Commercial Fishing In The Harbour Options

[hustler57]

was listening to high tide this moring at about 4.30am driving home from work there was a short discussion about how the government is talking about bringing commercial fishing back to the sydney harbour,

did any 1 else hear that or any one else know anything about it ?

they said they would talk about it in more detail next week,

[hustler57]

jg have you heard of anything along these lines ?

[Jumpus GooDarus]

commercial fishing never left the habour to begin with

The whole scam about our licence fee's buying out LFB's was bullshit & just a way to raise $$'s so the existing LFB's in Botany Bay wouldn't take legal action against the gov for loss of revenue due to all the port works.

Was @ a meeting where a DPI rep got hammered with criticisum after admitting no future licences would bought out

[Christos]

I do not think that they should bring back commerical fishing in the Harbour.

[bafoo]

I heard the same thing on high tide mate.

This is not good at all, the fishing at the moment has been red hot with the ban on the traps etc.

It would be a shame to see them get more freedom and reck the fishing for the average joe blo.



Bafoo

[catchnrelease]

Keep the pros out.

Hopefully due to the dioxins they'll keep them out of certain areas for sure, i.e. Parramatta River and maybe some of the harbour proper.

The dioxin levels have not gotten any better since when they first closed the harbour to commercial fishing. They're still sitting there in the sediment, it hasn't gone anywhere.

Hopefully the greenies (let's face it, they pull a lot of weight) can jump on board and target the pros and keep them out. I just hope they don't go overboard and start taking on recs as well, but personally that's a risk I would be willing to take.

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Actually Googlefushy is sort of on the right path.

I was discusing this 2day with a few of the boys & I was pretty much spot on with wot I'd initially said

LFB's weren't bought out in the habour by the DPI , but a few did cash in on the buy back.

From wot I gathered today the only ban imposed on the Pro's in the habour was from Gladesville upwards due to toxins in the water

[catchnrelease]

Are you sure? All the info I have from the fisheries website says the pros have been banned from the harbour, not just from Gladesville up.

I also haven't seen a single pro working in the harbour anywhere since the ban. Doesn't mean they're not there, but to have never seen one seems odd.

This post has been edited by catchnrelease: Feb 18 2010, 12:32 AM

[Jumpus GooDarus]

No I'm not certain & did say wot I posted last was only discussed today

BUT

I CANT SEE HOW THE PRO'S COULD'VE BEEN BANNED FROM FISHING THE HABOUR UNLESS LARGE COMPENSATION WAS PAID TO THEM ???????????????

[catchnrelease]

Some quotes from Fisheries:

"The Government has announced a $5.8 million package that includes a voluntary buy out of commercial fishing businesses, further testing for dioxins in the fish, and a public information campaign to advise recreational fishers and the community about the risks of eating seafood caught in the Harbour."

"All commercial fishing has been banned in the Harbour, including prawn trawling."

"$5 million was allocated to buy out Port Jackson estuary prawn trawl fishing businesses and estuary general businesses with a history of operating in Port Jackson. The program was designed to enable commercial fishers to exit the industry with a fair ex-grata payment (note estuary fishers can operate in one of seven regions along the coast)."

[Jumpus GooDarus]

I also haven't seen a single pro working in the harbour anywhere since the ban. Doesn't mean they're not there, but to have never seen one seems odd.

NO IT DOSEN'T SEEM ODD @ ALL

They're not going to be out there in the middle of the day they wait till dark b4 heading out

No different to when the trawlers worked in botany bay, you'd never see them of a day only @ night

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Some quotes from Fisheries:

"The Government has announced a $5.8 million package that includes a voluntary buy out of commercial fishing businesses, further testing for dioxins in the fish, and a public information campaign to advise recreational fishers and the community about the risks of eating seafood caught in the Harbour."

"All commercial fishing has been banned in the Harbour, including prawn trawling."

"$5 million was allocated to buy out Port Jackson estuary prawn trawl fishing businesses and estuary general businesses with a history of operating in Port Jackson. The program was designed to enable commercial fishers to exit the industry with a fair ex-grata payment (note estuary fishers can operate in one of seven regions along the coast)."

Very sketchy in wot they're saying

I do know a few of the pro's who work out of Botany Bay I'll ask them when next I C them

Better still I'll get a more accurate story next wednesday if I visit the club

[catchnrelease]

NO IT DOSEN'T SEEM ODD @ ALL

They're not going to be out there in the middle of the day they wait till dark b4 heading out

No different to when the trawlers worked in botany bay, you'd never see them of a day only @ night

Not a trap, not a net, no sign of them working in the harbour at all. Yeah I know most of them work during the night, but not all of them. Bate Bay, Long Reef, I've seen them in the middle of the day plenty of times. They weren't trawlers though, they were setting traps or lines.

Not only that, but everyone else who fishes the harbour regularly can't see them. If the pros were working in the harbour it would be known, unless they've managed to avoid recs completely for the past few years.

It doesn't make sense to ban them purely from Gladesville up. Buy outs, compensation, to me it sounds like tomato-tomato and that they've been banned and have gotten $$$ in return.

I smell another debate! Face it, they aren't allowed to fish in the harbour.

I'm going to email fisheries next week when I'm back from Port Stephens and get a definite answer.

[Fed]

Well I think you're wrong.

[Jumpus GooDarus]

I smell another debate! Face it, they aren't allowed to fish in the harbour.

Googlefushy when are ewe going to learn never take on Jumpus in a debate

That's wot they said about Botany Bay, Wun of the pro's I know sold his LFB to fisheries for $240 k two weeks later he purchased the exact same licence back for $60 k.

He paid of his house & comented

Thanks all ewe idiot rec fishermen

And googlefushy thinks he's going to get an honest answer from fisheries

[catchnrelease]

Googlefushy when are ewe going to learn never take on Jumpus in a debate

That's wot they said about Botany Bay, Wun of the pro's I know sold his LFB to fisheries for $240 k two weeks later he purchased the exact same licence back for $60 k.

He paid of his house & comented

Thanks all ewe idiot rec fishermen

And googlefushy thinks he's going to get an honest answer from fisheries

Fine, there are pros fishing all over the harbour. Even though nobody sees them and there's no trace of their activity, they're crawling all over the place.

Even though fisheries have stated they've banned ALL COMMERCIAL FISHING in the harbour, somehow that means that they are in fact allowed to work in the harbour and they haven't been banned at all.

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Geez ewe can be a twit googlefushy

Dont know where ewe get your info from cause I searched the DPI site & couldn't find wot ewe posted but if ewe think $5.8 million is anywhere near enough to buy out all the LFB licences in Sydney harbour then you're mistaken.

It cost DPI sum ting like $12 million in botany bay & there's LFB's in the habour than BB

There was a temp ban like I initially said due to dioxines

A temporary ban has been placed on commercial fishing in Sydney Harbour after tests revealed elevated dioxin levels in fish, NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald said.

The closure is effective as of today, and will remain in force for three months, or until further expert advice.

“Test results have revealed elevated levels of dioxin in bream across the harbour,” Minister Macdonald said.

“As a precautionary measure, the State Government has acted immediately to close commercial fishing in the harbour.

“I have also asked the chief scientist from the NSW Department of Primary Industries to review current world standards for dioxins in fish and report back.”

“It’s important to note there is no national acceptable level for dioxins in foods in Australia. However, test results of fish from Sydney Harbour indicated dioxin readings well above World Health Organisation and European levels.

The closure will not impact on the supply of fish to local seafood shops and markets, as finfish from Sydney Harbour account for less than 2% of the total amount sold in NSW.

Today’s move follows the closure of prawning operations in the Sydney Harbour last month. At that time the NSW Government ordered additional finfish tests. It also established an independent expert panel to provide scientific analysis of the full test results. The panel met late yesterday and provided its assessment to the NSW Food Authority, which today recommended that the temporary ban be put in place.

The expert panel has previously advised that Sydney Harbour prawns caught for sale as bait only did not pose a risk and can therefore continue.

Minister Macdonald said recreational fishing from the Harbour was not banned but urged fishers to follow strict dietary advice.

“The expert panel has recommended anglers eat only 150g serve of fish caught from the Harbour per month,” Mr Macdonald said. “Anyone concerned can also follow a simple ‘catch and release’ policy.

“I would like to point out that water quality in Sydney Harbour is the cleanest it has been in decades. The issue is with sediments on the harbour floor, which have been exposed to industrial pollution dating back over the past 100 years, and the migratory patterns of fish from polluted areas like Homebush Bay into the cleaner waters of Port Jackson.

“The Government has been working for years to clean up Harbour pollution at former industrial sites, such as Union Carbide at Homebush Bay, to help address this legacy.”

But that was back in 2006

I attended a meeting addressed by a DPI rep last year & he said there would be no more buying of LFB licences in the Harbour, Broken Bay or anywhere else cause it was just going to cost to much.

That guy got heckled by angry fisho's wanting to know why we are still paying for rec licences

[catchnrelease]

Must not have looked very hard for the info.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recrea...ons_and_Answers

Of course it's a temporary ban. It started in 2006 and has been scheduled to be lifted in Feb next year unless they find a reason to keep the ban in place, i.e. the dioxins are still there....which they are.

"This fishing closure took effect at 5:00pm on 10 February 2006 and remains in effect until 9 Feb 2011, unless sooner amended or revoked."

The buy out was voluntary, some of the pros just started fishing other locations like longy or further north/south. I know 5 mil is not very much.

Tell me what info or proof do you have to say that the pros have been allowed to fish in the harbour for the past 4 years? Because everything I've found is saying the opposite.

This post has been edited by catchnrelease: Feb 18 2010, 05:02 AM

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Tell me what info or proof do you have to say that the pros have been allowed to fish in the harbour for the past 4 years? Because everything I've found is saying the opposite.

I'll ask them in person as I know quite a few of them

As far as that link ewe supplied well I read through it & again I'm falling back to wot I originally said simply because info on that page is very vague Sydney Habour is a big place & DPI are putting the emphasis west of the Habour bridge.

Bigger boats can fish offshore BUT there's alot of small LFB that cant venture outside they net the shallower waters.

You've got species like Kungys etc that wont venture up the river & I'll quote this from that page

dioxin in a number of species of fish and crustaceans in Sydney Harbour

Not all fish just a number of species

[Christos]

So are they in the Sydney Harbour or not.

Then again is there a place next to the harbour.