Judging by the heavily increasing number of trailer boats being towed to Cape York, all armed with fishing gear as if there was no tomorrow, is nothing short of alarming.
Fish stocks have already been reduced to barely keep up the breeding numbers. Recreational fishing is perpetually portrayed as one of the activities of great “things to do”. It was quite a long time ago when that was so however, recreational fishing in areas where no re-stocking is done, the assault on the GBR & Cape York waterways is taking its toll, albeit a hotly denied one by those not considering anyone or anything but themselves. One of the problems is the fish size limits when undersized fish are “released” after having been half torn apart by the tearing out of the barbed hooks & the quest continues to land a “legal size” fish. The released & condemned to not survive fish numbers exceed in most cases the legal sized ones. So, instead of fish being protected, more are actually killed by adhering to Law. I have heard of other countries taking measures to curb the depletion of fish stock by banning barbed hooks & only permitting the use of S-shaped fishing hooks. It is very sad to see the large number of recreational fishers literally depleting fish stocks for fun. All of whom believe it is their Right to do so. All fishers should have to contribute to restock the waterways which in itself could be another industry employing people. The worst part in regard to recreational fishing is the numb mentality that their selfishness has “no impact” on fish stocks. This is pure & utter nonsense & the time is right for getting a move-on in protecting the marine environment. I see $100,000 boats towed by $100,000 4x4 vehicles so, a small restocking fee really should not be a hurdle in protecting the ecology from those seeking “some fun” !

Hi Indyvidual,

Thank you for this discussion.

I've recently watched TV programs on the Great Barrier
Reef and the Whitsundays. The marine life is incredible.
And should definitely be preserved.

Articles put out by the Australian Marine Conservation
Society tells us that:

"Australia's oceans contain the richest, most diverse
life on earth - but our oceans are not an endless
resource."

They say that - "We need responsible fisheries with
sustainable practices that ensure an abundance of fish
for the future."

We're told that we have "over 320 different species of
sharks and rays and 70 of these species are unique to
Australia found nowhere else on earth!"

However, we're also told that - "Unfortunately,
commercial fishing using trawlers, gillnets and longlines
puts our ocean wildlife at risk."

The shame of it is that "snubfin dolphins and dugongs
drown in gillnets set in the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park to catch barramundi. Sea-birds and turtles are
killed on longlines set to catch tuna and endangered
sawfish are killed in trawlers across our tropical
north."

It's confirmed that "overfishing of once abundant
species has led to some species being listed as
threatened, such as gulper and school sharks, because
they have been fished too hard for too long."

We're told that:

"In a world with an ever expanding population, we need
to ensure that we maintain healthy oceans while we're
taking from the sea, so that we can ensure a future full
of fish for generations to come."

Again, Thanks for this discussion and for drawing attention
to what's happening. There's more at:

http://marineconservation.org.au/fisheries/#:

The marine life is incredible
Foxy,
Some aspects of it still are but only just. The insanity of hyping it all up to more than it could possibly ever be is a smke screen to keep luring tourists to a disappointing but expensive holiday.
Sooner or later but definitely after the point of no return, the scientists will be able to find solutions provided the funding continues. Fishing on the GBR has to be curbed dramatically, no matter how much those benefitting from destroying the marine environment object to it. Just ask every second visitor to the Reef when they board their plane out of Cairns what they thought of their experience. All of those great images we get to see aren’t from the GBR anymore, they’re mostly from reefs way off the barrier & where only the wealthy can afford to go. All this is because the selfish bogans can’t constrain their need for greed !

While Australians are prevented from fishing more than anywhere else in the world, foreigners are still fishing illegally in our waters. The Albanese government has recently put the mockers on Australian licenced professional fisherman catching Barramundi in inland waters in case a dolphin might swim up a river and get caught in a gill net. There is no evidence that dolphins have ever done such a thing. And foreigners are doing what locals are not allowed to do all the time.

Like Net Zero and all the other impositions put on Australians by our increasingly despotic political class, restrictions on fishing are based on ideology and bullsh-t, not on genuinely environmental reasons.

Australia already imports 62% of its seafood - about $2 billion worth.

ttbn,
The imports are due to exorbitant wages & not because of declining marine life. That’s why Australians end up buying the fish caught in their waters by foreign ships.
The recreational (for want of a better description) fishers are affecting the coastal waters which are in fact the breeding grounds for many species which then spread throughout the open waters. It matters zilch what people here say because ultimately they’re to blame for what they allow or disallow to happen anything environmental. Runoff from cities not from farms is what causes the acidity in the oceans & sport fishing is just another nail in the coffin.
Just as with anything else to do with society, it is mentality that sees blame everywhere except in the mirror !

I brought up the subject of over fishing whilst talking with a small group yesterday & everyone agreed that recreational fishing is severely impacting the ecology of the GBR.
We then walked to the local boat ramp where we watched boat after boat after boat being launched to head out to the reefs to fish. It was soul-destroying to watch, particularly the redneck bogan behaviour of the majority. Most of the boats were in the 70-100 Grand plus category so, these people weren’t low wage private enterprise. About two thirds were not local & they carried the largest ice boxes. Actual need for sea food didn’t appear to be the case. It was clearly mostly about showing off boats & cars & bringing in the biggest & most fish. Sad, very sad indeed !

As late as these past few months, there have been several “fishing competitions”. Remember we’re talking about 2023 not several decades ago. To still organise such bogan entertainment in modern times in the face of a massive & irreversible ecological disaster is nothing short of soul numbing !

It's hard to believe that recreational fishing is a problem, when huge foreign trawlers are scooping fish up by the thousands of tons.

It's not a subject dear to my heart. I eat fish once a week. I have no patience to catch them myself.

Perhaps Australia should be encouraging more fish farming if things are as bad as they are said to be.

Overfishing is a massive problem but the fact is not publicised for reasons to do with personal gain for people with no consideration for the ecology. Yes, huge ships are taking more than the reproduction process can handle but as per always, people won’t stop until there’s no more easy money to be made.
My particular concern is the ecology of the GBR. Tourism operators keep hyping up the “beauty of the Barrier Reef” but the reality is that overfishing has already had massive impacts & unbalanced marine life there. Those making money from the reef are not & will not admit the decline. Instead scientists are hired to blame farmers & other “factors” for the decline & of course climate change has been a very handy cash cow for years now. The real problem is the unbalancing of the marine ecology from recreational overfishing which of course is a huge industry. Until this fact is acknowledged, tourism will continue to decline here whilst in the smarter countries it is on the rise & without that dreadful “recreational fishing” !

The killing-off of the GBR by these utterly selfish bogans calling themselves recreational is sanctioned if not encouraged by the idiotic law & policy makers with no concept of the urgency to act.

A friend told me today that there are people on our local wharf deploying up to five & even six fishing rods each in full view of Govt officers frequenting the facilities & nothing is done to curb this utterly selfish practice.

It is very disappointing that Australians have no interest in saving the Great Barrier Reef !