Why is it that non holders of a commercial fishing license
are not allowed to be aboard trawlers during operations? When one attempts
to fathom the thinking behind this ban it's hard not to conclude that the
intent of the law may have more to do with hiding things than any safety
requirements.There are dangers involved in being on deck ,someone could
get their willy stuck in the winch .But it is also awful convenient that
industry outsiders do not get to view what comes aboard when the nets are
drawn.The trawler by catch has long been dismissed as a useless marine
life mish-mash.The trawlerman euphemistically call this 'trash'-protein
other than prawns and routinely shovel it overboard .And for years the
non-informed public has accepted the lie that no harm is being done. Out
of sight ,out of mind . Back when we had plenty of prawns and a heap fewer
people in the harvesting business, the by-catch was relatively low 90 per
cent prawns and 10per cent small fish to be sorted and dumped. Today that
ratio has more than reversed times for trawlers are tough .A lot have gone
to the wall and of those remaining are just hanging on . Meantime the by
catch mortality rate climbs .The waste of baby bream ,squire,whiting,flathead,bass,luderick,and
mulloway has reached scandalous proportions .No fishery can afford inroads
into juvenile fish stocks those 'bread and butter' fish that happen to
be the most popular with the everyday angler.What a tragic irony that some
of these trawler operations are directed at the capture of the very prawns
anglers buy for bait.The burgeoning extent of the trawler by-catch is a
major source of concern to fisheries managers. New management practices
are designed to reduce trawler numbers but that program is only creeping
along with operators holding out as long as possible for the best Compo
deal.
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The Queensland Fish Management authority,a quango set
up to ensure resource security for commercial interests,is working towards
some reduction in the trawler efforts but is taking small steps so as not
to upset the powerful commercial fishing lobby. Against a massive weight
of public opinion the QFMA went ahead and approved a proposal for the purse
seining of baitfish on the Cape Moreton gamefish grounds . This will impact
on the highly patronised charter boat industry in the region. The presence
of these herring and pilchard schools is the single reason why waters immediately
to the north of Moreton Bay fish so well marlin, sailfish,spanish mackerel
,cobia and other gamefish. The recreational lobby groups have been pushing
for bans on trawling for some time .Especially in rivers ,Over Sea Grass
and other sensitive inshore areas . Together with beach haul netting,yet
another commercial way another of extracting entire biomasses of fish,inshore
trawling is a major cause of declining fish numbers .The problem becomes
compounded by the institutionalised bias, the harvest mentality ,of senior
fisheries officials .Their main concerns lay with the fact that if there
are not numbers of commercial fishermen for them to manage they won't have
a job .And that's not good enough anymore .It'sup to us all to keep rattling
the cage. There's no way the waste of the trawler by-catch will stand public
scrutiny should it's extent become widely known...........
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