matty74

The Qld. Govt. already has a "Coral Reef Fin Fish" closure in place each year from which Spanish mackerel are exempt. It would be easy to introduce a closure for this species during their spawning season (November December) when they congregate in masses at the reefs off Townsville (Rib, Britomart, Trunk, Bramble)  and are targeted by professionals, who take 90% of their years catch (usually several tonnes of fillet). Keep taking out spawning fish, and there will no stock left-simple!

You must have a sizeable budget 

The land based spots in Hervey Bay, but not Urangan Pier, are all located on the Hervey Bay coastline either side of, but not including, the Urangan Pier. 

Very bad news and a timely reminder of why when fishing alone you should always wear a life jacket and have the kill switch lanyard attached to your outboard.  These two things may have saved this poor young man 

Very bad news and a timely reminder of why when fishing alone you should always wear a life jacket and have the kill switch lanyard attached to your outboard.  These two things may have saved this poor young man 

Very bad news and a timely reminder of why when fishing alone you should always wear a life jacket and have the kill switch lanyard attached to your outboard.  These two things may have saved this poor young man 

Very bad news and a timely reminder of why when fishing alone you should always wear a life jacket and have the kill switch lanyard attached to your outboard.  These two things may have saved this poor young man 

Very bad news and a timely reminder of why when fishing alone you should always wear a life jacket and have the kill switch lanyard attached to your outboard.  These two things may have saved this poor young man 

Just a heads up regarding China, there is a huge anti China campaign in motion at the moment, predominantly instigated by the US. This is due to the fact that the US can no longer compete with China economically, as is the same with Australia and most other non Asian countries and are trying to generate anti Chinese sentiment to affect their sales.
In the interests of increasing profits most businesses in most non Asian countries now have their manufacturing done in China and then assemble their products at home.  Many Australian companies do this so that they can add a made in Aus label. Most products you now buy would not be available without Chinese labour input.
Many of the things we are told about China through the media originate in the offices of the propaganda machine. My wife and I were in China 18 months ago and it is nothing like we expected. China does not have a political system run by an out of control communist dictator as we are led to believe, they have a Democratic Republic. The government encourages people to start their own businesses which is why you can find many different examples of the same item but at different quality levels. These are mostly small family businesses that are trying improve their quality of life to the standard we enjoy.
We spoke to many Chinese people while in China and none of them were unhappy with the way China has been governed since the late seventies. They were critical of the government before that time as they ran the country in the traditional communist fashion where everyone worked for the government and were on the same wage with no chance of advancement. They were also not critical about law enforcement in China, which surprised us, as we have been led to believe that China is controlled like  police State. We saw less police presence than we see in Australia.
Not buying Chinese products because you think it will do good is a false assumption, the only effect it will have is to reduce the living standard of Chinese families which is already well behind the lifestyle we have.
We need to reduce foreign ownership of Australian assets but we need to be consistent and stop all foreign ownership.  The Chinese are not a poor country, there are more millionaires in the city of Shanghai than there are in Australia and they are looking for places to invest in. Australia is attractive to them which is why they are buying up property here but they are not the only ones. There is a concerted campaign to stop Chinese buyers form buying our farmland but nothing about other countries. The Dutch actually own more Australian agricultural land than the Chinese but there is no anti Dutch campaign. We need to stop all foreign ownership of Australian assets.
If you want to do something that is constructive then lobby our government to stop selling our natural resources to foreign countries for a pittance and start taxing the companies that are raping Australia for profit. Lobby our government to stop the buy up of Australian assets by all countries. Lobby our government to stop the sell off of our water which is against our Constitution. Lobby our government to stop the gouging of the oil companies for profit, there are record stockpiles of oil at the moment due to people being unable to travel during covid yet the price of fuel is rapidly climbing for no other reason than to increase profits. Lobby our government to fix our problems and not deflect attention to other countries.
 

I reckon those survey's are like the duck counting survey's, depends what
they want the figures to reflect. No way anybody could count the true number of
sharks swimming around, tis a lot of water out there.

Hey Robbie
Yes, I agree. It doesn’t seem very likely that sharks are declining across Australia, and really, I don’t think they ever would with the current restrictions and laws on them which makes it pretty hard to overfish them!
Maybe in some places where they put big nets out and just chop off the fins, which would explain a decline. But certainly not here! 
Cheers Hamish

Na I don’t think sharks are declining maybe a few speices but most of them are increasing in numbers such as rays and bull sharks are pretty much common as flathead in my river there everywhere and at the ocean the river leads into there are heaps of makos and white pointers around to although I do know white pointers have started to decline they might increase population soon due to further protection

isnt fish 2 a striped eel catfish?
eel tailed catfish is what you catch in the fresh stuff. also known as a tandan. 

Can use it for anything I once reported 10 dudes flicking butts from boats in a prawning  mosh pit 

https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/management/waste/litter-illegal-dumping/report

https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/management/waste/litter-illegal-dumping/report

yeah nah. Some sharks in some areas may have but... have a look at this video and tell me what you think. 
 

Nice one mate, glad it was a successful trip.
 
i don’t think sharks are increasing in numbers - just getting smarter and understanding what boats and fishermen are. They are generally very good at controlling their own numbers - big sharks love eating smaller sharks.

Sharks populations Have plummeted 
 
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/14/queensland-shark-numbers-down-by-90-per-cent-in-55-years-for-some-species

Sharks populations Have plummeted 
 
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/14/queensland-shark-numbers-down-by-90-per-cent-in-55-years-for-some-species

Nice ski boat mate 

Total fire ban until midnight 4th of October 

Total fire ban until midnight 4th of October