Fish Slurpy Syndrome
My apologies once more for the delay in getting this post to you.
Our crew had a sensational trip to Weipa and I’ll write more about that some other time.
We worked hard for our fish up there and it got me to thinking that even this area may be prone to over-fishing by over zealous southerners.
Even in the early days of our exploits on the far south coast of NSW my fishing buddies and I, members of the Fishing & Reef Tour Specialists (F.& R.T.S.), would catch and kill more than our fair share of fish to take home.
We used to keep everything we caught of legal size. We packed them in plastic bags, threw them in the freezer and then at the end of the trip we would lay the carcasses out to take photos and to divide the catch between the crew.
What this meant was that invariably those fish that weren’t given away to friends and relatives would sit in the freezer until they were too stale to eat after which time we would use them as bait.
There are many fish that turn into mash or ice cream soon after freezing and unless they’re cooked straight away some aren’t worth the effort to prepare. In fact they’re better off to be used to make fish slurpys and I don’t know anyone who likes that sort of drink!
The other sad thing is that I’ve also seen my fair share of slaughtered fish in photos – pictures with big men alongside a tarp full of hundreds of barely legal sized flathead and I think we’ve all seen gantry shots of huge dead fish alongside proud fishermen.
I also remember seeing with my own eyes a garbage bin full of undersize bream being taken off a private boat at Hawks Nest jetty and remember feeling totally outraged and disgusted by it as I suspected they were headed for the mincing machine.
Now I’m not sure what happens to a hunter or an angler but sooner or later the penny drops that if you continue to wipe out large populations of fish then you are killing off your own sport.
Fish species need time to breed and restock the very areas that fisherman regularly frequent.
The more you study the habits of certain species the more you come to realize how the odds are really stacked against the poor old fish because of aggregations, limited movements, late maturity and predictable spawning activity.
If you combine that with all the latest gadgetry like GPS’s, depth sounders and fish finders the outlook for the humble fish is not good.
It truly is no wonder that when boats go out on places like Botany Bay you really have to work hard for each fish you get.
I am also reminded of the true story that in 1995 Asia, India and China reported 400,000 tonnes of black jewfish caught by commercial fisherman. Sadly ten years later the industry did not exist as the entire populations were wiped out.
If collectively we only keep what we intend to eat and return every other fish safely back to the water we can at least hope to have a fishing habitat in years to come.
You don’t have to go back home with a full freezer to prove how much you enjoyed your fishing trip. The fun is in the catching and that can only continue for everybody if we have populations of fish to target.
In Weipa, we enjoyed a fish dinner every night but released most of our catch to live and fight another day.
I hope that in future, you too consider doing the same.
Until next week!
Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs