders lets hope the new qld LNP don't learn from the nsw liberals currently in power how to manage fish stocks, we've seen what that did with salmon in nsw lets hope they do what qld did 10yrs ago and buy back some of the net licenses and make the pros go back to line fishing it worked here on a few species